Soil organic carbon and nutrient content in aggregate-size fractions of a subtropical rice soil under variable tillage

The effects of tillage on soil organic carbon (SOC) and nutrient content of soil aggregates can vary spatially and temporally, and for different soil types and cropping systems. We assessed SOC and nutrient levels within water-stable aggregates in ridges with no tillage (RNT) and also under conventional tillage (CT) for a subtropical rice soil in order to determine relationships between tillage, cation concentrations and soil organic matter. Surface soil (0-15 cm) was fractionated into aggregate sizes (> 4.76 mm, 4.76-2.00 mm, 2.00-1.00 mm, 1.00-0.25 mm, 0.25-0.053 mm, < 0.053 mm) under two tillage regimes. Tillage significantly reduced the proportion of macroaggregate fractions (> 2.00 mm) and thus aggregate stability was reduced by 35% compared with RNT, indicating that tillage practices led to soil structural change for this subtropical soil. The patterns in SOC, total N, exchangeable Ca2+, Mg2+ and total exchangeable bases (TEB) were similar between tillage regimes, but concentrations were significantly higher under RNT than CT. This suggests that RNT in subtropical rice soils may be a better way to enhance soil productivity and improve soil C sequestration potential than CT. The highest SOC was in the 1.00-0.25 mm fraction (35.7 and 30.4 mg/kg for RNT and CT, respectively), while the lowest SOC was in microaggregate (< 0.025 mm) and silt + clay (< 0.053 mm) fractions (19.5 and 15.7 mg/kg for RNT and CT, respectively). Tillage did not influence the patterns in SOC across aggregates but did change the aggregate-size distribution, indicating that tillage affected soil fertility primarily by changing soil structure.