16-Year fertilization changes the dynamics of soil oxidizable organic carbon fractions and the stability of soil organic carbon in soybean-corn agroecosystem

Abstract Oxidizable organic carbon is a valuable indicator of soil quality, early changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) content, and changes in stabilities of SOC induced by soil fertilization practices. To improve SOC accumulation under soybean-corn cropping system in flat farmland on the Loess Plateau, we examined the effects of nine fertilization treatments [bare land (BL), control (CK), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), N + P (NP), manure (M), M + N (MN), M + P (MP), M + N + P (MNP)] on dynamics of SOC and four fractions of oxidizable organic carbon (OC) [very labile (CVL), labile (CL), less labile (CLL) and recalcitrant (CNL)], and stability of SOC over the period of 1997 to 2013. Although SOC content in treatments without fertilization or with inorganic fertilization remained relatively stable between 1997 and 2013, long-term no fertilization or inorganic fertilization caused a depletion of the very labile C (CVL) fraction and increased the stability of SOC. Long-term application of manure promoted an accumulation of SOC in the topsoil between 1997 and 2013, mainly by sequestering labile C (CVL and CL) in the 0–20-cm soil layer, and the dynamics of SOC and CVL contents under these treatments fitted a logistic regression model, which decreased the stability of SOC between 2008 and 2013. SOC content in the subsoil (20–40 cm) under cultivation with organic fertilization increased between 1997 and 2006, but then decreased between 2007 and 2013. Organic fertilization increased CVL and CL contents in the 20–40-cm layer between 1997 and 2010, but then decreased them between 2010 and 2013, and increased the stability of SOC between 2011 and 2013. Our findings indicated that manure fertilization was more effective in promoting SOC enrichment of the soil surface layers by increasing CVL, relative to inorganic fertilization and no fertilization, whereas long-term manure fertilization was associated with a risk of decreasing labile carbon in the 20–40-cm layer and the stability of SOC in the 0–20-cm layer. Manure fertilizer should thus be used cautiously in farmland on the Loess Plateau to guarantee long-term soil carbon stock.