TY  - DATA  
TI  - Rothamsted Ley Arable Soil Organic Carbon 1948-2008; Fosters 
CY  - Electronic Rothamsted Archive, Rothamsted Research 
DB  - e-RA - the electronic Rothamsted Archive 
PY  - 2018 
DP  - Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, Herts, AL5 2JQ, UK. 
M3  - xlsx 
ET  - 1.0 
LA  - None 
UR  - https://doi.org/10.23637/rrn2-OARFLAsoc-1 
DO  - 10.23637/rrn2-OARFLAsoc-1 
AU  - Rothamsted Research, 
KW  - cropping system, arable farming, long term experiments, arable soils, Highfield ley-arable rotation experiment, Fosters ley-arable rotation experiment, sown pastures, ley farming, leys, soil, soil organic carbon, soil organic matter, 
AB  - Summary data showing the effect of two contrasting farming systems, Fosters Ley Arable, which was originally long-term arable for several centuries, and Highfield Ley Arable, which was originally permanent grassland, on their soil organic carbon (SOC) at Rothamsted over a 60-year time-period 1948-2008. Results are given as tonnes per hectare of organic C for 0-22.5 cm depth of soil, based on measured soil weights, and adjusted for changes in bulk density.



The figure shows the grassland contains two-thirds as much SOC  as the arable at Fosters (and twice as much SOC at Highfield). SOC increased on Fosters under newly sown grass and it also increased with improved grassland management on Highfield. However, after 60 years there was still less SOC in Fosters sown grass than in the permanent grassland soil on Highfield. This possibly is because, after 1991 and the change to grass/clover on the whole plot, it is likely that yields would have been less and thus a smaller input from root exudates and dead roots. With arable cropping, large amounts of SOC were lost on Highfield but it took 50 years to decline to that on Fosters. The figure shows that after 60 years the soils appear to be reaching equilibrium following changes in the cropping system level for this farming system on this soil type. Thus, in soils ploughed out of permanent grass or put into permanent grass after arable cropping the SOC now appears relatively constant. On any one soil type, the equilibrium level will be larger with permanent grass than with continuous arable cropping.  
ER  -