Synergy between compost and cover crops  in a Mediterranean row crop system leads to increased subsoil carbon storage

Rath, Daniel; Bogie, Nathaniel; Deiss, Leonardo; Parikh, Sanjai J.; Wang, Daoyuan; Ying, Samantha; Tautges, Nicole; Berhe, Asmeret Asefaw; Ghezzehei, Teamrat A.; Scow, Kate M.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-59-2022

Articles | Volume 8, issue 1

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-59-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-59-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 8, issue 1

Original research article

|

20 Jan 2022

Original research article |

| 20 Jan 2022

Synergy between compost and cover crops in a Mediterranean row crop system leads to increased subsoil carbon storage

Daniel Rath, Nathaniel Bogie, Leonardo Deiss, Sanjai J. Parikh, Daoyuan Wang, Samantha Ying, Nicole Tautges, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Teamrat A. Ghezzehei, and Kate M. Scow

Data sets

Data Set Daniel Rath, Nathaniel Bogie, Leonardo Deiss, Sanjai Parikh, Daoyuan Wang, Nicole Tautges, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Kate Scow https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4558161

Model code and software

Code for Analysis Daniel Rath, Nathaniel Bogie, Leonardo Deiss, Sanjai Parikh, Daoyuan Wang, Nicole Tautges, Asmeret Asefaw Berhe, Kate Scow https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4558161

Short summary

Storing C in subsoils can help mitigate climate change, but this requires a better understanding of subsoil C dynamics. We investigated changes in subsoil C storage under a combination of compost, cover crops (WCC), and mineral fertilizer and found that systems with compost + WCC had ~19 Mg/ha more C after 25 years. This increase was attributed to increased transport of soluble C and nutrients via WCC root pores and demonstrates the potential for subsoil C storage in tilled agricultural systems.