Effects of conservation tillage on soil enzyme activities of global cultivated land: A meta-analysis

Linsheng Wen; Yun Peng; Yunrui Zhou; Guo Cai; Yuying Lin; Baoyin Li

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118904

Effects of conservation tillage on soil enzyme activities of global cultivated land: A meta-analysis

J Environ Manage. 2023 Nov 1:345:118904. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118904. Epub 2023 Aug 31.

Authors

Linsheng Wen¹, Yun Peng², Yunrui Zhou¹, Guo Cai¹, Yuying Lin³, Baoyin Li⁴

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Subtropical Mountain Ecology of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Fujian Province, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350117, China; School of Geographical Sciences, School of Carbon Neutrality Future Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350117, China.
² Yuanzhou District Forestry Bureau, Yichun City, Jiangxi Province, 336000, China.
³ School of Geographical Sciences, School of Carbon Neutrality Future Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350117, China; Postdoctoral Research Station of Ecology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350117, China; School of Culture, Tourism and Public Administration, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350117, China; The Higher Educational Key Laboratory for Smart Tourism of Fujian Province, Fuzhou, 350007, China. Electronic address: linyuying2019@fjnu.edu.cn.
⁴ State Key Laboratory for Subtropical Mountain Ecology of the Ministry of Science and Technology and Fujian Province, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350117, China; School of Geographical Sciences, School of Carbon Neutrality Future Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, 350117, China. Electronic address: liby@fjnu.edu.cn.

PMID: 37659371
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118904

Abstract

The negative impacts of conventional agriculture and the imperative to adopt conservation tillage garnered significant attention. However, the effects of conservation tillage on soil enzyme activities still lack comprehensive cognition. Here, we collected 14,308 pairwise observations from 369 publications worldwide to systematically evaluate the effects of different conservation tillage practices (reduced tillage (T), reduced tillage with straw return (TS), reduced tillage with straw mulch return (TSO), no-tillage (NT), no-tillage with straw return (NTS), and no-tillage with straw mulch return (NTSO)) on the activities of 35 enzymes in soil. The results showed that: (1) the effect of conservation tillage on soil enzyme activity varied by enzyme type, except for peroxidase (-12.34%), which showed an overall significant positive effect (10.28-89.76%); (2) the NTS and TS demonstrated strong potential to improve soil enzyme activities by increasing a wide variety of soil enzyme activities (12-15) and efficacy (9.76-75.56%) than other conservation tillage (8.60-68.68%); (3) in addition, the effect of conservation tillage on soil enzyme activity was regulated by soil depth, crop type, years of conservation tillage, climate (mean annual precipitation and temperature), and soil physicochemical properties (e.g., pH, bulk density, electrical conductivity, organic matter, ammonium nitrogen, total phosphorus, available phosphorus, total potassium, available potassium, etc.). Overall, our quantitative analysis clearly suggests that conservation tillage is an effective measure for improving soil enzyme activity on global croplands, where combination of reduced tillage or no-till with straw return are considered to have great potential and promise. The results contribute to better comprehend the effects of conservation tillage on soil activity and provide a valuable insight for agricultural management.

Keywords: Agricultural management; Conservation tillage; Meta-analysis; Soil enzyme; Straw returning; Tillage measure.

Publication types

Meta-Analysis

MeSH terms

Agriculture*
Climate
Phosphorus
Potassium
Soil*

Substances

Soil
Phosphorus
Potassium