Reduced tillage and increasing cropping intensity in the Great Plains conserves soil C

Concern about soil organic matter losses as a result of cultivation has been voiced consistently since the early part of the 20th century. Scientists working in the US. Great Plains recognized that organic matter losses from an already small pool could have major negative consequences on soil physical properties and N supplying capacity. The advent of reduced- and no-till systems has greatly improved our ability to capture and retain precipitation in the soil during the non-crop periods of the cropping cycle, and has made it possible to reduce fallow frequency and intensify cropping systems. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the effects of reduced tillage and cropping system intensification on C storage in soils using data from experiments in North Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, and Texas. Decades of farming with the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)–fallow system, the dominant farming system in the Great Plains, have accentuated soil C losses. More intensive cropping systems, made possible by the greater water conservation associated with no-till practices, have produced more grain, produced more crop residue and allowed more of it to remain on the soil surface. Combined with less soil disturbance in reduced- and no-till systems, intensive cropping has increased C storage in the soil. We also conclude that the effects of cropping system intensification on soil C should not be investigated independent of residue C still on the surface. There are many unknowns regarding how rapidly changes in soil C will occur when tillage and cropping systems are changed, but the data summarized in this paper indicate that in the surface 2.5 cm of soil, changes can be detected within 10 years. It is imperative that we continue long-term experiments to evaluate rates of change over an extended period. It is also apparent that we should include residue C, both on the surface of the soil and within the surface 2.5 cm, in our system C budgets if we are to accurately depict residue–soil C system status. The accounting of soil C must be done on a mass basis rather than on a concentration basis.