Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Peer-reviewed

Boosting Lignin and Microbial Necromass Sequestration and Crop Productivity With Strategic Tillage in No‐Till Systems

Lixiao Ma, X Wang, X S Chen, Xiaoying Jin, Tusheng Ren, Zhangliu Du

European Journal of Soil Science · 2026

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Summary

ABSTRACT Can strategic tillage in no‐till help or hinder its benefits of soil organic carbon (SOC) biochemistry and associated functionality? To address this issue, we used three biomarkers—free lipids, lignin phenols, and amino sugars—to quantify SOC characteristics such as composition, lability, and origins, and assessed soil quality and crop yields based on an 8‐year field trial with conventional tillage (CT), no‐till (NT), and strategic tillage (ST) in Northeast China. In the entire 0–30 cm profile, ST raised SOC, lignin phenols, and microbial necromass carbon (MNC) stocks by 21%, 36%, and 24%, respectively, compared to CT, whereas the differences in plant‐derived biomolecules and overall SOC between ST and NT were minimal. Instead, NT exhibited stratified free lipids, showing higher m

Subject
Soil carbon & organic matter
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
System type
Other
DOI
10.1111/ejss.70328
Catalogue ID
SNmoi1q73p-g1oo54
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