Abstract
Regenerative agriculture practices including leys and no-tillage facilitate biological reassembly of soil aggregates, increasing water, carbon and nutrient storage, but how this effects crop biomass, photosynthate partitioning, and drought resilience is unclear. To address this, we took monoliths growing semi-dwarf and taller wheat genotypes from 3-year plots that were ploughed or disc cultivated, or direct-drilled into a grass-clover ley and applied 35 kg N ha −1 . Half the monoliths received a spring drought, then all were watered and the wheat 14 CO 2 pulse-labelled at stem elongation. The ley soil had lower bulk density, stored more water, and the taller wheat genotype maintained 8-fold higher proportion of water-stable macroaggregates despite unexpectedly having the smaller root biomass. 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. Of the 14 C initially retained in wheat, 72 % was in shoots, with root allocation decreasing by 75–90 % in droughted ley soil, and at harvest soil retained < 1 % of the 14 C, with significantly lower values for taller wheat, and ley. We conclude that soil health regeneration in the ley enhanced wheat yields, but reduced photosynthate allocation to root biomass under drought. Although taller wheat maintained better macroaggregation in ley soil, this was not explained by root biomass or photosynthate allocation and unexpectedly failed to increase soil 14 C sequestration. We find no evidence that ley regeneration of macroaggregation enhances soil C sequestration under wheat, despite higher yields.
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Claims 14
Claim · model-written summary
The ley soil had lower bulk density than the ploughed and disc cultivated soils.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivumt0 - Treatment
- ley soile0
- Outcome
- bulk densitye0
- Direction
- lowere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wheat”
e0“The ley soil had lower bulk density”
Claim · model-written summary
The ley soil stored more water.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- stored more watere0
- Direction
- moree0
Not reportedTreatment
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wheat”
e0“stored more water”
Claim · model-written summary
The taller wheat genotype maintained an 8-fold higher proportion of water-stable macroaggregates in ley soil.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Material
- the taller wheat genotypee0
- Outcome
- proportion of water-stable macroaggregatese0
- Direction
- highere0
- Value
- 8-folde0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wheat”
e0“the taller wheat genotype maintained 8-fold higher proportion of water-stable macroaggregates”
Claim · model-written summary
The taller wheat genotype had a smaller root biomass despite its higher macroaggregate proportion.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Material
- the taller wheat genotypee0
- Outcome
- root biomasse0
- Direction
- smallere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wheat”
e0“the taller wheat genotype maintained 8-fold higher proportion of water-stable macroaggregates despite unexpectedly having the smaller root biomass”
Claim · model-written summary
Wheat yields on the ley soil (3.74 t ha−1) were 77-123% higher than on ploughed and disc cultivated soils.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- the ley soile0
- Outcome
- Yieldse0
- Direction
- highere0
- Value
- 77 % −123 %e0
- Comparator
- ploughed and disc cultivated soilse0
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”
Claim · model-written summary
Yields on the ley soil were unaffected by genotype or drought.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- genotype or droughte0
- Outcome
- Yieldse0
- Direction
- unaffectede0
Not reportedComparator
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”
Claim · model-written summary
Root biomass on the ley soil was reduced by more than 70%.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- the ley soile0
- Outcome
- root biomasse0
- Direction
- reductione0
- Value
- > 70 %e0
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”
Claim · model-written summary
Of the 14C initially retained in wheat, 72% was in shoots.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume0
- Organ / stage
- shootse0
- Outcome
- 14 C initially retained in wheate0
- Value
- 72 %e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wheat”
e0“Of the 14 C initially retained in wheat, 72 % was in shoots”
Claim · model-written summary
Root allocation of 14C decreased by 75-90% in droughted ley soil.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- droughted ley soile0
- Outcome
- root allocatione0
- Direction
- decreasinge0
- Value
- 75–90 %e0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wheat”
e0“root allocation decreasing by 75–90 % in droughted ley soil”
Claim · model-written summary
At harvest the soil retained less than 1% of the 14C.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- soil retainede0
- Value
- < 1 %e0
- Qualifier
- at harveste0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wheat”
e0“at harvest soil retained < 1 % of the 14 C”
Claim · model-written summary
Soil 14C retention was significantly lower for the taller wheat and for the ley.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Material
- taller wheate0
- Treatment
- leye0
- Outcome
- lower valuese0
- Direction
- lowere0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wheat”
e0“with significantly lower values for taller wheat, and ley”
Claim · model-written summary
The better macroaggregation of taller wheat in ley soil was not explained by root biomass or photosynthate allocation.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Material
- taller wheate0
- Outcome
- macroaggregatione0
- Qualifier
- not explained by root biomass or photosynthate allocatione0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wheat”
e0“Although taller wheat maintained better macroaggregation in ley soil, this was not explained by root biomass or photosynthate allocation”
Claim · model-written summary
Taller wheat unexpectedly failed to increase soil 14C sequestration.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- soil 14 C sequestratione0
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede0
Not reportedMaterialTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wheat”
e0“unexpectedly failed to increase soil 14 C sequestration”
Claim · model-written summary
There was no evidence that ley regeneration of macroaggregation enhances soil C sequestration under wheat, despite higher yields.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivume0
- Treatment
- ley regeneration of macroaggregatione0
- Outcome
- soil C sequestratione0
- Direction
- no_changeinferrede0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“wheat”
e0“no evidence that ley regeneration of macroaggregation enhances soil C sequestration under wheat”
The same questions in other papers
drought · yield · Triticum aestivum (wheat)Positive and negative results
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