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Copyright of Ad Limina. Revista de investigacion del Camino de Santiag y las peregrinaciones is the property of AD LIMINA Turismo de Galicia SA de Xestion do Plan Xacobeo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

No-tillage system with fall/winter cover crop (CC) ensures that large amounts of different types of organic residue are supplied to the soil. The biochemical composition of each residue, especially its C:N ratio and lignin, plays an important role in nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) soil dynamics, as well as the availability of nutrients for the next crop. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality parameters of CC based on the quantity and quality of the residue contributed. The experiments were carried out on Argiudioles typical of the Coronel Suárez (Pcia. de Bs. As.) Species used as cover crops were: Oats (Avena sativa L.), Hairy vetch (Vicia sativa L. Thell.), Clover persia "grazing" (Trifolium resupinatum L var. "Lightning"), Clover persia "coverage" (Trifolium resupinatum L. var. "Laser"). The determinations were: a) Production of forage (Mg MS ha-1), b) N, c) neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid (FDA), nonstructural carbohydrates (CNES), carbon (C%) and Lignin. The aerial biomass of Hairy vetch presented the highest concentrations of N in the dry matter (MS) produced. When the oats were fertilized they were able to increase the contributions of N to the soil present in the aerial biomass of the residue to 50%. The aerial biomass of Hairy vetch presented the highest yields and concentrations of lignin. The different CC presented C:N and LIG:N ratios that were based on the amount of MS produced by the aerial biomass of the crop and its phenological state at the time of drying. The temperature and the moment of evaluation modified quantity and quality of the residues. The parameters evaluated were sensitive to these changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cover crops (CC) have an effect on nitrogen (N) accumulation and on successive crop yields. The aim of this study was to evaluate yields, yield components and N accumulation of maize using as previous crops different CC and evaluating the response to N fertilization. Five experiments were conductedd on a Typic Argiudioll (USDA Soil Taxonomy) of Coronel Suárez. The species used as CC were: Oats (Avena sativa), Hairy vetch (Vicia sativa) and control (chemical fallow). The experimental design consisted of split-plots in three randomized complete blocks, with main plots corresponding to the cover crops treatment and subplots to the fertilizer treatment (N applied at the V4-V6 corn stage). The treatments in the main plots were the CC. The effects of CC varied according to the corn yield component.. Hairy vetch and N fertilization at different rates increased the N absorption efficiency. A greater N absorption was not always related to increases in corn yields, probably due to the climatic variability among years. There was a tendency for greater corn yields with hairy vetch as a preceding cover crop. N application reduced hairy vetch N recovery during the second year and increased N recovery during the first and third year. Fertilizer application effects varied among previous crops with a low response to N when the previous crop was hairy vetch, a variable response when in fallow and a significant response when the previous crop was oats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Los cambios de las prácticas de manejo y usos del suelo alteran el aporte de carbono, así como la dinámica y nivel de equilibrio del carbono orgánico (CO) del suelo. Los cambios a largo plazo en el C O total (COT) producidos por las prácticas de manejo o usos del suelo podrían predecirse con los cambios en el corto plazo en las fracciones de CO más sensibles. El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar el impacto de diferentes sistemas de manejo sobre las fracciones de CO. Se analizaron seis sistemas de manejo: 2 monocultivos (M), 2 rotaciones (R), una pastura (P) y un pastizal natural (AN). En cada situación se tomaron tres muestras compuestas de 0-5, 5-10 y 10-20 cm. Se determinó: COT, CO particulado grueso (COPg, 105-2000 μmm), CO particulado fino (COPf, 53-105 μmm), CO asociado a la fracción mineral (COM, 0-53 μmm), nitrógeno total (Nt), fósforo extractable (Pe) y fósforo to-tal (Pt). Se evidenció una disminución del COT por el uso agrícola, en promedio, del 29, 19 y 15% para 0-5, 5-10 y 10-20 cm, respectivamente, comparado con el AN. Dichas diferencias tendieron a ser más marcadas en el caso de monocultivo con una disminución del 35, 23 y 17% para dichas profundidades. El uso agrícola presentó significativamente niveles menores de las diferentes fracciones orgánicas y la sensibilidad a sufrir disminuciones presentó el siguiente orden COPg>COPf>COM. El ordenamiento de las diferencias entre tratamientos para COPg fue similar al observado para COT, pero con diferencias menos marcadas entre tratamientos. Para diferenciar prácticas de manejo (rotación vs monocultivo), el COPf fue la fracción orgánica más sensible presentando una disminución del 28% en monocultivo. Las fracciones orgánicas de labilidad intermedia, como el COPf, pueden utilizarse como indicadores sensibles para diferenciar manejos agrícolas, sin ser muy influenciadas por la variabilidad temporal y meteorológica. Management practices and land use changes influence carbon inputs and soil organic carbon (OC) dynamics. Short-term changes on total OC (TOC) caused both by management practices or land use are reflected on the most sensitive OC fractions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of different management practices on OC fractions. Six management practices were analyzed: two monocultures (M), two rotations (R), an alfalfa pasture (P) and a native prairie (AN). For each situation, three composite samples were taken at 0-5, 5-10 and 10-20 cm depths, and analyzed for TOC, coarse particulate OC (POCc, 105-2000 μm), fine particulate OC (POCf, 53-105 μm) and mineral-associated OC (MOC, 0-53 μm), total nitrogen (Nt), extractable phosphorus (Pe) and total phosphorus (Pt). On average, soils under agricultural land use had, 29, 19 and 15% less TOC in the 0-5, 5-10 and 10-20 cm depths, respectively, compared with soils under AN. Under monoculture, these losses reached 35, 23 y 17%, respectively. The different organic fractions were significantly lower under agricultural use; sensitivity to undergo decreases in values followed the order POCg>POCf>MOC. The differences among treatments for POCc were similar to those observed for COT, but the latter were smaller. POCf was the fraction that showed the greatest differences between monoculture and rotation systems, showing a decrease of 28% in monoculture compared with rotation. Organic fractions of intermediate lability, such as POCf, can be used as sensitive indicators to differentiate agricultural management without being greatly influenced by temporal and meteorological variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study, were: a) to characterize the soil mechanical penetration resistance (RST) variation in the 0 to 20 -cm depth of two rotation treatments with and without cattle grazing and b) to determine the RST relationship with soil water content (W). The experiment took place on a Typic Haplustoll in SW Buenos Aires province, on sunflower-wheat based rotations. Treatments included: a) 100 % cash-crop rotation with no cattle grazing and b) Mixed rotation, including an oat forage crop with direct grazing by 350 to 400 kg steer at a 25 head/ha stocking rate between wheat and sunflower crops. RST and W were determined on ten opportunities near planting dates. After oat grazing, RST was higher in the Mixed rotation compared to the crop rotation in the 0 to 20 cm soil layer, with greater differences in the 2.5-7.5 cm layer. Corrected to a W of 190 g kg-1, the RST in the crop rotation showed an increasing linear trend over time. RST for the mixed rotation fitted a quadratic model which tended to stabilize at 2.5 MPa. In addition, the mixed rotation showed a second variation pattern related to sample dates: RST after grazed oats was higher than at the end of the oat-sunflower-wheat cycle. This decrease was attributed to a recovery of bioporosity due to the crop roots effect on the soil. Observed RST values were close or higher than those considered critical for root penetration in 20 and 50% of sampling dates for the crop and mixed rotations, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]