Assessing the Synergy of Spring Strip Tillage and Straw Mulching to Mitigate Soil Degradation and Enhance Productivity in Black Soils
To address the critical challenges of wind erosion mitigation and sustainable soil management in the fragile agroecosystem of the black soil region in the foothills of the Daxing’anling Mountains, this study evaluated five tillage practices—conventional ridge tillage (CP), no tillage with straw remo...
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MDPI AG
2025-06-01
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| Series: | Agronomy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/6/1415 |
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| author | Zhihong Yang Lanfang Bai Tianhao Wang Zhipeng Cheng Zhen Wang Yongqiang Wang Fugui Wang Fang Luo Zhigang Wang |
| author_facet | Zhihong Yang Lanfang Bai Tianhao Wang Zhipeng Cheng Zhen Wang Yongqiang Wang Fugui Wang Fang Luo Zhigang Wang |
| author_sort | Zhihong Yang |
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| description | To address the critical challenges of wind erosion mitigation and sustainable soil management in the fragile agroecosystem of the black soil region in the foothills of the Daxing’anling Mountains, this study evaluated five tillage practices—conventional ridge tillage (CP), no tillage with straw removal (NT), no tillage with straw mulching (R+NT), autumn strip tillage with straw mulching (R+ST<sub>A</sub>), and spring strip tillage with straw mulching (R+ST<sub>S</sub>)—across two landforms: gently sloped uplands and flat depressions. The results demonstrated that R+ST<sub>S</sub> achieved superior performance across both landscapes, exhibiting a 42.99% reduction in the wind erosion rate, a 48.88% decrease in soil sediment discharge, and a 52.26% reduction in the soil creep amount compared to CP. These improvements were mechanistically linked to the enhanced surface microtopography (aerodynamic roughness increased by 1.8–2.3 fold) and optimized straw coverage (68–72%). R+ST<sub>S</sub> also enhanced the topsoil fertility, increasing the total nitrogen (TN), soil organic carbon (SOC), alkaline nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), and rapidly available potassium (AK) by 22.07%, 12.94%, 14.92%, 32.94%, and 9.52%, respectively. Furthermore, it improved maize emergence and its yield by 10.04% and 9.99% compared to R+NT. Mantel tests and SEM revealed strong negative correlations between erosion and nutrients, identifying nitrogen availability as the key yield driver. R+STS offers a sustainable strategy for erosion control and productivity improvement in the black soil region. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-580b2377068948d78c0da0a0f9fe2adb |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2073-4395 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Agronomy |
| spelling | doaj-art-580b2377068948d78c0da0a0f9fe2adb2025-08-20T03:26:20ZengMDPI AGAgronomy2073-43952025-06-01156141510.3390/agronomy15061415Assessing the Synergy of Spring Strip Tillage and Straw Mulching to Mitigate Soil Degradation and Enhance Productivity in Black SoilsZhihong Yang0Lanfang Bai1Tianhao Wang2Zhipeng Cheng3Zhen Wang4Yongqiang Wang5Fugui Wang6Fang Luo7Zhigang Wang8Faculty of Agronomy, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, ChinaFaculty of Agronomy, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, ChinaFaculty of Agronomy, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, ChinaFaculty of Agronomy, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, ChinaFaculty of Agronomy, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, ChinaFaculty of Agronomy, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, ChinaFaculty of Agronomy, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, ChinaArongqi Agricultural Development Center Affiliation, Arongqi 162750, ChinaFaculty of Agronomy, Inner Mongolia Agricultural University, Hohhot 010019, ChinaTo address the critical challenges of wind erosion mitigation and sustainable soil management in the fragile agroecosystem of the black soil region in the foothills of the Daxing’anling Mountains, this study evaluated five tillage practices—conventional ridge tillage (CP), no tillage with straw removal (NT), no tillage with straw mulching (R+NT), autumn strip tillage with straw mulching (R+ST<sub>A</sub>), and spring strip tillage with straw mulching (R+ST<sub>S</sub>)—across two landforms: gently sloped uplands and flat depressions. The results demonstrated that R+ST<sub>S</sub> achieved superior performance across both landscapes, exhibiting a 42.99% reduction in the wind erosion rate, a 48.88% decrease in soil sediment discharge, and a 52.26% reduction in the soil creep amount compared to CP. These improvements were mechanistically linked to the enhanced surface microtopography (aerodynamic roughness increased by 1.8–2.3 fold) and optimized straw coverage (68–72%). R+ST<sub>S</sub> also enhanced the topsoil fertility, increasing the total nitrogen (TN), soil organic carbon (SOC), alkaline nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), and rapidly available potassium (AK) by 22.07%, 12.94%, 14.92%, 32.94%, and 9.52%, respectively. Furthermore, it improved maize emergence and its yield by 10.04% and 9.99% compared to R+NT. Mantel tests and SEM revealed strong negative correlations between erosion and nutrients, identifying nitrogen availability as the key yield driver. R+STS offers a sustainable strategy for erosion control and productivity improvement in the black soil region.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/6/1415soil cultivationwind erosionsoil nutrientsmaize yield |
| spellingShingle | Zhihong Yang Lanfang Bai Tianhao Wang Zhipeng Cheng Zhen Wang Yongqiang Wang Fugui Wang Fang Luo Zhigang Wang Assessing the Synergy of Spring Strip Tillage and Straw Mulching to Mitigate Soil Degradation and Enhance Productivity in Black Soils Agronomy soil cultivation wind erosion soil nutrients maize yield |
| title | Assessing the Synergy of Spring Strip Tillage and Straw Mulching to Mitigate Soil Degradation and Enhance Productivity in Black Soils |
| title_full | Assessing the Synergy of Spring Strip Tillage and Straw Mulching to Mitigate Soil Degradation and Enhance Productivity in Black Soils |
| title_fullStr | Assessing the Synergy of Spring Strip Tillage and Straw Mulching to Mitigate Soil Degradation and Enhance Productivity in Black Soils |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessing the Synergy of Spring Strip Tillage and Straw Mulching to Mitigate Soil Degradation and Enhance Productivity in Black Soils |
| title_short | Assessing the Synergy of Spring Strip Tillage and Straw Mulching to Mitigate Soil Degradation and Enhance Productivity in Black Soils |
| title_sort | assessing the synergy of spring strip tillage and straw mulching to mitigate soil degradation and enhance productivity in black soils |
| topic | soil cultivation wind erosion soil nutrients maize yield |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4395/15/6/1415 |
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