Summary
A reduction in tillage intensity, organic farming, and introduction of ley-grass periods into the crop rotation are means to improve the sustainable use of arable soils. The current study uses an on-farm approach to investigate soils from different practical farms in Northern France, Central Sweden, and Romania in comparison with previously published results from randomized field-experiments nearby. No-tillage generally increased the mean SOC and total N contents of arable fields in comparison with ploughing. However, this increase was only significant for the 70 % increase at 0–10 cm depth in France. No-tillage had no general effects on MBC or MBN and increased the ergosterol content at 0–10 cm depth in France and Sweden but not in Romania. Averaging depths and tillage systems, median MBC
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