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doi:10.2489/jswc.72.3.64A

FEATURE services and intensified cropping systems Kenneth R. Olson, Mahdi Al-Kaisi, Lal, and Lois Wright Morton

fforts to meet the and needs of an expanding world pop- Figure 1 ulation have led to a large-scale services provided by soil organic carbon (SOC) in corn-based - E ping systems of agriculture (adapted from Adhikari and Hartemink [2016], table 2). expansion and intensification of crop production systems. A major challenge Provisioning services of the twenty-first century is ensuring an • Food and fuel adequate and reliable flow of essential eco- • Raw materials system services (Biggs et al. 2012; Hatfield • Fresh /water retention, purification and Walthall 2015) as cropping systems Regulating services are intensified. Ecosystem services are the • and greenhouse gas regulation provisioning, regulating, supporting, and • Water regulation cultural functions that soil, water, vegeta- • and control tion, and other natural provide • and disease regulation • Copyright © 2017 Soil and . All rights reserved.

(MEA 2005). The conversion of natu- Journal of Soil and Water Conservation • by denaturing of pollutants ral to cultivated cropland has eroded the capacity to efficiently retain Cultural services and sequester soil organic carbon (SOC) • Recreational/ • Aesthetic/sense of place (Olson et al. 2012), an essential ecosystem • Knowledge/education/inspiration service of soil, and created a paradox in our • Cultural heritage attempts to achieve sustainable agricultural • Therapeutical intensification, ecosystem resilience, and Supporting services (Biggs et al. 2012). • Weathering/soil formation SOC stocks are critical to the provi- • Nutrient cycling sioning and regulating services (figure • Provisioning of 1) that underlie the production of food, 72(3):64A-69A , air quality, erosion preven- tion, nutrient cycling, and support of environment (Hatfield and Morton 2013). management practices among corn-based habitat (Dominati et al. 2010; Adhikari Human activities and natural processes and corn-soybean based systems. And and Hartemink 2016). The health of have spatial and temporal effects on the it is these variations, such as type of till- www.swcs.org soil, its properties, formation and distri- capacities of SOC stocks to provide a age system, drainage systems, use of cover bution, processes, and interactions with flow of services. Soil degradation pro- , construction of grass waterways water, organisms and influence the cesses in intensified cropping systems and buffers, and terraces, which influence

numerous functions and roles it serves affect SOC stocks and are one of the most whether SOC is retained, enhanced, and (Adhikari and Hartemink 2016). Further, dramatic examples of ecosystem deterio- potentially sequestered or is simply lost, how value the functions of soil ration (Swinton et al. 2007; Dominati et resulting in ecosystem degradation. The affects how soil is managed and its capac- al. 2010) limiting agricultural productiv- depletion of SOC as a result of soil deg- ity to deliver the variety of ecosystem ity and . Ecosystems and radation within intensified agricultural services needed to assure a sustainable human well-being are interdependent; systems can lead to loss of nutrients and thus, understanding the role of SOC as soil structure, loss of , a loss a factor in the quality and type of eco- of soil , and disruption to key Kenneth R. Olson is professor emeritus of the Department of Natural Resources and En- system services produced in intensified biotic and abiotic processes necessary for vironmental Sciences, College of Agricultural, production systems is central to develop- productivity (Lal 2015). The intent of this Consumer, and Environmental Sciences, Uni- ing effective management strategies that paper is to examine the interdependence versity of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois. Mahdi Al- guard against SOC stock depletion. of soil ecosystem services, SOC stocks, and Kaisi is a professor of agronomy, Department of Agronomy, College of Agriculture, Iowa State Cropping systems that are dominated human management. University, Ames, Iowa. Rattan Lal is a profes- by a single annual crop, such as corn (Zea sor in the School of Environment and Natural mays L.), are considered corn-based, while ECOSYSTEM SERVICES OF SOIL Resources, The Ohio State University, Colum- dual cropping systems, such as corn– ORGANIC CARBON STOCKS bus, Ohio. Lois Wright Morton is a professor of sociology, College of Agriculture, Iowa State soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), are Soil plays a number of roles in providing University, Ames, Iowa. considered corn-soybean based. There is a ecosystem services associated with produc- great deal of variation in crop rotations and tion systems: fertility, filter and reservoir,

