Cover crops improve soil fertility and have contrasting effects on leaf and root maize litter decomposition in the Pampas, Argentina

Autores
Araujo, Patricia Ines; Simón, Joaquín; Portela, Silvina Isabel; Restovich, Silvina Beatriz; Austin, Amy T.
Año de publicación
2026
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
Planting cover crops has been proposed as a keystone to restore ecosystem services in intensively cultivated agroecosystems. Cover crops increase primary production over time, positively impacting carbon storage, soil fertility and soil organisms. This plant cover can also alter litter decomposition processes through changes in biotic and abiotic conditions. However, most studies on cover crops for carbon turnover have focused on their legacy effects as litter inputs (“afterlife effects”). In contrast, the effects of living (green) cover crops on crash crop litter decomposition have rarely been quantified. We explored the effect of two cover crops (oat and oat-vetch mixture) on maize litter decomposition (1) under real field conditions in the Argentine Pampas, specifically with leaf litter decomposing on the surface and root litter slightly buried. Additionally, we placed buried leaf litterbags to (2) assess the effect of tillage management on carbon turnover and (3) evaluate litter quality effects independent of position. Finally, we manipulated cover crop biomass to (4) examine the impact of reduced sunlight exposure on litter decomposition. Our results show that cover crops improved soil biological properties and affected leaf and root maize litter decomposition differently. Soil microbial biomass and nitrogen retention increased under cover crops. Maize leaf litter decomposition also increased, while root litter tended to decrease. In addition, leaf litter aboveground decomposed faster than root litter belowground, but slower than buried leaf litter. There was no evidence that reduced sunlight exposure beneath plant cover affected litter mass remaining over time. Our study provides insight into the ecosystem services of cover crops, particularly their role in the first step of carbon turnover of crop litter. Identifying additional benefits of cover crops in highly intensified agroecosystems of the Pampas underscores their potential to balance high productivity with sustainable practices that support healthy biogeochemical cycles.
EEA Pergamino
Fil: Araujo, Patricia Inés. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Grupo de Gestión Ambiental; Argentina
Fil: Araujo, Patricia Inés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Simón, Joaquín. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Escuela de Ciencias Agrarias, Naturales y Ambientales; Argentina
Fil: Restovich, Silvina B. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Gestión ambiental; Argentina
Fil: Austin, Amy T. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Austin, Amy T. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentina
Fil: Austin, Amy T. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentina
Fuente
Acta Oecologica 131 : 104164. (June 2026)
Materia
Cobertura de Suelos
Gestión Ambiental
Agroecosistemas
Ciclo del Carbono
Residuos de Cosechas
Sostenibilidad
Land Cover
Environmental Management
Agroecosystems
Carbon Cycle
Crop Residues
Sustainability
Cultivos de Cobertura
Cover Crops
Litter Decomposition
Región Pampeana
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso restringido
Condiciones de uso
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Repositorio
INTA Digital (INTA)
Institución
Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
OAI Identificador
oai:localhost:20.500.12123/25516
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oai_identifier_str oai:localhost:20.500.12123/25516
network_acronym_str INTADig
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network_name_str INTA Digital (INTA)
spelling Cover crops improve soil fertility and have contrasting effects on leaf and root maize litter decomposition in the Pampas, ArgentinaAraujo, Patricia InesSimón, JoaquínPortela, Silvina IsabelRestovich, Silvina BeatrizAustin, Amy T.Cobertura de SuelosGestión AmbientalAgroecosistemasCiclo del CarbonoResiduos de CosechasSostenibilidadLand CoverEnvironmental ManagementAgroecosystemsCarbon CycleCrop ResiduesSustainabilityCultivos de CoberturaCover CropsLitter DecompositionRegión PampeanaPlanting cover crops has been proposed as a keystone to restore ecosystem services in intensively cultivated agroecosystems. Cover crops increase primary production over time, positively impacting carbon storage, soil fertility and soil organisms. This plant cover can also alter litter decomposition processes through changes in biotic and abiotic conditions. However, most studies on cover crops for carbon turnover have focused on their legacy effects as litter inputs (“afterlife effects”). In contrast, the effects of living (green) cover crops on crash crop litter decomposition have