Claim · model-written summary
Root biomass on the ley soil was reduced by more than 70%.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivumt0 - Treatment
- the ley soile0
- Outcome
- root biomasse0
- Direction
- reductione0
- Value
- > 70 %e0
Not reportedMaterialGeneCompoundOrgan / stageInteractorInteractor roleSecond interactorSecond interactor roleComparatorSettingQualifier
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wheat”
e0“Yields on the ley soil (3.74 t ha −1 ) were 77 % −123 % higher than on ploughed and disc cultivated soils, and unaffected by genotype or drought, despite its > 70 % reduction in root biomass”
Title
Nichola Austen; Elizabeth Short; Stefanie Tille; et al. Soil and Tillage Research 2026. doi:10.1016/j.still.2025.107016
Other claims from this paper (13)
- Observation The ley soil had lower bulk density than the ploughed and disc cultivated soils.
- Observation The ley soil stored more water.
- Observation The taller wheat genotype maintained an 8-fold higher proportion of water-stable macroaggregates in ley soil.
- Observation The taller wheat genotype had a smaller root biomass despite its higher macroaggregate proportion.
- Intervention effect Wheat yields on the ley soil (3.74 t ha−1) were 77-123% higher than on ploughed and disc cultivated soils.
- Intervention effect Yields on the ley soil were unaffected by genotype or drought.
- Observation Of the 14C initially retained in wheat, 72% was in shoots.
- Observation Root allocation of 14C decreased by 75-90% in droughted ley soil.
- Observation At harvest the soil retained less than 1% of the 14C.
- Observation Soil 14C retention was significantly lower for the taller wheat and for the ley.
- Association The better macroaggregation of taller wheat in ley soil was not explained by root biomass or photosynthate allocation.
- Intervention effect Taller wheat unexpectedly failed to increase soil 14C sequestration.
- Intervention effect There was no evidence that ley regeneration of macroaggregation enhances soil C sequestration under wheat, despite higher yields.