Agricultural ecosystems can play a significant
role in production and consumption of greenhouse gases, specifically, carbon
dioxide (CO2). Information is
needed on the mechanism and magnitude of gas generation and emission from
agricultural soils with specific emphasis on tillage mechanisms. This work
reviews effect of different tillage methods on the short-term CO2
and H2O vapor flux from clay loam soils high in soil organic carbon
(C) in the northern corn belt of the U.S. [Reicosky
and Lindstrom, 1993, 1995; Reicosky,
1997, 1998]. The soil CO2 flux was measured one minute after the
tillage using a large, portable chamber as described by Reicosky and Lindstrom [1993]. The four tillage methods were
moldboard plow (MP) only, moldboard plow plus disk harrow twice, disk harrow
and chisel plow using standard tillage equipment following a wheat (T. Aestivum
L) crop compared with no tillage (NT).
Author: D.C. Reicosky (reicosky at morris dot ars dot usda dot gov)
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