Soil microbial biomass and carbon dioxide flux under wheat as influenced by tillage and crop rotation

Published source details Lupwayi N. Z., Rice W. A. & Clayton G. W. (1999) Soil microbial biomass and carbon dioxide flux under wheat as influenced by tillage and crop rotation. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 79, 273-280.
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This study is summarised as evidence for the following.

	Action	Category
	Use crop rotation Action Link
	Change tillage practices Action Link

Use crop rotation

A randomized, replicated experiment, established in 1992 on loam/silt-loam soil at Fort Vermilion, Canada (Lupwayi et al. 1999) found higher soil microbial biomass in rotations with legume crops (red clover Trifolium pratense: 593.99 mg/kg soil, field pea Pisum sativum: 448.40 mg/kg soil) compared to fields left fallow (322.68 mg/kg soil) or cropped continuously with wheat Triticum aestivum (432.25 mg/kg soil). The trial treatments were zero tillage and conventional tillage (3-4 mechanical cultivations/year), combined with four different crop rotations: wheat-field peas, wheat-red clover, wheat-summer fallow, or continuous wheat. The trial included three replicate plots of each treatment combination, and 10 soil samples were taken from each plot during wheat cropping and mixed before analysis.
Change tillage practices

This replicated, randomized field trial, established in 1992 on loam – silt-loam soil in Alberta, Canada (Lupwayi et al. 1999) found that management with zero tillage encouraged greater soil microbial biomass (516.36 mg/kg soil), compared with conventional tillage (382.30 mg/kg soil). Rotation with legume crops also enhanced soil microbial biomass (593.99 mg/kg soil (red clover Trifolium pratense), 448.40 mg/kg soil (field pea Pisum sativum)), relative to those left to fallow (322.68 mg/kg soil) or cropped continuously (432.25 mg/kg soil). The trial treatments were zero tillage and conventional tillage (3-4 mechanical cultivations per year), combined with four different crop rotations preceding the wheat Triticum aestivum crop planted prior to sampling between 1995 and 1997: field peas, red clover, summer fallow, or continuous wheat. The trial included three replicate plots of each treatment combination, and 10 soil samples were taken from each plot and mixed before analysis.