64A MAY/JUNE 2017—VOL. 72, NO. 3 JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION structure, climate regulation, biodiver- Table 1 sity conservation, and use (table Roles of soil in the provision of ecosystem services (adapted from Dominati et 1) (Dominati et al. 2010). Two dominant al. [2010]). forms of carbon (C) contained in soil are Role Description of organic carbon (OC) and inorganic car- bon (IC), and in humid regions most of growth is enabled by soil nutrient cycles that ensure fertility the C is held as SOC (with the exception renewal and deliver nutrients to plants. of calcareous ). The term SOC refers Filter and reservoir Water is purified when soils fix and store solutes passing through to the C that occurs in the soil organic micro- and macroaggregates. Soil also cycles and stores water for matter (SOM) within the soil, and SOC plant use and mitigates flooding. comprises roughly 58% of SOM (historic Structural Soil provides physical support to plants for root development estimate that was recently questioned and anchoring. [Hussain and Olson 2000]). The SOC is Climate regulation Climate regulation can occur through sequestration and most highly concentrated in the top 20 cm regulation of greenhouse gas (nitrous oxide and methane) emissions. (8 in) and decreases with soil depth down Biodiversity conservation Soil provides habitat for biodiversity, including diverse biological to approximately 85 cm (33.5 in). Thus, and activities that affect soil structure, nutrient cycling, and detoxification. SOC contained within the top soil layer Resource Soil can be a source of materials like peat and clay. Pharmaceutical Soil microbes are sources of antibiotics. Copyright © 2017 Soil and Water Conservation Society. All rights reserved. is more likely to be affected by cultivation Journal of Soil and Water Conservation and management practices than deeper in Archival Soil is an archive of human and planetary history. the rooting zone. Cultural Soil is an inspiration to art and culture with spiritual values. The SOM, a key property of soil, con- sists of previously living plant and animal vices enhanced by SOC stocks are critical cropping systems that involve significant residues in different stages of decomposi- to achieving more sustainable production, amounts of tillage (Reicosky et al. 1997; tion. The SOM is a reservoir for essential management, and use. Of particular Al-Kaisi and Yin 2005). Tillage intensity nutrients needed for plant growth and concern are the climate and greenhouse gas and soil degradation are among the major development, such as nitrogen (N), phos- (GHG) regulating services that SOC offers causes for the acceleration of SOC stocks phorus (P), sulfur (S), and micronutrients, under increasingly variable short- and long- loss or pool loss (Young et al. 2014). The and is one of the major binding agents of term weather patterns, which are affected mechanisms involved in loss of SOC stocks soil aggregation. It holds particles together by and in turn affect SOC stocks. The pres- or pool loss due to soil erosion as a result 72(3):64A-69A and creates soil pores within and between ervation of SOC is through C sequestration of intensive tillage can include SOM oxida- aggregates to provide air and moisture to processes that include the removal and stor- tion and degradation of SOC stock or pool the roots and drain excess water (Al-Kaisi age of CO2 from the atmosphere through (Guzman and Al-Kaisi 2010a; Lal 2003). et al. 2014). SOC is the main source of photosynthesis and storage in soil as SOM. The size of SOC pool is approximately www.swcs.org food for soil . Soil aggre- These processes provide ecosystem services 2,300 Pg (2.5 × 1012 tn) to 2 m (6.6 ft) gates can be disrupted by tillage thereby by increasing SOC stock in the soil reser- soil depth, which is four times the biotic/ increasing the availability of C to micro- voir pools rather than in the atmosphere. vegetation pool and three times the atmo-

organisms, which can result in release The monitoring of SOC stock over time spheric C pool. In contrast, the terrestrial 12 of carbon dioxide (CO2) back to the is a challenge, and SOC stock protocols C pool of 2,860 Pg (3.2 × 10 tn; 2,300 atmosphere. In addition to aggregation that quantify the anthropic impact as a Pg in soil, 60 Pg [6.6 × 1010 tn] in characteristics, soil color is an indication result of management and changes material, and 560 Pg [6.2 × 1011 tn] in live of high or low SOC content. Darker soil must include baseline measurements to ) is 57% of the geological pool and has a higher SOC content than lighter measure change over time (Olson 2013). four times the atmospheric C pool (Lal colored soil. Increasing the level of SOM Other SOC regulating services are water 2003). Changes in the soil environment can increase a soil’s water holding capacity regulation through improvement of water can subsequently lead to chemical and bio- and make crops less susceptible to drought movement in soil, increased storage in soil, logical reactions (Troeh et al. 2004). These (Al-Kaisi et al. 2014). and improvement of biodiversity and nutri- processes include oxidation and - The agroecosystem services that SOC ent recycling. ization of organic compounds during the stocks offer to annual cropping systems, physical and weathering processes leading such as corn-based or corn-soybean based SOIL DEGRADATION AND GREENHOUSE to the release of by-products such as CO2, systems, are quite similar to other types of GAS EMISSIONS N2O, and CH4 (Lal 2003). ecosystems as delineated by the Millennium The SOM contains the largest terres- Lal (2003) summarized the effect of ero- Ecosystem Assessment (MEA 2005): provi- trial SOC pool globally, and it is a source sion on soil C dynamics. The pathways for sioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting of GHGs (CO2, nitrous oxide [N2O], SOC loss is intertwined with agriculture ecosystem services (figure 1) (Adhikari and and methane [CH4]) and other gases as management systems, where practices and Hartemink 2016). Some ecosystem ser- exposed to tillage and erosion under annual tillage systems in particular are the driv-

JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION MAY/JUNE 2017—VOL. 72, NO. 3 65A ing forces of SOC losses in row cropping delivered (table 1). One study examining reduction in agronomic productivity (table systems (Olson et al. 2016). The depletion the relationship between biodiversity and 1) (Nizeyimana and Olson 1988). Decline of SOC stock causes a decrease in produc- soil degradation and productivity found in the root depth zone and reduction in tivity with the loss of SOM exceeding the agrobiodiversity to be higher in soils hav- available water capacity increases the sus- C input in oxidative areas as compared to ing a rich fertility source (available P and ceptibility of degraded soils to pedological natural ecosystems (Guzman and Al-Kaisi total N) ( and Lenne 1999). In con- and agronomic drought. 2010a). Loss of SOC with intensive till- trast, biodiversity was lower in degraded Among soil physical properties that are age systems (an ecosystem disservice) may soils with low SOM on steep slopes. negatively affected by soil degradation are approach 20 to 50 Mg ha–1 (8.92 to 22.3 tn The loss of can have soil’s water holding capacity, which is most ac–1) in 5 to 50 years following conversion a devastating impact on its productivity. important to crop production (Andraski from a natural ecosystem to conventional Shifts to a few high yielding crops and and Lowery 1992; Lowery et al. 1995; agriculture cropping systems (Davidson increased use of high inputs of fertilizers Bakker et al. 2007). A key uncertainty in and Ackerman 1993; Lal 2004) depending in an attempt to replace loss of SOC and projections of future drought is how soil on climate, soil type, drainage class, crop nutrient pools can exacerbate the loss of responds to precipitation changes and rotations, tillage systems, and residue man- biodiversity (Thrupp 2000; Mooney et al. potential evaporation increases. Andraski agement (Guzman and Al-Kaisi 2010b). 2005; MEA 2005). These changes in agri- and Lowery (1992) noted that although The amount of oxidizable organic materi- cultural practices have been documented the total amount of water stored (not Copyright © 2017 Soil and Water Conservation Society. All rights reserved.

als depends on the type of organic pool by several studies where land intensively necessarily readily plant available water) Journal of Soil and Water Conservation (active, passive, or recalcitrant). cultivated is associated with medium to in the soil profile increased as degrada- low agrobiodiversity due to the conver- tion increased the clay content in the root SOIL BIODIVERSITY DEGRADATION sion of perennial ecosystems to annual zone, plant available water did not increase Biological diversity is an important com- crops and an increase in soil degradation since plant roots could not extract the ponent of soil ecosystem functions by (Hadgu et al. 2009; MEA 2005). water from the clay. This has important providing essential services for nutrient implications for crop capacity to withstand cycling and productivity (table 1). Loss in SOIL PROPERTY CHANGE EFFECTS intraseasonal drought and sustained inter- biodiversity may include loss of ON ECOSYSTEM SERVICES annual drought conditions. because of natural and human activities. AND PRODUCTIVITY In Europe, Bakker et al. (2007) noted The term biodiversity refers to the variety Soil properties, land use, and management that soil’s available water use is the most

of all on earth and explicitly recognizes practices have profound effects on ecosys- important yield-determining factor. 72(3):64A-69A how the interaction of different compo- tem services. Soils formed in loess without Bakker and colleagues reported that deg- nents of ecosystems results in the provision root-restricting subsoils show slight yield radation, including soil erosion, is likely of essential services including social and reductions (5%) with an increasing degree to significantly reduce productivity in recreational opportunities that are sources of erosion (Olson and Nizeyimana 1988). southern countries in Europe. Bakker et www.swcs.org of inspiration and cultural identity (Hens Higher corn yield reductions (24%) have al. (2007) concluded that, with adequate and Boon 2003). Loss of biodiversity can be been found to occur when either loess- fertility and good management, the exacerbated by soil degradation. The subse- derived soils with root-restricting subsoils potential of a soil to produce corn was