rarely been quantified. We explored the effect of two cover crops (oat and oat-vetch mixture) on maize litter decomposition (1) under real field conditions in the Argentine Pampas, specifically with leaf litter decomposing on the surface and root litter slightly buried. Additionally, we placed buried leaf litterbags to (2) assess the effect of tillage management on carbon turnover and (3) evaluate litter quality effects independent of position. Finally, we manipulated cover crop biomass to (4) examine the impact of reduced sunlight exposure on litter decomposition. Our results show that cover crops improved soil biological properties and affected leaf and root maize litter decomposition differently. Soil microbial biomass and nitrogen retention increased under cover crops. Maize leaf litter decomposition also increased, while root litter tended to decrease. In addition, leaf litter aboveground decomposed faster than root litter belowground, but slower than buried leaf litter. There was no evidence that reduced sunlight exposure beneath plant cover affected litter mass remaining over time. Our study provides insight into the ecosystem services of cover crops, particularly their role in the first step of carbon turnover of crop litter. Identifying additional benefits of cover crops in highly intensified agroecosystems of the Pampas underscores their potential to balance high productivity with sustainable practices that support healthy biogeochemical cycles.EEA PergaminoFil: Araujo, Patricia Inés. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Grupo de Gestión Ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Araujo, Patricia Inés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Simón, Joaquín. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Escuela de Ciencias Agrarias, Naturales y Ambientales; ArgentinaFil: Restovich, Silvina B. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Gestión ambiental; ArgentinaFil: Austin, Amy T. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Austin, Amy T. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaFil: Austin, Amy T. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; ArgentinaElsevier2026-03-19T10:03:53Z2026-03-19T10:03:53Z2026-06info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/25516https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1146609X260000931146-609Xhttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2026.104164Acta Oecologica 131 : 104164. (June 2026)reponame:INTA Digital (INTA)instname:Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuariaenginfo:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccesshttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)2026-05-07T11:53:09Zoai:localhost:20.500.12123/25516instacron:INTAInstitucionalhttp://repositorio.inta.gob.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://repositorio.inta.gob.ar/oai/requesttripaldi.nicolas@inta.gob.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:l2026-05-07 11:53:11.201INTA Digital (INTA) - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuariafalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Cover crops improve soil fertility and have contrasting effects on leaf and root maize litter decomposition in the Pampas, Argentina
title Cover crops improve soil fertility and have contrasting effects on leaf and root maize litter decomposition in the Pampas, Argentina
spellingShingle Cover crops improve soil fertility and have contrasting effects on leaf and root maize litter decomposition in the Pampas, Argentina
Araujo, Patricia Ines
Cobertura de Suelos
Gestión Ambiental
Agroecosistemas
Ciclo del Carbono
Residuos de Cosechas
Sostenibilidad
Land Cover
Environmental Management
Agroecosystems
Carbon Cycle
Crop Residues
Sustainability
Cultivos de Cobertura
Cover Crops
Litter Decomposition
Región Pampeana
title_short Cover crops improve soil fertility and have contrasting effects on leaf and root maize litter decomposition in the Pampas, Argentina
title_full Cover crops improve soil fertility and have contrasting effects on leaf and root maize litter decomposition in the Pampas, Argentina
title_fullStr Cover crops improve soil fertility and have contrasting effects on leaf and root maize litter decomposition in the Pampas, Argentina
title_full_unstemmed Cover crops improve soil fertility and have contrasting effects on leaf and root maize litter decomposition in the Pampas, Argentina
title_sort Cover crops improve soil fertility and have contrasting effects on leaf and root maize litter decomposition in the Pampas, Argentina
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Araujo, Patricia Ines
Simón, Joaquín
Portela, Silvina Isabel
Restovich, Silvina Beatriz
Austin, Amy T.
author Araujo, Patricia Ines
author_facet Araujo, Patricia Ines
Simón, Joaquín
Portela, Silvina Isabel
Restovich, Silvina Beatriz
Austin, Amy T.
author_role author
author2 Simón, Joaquín
Portela, Silvina Isabel
Restovich, Silvina Beatriz
Austin, Amy T.
