Summary
Soil structure is important for plant growth and ecosystem functioning, and provides habitat for a wide range of soil biota. So far, very few studies directly compared the effects of three main farming practices (conventional, organic and conservation agriculture) on soil structure and soil physical properties. Here, we collected undisturbed soil cores from the FArming System and Tillage long-term field experiment (FAST) near Zurich (Switzerland). This trial compares the effects of conventional tillage, conventional no-tillage, organic tillage and non-inversion reduced tillage under organic farming since 2009. We assessed 28 soil chemical and physical properties and related them to root and microbial biomass as well as to the diversity of bacteria and fungi. Tillage decreased bulk density
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