Abstract:
Objective The aim was to investigate the impact of straw mulching on soil total organic carbon (TOC) composition and carbon pool management index in dryland.
Method Straw strip covering (TSM) and straw residue covering (TSR) trials were set up as the main effect treatments in the field trials since 2022, with plastic film covering (TPM) and open field flat cropping (TCK) as double controls. The TOC and easily oxidizable organic carbon (EOC) were determined in soil layers of 0 - 20 cm, 20 - 40 cm and 40 - 60 cm before sowing and during the harvest period of corn farmland, and the contents of soluble organic carbon (DOC) and particulate organic carbon (POC) and the soil carbon pool management index were calculated.
Result The treatments of TCK and TPM reduced the TOC content in the 0 - 60 cm soil layer compared with before sowing, while TSM and TSR increased the TOC content in the 0 - 20 cm soil layer. Each treatment reduced the EOC, DOC and POC contents and their distribution proportion in the 0 - 60 cm soil layer. During the harvest period, TSM significantly increased the contents of soil POC, EOC, DOC, and TOC compared to TCK, reaching 47.52%, 38.47%, 20.58%, and 19.91%, respectively. TSR significantly increased the TOC and DOC contents in the 0 - 20 cm soil layer by 3.43% and 14.55%, and significantly increased the EOC and POC contents in the 0 - 60 cm soil layer by 5.81% and 20.95%. During the harvest period, TSM significantly increased the contents of EOC, TOC, POC and DOC in the 0 - 60 cm soil layer compared to TPM, by 25.00%, 22.51%, 19.30% and 12.69%, respectively. Compared with TPM, TSR significantly increased the contents of DOC, EOC and TOC in the 0 - 20 cm soil layer by 20.04%, 7.75% and 7.10%, respectively, and significantly increased the POC content in the 0 - 40 cm soil layer by 27.64%. TSM significantly increased the soil carbon pool index, carbon pool activity, carbon pool activity index and carbon pool management index in the 0 - 60 cm soil layer compared with TCK. TSM significantly increased the soil carbon pool index and carbon pool management index in the 0 - 60 cm soil layer compared with TPM, while TSR significantly increased the soil carbon pool index in the 0 - 20 cm soil layer.
Conclusion Straw strip mulching can effectively improve the contents of soil organic carbon components and carbon pool management index, providing theoretical support for high-yield and efficient agricultural planting in semi-arid rainfed areas.