Resumen de Soil carbon sequestration and stocks: short-term impact of maize succession to cover crops in Southern Brazil Inceptisol
Jorge L. Locatelli, Felipe Bratti, Ricardo Henrique Ribeiro, Marcos Renan Besen, Eduardo Brancaleoni, Jonatas Thiago Piva
Aim of study: To evaluate soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration and stock over the succession of maize to winter cover crops under a short-term no-tillage system.Area of study: A subtropical area in Southern Brazil.Material and methods: The experiment was implemented in 2013. The treatments were: seven winter cover crops single cultivated (white-oats, black-oats, annual-ryegrass, canola, vetch, fodder-radish and red-clover); an intercropping (black-oats + vetch); and a fallow, with maize in succession. Soil samples were collected after four years of experimentation, up to 0.60 m depth, for SOC determination.Main results: SOC stocks at 0-0.6 m depth ranged from 96.2 to 107.8 t/ha. The SOC stocks (0-0.60 m depth) were higher under vetch and black-oats, with an expressive increase of 23 and 20% for C stocks in the 0.45-0.60 m layer, compared to fallow. Thus, SOC sequestration rates (0-0.60 m depth), with vetch and black oats, were 1.68 and 0.93 t/ha·yr, respectively.Research highlights: The establishment of a high-quality and high C input cover crops in the winter, as vetch or black-oats in succession to maize, are able to increase SOC stocks, even in the short term.
