Cover crops improve soil structure and change organic carbon distribution in macroaggregate fractions

Gentsch, Norman; Riechers, Florin Laura; Boy, Jens; Schweneker, Dörte; Feuerstein, Ulf; Heuermann, Diana; Guggenberger, Georg

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-139-2024

Articles | Volume 10, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-139-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-139-2024

© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 10, issue 1

Original research article

|

15 Feb 2024

Original research article |

| 15 Feb 2024

Cover crops improve soil structure and change organic carbon distribution in macroaggregate fractions

Norman Gentsch, Florin Laura Riechers, Jens Boy, Dörte Schweneker, Ulf Feuerstein, Diana Heuermann, and Georg Guggenberger

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-139-2024-supplement

Data sets

Cover crops improve soil structure and change OC distribution in aggregate fractions Norman Gentsch https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7147565

Cover crops improve soil structure and change organic carbon distribution in macroaggregate fractions (ORKG) Norman Gentsch https://doi.org/10.48366/R664252

Model code and software

Cover crops improve soil structure and change OC distribution in aggregate fractions Norman Gentsch https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7147565

Short summary

Cover crops have substantial impacts on soil properties, but so far it is not clear how long a legacy effect of cover cropping will remain in the soil. We found that cover crops attenuate negative effects on soil structure that come from soil cultivation. The combination of plants with different litter qualities and rhizodeposits in biodiverse cover crop mixtures can improve the positive effects of cover cropping on soil structure amelioration.