Carbon Mineralization Associated with Soil Aggregates as Affected by Short-term Tillage

Tillage practice has received much attention due to its effects on greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural fields. The understanding of carbon mineralization associated with soil aggregates helps to explore the influence mechanisms of tillage practice on soil carbon dynamics. Total carbon and carbon mineralization rates associated with various sizes of soil aggregates under no-tillage and tillage treatments were studied with a volcanic ash soil. Total carbon content in microaggregates (<0.25 mm) was higher than that in macroaggregates (>0.25 mm) for both the no-tillage and tillage treatments, since microaggregates of the volcanic ash soil include more fine silts and clay particles absorbing more organic agents. The carbon mineralization rate and total carbon were highly correlated (R² = 0.6552, P = 0.002) for both treatments, suggesting that soil aggregate size is an important factor to influence the carbon mineralization rate. The no-tillage system showed the advantage of improving soil structure for volcanic ash soil. A larger proportion of microaggregates with relatively high carbon mineralization might contribute to the greater carbon loss from tilled soils. Unlike aggregate size, short-term tillage showed no significant effects on carbon mineralization rates associated with aggregates in a specific size class.