Cover Crops and Soil Ecosystem Services

A comprehensive resource on cover crops and their role in soil ecosystems

Cover crops are a reemerging strategy to improve and maintain the services that soils provide. They can have an enormous affect on agricultural outcomes, preventing soil erosion, restoring vital soil nutrients, sequestering C from the atmosphere, and more. The successful management and use of cover crops is therefore critical to ensure soil ecosystem services are maintained or improved not only to meet our demands for food, fuel, fiber, and feed but also to reduce pollution and improve the soil.

Cover Crops and Soil Ecosystem Services provides a heavily researched and highly readable introduction to cover crops and their role in soil ecosystems. It ranges from a detailed discussion of cover crop biomass production to a thorough treatment of soil ecosystems and their vulnerabilities. The result is an essential guide to a critical area of agricultural science.

Cover Crops and Soil Ecosystem Services readers will also find:

• Detailed treatment of cover crop biomass production, soil erosion, greenhouse gas fluxes, nitrate leaching, soil C sequestration, and more
• Discussion of emerging issues, including extreme weather events and the economics of cover crop farming
• Wide-ranging summaries of interdisciplinary soil and cover crop research

Cover Crops and Soil Ecosystem Services is a useful reference for students and researchers at all levels of study relating to cover crop agriculture.

Humberto Blanco, PhD, is Professor of Soil Management and Applied Soil Physics in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, University of Nebraska, Lincoln, NE.

