Effects of land management change on soil aggregates and organic carbon in Mediterranean olive groves
Abstract Carbon sequestration in agricultural soils has been defined as a positive strategy in the mitigation of global warming. The selection of the appropriate soil management system to achieve this goal is fundamental. In this study the effect of two tillage treatments, conventional tillage (CT) and no tillage with bare soil (NT) was analyzed in the complete soil profile (by horizons) in a rainfed olive grove under Mediterranean conditions. The objective was to determine the influence of treatments on soil aggregation and organic carbon (OC) distribution within aggregate fractions both in the surface horizon (0 32.7 cm in CT and 0 21 cm in NT) and in depth (32.7 119.7 cm in CT and 21.7 110 cm in NT) (Bw, BC and C horizons) Soil samples from all horizons were separated into four aggregate size fractions: large macroaggregates >2000 mm) small macroaggregates (250 2000 mm) microaggregates (53 250 mm) and silt clay