Availability of dissolved organic carbon drives differences in microbial
nitrogen-cycling processes between two sites with cover crops
interseeded into corn
Abstract
Interseeding cover crops into corn has been proposed as a technique to
extend the cover crop growing window, but interseeded cover crops may
reduce N availability and compete with corn for available nutrients. To
assess N-cycling dynamics in soils where cover crops have been
interseeded into corn for one or two years, plots were established in
duplicate at two sites in Michigan with differing edaphic properties.
Annual ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam.), crimson clover (Trifolium
incarnatum L.), oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus L.), or a mixture of
ryegrass and clover were interseeded into corn at the V3 or V6 stages of
corn growth and compared to control plots that did not receive cover
crops. We measured active C and N pools during the growing season and
after harvest as well as potential activities of microbially mediated
nutrient-cycling processes via extracellular enzymes, nitrification, and
denitrification. We found that after two years, interseeded cover crops
had little to no effect on active pools of C and N or on microbial
nutrient-cycling activities. However, we observed major differences in
these parameters between sites, with finer-textured soils exhibiting
increased dissolved organic C availability and greater peptidase
activity compared to coarser-textured soils. Our results reveal
important spatial and temporal trends that suggest greater C
availability can lower the potential for N loss while maintaining a
rapid flux of N through the N cycle.