Cover Crops and Soil Ecosystem Services 12

1.1. Cover Crops 12

1.2. Soil Ecosystem Services 13

1.3. Cover Crops and Soil Ecosystem Services 15

1.4. Summary 16

1.5. References 17

Cover Crop Biomass Production 24

2.1. Aboveground Biomass Production 24

2.1.1. Temperate Regions 24

2.1.2. Semiarid Temperate Regions 25

2.1.3. Tropical and Subtropical Regions 25

2.2. Belowground Biomass Production 25

2.3. Threshold Level of Biomass Production 26

2.4. Management Practices that Affect Biomass Production 27

2.4.1. Planting Early 27

2.4.1.1. Interseeding 27

2.4.1.2. Planting After Summer Crop Harvest 28

2.4.1.3. Planting after Corn Silage or Short-Growing Season Crop Harvest 28

2.4.2. Terminating Late 29

2.4.3. Cover Crop Mixes 29

2.4.4. Seeding Rate 30

2.4.5. Planting Method 30

2.4.6. Tillage and Cropping Systems 30

2.4.7. Soil Texture and Number of Years in Cover Crops 31

2.4.8. Irrigation and Fertilization 32

2.5. Summary 33

2.6. References 34

Soil Health 49

3.1. Soil Health 49

3.2. Cover Crops and Soil Health 49

3.2.1. Soil Physical Properties 50

3.2.1.1. Soil Compaction 50

3.2.1.2. Soil Structure 51

3.2.1.3. Water Infiltration 52

3.2.1.4. Temperature 52

3.2.2. Soil Chemical Properties 53

3.2.3. Soil Biological Properties 54

3.2.3.1. Microorganisms 54

3.2.3.2. Macroorganisms 54

3.3. Interconnectedness of Soil Health Parameters 55

3.4. Managing Soil Health 56

3.4.1. Biomass Production 56

3.4.2. Time after Cover Crop Introduction 57

3.4.3. Cover Crop Species and Mixes 57

3.4.4. Tillage System 58

3.4.5. Initial Soil Condition 58

3.5. Summary 59

3.6. References 60

Water Erosion 69

4.1. Runoff 69

4.2. Sediment Loss 70

4.3. Nutrient Loss 71

4.4. Soil Carbon Loss 71

4.5. A Leading Factor of Water Erosion: Biomass Production 72

4.6. Cover Crops and Erosion-Prone Systems 73

4.6.1. Low-biomass Producing Cropping Systems 73

4.6.2. Corn Silage and Seed Corn 73

4.6.3. Crop Residue Removal 74

4.6.4. Orchard Crops 74

4.7. Summary 75

4.8. References 76

Wind Erosion 84

5.1. Soil Loss 84

5.2. Soil Erodibility 85

5.3. Managing Wind Erosion 86

5.3.1. Biomass Production 86

5.3.2. Species 87

5.3.3. Growth Stage and Seeding Rate 88

5.3.4. Crop and Tillage Systems 88

5.4. Summary 89

5.5. References 90

Nutrient Losses 96

6.1. Nutrient Leaching 97

6.2. Dissolved Nutrients in Runoff 98

6.3. Nutrient Release from Cover Crops 99

6.4. Management Implications 100

6.5. Nutrient Stratification 100

6.5. Summary 101

6.6. References 102

Soil Gas Emissions 107

7.1. Carbon Dioxide 107

7.2. Nitrous Oxide 108

7.3. Methane 108

7.4. Factors Affecting Soil Gas Emissions 109

7.4.1. Cover Crop Species 109

7.4.2. Biomass Production 109

7.4.3. Nitrogen Fertilization 110

7.4.4. Tillage and Cropping System 111

7.4.5. Measurement Time 112

7.4.6. Soil Texture and Climate 112

7.6. Summary 113

7.7. References 114

Carbon Sequestration 118

8.1. Rates of Carbon Sequestration 118

8.2. Topsoil versus Subsoil C Sequestration 119

8.3. Managing Carbon Sequestration 121

8.3.1. Biomass Production 121

8.3.2. Cover Crop Species and Mixes 121

8.3.4. Years after Cover Crop Adoption 122

8.3.5. Initial Soil Carbon level 123

8.3.6. Tillage Systems 124

8.3.7. Soil Texture and Topography 124

8.3.8. Topographic Characteristics 125

8.3.9. Climate 125

8.4. Cropping System Carbon Footprint 126

8.5. Strategies to Enhance Cover Crop Potential to Sequester Carbon 126

8.6. Summary 127

8.7. References 128

Soil Water 136

9.1. High Precipitation Regions 136

9.2. Low Precipitation Regions 137

9.3. Mechanisms of Soil Water Storage with Cover Crops 137

9.4. Water Management 139

9.4.1. Biomass Production 139

9.4.2. Timing of Cover Crop Termination 140

9.4.3. Tillage System 140

9.4.4. Soil Texture 141

9.6. Summary 142

9.7. References 143

Weed Management 149

10.1. Weed Suppression 149

10.2. Managing Weeds 150

10.2.1. Biomass Production and Surface Cover 150

10.2.2. Cover Crop Species and Mixes 151

10.2.3. Tillage System 153

10.2.5. Climate 153

10.3. Summary 154

10.4. References 155

Soil Fertility 158

11.1. Organic Matter 158

11.2. Nitrogen 159

11.2.1 Nitrogen Scavenging 159

11.2.2. Reduction of N Losses 159

11.2.3. Nitrogen Fixation 160

11.3. Phosphorus 161

11.4. Other Nutrients 162

11.5. Soil pH 162

11.6. Cation Exchange Capacity 163

11.7. Carbon:Nitrogen Ratio 164

11.8. Summary 165

11.9. References 166

Crop Yields 171

12.1. Crop Yields 171

12.2. Climate 172

12.2.1. Cool and Warm Climates 172

12.2.2. Water-Limited Regions 172

12.3. Factors Affecting Crop Production 172

12.3.1. Cover Crop Species 172

12.3.2. Nitrogen Fertilization 173

12.3.3. Biomass Production 173

12.3.4. Planting Time and Method 174

12.3.5. Termination Timing 175

12.3.6. Cover Crop Mixes 175

12.3.7. Years after Cover Crop Adoption 176

12.3.8. Tillage Systems 176

12.3.9. Soil Texture 176

12.4. Summary 177

12.5. References 178

Grazing and Harvesting 182

13.1. Grazing 182

13.1.1. Soil Compaction 182

13.1.3. Soil C Dynamics and Sequestration 184

13.1.4. Crop Yields 184

13.2. Managing Grazing Impacts 185

13.2.1. Amount of Biomass Removal 185

13.2.2. Stocking rate 185

13.2.3. Years under Grazing 186

13.2.4. Tillage 186

13.2.5. Soil Water Content 187

13.3. Harvesting 187

13.4. Grazing and Harvesting: An Added Benefit from Cover Crops? 188

13.5. Summary 189

13.6. References 190

Economics 200

14.1. Economics of Cover Crops 200

14.1.1. Grazing and Harvesting 201

14.1.2. Weed Suppression 202

14.1.3. Nitrogen Credit 203

14.1.4. Soil Carbon Credit 203

14.1.5. Crop Residue Harvesting 204

14.1.5. Valuation of Other Ecosystem Services 204

14.2. Site-Specificity of Economic Benefits 205

14.3. Summary 206

14.4. References 207

Adaptation to Extreme Weather 212

15.1. Droughts 212

15.2. Floods 213

15.3. Precipitation Extremes 214

15.4. Dust storms 216

15.5. Temperature Extremes 216

15.6. Soil Resilience 217

15.7. Summary 219

15.8. References 220

Opportunities, Challenges, and Future of Cover Crops 226

16.1. Opportunities 226

16.1.1. Ecosystem Services 226

16.1.2. Biomass Production 227

16.1.3. Economics 227

16.1.4. Fluctuating Climates 228

16.2. Challenges 228

16.2.1. Ecosystem Services 229

16.2.1.1. Biomass Production 229

16.2.1.2. Soil Properties 229

16.2.1.5. Crop Yields 231

16.2.1.6. Economics 231

16.2.1.7. Fluctuating Climates 232

16.3. Remaining Questions 232

16.4. The Future of Cover Crops 234

16.5. Summary 235

16.6. References 236

Appendix I 242

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