quent reduction in soil biodiversity because (claypans or fragipans) or soils developed in largely determined by the capacity of the of loss of SOC and nutrient pools leads to a glacial till were degraded. Successful manage- soil to store and supply water to plants. downward cycling of reduced biomass pro- ment techniques often include modification Accordingly, many investigators have con- duction and declining of the of the biological, chemical, and physical cluded or implied that the most important soil resource to support biodiversity. properties of the degraded soils. Loss of SOC yield-limiting effects are the reduction in Soil biodiversity provides valuable ser- is the main driver for changing physical and SOC stock, decreased rooting depth, and vices for agriculture production through biological properties and subsequently leads reduced plant available water. nutrient cycling, where a symbiotic rela- to degradation of that provide tionship between plant community and ecosystem services. MANAGEMENT OF INTENSIFIED microorganisms is essential in maintain- Sometimes, a slow rate of sediment CROPPING SYSTEMS AND SOIL ing functions (MEA 2005). The changes deposition leads to soil formation and cre- ORGANIC CARBON STOCKS in soil physical, biological, and chemical ation of fertile alluvial plains. However, Intensified cropping systems such as corn- properties can influence the dynamics of when accelerated by anthropogenic activ- based or corn-soybean based systems in biodiversity in habitat for ity, this deposition becomes a destructive the midwestern United States have a great animals, plants, and macro- and microfauna erosion process with adverse on-site and deal of variation in crop rotations, till- and flora community. A shift in agroeco- off-site effects. Among on-site effects is age practices, uses (or not) of cover crops, system stability because of soil degradation a decline in soil quality on sloping land, drainage systems, and the customization can be a detriment to the functions of a decrease in plant nutrient availabil- of management to account for soil types biodiversity and the ecosystems services ity, reduced water use efficiencies, and a and their characteristics, topography, man-

66A MAY/JUNE 2017—VOL. 72, NO. 3 JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION agement skills, equipment, and resources. Figure 2 These variations in management under No-tillage corn planted into cereal rye cover crops to reduce and erosion variable short- and long-term weather can increase soil organic carbon sequestration. conditions affect the ecosystem services that SOC stocks are able to produce at field, watershed, and levels. Some management practices can accelerate the release of C to the atmosphere (CO2) and lead to a decline in the many ecosystem services that SOC stock provide. Swinton et al. (2007) introduced the concept of “disservices” where an adverse change in C stock, such as decrease in SOC, can lead to a loss in ecosystem services. There are a number of processes, natural and anthropogenic, that lead to degrada- tion of soil C stocks and disservices to the Copyright © 2017 Soil and Water Conservation Society. All rights reserved.

ecosystem. For example, raindrops can Journal of Soil and Water Conservation cause physical disintegration of soil aggre- gates and result in a decrease in soil porosity and water infiltration, an increase in soil erosion, and create soil compaction and crusts. Residue or vegetation on the soil surface provides some protection against program was an early attempt to restore years, the cover crops treatment had more this disintegration and loss. The basic strat- soil function and ecosystem services by SOC stocks than the plot without cover egy for restoring degraded soils is to create addressing soil productivity, enhancing crops for the same layer and tillage treat- a positive SOC budget. How aboveground SOC stock, and reducing soil degrada- ment (Olson et al. 2014). The NT, CP, and (vegetation) and belowground (roots) bio- tion. Soil data were gathered from 1988 to MP treatments all sequestered SOC with mass is managed can also affect losses and 2013 and analyzed to quantify the effects cover crops. With the addition of cover 72(3):64A-69A gains of SOC stocks, and whether produc- of tillage systems and accelerated erosion crops, the tillage treatments (NT, CP, and tivity is reduced or improved. Adoption on the amount and rates of SOC loss, MP) gained SOC by 30%, 10%, and 18%, of conservation agriculture systems and storage, retention, and sequestration. All respectively. A pretreatment SOC stocks recommended management practices that tillage treatments (no-tillage [NT], chisel baseline for the rooting zone was used www.swcs.org retain and increase biomass can increase plow [CP], and moldboard plow [MP]) to validate the findings that cover crops SOC stocks. Conversion of sloping and lost SOC over time on sloping and erod- sequestered SOC in the topsoil, subsoil, eroding soils to perennial land use (e.g., ing plot areas. Soil function was impaired and root zone of all tillage treatments.

