Cover crop effects on soils and subsequent crops in the pampas: A meta-analysis

doi:10.1016/j.still.2017.03.005

Soil and Tillage Research

Volume 170, July 2017, Pages 53-65

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2017.03.005 Get rights and content

Highlights

•
Cover crops enhance soil quality and decrease the risk of N leaching in the Pampas.
•
Soybean yield is minimally affected by adoption of cover crops.
•
Corn yield increases by 7% after a legume cover crop.
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When the cover crop is a non-legume species, corn yield tends to decrease by 8%.

Abstract

Cover crops are a valuable management option for reducing soil erosion and nitrogen losses from agroecosystems. They improve soil quality but the impacts on crop yield depend on the type of cover crop, the commercial crop considered and the climate. In the Argentine Pampas the introduction of cover crops in rotations is being extensively studied by official institutions. We performed a meta-analysis with results of 67 local field experiments in which winter cover crop effects on soils and crops were analyzed. Soil physical properties improved after cover crops. Bulk density was minimally affected, structural stability and water infiltration increased, while soil penetration resistance decreased. Soil organic carbon content of the 0–20 cm layer rose ca. 4% in fine-textured soils and 9% in coarser ones. Nitrate-N decreased after cover crops by 30% regardless if the cover crop species was or was not legume. Soil available water at crop sowing was not affected by cover crops in the upper meter of the profile but when the cumulative water content was measured at depth (ca. 2 m) it decreased by around 20%. Soybean (Glycine max) yield was barely affected by the previous cover crop or fallow treatment. Conversely, corn (Zea mays) yield tended to decrease when the cover crop was a non-legume (- 8%) or significantly increased after legume species (+7%) when compared to a fallow. In the Pampas, cover crops have multifunctional benefits and their adoption will depend on the balance between these benefits, the sowing cost and some possible negative effects on corn yield. For this latter crop, legume cover crops are recommended.

Introduction

It has long been recognized that the replacement of a bare fallow period by a cover crop is a suitable tool for decreasing runoff and soil erosion in many agroecosystems (Reeves, 1994, Langdale et al., 1991). As cover crops reduce soil nitrate-N accumulation they can also substantially reduce nitrogen leaching (Constantin et al., 2015, Valkama et al., 2015). One unique application is the use of catch crops; a non-harvested cover crop with the primary function being control of leaching (Thorup-Kristensen et al., 2003). Another well known effect of cover crops is their function as green manure for the subsequent commercial crop in some cases through the introduction of nitrogen to the agroecosystem by atmospheric fixation (Fageria et al., 2005, Li et al., 2015) or by increasing the mineralization from cover crop residues during the grain crop growing cycle (Thorup-Kristensen et al., 2003). This results in a nitrogen credit for the commercial crop (Fageria et al., 2005, Ketterings et al., 2015) and a positive feedback on yield (Fageria et al., 2005, Miguez and Bollero, 2005, Sainju and Singh, 1997). Weed control is another possible benefit of cover crop use (Cherr et al., 2006, Harrwing and Ulrich Ammon, 2002). These positive environmental and agronomic effects of cover crops can offset the cost of its seeding (Reeves, 1994, Snapp et al., 2005).

The introduction of cover crops in rotations can bring along some other desired or undesired effects in agroecosystems. The soil physical status may be improved by cover crops but conflicting results have been reported in different experiments. Soil organic carbon commonly increases some years after the introduction of cover crops (Poeplau and Don, 2015) and this may be related to the improved structural condition of some soils under cover crop treatment (Fageria et al., 2005, Harrwing and Ulrich Ammon, 2002). In some experiments, however, no structural improvement was reported (Mendes et al., 1999). Bulk density was minimally impacted by cover crops (Hubbard et al., 2013, Zhu et al., 2012) or it did not differ significantly in comparison to soils with fallow periods (Chen et al., 2014, Hubbard et al., 2013). Soil penetration resistance may decrease (Folorunso et al., 1992) or not be affected (Chen et al., 2014) by cover crop cultivation. Similarly, controversial data were published on the impact of cover crops on infiltration, with increases in some situations (Lal et al., 1978) or no effects in others (Steele et al., 2012). In low rainfall areas (<800 mm annual rainfall) cover crops can lead to soil water depletion reducing commercial crop yield (Blanco-Canqui et al., 2015, Reeves, 1994). Consequently, cover crops are multifunctional crops with multiple impacts on ecosystem services (Blanco-Canqui et al., 2015) and their adoption must be decided based on an overall evaluation of their advantages and disadvantages.

Modern meta-analytic techniques were developed for averaging means across different studies with heterogeneous variation and to permit a sound statistical comparison (Hedges and Olkin, 1985). These techniques are currently replacing review papers from which average effect size cannot be summarized. Some meta-analysis on the impact of cover crops on soil carbon (Poeplau and Don, 2015), nitrates (Tonitto et al., 2006) and grain crop yield, mainly corn (Zea mays (L.)) (Miguez and Bollero, 2005) were performed. In these studies results generated mainly in experiments carried out in the Northern Hemisphere and under temperate climate conditions were used. Other effects of cover crops on the agroecosystems have not been assessed yet by meta-analysis.

