TY - JOUR
T1 - Soil quality regeneration by grass-clover leys in arable rotations compared to permanent grassland
T2 - Effects on wheat yield and resilience to drought and flooding
AU - Berdeni, Despina
AU - Turner, Anthony
AU - Grayson, Richard P.
AU - Llanos, Joseph
AU - Holden, Joseph
AU - Firbank, Les G.
AU - Lappage, Martin G.
AU - Hunt, Sarah P.F.
AU - Chapman, Pippa J.
AU - Hodson, Mark E.
AU - Helgason, Thorunn
AU - Watt, Penelope J.
AU - Leake, Jonathan R.
N1 - Funding Information:
The research was part of the project SoilBioHedge: harnessing hedgerow soil biodiversity for restoration of arable soil quality and resilience to climatic extremes and land use changes funded by U.K. Natural Environment Research Council grants NE/M017044/1 ; NE/M017079/1 and NE/M017095/1 as part of the U.K. Soil Security Programme also supported by BBSRC, Defra and the Scottish Government . We are grateful to Dr George Sorensen at the University of Leeds farm for granting land access, and Peter Burgis of NIAB for assistance with field operations. We especially acknowledge assistance with extracting and transporting monoliths from Dr Sue Bird, Dr Jamal Hallam, Kirsty Elliott, and Irene Johnson for technical support. The SoilBioHedge project advisory board members Dr Richard Summers (RAGT seeds), provided the wheat seeds and agronomy advice, and Dr Alastair Leake (GWCT) advice on management of the leys.
Funding Information:
The research was part of the project SoilBioHedge: harnessing hedgerow soil biodiversity for restoration of arable soil quality and resilience to climatic extremes and land use changes funded by U.K. Natural Environment Research Council grants NE/M017044/1; NE/M017079/1 and NE/M017095/1 as part of the U.K. Soil Security Programme also supported by BBSRC, Defra and the Scottish Government. We are grateful to Dr George Sorensen at the University of Leeds farm for granting land access, and Peter Burgis of NIAB for assistance with field operations. We especially acknowledge assistance with extracting and transporting monoliths from Dr Sue Bird, Dr Jamal Hallam, Kirsty Elliott, and Irene Johnson for technical support. The SoilBioHedge project advisory board members Dr Richard Summers (RAGT seeds), provided the wheat seeds and agronomy advice, and Dr Alastair Leake (GWCT) advice on management of the leys.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Authors
PY - 2021/8/1
Y1 - 2021/8/1
N2 - Intensive arable cropping depletes soil organic carbon and earthworms, leading to loss of macropores, and impaired hydrological functioning, constraining crop yields and exacerbating impacts of droughts and floods that are increasing with climate change. Grass and legume mixes traditionally grown in arable rotations (leys), are widely considered to regenerate soil functions, but there is surprisingly limited evidence of their effects on soil properties, resilience to rainfall extremes, and crop yields. Using topsoil monoliths taken from four intensively cropped arable fields, 19 month-old grass-clover ley strips in these fields, and from 3 adjacent permanent grasslands, effects on soil properties, and wheat yield in response to four-weeks of flood, drought, or ambient rain, during the stem elongation period were evaluated. Compared to arable soil, leys increased earthworm numbers, infiltration rates, macropore flow and saturated hydraulic conductivity, and reduced compaction (bulk density) resulting in improved wheat yields by 42–95 % under flood and ambient conditions. The leys showed incomplete recovery compared to permanent grassland soil, with modest gains in soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, water-holding capacity, and grain yield under drought, that were not significantly different (P > 0.05) to the arable controls. Overall, grass-clover leys regenerate earthworm populations and reverse structural degradation of intensively cultivated arable soil, facilitating adoption of no-tillage cropping to break out of the cycle of tillage-driven soil degradation. The substantial improvements in hydrological functioning by leys will help to deliver reduced flood and water pollution risks, potentially justifying payments for these ecosystem services, especially as over longer periods, leys increase soil carbon sequestration.
AB - Intensive arable cropping depletes soil organic carbon and earthworms, leading to loss of macropores, and impaired hydrological functioning, constraining crop yields and exacerbating impacts of droughts and floods that are increasing with climate change. Grass and legume mixes traditionally grown in arable rotations (leys), are widely considered to regenerate soil functions, but there is surprisingly limited evidence of their effects on soil properties, resilience to rainfall extremes, and crop yields. Using topsoil monoliths taken from four intensively cropped arable fields, 19 month-old grass-clover ley strips in these fields, and from 3 adjacent permanent grasslands, effects on soil properties, and wheat yield in response to four-weeks of flood, drought, or ambient rain, during the stem elongation period were evaluated. Compared to arable soil, leys increased earthworm numbers, infiltration rates, macropore flow and saturated hydraulic conductivity, and reduced compaction (bulk density) resulting in improved wheat yields by 42–95 % under flood and ambient conditions. The leys showed incomplete recovery compared to permanent grassland soil, with modest gains in soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, water-holding capacity, and grain yield under drought, that were not significantly different (P > 0.05) to the arable controls. Overall, grass-clover leys regenerate earthworm populations and reverse structural degradation of intensively cultivated arable soil, facilitating adoption of no-tillage cropping to break out of the cycle of tillage-driven soil degradation. The substantial improvements in hydrological functioning by leys will help to deliver reduced flood and water pollution risks, potentially justifying payments for these ecosystem services, especially as over longer periods, leys increase soil carbon sequestration.
KW - climate change resilience
KW - earthworm population recovery
KW - regenerative agriculture
KW - soil hydrology
KW - soil organic matter decomposition
KW - sustainable agriculture
U2 - 10.1016/j.still.2021.105037
DO - 10.1016/j.still.2021.105037
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85105440234
SN - 0167-1987
VL - 212
JO - Soil & Tillage Research
JF - Soil & Tillage Research
M1 - 105037
ER -