Effect of different conservation agriculture techniques on soil respiration in almond orchards in the Mediterranean region (SE Spain)

Abstract

The soil-management system in agricultural lands could be affected substantially on dynamics of CO2 fluxes from soil. An experiment was carried out in Lanjarón (SE Spain) to evaluate the effect of three soil-management systems in almond plantations: 1) minimum tillage with spontaneous vegetation strips (MTSV), 2) minimum tillage and thyme (Thymbra capitata L.) strips (MTT), and 3) minimum tillage without plant strips (MT). The CO2 emission rates from soil presented the following increasing trend MTSV>MT>MTT, showing highly variability in the short term. Also, higher CO2 soil emissions were recorded during the spring, in contrast to autumn. Moreover, the soil- water content was the most influential environmental factor. Consequently, the use of conservation agricultural techniques such as minimum tillage and plant strips to sequester atmospheric carbon are sustainable measures for Mediterranean rainfed agro-ecosystems.