Articles | Volume 10, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-139-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-139-2024
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

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Cited articles

Allen, D. E., Singh, B. P., and Dalal, R. C.: Soil Health Indicators Under Climate Change: A Review of Current Knowledge, in: Soil Health and Climate Change, edited by: Singh, B. P., Cowie, A. L., and Chan, K. Y., Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 25–45, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20256-8_2, 2011. 
Bacq-Labreuil, A., Crawford, J., Mooney, S. J., Neal, A. L., and Ritz, K.: Cover crop species have contrasting influence upon soil structural genesis and microbial community phenotype, Sci. Rep.-UK, 9, 7473, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43937-6, 2019. 
Barel, J. M., Kuyper, T. W., Paul, J., de Boer, W., Cornelissen, J. H. C., and De Deyn, G. B.: Winter cover crop legacy effects on litter decomposition act through litter quality and microbial community changes, J. Appl. Ecol., 56, 132–143, https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13261, 2019. 
Baumert, V. L., Vasilyeva, N. A., Vladimirov, A. A., Meier, I. C., Kögel-Knabner, I., and Mueller, C. W.: Root Exudates Induce Soil Macroaggregation Facilitated by Fungi in Subsoil, Front. Environ. Sci., 6, https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2018.00140, 2018. 
Berg, B. and McClaugherty, C.: Plant litter, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-05349-2, 2014. 
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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.