Conservation tillage for 17 years alters the molecular composition of organic matter in soil profile

Abstract Conservation tillage is considered as a potential measure to mitigate climate change by sequestering soil organic matter (SOM), however its stabilization mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, we revealed the molecular composition of SOM in soil profile (~50 cm depth) from a 17-yr tillage experiment in North China. The soils were collected from 0–10, 10–20, 20–30 and 30–50 cm layers under conventional tillage (CT), and conservation tillage such as rotary tillage (RT) and no-tillage (NT). The sequential solvent extraction and CuO oxidation methods were used to quantify free lipids and lignin-derived phenols. The results showed that NT (cf. CT) increased labile compounds (i.e., carbohydrates) and plant-derived SOM (i.e., long-chain (≥C20) aliphatic lipids and steroids) in the 0–10 and 30–50 cm layers. The RT (cf. CT) increased the total free lipids by 72–133% in the sublayers (>10 cm). The RT (cf. CT and NT) resulted in higher preservation of plant-derived (≥C20 aliphatic lipids and steroids) and microbial-derived compounds (