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Cover crops increase belowground N retention substantially in corn crop** systems: Results from a 15N residue swap** experiment

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Abstract

Background and aims

Cover crops can potentially increase nitrogen (N) retention in agroecosystems. However, only a small fraction of the N released from cover crop residues may be transferred to the grain crop, and N losses to the surrounding environment can occur following termination. We applied 15N tracer in fall in two years to plots of a cover crop field experiment to assess the cover crop effect on N retention and to quantify N transfer from cover crops to the subsequent corn crop.

Methods

By swap** 15N-labelled and non-labeled cover crop shoots reciprocally between paired plots, 15N from cover crop shoots and the belowground pool (soil and cover crop roots) were tracked separately. Both cover crop monocultures (oats or red clover) and mixtures (3-way or 10-way mixtures) were compared, and for winter-hardy species, we examined both fall and spring termination.

Results

At termination, cover crops increased 15N retention by 2–3 times relative to the no cover crop control (20–60% of the added 15N), with the majority retained belowground. At corn harvest, 25–50% of 15N was recovered in soil, and less than 10% in corn. 15N recovery for cover crop treatments was up to 25% higher than that of the no cover crop control, and spring termination of clover resulted in the greatest belowground 15N retention. There were no significant differences in corn 15N recovery between cover crop monocultures and mixtures.

Conclusion

Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of cover crops in increasing N retention in the belowground N pool.

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request

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Acknowledgements

Field and laboratory assistance was provided by Erik Glemser, Joseph Walker, Maddie Cann, Rohitash Gupta and Jennifer Kumar

Funding

Research funding was provided to HALH and CWR via Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grants. Operating funds for this research were provided to CWR by the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance (project UofG2018-3130). The Long-term Cover Crop trial is funded by the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance (project UofG2016-2739) in partnership with the Grain Farmers of Ontario. SMH was funded by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond St. N, London, ON, N6A 5B7, Canada

    Spencer M. Heuchan & Hugh A. L. Henry

  2. School of Environmental Science, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Rd East, Guelph, ON, N1G 2W1, Canada

    Claudia Wagner-Riddle, Khagendra R. Baral & Sean Jordan

  3. Agri-Environment Branch, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK

    Khagendra R. Baral

  4. Department of Plant Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, 51 Campus Dr, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A8, Canada

    Katelyn A. Congreves

  5. Department of Soil Science, University of Saskatchewan, 51 Campus Dr, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5A8, Canada

    Richard E. Farrell

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  1. Spencer M. Heuchan
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  5. Richard E. Farrell
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  7. Hugh A. L. Henry
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. SMH, CW, REF and HALH contributed to the manuscript writing. SMH, KRB, SJ and HALH contributed to the data collection and analysis. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Hugh A. L. Henry.

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Heuchan, S.M., Wagner-Riddle, C., Baral, K.R. et al. Cover crops increase belowground N retention substantially in corn crop** systems: Results from a 15N residue swap** experiment. Plant Soil (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-023-06196-z

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