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ARS Home » Plains Area » Mandan, North Dakota » Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #394359
Research Project: Sustainable Agricultural Systems for the Northern Great Plains

Location: Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory

Title: Carbon fluxes from a Spring wheat-corn-soybean crop rotation under no-tillage management

Author
item Liebig, Mark
item Saliendra, Nicanor
item Archer, David

Submitted to: Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/29/2022
Publication Date: 8/12/2022
Citation: Liebig, M.A., Saliendra, N.Z., Archer, D.W. 2022. Carbon fluxes from a Spring wheat-corn-soybean crop rotation under no-tillage management. Agrosystems, Geosciences & Environment. 5. Article e20291. https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20291.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/agg2.20291

Interpretive Summary: Corn and soybean are increasingly grown in the northern Great Plains. How these two crops affect the carbon balance of agricultural land in the region is not well known. A 3-year study was conducted to quantify the carbon balance of a spring wheat-corn-soybean rotation under no-till management. Two field sites with the same soil type near Mandan, ND USA were used for the study. After accounting for carbon removed in grain, the carbon balance was negative for the 3-year rotation, implying that more carbon was lost from the site than was taken up by the plants. Some ways to reduce carbon loss may include growing cover crops, changing the types of crops grown, extending the length of the crop rotation, or intercropping (i.e., growing two crops at the same time).

Technical Abstract: The increase in corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] production in rainfed cropping systems of the northern Great Plains (NGP) has altered the delivery of ecosystem services from agricultural land. To date, there is limited understanding how these crops affect the carbon (C) balance of cropping systems in the region when included in a short rotation window. This study sought to quantify C balance of a spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-corn-soybean rotation under no-till management using eddy covariance (EC) techniques. Paired field sites with the same soil type near Mandan, ND USA were used for the study. Annual net ecosystem production (NEP) by crop indicated net C loss by spring wheat, C gain by corn, and near neutrality by soybean (-34, 120, and 7 g C/m2/y, respectively). Carbon removed in grain over the rotation was less than a third of C lost by ecosystem respiration (ER) (210 vs. 674 g C/m2/y). After accounting for grain C removal, net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) was -164, -253, and -121 g C/m2/y for spring wheat, corn, and soybean, respectively, with a mean NECB of -179 ± 39 g C/m2/y (P = 0.043; t-test for difference from zero), implying the rotation was a net C source. Time associated with active crop growth each year was 27% for spring wheat, 41% for corn, and 28% for soybean. Management strategies that lengthen the period of biomass growth may mitigate C loss from spring wheat-corn-soybean rotations.