Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Peer-reviewed

Sward Diversity Modulates Soil Carbon Dynamics After Ploughing Temporary Grassland

Hendrik P. J. Smit, Hanna Anders, Christof Kluß, F. Taube, Ralf Loges, Arne Poyda

Agriculture · 2025

Read source ↗ All evidence

Summary

Grasslands are crucial for sequestering carbon underground, but disturbances like ploughing can lead to significant soil organic carbon (SOC) loss as CO2, a potent greenhouse gas. Thus, managed grasslands should be maintained to minimize GHG emissions. A field study was carried out to investigate how varying sward diversity influences soil respiration following the ploughing of temporary grassland. This study investigated the extent of CO2 emissions from different species mixtures immediately after ploughing, as well as C losses when straw was added to plots, over a 142-day period. The species mixture treatments consisted of a binary mixture (BM), a tertiary mixture (TM), and a complex mixture (CM), which were compared to two bare plot treatments, one of which was also ploughed. The highes

Source type
Peer-reviewed study
DOI
10.3390/agriculture15080888
Catalogue ID
SNmoimwra9-vviikn
Pulse AI · ask about this record

Dig deeper with Pulse AI.

Pulse AI has read the whole catalogue. Ask about this record, its theme, or how the findings apply to UK farming and policy — every answer cites the underlying studies.