The Argentine Pampa is a vast plain of ca. 60 Mha which has been considered one of the main grain crop production areas of the world because of its extension and yield potential (Satorre and Slafer, 1999). This region is distinct from other important agricultural areas because of its warm-temperate climate and extensive use of soybean in crop rotations. Winter cover crops are being adopted by farmers gradually and many experiments were performed by official institutions to evaluate their suitability as a common production practice. A first attempt to analyze part of the available information reported a great increase in soil organic carbon when a fallow was replaced by cover crops (>5 t C ha⁻¹ equivalent to ca. 15% increase of carbon content in the 0–20 cm layer), with no clear effect on soil water content and no impact on summer crop yields (Rimski-Korsakov et al., 2015). Our aim was to perform a meta-analysis of available information on winter cover crop effects on physical and chemical soil properties, soil available water content and soybean and corn yield in order to generate possible management recommendations based on an overall evaluation of the impact of this type of crops on local agroecosystems.

Section snippets

Study area

The Argentine Pampa is located between 28°S and 40°S and 57°W and 68°W. Around 90% of the grain produced in the country originates in this region. The natural predominant vegetation is grassland and natural forests account for about 7% of the surface (INDEC, 2002). Climate is warm-temperate and humid with mean temperature ranging from 14 °C in the south to 23 °C in the north and mean annual rainfall ranging from 500 mm in the west to 1200 mm in the east. The relief is flat or slightly rolling with

Results

The weighting function used for the meta-analysis did not affected results, that were similar using an unweighted meta-analysis or a meta-analysis weighted by replication or by the inverse of the pooled variance.

Soil physical properties generally improved when replacing a fallow period by the inclusion of cover crops. Changes in bulk density were very small with decreases or increases not greater than 0.1 g ml⁻¹. In the 0–5/0–6 cm soil layer, bulk density decreased in 63% of cases and did not

Discussion

The results from our meta-analysis were generally not affected by the weighting method used. When sample size is similar, no great variability between studies is to be expected (Gurevitch and Hedges, 1999) and consequently, different weighting functions can lead to the same conclusion. This was the case in our study. Previous comparisons of different weighting functions in soil science studies arrived to similar results (Hungate et al., 2009, van Groenigen et al., 2011).

Soil bulk density

Acknowledgements

This research was granted by the University of Buenos Aires (UBACYT 20020130100484) and CONICET (PIP 11220130100084CO).

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Cover crop effects on soils and subsequent crops in the pampas: A meta-analysis

Highlights

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Study area

Results

Discussion

Acknowledgements

Geoderma

Soil Till. Res.

Agric. Ecosys. Environ.

Geoderma

Soil till. Res.

Eur. J. Agron.

Soil Technol.

Soil Till. Res.

Soil Till. Res

Soil Till. Res.

Soil till. Res.

Agric. Ecosys. Environ.

Adv Agron

Field Crops Res.

For. Ecol. Manag.

Agric. Ecosys. Environ.

Resampling tests for meta-analysis of ecological data

Ecology

Vicia villosa como cultivo de cobertura en el sur de Santa Fe

Proceedings of XXIV Congreso Argentino de la Ciencia del Suelo

Introducción de cultivos de cobertura en agroecosistemas extensivos de la región central de Córdoba

Dosificación de la fertilización en maíz

Prediction of soil nitrate in depth using nitrate concentration in the upper layer

Comm. Soil Sci. Plant Anal.

Impacto del manejo de cereales de cobertura invernal sobre propiedades edáficas y producción de soja

Proceedings of XXI Congreso Argentino de la Ciencia del Suelo

Cultivos de cobertura: manejo y efectos sobre la nutrición de suelos y cultivos

Proceedings of Simposio Fertilidad 2013: Nutrición de cultivos para la intensificación productiva sustentable

Dinámica de agua en barbechos y cultivos de cobertura en la Región Pampeana

Proceedings of XXIV Congreso Argentino de la Ciencia del Suelo

Rangos de densidad aparente medidos en suelos pampeanos

Proceedings XXIV Congreso Argentino de la Ciencia del Suelo

Fertilizer use in pampean agroecosystems: impact on productivity and nutrient balance

El rol de los fertilizantes en la agricultura

Carbono orgánico

Mejora de propiedades edáficas con inclusión de cultivos de cobertura en agroecosistemas pampeanos

Proceedings of XXV Congreso Argentino de la Ciencia del Suelo

Physical tests for monitoring soil quality

Efecto del rolado de cultivos de cobertura sobre la dinámica de agua y malezas

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Secuencias agrícolas y su efecto en la productividad de soja y propiedades edáficas

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Efecto del centeno sobre los niveles de carbono y nitrógeno del suelo

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Agron. J.

Rendimiento de maíz: Efecto de cultivos de cobertura/abonos verdes en el sudeste bonaerense

Proceedings of XXIV Congreso Argentino de la Ciencia del Suelo

Cultivos de cobertura: Longitud de barbecho y disponibilidad hídrica

Proceedings of XXIV Congreso Argentino de la Ciencia del Suelo

Bases funcionales para el manejo del agua en los sistemas de producción de los cultivos de granos