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Inadequate soil management such as excessive ploughing is one of the main problems affecting the sustainability of agroecosystems and may exacerbate problems in acid soils. The application of Ca-amendments to ameliorate acid soils and no tillage practices to recover degraded soils are common management strategies. However, few studies have focused on their interactive effects under conditions of variable rainfall. In this study, we assessed the changes in soil properties over a period of seven years in response to no tillage (NT) and tillage, with or without the application of a Ca-amendment (sugar beet foam and red gypsum). Our split-plot experiment, which started in 2005 was carried out in a degraded Palexerult in Southwestern Spain with an annual rainfed forage crop. The Ca-amendment increased soil pH, Ca content and ameliorated Al-toxicity down to a depth of 50 cm, even under NT, due to the relatively high solubility of the amendment. However, after seven years of experiment, soil organic matter variables were enhanced only to a soil depth of 0–5 cm: NT and the Ca-amendment increased total organic carbon by 31% and 25%, respectively, whereas particulate organic carbon was increased to a larger extent (by a factor of 2.5 and 2, respectively). The positive effect of NT on organic matter variables increased with time, whereas the beneficial effect of the Ca-amendment was stronger in the early years of the experiment. Adverse weather conditions, with either excessive precipitation in autumn-winter or scarce precipitation in spring, favoured biomass production under NT. Given that NT mitigated the adverse effects of both water excess and deficit on biomass, it constitutes a valuable tool to combine with Ca-amendment to maintain crop productivity and recover degraded acid soils. This is especially the case under the changing weather conditions of a Mediterranean climate or other climates with increasing occurrences of periods of drought and/or water excess. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The physical protection and stabilization of soil organic carbon in soil aggregates are important processes for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration. Compared with temperate soils, the relationships between management practices, soil aggregation and soil organic matter (SOM) are not well understood in subtropical and tropical soils. The objectives of this study were to assess the influence of tillage system and Ca-amendment on the size distribution of soil aggregates and aggregate-associated organic C and N, as well as to contribute to the understanding of the role of soil organic matter in the aggregation process in a soil with tropical mineralogical characteristics. Our study was conducted on an annual forage agrosystem with a degraded Palexerult soil in SW Spain with mineralogical and morphological characteristics inherited from a pre-Quaternary humid-subtropical climate. The experiment had a split-plot design with tillage (no-tillage vs. traditional tillage) as the main factor and with or without Ca-amendment as the second factor. Aggregate size distribution was dominated by microaggregates (0.053–0.250 mm). Compared with tilled plots, after six years, no-tillage increased the macroaggregates (>0.250 mm) to a depth of 10 cm by about 40%. The relatively low clay content of the surface soil may explain the strong impact of tillage on macroaggregation and the relatively slow recovery after the adoption of no-tillage. In contrast to the tillage system, the Ca-amendment barely influenced aggregation parameters. No-tillage also favored accumulation of organic C and N in all aggregate fractions but no size preference between macro- and microaggregates was observed while Ca-amendment enhanced accumulation only in large macroaggregates. Our results indicate an aggregation hierarchy in these kaolinitic soils, as well as an important role of SOM in enhancing soil aggregation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Mediterranean regions, the performance of conservation tillage under water-deficit conditions has been widely reported, but conversely there exists a lack of studies investigating its effects during periods of water excess, which are common in these regions between fall and spring. Our experiment was established in 2005 on a degraded Palexerult from a raña, a continental detritic formation, of western Spain to study the influence of soil tillage and Ca amendments on soil quality. During high precipitation periods, perched water tables can be formed in very flat raña surfaces with the upper limit close to soil surface due to the presence of Bt horizons with low permeability. In the 2010–2011 and 2012–2013 campaigns, when perched water tables developed very close to the soil surface between November and March, we studied the effects of no tillage (NT) vs. tillage (T) on selected soil hydraulic properties in the 0–5 cm soil layer and on crop yield. We observed the lowest bulk density and the highest soil organic matter content (SOM) for this soil layer under NT. As a result of the higher SOM content and higher total porosity as well as the potential to preserve soil biopores under NT, water content at saturation (SAT), plant-available water capacity (AWC), water infiltration and saturated hydraulic conductivity were also higher in the NT plots compared with those under T. During wet periods, the degree of water saturation ( S r ) under T was higher, and sometimes close to saturation. Crop development and yield were strongly affected by near-saturation conditions in the 0–5 cm surface layer, resulting in substantial yield losses under T. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Combining no-tillage with a Ca-amendment was the best practice in acid degraded soils. [•] In some cases tillage suppressed the positive effects of liming. [•] Carbon and glomalin-related soil proteins seem to play a role in the alleviation of Al toxicity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ca-amendments are commonly applied to improve acid soils, whilst no-tillage (NT) has been widely recommended in soils where conventional tillage (CT) has led to losses of organic matter. However, the potential interactions between the two treatments are only partially known. Our study was conducted on a degraded soil located in SW Spain, in order to assess if the combination of Ca-amendment plus crop-tillage provides long term soil amelioration on microbial activity. To this end the effects of four different combinations of Ca-amendment and crop-tillage on selected key soil microbial properties were analyzed. The experimental design was a split-plot with four replicates. The main factor was the application or not of a Ca-amendment, sugar foam (SF) and control (C), and the second factor was crop-tillage, no tilled improved pasture (no tilled-IP) and conventional tillage forage crop (tilled-FC). Soil samples were collected from 2 soil depths after 7 years since the first SF application and after 1 year from a repeated SF application. The use of the Ca-amendment meant a higher pH although this effect was not found in the combination Ca-amendment plus no-tilled. Total organic carbon (TOC) was highly influenced by tillage, being higher for no tilled plots. The interaction found between tillage and amendment suggested that the beneficial effect of the Ca-amendment on organic carbon is lost after tillage practices. A positive effect on microbial biomass carbon (MBC) was found after a second SF application for the no tilled plots in the upper layer however the effect was opposite in the deepest layer where no differences in TOC were found. After a year from a repeated SF application, a clear positive effect of no-tilled was observed on β-glucosidase, β-glucosaminidase and urease activities at the superficial layer. This fact was not found in these enzymatic activities when the amendment application effect was studied but an interaction between tillage and amendment showed that the Ca-amendment plus no-tilled combination was the most favorable option to increase the activities of these enzymes. Values of dehydrogenase were higher in amended plots than in control for both soil depths regardless of the sampling date, showing a pH effect on its activity. From our findings, no tillage plus a Ca-amendment appears to be the most suitable choice for ensuring suitable production, through the accumulation of soil organic matter (SOM) and the improvement of biological properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]