author2_role author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Cobertura de Suelos
Gestión Ambiental
Agroecosistemas
Ciclo del Carbono
Residuos de Cosechas
Sostenibilidad
Land Cover
Environmental Management
Agroecosystems
Carbon Cycle
Crop Residues
Sustainability
Cultivos de Cobertura
Cover Crops
Litter Decomposition
Región Pampeana
topic Cobertura de Suelos
Gestión Ambiental
Agroecosistemas
Ciclo del Carbono
Residuos de Cosechas
Sostenibilidad
Land Cover
Environmental Management
Agroecosystems
Carbon Cycle
Crop Residues
Sustainability
Cultivos de Cobertura
Cover Crops
Litter Decomposition
Región Pampeana
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv Planting cover crops has been proposed as a keystone to restore ecosystem services in intensively cultivated agroecosystems. Cover crops increase primary production over time, positively impacting carbon storage, soil fertility and soil organisms. This plant cover can also alter litter decomposition processes through changes in biotic and abiotic conditions. However, most studies on cover crops for carbon turnover have focused on their legacy effects as litter inputs (“afterlife effects”). In contrast, the effects of living (green) cover crops on crash crop litter decomposition have rarely been quantified. We explored the effect of two cover crops (oat and oat-vetch mixture) on maize litter decomposition (1) under real field conditions in the Argentine Pampas, specifically with leaf litter decomposing on the surface and root litter slightly buried. Additionally, we placed buried leaf litterbags to (2) assess the effect of tillage management on carbon turnover and (3) evaluate litter quality effects independent of position. Finally, we manipulated cover crop biomass to (4) examine the impact of reduced sunlight exposure on litter decomposition. Our results show that cover crops improved soil biological properties and affected leaf and root maize litter decomposition differently. Soil microbial biomass and nitrogen retention increased under cover crops. Maize leaf litter decomposition also increased, while root litter tended to decrease. In addition, leaf litter aboveground decomposed faster than root litter belowground, but slower than buried leaf litter. There was no evidence that reduced sunlight exposure beneath plant cover affected litter mass remaining over time. Our study provides insight into the ecosystem services of cover crops, particularly their role in the first step of carbon turnover of crop litter. Identifying additional benefits of cover crops in highly intensified agroecosystems of the Pampas underscores their potential to balance high productivity with sustainable practices that support healthy biogeochemical cycles.
EEA Pergamino
Fil: Araujo, Patricia Inés. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Grupo de Gestión Ambiental; Argentina
Fil: Araujo, Patricia Inés. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Simón, Joaquín. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Escuela de Ciencias Agrarias, Naturales y Ambientales; Argentina
Fil: Restovich, Silvina B. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Pergamino. Gestión ambiental; Argentina
Fil: Austin, Amy T. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina
Fil: Austin, Amy T. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentina
Fil: Austin, Amy T. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones Fisiológicas y Ecológicas Vinculadas a la Agricultura; Argentina
description Planting cover crops has been proposed as a keystone to restore ecosystem services in intensively cultivated agroecosystems. Cover crops increase primary production over time, positively impacting carbon storage, soil fertility and soil organisms. This plant cover can also alter litter decomposition processes through changes in biotic and abiotic conditions. However, most studies on cover crops for carbon turnover have focused on their legacy effects as litter inputs (“afterlife effects”). In contrast, the effects of living (green) cover crops on crash crop litter decomposition have rarely been quantified. We explored the effect of two cover crops (oat and oat-vetch mixture) on maize litter decomposition (1) under real field conditions in the Argentine Pampas, specifically with leaf litter decomposing on the surface and root litter slightly buried. Additionally, we placed buried leaf litterbags to (2) assess the effect of tillage management on carbon turnover and (3) evaluate litter quality effects independent of position. Finally, we manipulated cover crop biomass to (4) examine the impact of reduced sunlight exposure on litter decomposition. Our results show that cover crops improved soil biological properties and affected leaf and root maize litter decomposition differently. Soil microbial biomass and nitrogen retention increased under cover crops. Maize leaf litter decomposition also increased, while root litter tended to decrease. In addition, leaf litter aboveground decomposed faster than root litter belowground, but slower than buried leaf litter. There was no evidence that reduced sunlight exposure beneath plant cover affected litter mass remaining over time. Our study provides insight into the ecosystem services of cover crops, particularly their role in the first step of carbon turnover of crop litter. Identifying additional benefits of cover crops in highly intensified agroecosystems of the Pampas underscores their potential to balance high productivity with sustainable practices that support healthy biogeochemical cycles.
publishDate 2026
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2026-03-19T10:03:53Z
2026-03-19T10:03:53Z
2026-06
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/25516
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1146609X26000093
1146-609X
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2026.104164
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/25516
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1146609X26000093
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2026.104164
identifier_str_mv 1146-609X
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
eu_rights_str_mv restrictedAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Acta Oecologica 131 : 104164. (June 2026)
reponame:INTA Digital (INTA)
instname:Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
reponame_str INTA Digital (INTA)
collection INTA Digital (INTA)
instname_str Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
repository.name.fl_str_mv INTA Digital (INTA) - Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria
repository.mail.fl_str_mv tripaldi.nicolas@inta.gob.ar
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