Driving factors of soil carbon accumulation in Oxisols in long-term no-till systems of South Brazil.

ABSTRACT

In a climate change scenario, it is important to understand the factors that lead to changes in a soil carbon (C) sink. It is recognized that such process is highly dependent on climate, soil properties, topography, and vegetation. However, few studies demonstrate how these mechanisms operate in highly weathered Oxisols. Therefore, this study evaluated the driving factors for C recovery and accumulation and its relations with fertility attributes in the soil profile (0 to 1m depth) in no-till (NT) croplands of south Brazil. The adoption of NT in the studied fields started between 1978 (pioneer areas) and 1990 and represent a range of textural and mineralogical characteristics South Brazil main croplands. Soil samples were collected in paired fields of native vegetation and NT (NV vs. long-term NT) to a depth of 1m. The studied NT areas of Rio Grande do Sul State were managed according to the principles of conservation agriculture (minimum soil disturbance, permanent soil cover and diverse crop rotation). The processes that drove SOC recovery in the studied sites were soil fertility management allied with high C input through intense crop rotation. The C recovery was were for areas with the predominance of soybean in the cropping system, higher levels of Al3+ and lower levels of Mg2+ and P. Sites with medium/high cropping intensity, lower levels of Al3+ and higher levels of P, Ca2+, Mg2+, and K+ resulted in higher C recovery.