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Articles | Volume 12, issue 2
Articles | Volume 12, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-979-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-12-979-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 12, issue 2
Original research article
 | 
16 Oct 2026
Original research article |  | 16 Oct 2026

Two decades of conservation agriculture enhances soil structure, carbon sequestration, and water retention in Mediterranean soils

Jennifer Alvarez-Sagrero, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Stephany S. Chacon, Jeffrey P. Mitchell, and Teamrat Afewerki Ghezzehei

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Cited articles

Alvarez‐Sagrero, J., Chacon, S. S., Mitchell, J. P., and Ghezzehei, T. A.: Soil structure changes under reduced tillage and cover cropping enhance carbon mineralization in Mediterranean croplands, Vadose Zone J., 25, e70065, https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.70065, 2026a. a
Alvarez-Sagrero, J., Berhe, A. A., Chacon, S., Mitchell, J. P., and Ghezzehei, T.: Data and code from: Two decades of conservation agriculture enhances soil structure, carbon sequestration, and water retention in Mediterranean soils, Dryad [data set and code], https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.pg4f4qs3c, 2026b. a
Araya, S. N., Mitchell, J. P., Hopmans, J. W., and Ghezzehei, T. A.: Long-term impact of cover crop and reduced disturbance tillage on soil pore size distribution and soil water storage, SOIL, 8, 177–198, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-177-2022, 2022. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h
Baker, J. B., Southard, R. J., and Mitchell, J. P.: Agricultural Dust Production in Standard and Conservation Tillage Systems in the San Joaquin Valley, J. Environ. Qual., 34, 1260–1269, https://doi.org/10.2134/jeq2003.0348, 2005. a, b
Berhe, A. A., Harden, J. W., Torn, M. S., Kleber, M., Burton, S. D., and Harte, J.: Persistence of soil organic matter in eroding versus depositional landform positions, J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 117, 2011JG001790, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JG001790, 2012. a
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We studied California farmland managed with conservation practices for 20 years to understand how reducing tillage and planting cover crops change soil. Conservation farming greatly improved soil structure, doubled carbon storage in surface soil, and increased its ability to hold water. We also found that much of the additional carbon became protected within soil structure, while the soil still had substantial capacity to store more carbon.
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