Cover crop root exudates impact soil microbiome functional trajectories in agricultural soils.

Background: Cover cropping is an agricultural practice that uses secondary crops to support the growth of primary crops through various mechanisms including erosion control, weed suppression, nutrient management, and enhanced biodiversity. Cover crops may elicit some of these ecosystem services through chemical interactions with the soil microbiome via root exudation, or the release of plant metabolites from roots. Phytohormones are one metabolite type exuded by plants that activate the rhizosphere microbiome, yet managing this chemical interaction remains an untapped mechanism for optimizing plant-soil-microbiome interactions.

Climate mitigation potential of cover crops in the United States is regionally concentrated and lower than previous estimates.

Widespread adoption of regenerative agriculture practices is an integral part of the US plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. National incentives have particularly increased for the adoption of cover crops (CCs), which have presumably large carbon (C) sequestration potential. However, assessments of national CC climate benefits have not fully considered regional variability, changing C sequestration rates over time, and potential NO trade-offs.

Cover Crop Root Exudates Impact Soil Microbiome Functional Trajectories in Agricultural Soils.

Background: Cover cropping is an agricultural practice that uses secondary crops to support the growth of primary crops through various mechanisms including erosion control, weed suppression, nutrient management, and enhanced biodiversity. Cover crops may elicit some of these ecosystem services through chemical interactions with the soil microbiome via root exudation, or the release of plant metabolites from roots. Phytohormones are one metabolite type exuded by plants that activate the rhizosphere microbiome, yet managing this chemical interaction remains an untapped mechanism for optimizing plant-soil microbiome interactions.

Cover Crop Cultivar, Species, and Functional Diversity is Reflected in Variable Root Exudation Composition.

Cover cropping has emerged as a sustainable alternative to traditional crop rotational practices, yet the effects of variable root exudation from cover crop species and cultivars within species remains unclear. Here, we assess the chemical heterogeneity of root exudates from 16 commonly used cover crop species as well as 3 distinct cultivars of hairy vetch. Plants were grown hydroponically and analyzed via nontargeted gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), and targeted LC-MS/MS to evaluate patterns in root exudate composition across species and functional plant type.

Management of cover crops in temperate climates influences soil organic carbon stocks: a meta-analysis.

Increasing the quantity and quality of plant biomass production in space and time can improve the capacity of agroecosystems to capture and store atmospheric carbon (C) in the soil. Cover cropping is a key practice to increase system net primary productivity (NPP) and increase the quantity of high-quality plant residues available for integration into soil organic matter (SOM). Cover crop management and local environmental conditions, however, influence the magnitude of soil C stock change.

Climate Change Impacts on Yields and Soil Carbon in Row Crop Dryland Agriculture.

Dryland agroecosystems could be a sizable sink for atmospheric carbon (C) due to their spatial extent and level of degradation, providing climate change mitigation. We examined productivity and soil C dynamics under two climate change scenarios (moderate warming, representative concentration pathway [RCP] 4.5; and high warming, RCP 8.