Soil health explains the yield-stabilizing effects of soil organic matter under drought
Soil organic matter (SOM) serves as an important indicator of soil health. Soils with high SOM are associated with high crop yield under drought conditions. However, a critical question remains unanswered: is the yield-stabilizing effect of SOM attributable to inherent soil properties, such as soil...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Soil & Environmental Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949919423000481 |
| _version_ | 1797346986320461824 |
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| author | Swarnali Mahmood Márcio R. Nunes Daniel A. Kane Yang Lin |
| author_facet | Swarnali Mahmood Márcio R. Nunes Daniel A. Kane Yang Lin |
| author_sort | Swarnali Mahmood |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Soil organic matter (SOM) serves as an important indicator of soil health. Soils with high SOM are associated with high crop yield under drought conditions. However, a critical question remains unanswered: is the yield-stabilizing effect of SOM attributable to inherent soil properties, such as soil texture and taxonomy? Or is it driven by dynamic soil properties that reflect the overall health of the soil? Following the Soil Health Assessment Protocol and Evaluation, we derived a soil health score (SHS; range: 0–1) from the SOM concentration by accounting for site-specific variables, including climate, texture, and soil suborder. Using county-level data of rainfed corn across the U.S. from 2000 to 2016, we found that higher SHS were associated with higher yields. During the most severe drought events, an increase of 0.5 in SHS was associated with a 1.15 ± 0.18 Mg ha−1 increment in corn yield, suggesting that high SHS helps to stabilize yield in drought. Interestingly, smaller but statistically significant effects of SHS on yield were found during less intensive droughts. The SOM concentration was a slightly better predictor of corn yield than the SHS. We also found similar effects of SHS on corn yield across different soil types, i.e., different textures or soil suborders, under severe drought conditions. Our results suggest that soil health is a main factor in explaining the yield benefits of SOM, while the effects of soil health were not driven by differences in soil texture or suborder. We argue that the resilience of corn yield against drought can be potentially increased by adopting agronomic practices aimed at augmenting SOM and improving overall soil health across a broad spectrum of geographical locations and site characteristics. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:40:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fa90d6b44ea34fae91f5b0a66b347a8c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2949-9194 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T11:40:57Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Soil & Environmental Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-fa90d6b44ea34fae91f5b0a66b347a8c2024-01-25T05:25:09ZengElsevierSoil & Environmental Health2949-91942023-12-0114100048Soil health explains the yield-stabilizing effects of soil organic matter under droughtSwarnali Mahmood0Márcio R. Nunes1Daniel A. Kane2Yang Lin3Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Corresponding author.Department of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Global Food Systems Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USATerraCarbon LLC, Peoria, IL 61614, USADepartment of Soil, Water, and Ecosystem Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA; Global Food Systems Institute, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USASoil organic matter (SOM) serves as an important indicator of soil health. Soils with high SOM are associated with high crop yield under drought conditions. However, a critical question remains unanswered: is the yield-stabilizing effect of SOM attributable to inherent soil properties, such as soil texture and taxonomy? Or is it driven by dynamic soil properties that reflect the overall health of the soil? Following the Soil Health Assessment Protocol and Evaluation, we derived a soil health score (SHS; range: 0–1) from the SOM concentration by accounting for site-specific variables, including climate, texture, and soil suborder. Using county-level data of rainfed corn across the U.S. from 2000 to 2016, we found that higher SHS were associated with higher yields. During the most severe drought events, an increase of 0.5 in SHS was associated with a 1.15 ± 0.18 Mg ha−1 increment in corn yield, suggesting that high SHS helps to stabilize yield in drought. Interestingly, smaller but statistically significant effects of SHS on yield were found during less intensive droughts. The SOM concentration was a slightly better predictor of corn yield than the SHS. We also found similar effects of SHS on corn yield across different soil types, i.e., different textures or soil suborders, under severe drought conditions. Our results suggest that soil health is a main factor in explaining the yield benefits of SOM, while the effects of soil health were not driven by differences in soil texture or suborder. We argue that the resilience of corn yield against drought can be potentially increased by adopting agronomic practices aimed at augmenting SOM and improving overall soil health across a broad spectrum of geographical locations and site characteristics.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949919423000481Soil organic carbonDrought resilienceYield modelingSoil health scoreCorn yieldSoil suborders |
| spellingShingle | Swarnali Mahmood Márcio R. Nunes Daniel A. Kane Yang Lin Soil health explains the yield-stabilizing effects of soil organic matter under drought Soil & Environmental Health Soil organic carbon Drought resilience Yield modeling Soil health score Corn yield Soil suborders |
| title | Soil health explains the yield-stabilizing effects of soil organic matter under drought |
| title_full | Soil health explains the yield-stabilizing effects of soil organic matter under drought |
| title_fullStr | Soil health explains the yield-stabilizing effects of soil organic matter under drought |
| title_full_unstemmed | Soil health explains the yield-stabilizing effects of soil organic matter under drought |
| title_short | Soil health explains the yield-stabilizing effects of soil organic matter under drought |
| title_sort | soil health explains the yield stabilizing effects of soil organic matter under drought |
| topic | Soil organic carbon Drought resilience Yield modeling Soil health score Corn yield Soil suborders |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949919423000481 |
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