Short-Term Mineralization of Belowground Biomass of Perennial Biomass Crops after Reversion to Arable Land
Little is known about the effect of perennial biomass crops (PBCs) removal on soil C dynamics. The belowground biomass (BGB) that is composed by plant belowground organs (PBO) such as rhizomes in the herbaceous PBCs and stumps in woody PBCs should be considered, together with fine roots (FR), as a h...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-02-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/2/485 |
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| author | Andrea Ferrarini Enrico Martani Claudio Mondini Flavio Fornasier Stefano Amaducci |
| author_facet | Andrea Ferrarini Enrico Martani Claudio Mondini Flavio Fornasier Stefano Amaducci |
| author_sort | Andrea Ferrarini |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Little is known about the effect of perennial biomass crops (PBCs) removal on soil C dynamics. The belowground biomass (BGB) that is composed by plant belowground organs (PBO) such as rhizomes in the herbaceous PBCs and stumps in woody PBCs should be considered, together with fine roots (FR), as a huge input of exogenous organic matter (EOM) that is incorporated into the soil at the reversion. In this study, we mimic the incorporation of BGB of PBCs through a soil-residues incubation under controlled conditions to investigate the effects of adding FR and PBO (at real field rates) on soil C and N mineralization dynamics, and to understand decomposition controlling factors. A modified RothC model version, encompassing a better description of decomposable (DEOM) and resistant (REOM) pools, was fitted to C mineralization curves of respiration measured by CO<sub>2</sub> evolution in incubated soil to quantify partitioning factors and decomposition rates of PBCs BGB components. After 1 month, PBO showed higher mineralization rates (498 µg CO<sub>2</sub>-C g<sub>soil</sub><sup>−1</sup>) than FR (196 µg CO<sub>2</sub>-C g<sub>soil</sub><sup>−1</sup>), with black locust having the highest amount of C respired (38% of added C). The emission peak occurred within 3 days from the beginning of the experiment for PBO and after 1 day for FR. Generally, according to the modified version of RothC model, PBO had higher proportion of REOM than FR, except for black locust. The decomposition constant rates from the optimized RothC model were higher for PBO (<i>k</i><sub>DEOM</sub>: 20.9 y<sup>−1</sup>, <i>k</i><sub>REOM</sub>: 12.1 y<sup>−1</sup>) than FR (<i>k</i><sub>DEOM</sub>: 0.4 y<sup>−1</sup>, <i>k</i><sub>REOM</sub>: 0.1 y<sup>−1</sup>), indicating that FR are less decomposable than PBO. The C/N ratio is not the main controlling factor of decomposition when residue N is not a limiting factor, while the availability of easily decomposable substrates (DEOM/REOM ratio) and cell-wall composition decomposition is a strong predictor of C and N mineralization of these EOM types. The explicit inclusion of crop-specific DEOM/REOM ratios within RothC or a similar soil C model will help to improve the predictions of long-term C sequestration trajectories (half-life > 30 years) associated with PBCs cultivation, especially when dismission of such perennial cropping systems is addressed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:49:53Z |
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| id | doaj.art-f2375db2dee7411286c029f53d858faf |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T22:49:53Z |
| publishDate | 2022-02-01 |
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| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj.art-f2375db2dee7411286c029f53d858faf2023-11-23T18:22:51ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952022-02-0112248510.3390/agronomy12020485Short-Term Mineralization of Belowground Biomass of Perennial Biomass Crops after Reversion to Arable LandAndrea Ferrarini0Enrico Martani1Claudio Mondini2Flavio Fornasier3Stefano Amaducci4Department of Sustainable Crop Production, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense, 84, 29122 Piacenza, ItalyDepartment of Sustainable Crop Production, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense, 84, 29122 Piacenza, ItalyCREA—Centro