Abstract
Cover crops have potential to increase net ecosystem C balance (NECB) and subsequent accrual of soil organic C (SOC) by lengthening the growing season in annual agriculture. By measuring net primary productivity (NPP) and C lost to harvest and heterotrophic respiration (R h ), our objective was to evaluate NECB of annual (winter rye, Secale cereale L.) and perennial (Kentucky bluegrass, Poa pratensis L.) cover crops compared to no cover crop control in continuous maize (Zea mays L.) harvested for either grain or silage. There was no effect of cover crop on NECB, but grain maize NECB was greater than silage (32 vs. −433 g C m –2 ), indicating greater SOC sink when maize residue was retained. Rye was more productive in silage (147 g C m –2 ) compared to grain (32 g C m –2 ). Rye increased total belowground NPP in silage maize (rye: 326, no cover: 275, bluegrass: 268 g C m –2 ) but bluegrass decreased aboveground NPP in grain (rye: 1079, no cover: 1179, bluegrass: 1026 g C m –2 ) and silage (rye: 1037, no cover: 1025, bluegrass: 864 g C m –2 ). Yield was lower under bluegrass (781 g C m –2 ) than no cover (962 g C m –2 ) in silage. Losses of C to R h varied by year, but not by harvest or cover crop. While cover crops may provide multiple benefits to farmers and society, their capacity to directly increase SOC may be low.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 30-38 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Agronomy Journal |
| Volume | 111 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 1 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The authors are grateful to Gary Oates, Gregg Sanford, Alex Butz, Mark Walsh, Jimmy Sustachek, Casey Menick, Sarah Lee and Kelsey Johnson for field and laboratory assistance. Anonymous reviewers helped to improve the final manuscript. Funding was provided by the DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (DOE BER Office of Science DEFC0207ER64494).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by the American Society of Agronomy.
