Abstract
Abstract Perennial crops are thought as a solution for enhancing food security and providing ecosystem services under a changing climate, including forage‐biomass production, reduced erosion and nutrient leaching, and soil C accumulation. However, the drivers of root decomposition and C allocation in perennial multifunctional forage‐biomass buffer‐strips as affected by fertility management are poorly elucidated. Thus, study objectives were to assess root decomposition and soil CO 2 efflux on switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.), eastern gamagrass ( Tripsacum dactyloides L.), silphium ( Silphium integrifolium Michx.), and intermediate wheatgrass Kernza ( Thinopyrum intermedium [Host] Barkworth & D.R. Dewey) treated with poultry litter (PL) relative to the unfertilized control. Root mass loss was greatest for silphium, owing to low neutral and acid detergent fibers and lignin contents (6%) relative to the other species (16%–25%). Root‐C loss was the greatest for intermediate wheatgrass (IW), mostly driven by hemicellulose degradation. Low root mass, surface area, and volume likely enhanced root decomposition for silphium and IW. Root mass loss and C, N, and P mineralization for novel perennial buffer‐strip species were greater in PL plots. Soil organic C stocks were mostly similar across forage‐biomass species × amendment combinations. Silphium‐PL had 27%–50% greater SOC stocks after 4 years, owing to higher root sloughing and C inputs to soil. Root decomposition rates were primarily affected by root chemical composition and morphology, while soil CO 2 efflux was driven by soil moisture and temperature. Greater root sloughing, C inputs, and nutrient cycling showcase the potential for C storage and multiple purposes of novel perennial buffer‐strips.
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Claims 9
Claim · model-written summary
Silphium had greatest root mass loss.
- Outcome
- Root mass losse0
- Direction
- greateste0
- Qualifier
- low neutral and acid detergent fibers and lignin contentse0
SilphiumOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Root mass loss was greatest for silphium, owing to low neutral and acid detergent fibers and lignin contents (6%) relative to the other species (16%–25%)”
Claim · model-written summary
Intermediate wheatgrass had greatest root carbon loss.
Verbatim
e0“Root‐C loss was the greatest for intermediate wheatgrass (IW), mostly driven by hemicellulose degradation”
Claim · model-written summary
Low root mass, area and volume likely enhanced decomposition of silphium and intermediate wheatgrass.
Verbatim
e0“Low root mass, surface area, and volume likely enhanced root decomposition for silphium and IW”
Claim · model-written summary
Poultry litter plots had greater root mass loss.
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Root mass loss and C, N, and P mineralization for novel perennial buffer‐strip species were greater in PL plots”
Claim · model-written summary
Poultry litter plots had greater C, N and P mineralization.
- Taxon
- novel perennial buffer‐strip speciese0
- Treatment
- PLe0
- Outcome
- C, N, and P mineralizatione0
- Direction
- greatere0
Not reportedComparator
Verbatim
e0“Root mass loss and C, N, and P mineralization for novel perennial buffer‐strip species were greater in PL plots”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil organic carbon stocks were mostly similar across species and amendments.
Verbatim
e0“Soil organic C stocks were mostly similar across forage‐biomass species × amendment combinations”
Claim · model-written summary
Silphium with poultry litter had 27% to 50% greater soil organic carbon stocks after four years.
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Silphium‐PL had 27%–50% greater SOC stocks after 4 years, owing to higher root sloughing and C inputs to soil”
Claim · model-written summary
Root chemistry and morphology primarily affected decomposition rates.
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
e0“Root decomposition rates were primarily affected by root chemical composition and morphology”
e1“Soil organic C stocks were mostly similar across forage‐biomass species × amendment combinations”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil moisture and temperature drove soil carbon dioxide efflux.
Not reportedDirection
Verbatim
e0“soil CO 2 efflux was driven by soil moisture and temperature”
e1“Soil organic C stocks were mostly similar across forage‐biomass species × amendment combinations”