HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) An erratum has been published Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Roberson, T. Articles by Lemunyon, J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Roberson, T. Articles by Lemunyon, J. Agricola Articles by Roberson, T. Articles by Lemunyon, J. Related Collections Agroclimatology Carbon Sequestration Tillage

Carbon Dioxide Efflux from Soil with Poultry Litter Applications in Conventional and Conservation Tillage Systems in Northern Alabama

^a Dep. of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, Alabama A&M Univ., P.O. Box 1208, Normal, AL 35762
^b USDA-ARS, National Soil Dynamics Lab., 411 S. Donahue Drive, Auburn, AL 36832-5806
^c USDA-ARS, J. Phil Campbell Sr. Natural Resource Conservation Center, 1420 Experiment Station Road, Watkinsville, GA 30677
^d USDA-NRCS, Central National Technology Support Center, 501 W. Felix Street, FWFC, Bldg. 23, P.O. Box 6567, Fort Worth, TX 76115

^* Corresponding author (reddykcs{at}gmail.com).

Received for publication September 21, 2006. Increased CO₂ release from soils resulting from agricultural practices such as tillage has generated concerns about contributions to global warming. Maintaining current levels of soil C and/or sequestering additional C in soils are important mechanisms to reduce CO₂ in the atmosphere through production agriculture. We conducted a study in northern Alabama from 2003 to 2006 to measure CO₂ efflux and C storage in long-term tilled and non-tilled cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plots receiving poultry litter or ammonium nitrate (AN). Treatments were established in 1996 on a Decatur silt loam (clayey, kaolinitic thermic, Typic Paleudults) and consisted of conventional-tillage (CT), mulch-tillage (MT), and no-tillage (NT) systems with winter rye [Secale cereale (L.)] cover cropping and AN and poultry litter (PL) as nitrogen sources. Cotton was planted in 2003, 2004, and 2006. Corn was planted in 2005 as a rotation crop using a no-till planter in all plots, and no fertilizer was applied. Poultry litter application resulted in higher CO₂ emission from soil compared with AN application regardless of tillage system. In 2003 and 2006, CT (4.39 and 3.40 µmol m^–2 s^–1, respectively) and MT (4.17 and 3.39 µmol m^–2 s^–1, respectively) with PL at 100 kg N ha^–1 (100 PLN) recorded significantly higher CO₂ efflux compared with NT with 100 PLN (2.84 and 2.47 µmol m^–2 s^–1, respectively). Total soil C at 0- to 15-cm depth was not affected by tillage but significantly increased with PL application and winter rye cover cropping. In general, cotton produced with NT conservation tillage in conjunction with PL and winter rye cover cropping reduced CO₂ emissions and sequestered more soil C compared with control treatments.

Abbreviations: AN, ammonium nitrate • CF, cotton-fallow • CR, cotton-rye • CT, conventional tillage • MT, mulch tillage • NT, no tillage • PL, poultry litter • 100 ANN, ammonium nitrate at 100 kg N ha^–1 • 100 PLN, poultry litter at 100 kg N ha^–1