Crop rotation and tillage impact on carbon sequestration in Canadian prairie soils

Carbon sequestration was determined for different tillage systems in semiarid to sub-humid climates and coarse to fine-soil texture in Saskatchewan, Canada. Annually cropped rotations sequestered 27–430 kg C ha −1 per year more than crop rotations containing bare fallow. The potential for sequesteri...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soil & tillage research 2003-11, Vol.74 (1), p.81-90
Main Authors: McConkey, B.G, Liang, B.C, Campbell, C.A, Curtin, D, Moulin, A, Brandt, S.A, Lafond, G.P
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions
Biological and medical sciences
C sequestration
Crop rotation
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General agroecology
General agroecology. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development. Rural area planning. Landscaping
General agronomy. Plant production
Generalities. Agricultural and farming systems. Agricultural development
Soil texture
Tillage
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Summary:Carbon sequestration was determined for different tillage systems in semiarid to sub-humid climates and coarse to fine-soil texture in Saskatchewan, Canada. Annually cropped rotations sequestered 27–430 kg C ha −1 per year more than crop rotations containing bare fallow. The potential for sequestering soil organic C (SOC) with crop rotations without bare fallow was greater in the sub-humid than in the drier climates. No-tillage (NT) sequestered 67–512 kg C ha −1 per year more than tilled systems. With elimination of both tillage and bare fallow, the SOC increase was approximately 300 kg C ha −1 per year in the semiarid climate regardless of soil texture, and approximately 800 kg C ha −1 per year in the sub-humid climate. Relative annual increase in SOC under no-till was approximately a linear function of clay content across locations. Fine-textured soils have a greater potential for gains in SOC under no-till in Canadian prairie region.
ISSN:0167-1987
1879-3444
DOI:10.1016/S0167-1987(03)00121-1