Abstract
ABSTRACT Can strategic tillage in no‐till help or hinder its benefits of soil organic carbon (SOC) biochemistry and associated functionality? To address this issue, we used three biomarkers—free lipids, lignin phenols, and amino sugars—to quantify SOC characteristics such as composition, lability, and origins, and assessed soil quality and crop yields based on an 8‐year field trial with conventional tillage (CT), no‐till (NT), and strategic tillage (ST) in Northeast China. In the entire 0–30 cm profile, ST raised SOC, lignin phenols, and microbial necromass carbon (MNC) stocks by 21%, 36%, and 24%, respectively, compared to CT, whereas the differences in plant‐derived biomolecules and overall SOC between ST and NT were minimal. Instead, NT exhibited stratified free lipids, showing higher microbial‐, plant‐derived, and total lipids by 28%, 25%, and 33%, respectively, than CT in topsoil. Both NT and ST increased lignin phenols by 36% and 109% in the 0–20 cm layer compared to CT, emphasizing the preserved plant‐derived compounds. ST again displayed higher levels of fungal and total MNC by 28%–43% and 23%–34%, respectively, than CT and NT in sublayers (> 5 cm), indicating the buildup of distinct microbial‐derived compounds. Both ST and NT significantly outperformed CT in terms of soil quality index and corn yields, highlighting their long‐term effectiveness. Collectively, ST could be recommended as a promising option to alleviate the limitations of no‐till farming by accumulating plant and microbial molecules and improving soil quality in a Mollisol.
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Claims 14
Claim · model-written summary
Strategic tillage increased soil organic carbon stocks by 21% over conventional tillage in the 0–30 cm profile.
- Taxon
- corn
Zea mays subsp. mayse1 - Treatment
- STe0
- Outcome
- SOCe0
- Direction
- raisede0
- Value
- 21%e0
- Qualifier
- 0–30 cm profilee0
- Comparator
- CTe0
Not reportedOrgan / stage
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“In the entire 0–30 cm profile, ST raised SOC, lignin phenols, and microbial necromass carbon (MNC) stocks by 21%, 36%, and 24%, respectively, compared to CT”
t0“Crop Productivity”
e1“corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
Strategic tillage increased lignin phenol stocks by 36% over conventional tillage.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Treatment
- STe0
- Outcome
- lignin phenolse0
- Direction
- raisede0
- Value
- 36%e0
- Comparator
- CTe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“In the entire 0–30 cm profile, ST raised SOC, lignin phenols, and microbial necromass carbon (MNC) stocks by 21%, 36%, and 24%, respectively, compared to CT”
t0“Crop Productivity”
e1“corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
Strategic tillage increased microbial necromass carbon stocks by 24% over conventional tillage.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Treatment
- STe0
- Outcome
- microbial necromass carbon (MNC) stockse0
- Direction
- raisede0
- Value
- 24%e0
- Comparator
- CTe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“In the entire 0–30 cm profile, ST raised SOC, lignin phenols, and microbial necromass carbon (MNC) stocks by 21%, 36%, and 24%, respectively, compared to CT”
t0“Crop Productivity”
e1“corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
Strategic and no-till systems had minimal differences in plant-derived biomolecules and overall soil organic carbon.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Treatment
- STe0
- Outcome
- plant‐derived biomolecules and overall SOCe0
- Direction
- minimale0
- Comparator
- NTe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the differences in plant‐derived biomolecules and overall SOC between ST and NT were minimal”
t0“Crop Productivity”
e1“corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
No-till raised microbial-derived topsoil lipids by 28% over conventional tillage.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Treatment
- NTe0
- Outcome
- microbial‐e0
- Direction
- highere0
- Value
- 28%e0
- Qualifier
- topsoile0
- Comparator
- CTe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“NT exhibited stratified free lipids, showing higher microbial‐, plant‐derived, and total lipids by 28%, 25%, and 33%, respectively, than CT in topsoil”
t0“Crop Productivity”
e1“corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
No-till raised plant-derived topsoil lipids by 25% over conventional tillage.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Treatment
- NTe0
- Outcome
- plant‐derivede0
- Direction
- highere0
- Value
- 25%e0
- Qualifier
- topsoile0
- Comparator
- CTe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“NT exhibited stratified free lipids, showing higher microbial‐, plant‐derived, and total lipids by 28%, 25%, and 33%, respectively, than CT in topsoil”
t0“Crop Productivity”
e1“corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
No-till raised total topsoil lipids by 33% over conventional tillage.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Treatment
- NTe0
- Outcome
- total lipidse0
- Direction
- highere0
- Value
- 33%e0
- Qualifier
- topsoile0
- Comparator
- CTe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“NT exhibited stratified free lipids, showing higher microbial‐, plant‐derived, and total lipids by 28%, 25%, and 33%, respectively, than CT in topsoil”
t0“Crop Productivity”
e1“corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
No-till increased lignin phenols by 36% relative to conventional tillage in the 0–20 cm layer.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Treatment
- NTe0
- Outcome
- lignin phenolse0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 36%e0
- Comparator
- CTe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Both NT and ST increased lignin phenols by 36% and 109% in the 0–20 cm layer compared to CT”
t0“Crop Productivity”
e1“corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
Strategic tillage increased lignin phenols by 109% relative to conventional tillage in the 0–20 cm layer.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Treatment
- STe0
- Outcome
- lignin phenolse0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 109%e0
- Comparator
- CTe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Both NT and ST increased lignin phenols by 36% and 109% in the 0–20 cm layer compared to CT”
t0“Crop Productivity”
e1“corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
Strategic tillage had 28%–43% higher fungal microbial necromass carbon than conventional and no-till in sublayers.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Treatment
- STe0
- Outcome
- fungale0
- Direction
- highere0
- Value
- 28%–43%e0
- Comparator
- CT and NTe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“ST again displayed higher levels of fungal and total MNC by 28%–43% and 23%–34%, respectively, than CT and NT in sublayers (> 5 cm)”
t0“Crop Productivity”
e1“corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
Strategic tillage had 23%–34% higher total microbial necromass carbon than conventional and no-till in sublayers.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Treatment
- STe0
- Outcome
- total MNCe0
- Direction
- highere0
- Value
- 23%–34%e0
- Comparator
- CT and NTe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“ST again displayed higher levels of fungal and total MNC by 28%–43% and 23%–34%, respectively, than CT and NT in sublayers (> 5 cm)”
t0“Crop Productivity”
e1“corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
Both strategic tillage and no-till significantly improved the soil quality index compared with conventional tillage.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse0
- Treatment
- ST and NTe0
- Outcome
- soil quality indexe0
- Direction
- outperformede0
- Comparator
- CTe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Both ST and NT significantly outperformed CT in terms of soil quality index and corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
Both strategic tillage and no-till significantly improved corn yields compared with conventional tillage.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse0
- Treatment
- ST and NTe0
- Outcome
- corn yieldse0
- Direction
- outperformede0
- Comparator
- CTe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Both ST and NT significantly outperformed CT in terms of soil quality index and corn yields”
Claim · model-written summary
The authors recommend strategic tillage to improve soil quality and accumulate plant and microbial molecules in Mollisol.
- Taxon
- cornZea mays subsp. mayse1
- Outcome
- STe0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“ST could be recommended as a promising option to alleviate the limitations of no‐till farming by accumulating plant and microbial molecules and improving soil quality in a Mollisol”
t0“Crop Productivity”
e1“corn yields”
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Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.