di Ricerca Viticoltura ed Enologia, Via Trieste 23, 34170 Gorizia, ItalyCREA—Centro di Ricerca Viticoltura ed Enologia, Via Trieste 23, 34170 Gorizia, ItalyDepartment of Sustainable Crop Production, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense, 84, 29122 Piacenza, ItalyLittle is known about the effect of perennial biomass crops (PBCs) removal on soil C dynamics. The belowground biomass (BGB) that is composed by plant belowground organs (PBO) such as rhizomes in the herbaceous PBCs and stumps in woody PBCs should be considered, together with fine roots (FR), as a huge input of exogenous organic matter (EOM) that is incorporated into the soil at the reversion. In this study, we mimic the incorporation of BGB of PBCs through a soil-residues incubation under controlled conditions to investigate the effects of adding FR and PBO (at real field rates) on soil C and N mineralization dynamics, and to understand decomposition controlling factors. A modified RothC model version, encompassing a better description of decomposable (DEOM) and resistant (REOM) pools, was fitted to C mineralization curves of respiration measured by CO<sub>2</sub> evolution in incubated soil to quantify partitioning factors and decomposition rates of PBCs BGB components. After 1 month, PBO showed higher mineralization rates (498 µg CO<sub>2</sub>-C g<sub>soil</sub><sup>−1</sup>) than FR (196 µg CO<sub>2</sub>-C g<sub>soil</sub><sup>−1</sup>), with black locust having the highest amount of C respired (38% of added C). The emission peak occurred within 3 days from the beginning of the experiment for PBO and after 1 day for FR. Generally, according to the modified version of RothC model, PBO had higher proportion of REOM than FR, except for black locust. The decomposition constant rates from the optimized RothC model were higher for PBO (<i>k</i><sub>DEOM</sub>: 20.9 y<sup>−1</sup>, <i>k</i><sub>REOM</sub>: 12.1 y<sup>−1</sup>) than FR (<i>k</i><sub>DEOM</sub>: 0.4 y<sup>−1</sup>, <i>k</i><sub>REOM</sub>: 0.1 y<sup>−1</sup>), indicating that FR are less decomposable than PBO. The C/N ratio is not the main controlling factor of decomposition when residue N is not a limiting factor, while the availability of easily decomposable substrates (DEOM/REOM ratio) and cell-wall composition decomposition is a strong predictor of C and N mineralization of these EOM types. The explicit inclusion of crop-specific DEOM/REOM ratios within RothC or a similar soil C model will help to improve the predictions of long-term C sequestration trajectories (half-life > 30 years) associated with PBCs cultivation, especially when dismission of such perennial cropping systems is addressed.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/2/485perennial biomass cropsreversionbelowground biomassorganic matter additioncrop residues mineralizationsoil C sequestration |
| spellingShingle | Andrea Ferrarini Enrico Martani Claudio Mondini Flavio Fornasier Stefano Amaducci Short-Term Mineralization of Belowground Biomass of Perennial Biomass Crops after Reversion to Arable Land Agronomy perennial biomass crops reversion belowground biomass organic matter addition crop residues mineralization soil C sequestration |
| title | Short-Term Mineralization of Belowground Biomass of Perennial Biomass Crops after Reversion to Arable Land |
| title_full | Short-Term Mineralization of Belowground Biomass of Perennial Biomass Crops after Reversion to Arable Land |
| title_fullStr | Short-Term Mineralization of Belowground Biomass of Perennial Biomass Crops after Reversion to Arable Land |
| title_full_unstemmed | Short-Term Mineralization of Belowground Biomass of Perennial Biomass Crops after Reversion to Arable Land |
| title_short | Short-Term Mineralization of Belowground Biomass of Perennial Biomass Crops after Reversion to Arable Land |
| title_sort | short term mineralization of belowground biomass of perennial biomass crops after reversion to arable land |
| topic | perennial biomass crops reversion belowground biomass organic matter addition crop residues mineralization soil C sequestration |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/12/2/485 |
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