silvicultural, pastoral, agrosilivicultural, after the perennial land was converted to Cover crops restored soil functions while agropastoral, and agrosilvopastoral) also corn-soybean based production. providing valuable ecosystem services by are strategies to improve ecosystem ser- Olson et al. (2014) introduced cover reducing soil degradation. vices by restoring SOC stocks, reducing crops after 12 years of the existing tillage This research demonstrates how man- soil erosion, improving soil quality, and study in an attempt to retain existing SOC agement can affect the ecosystem services increasing/sustaining agronomic pro- stocks and restore SOC stocks previously provided by soil, as indicated by the ductivity under changing and uncertain lost. The cover crops used were hairy vetch change in SOC stocks. In this experi- climate (Troeh et al. 2004). (Vicia villoso Roth) and cereal rye (Secale ment, a positive C budget in all tillage Olson et al. (2013) conducted a long- cereal L.). After soybean harvest, hairy vetch treatments up to about 75 cm (30 in) term study in southern Illinois (United was seeded in the fall and was chemically depth (root zone) resulted in SOC stock States) on sloping land similar to that burned the following spring just before retention and storage. A positive C bud- being removed from production by the planting corn. Cereal rye was seeded after get can rebuild the depleted/lost SOC USDA Conservation Reserve Program corn harvest and chemically burned the stocks and restore soil functions. (CRP). The experimental site area was in following spring prior to soybean planting perennial grasses for the previous 15 years (figure 2). These cover crops helped retain SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS and used as a proxy for land in CRP that SOC stocks on the plot area and con- Conceptually, soil degradation is the shift- could be returned to agricultural pro- tributed to the biomass (tops and roots) ing of soil functionality from an optimal duction if the program was not extended returned to the soil, with both contribut- state to a less optimal state based on soil or the landowner opted out. The CRP ing to increased net SOC stocks. After 12 water holding capacity as a function of

JOURNAL OF SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION MAY/JUNE 2017—VOL. 72, NO. 3 67A Figure 3 ship to their management affect Bakker, M.M, G. Govers, R.A. Jones, and M.D.A. Tillage radishes and oat cover crop. and landscape level productivity and Rounsevell. 2007. The effect of soil erosion on Tillage radishes have large tap roots will play an outsized role in the future Europe’s crop yields. Ecosystems 10, 1209-1219. that break up shallow layers of com- of agriculture. Tillage practices and cover Biggs, R., M. Schluter, D. Biggs, E.L. Bohensky, S. pacted soils, increase soil water crops are part of a suite of practices that BurnSilver, G. Cundill, V. Dakos, T.M. Daw, L.S. infiltration, retain soil moisture, and reduce soil erosion. show promise of retaining and increasing Evans, K. Kotschy, A.M. Leitch, C. Meek, A. SOC in cultivated systems (figures 2 and Quinlan, C. Raudsepp-Hearne, M.D. Robards, 3). An increase in biodiversity can have M.L. Schoon, L. Schultz, and P.C. West. 2012. significant impact on SOC input through Toward principles of enhancing the resil- active below- and aboveground biomass ience of ecosystem services. Annual Review of production. This, in turn, can reduce the Environment and Resources 37:421-48 vulnerability of the ecosystem by increas- Davidson, E.A., and I.L. Ackerman. 1993. Changes ing capacity to tolerate adverse effects in soil carbon inventories following cultivation of climate change and reduced water of previously untilled soils. Biogeochemistry availability. Conversion of conventional 20:161–93. plow-based tillage to NT or conserva- Dominati, E., M. Patterson, and M. Mackay. 2010. tion tillage in conjunction with cover A framework for classifying and quantifying the Copyright © 2017 Soil and Water Conservation Society. All rights reserved.

cropping can increase the SOC storage and ecosystem services of soils. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation and increase C sequestration for rooting Ecological 69(2010):1858-1868. depth over a period of years. The contin- Guzman, G., and M. Al-Kaisi. 2010a. Soil carbon uous soil management goal is to restore dynamics and carbon budget of newly recon- SOM. Loss of soil water holding capac- SOC stocks and ensure soil functions and structed tall-grass prairies in South Central Iowa. ity, a regulating ecosystem service, has processes deliver valuable ecosystem ser- Journal of Environmental Quality 39:136-146. large implications for crop management vices now and into the future. Guzman, G., and M. Al-Kaisi. 2010b. Landscape under increasing intraseasonal and inter- position and age of reconstructed prairies effect annual precipitation swings from drought ACKNOWLEDGEMENT on soil organic carbon sequestration rate and to extreme events. One of the clear- This research was funded by the USDA–National aggregate associated carbon. Journal of Soil and est trends in the US climate observational Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Award No. Water Conservation 65(1):9-21, doi:10.2489/

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