Restoring organic matter in a cultivated, semiarid soil using crested wheatgrass

Abstract

Planting of cultivated land with perennial forages may increase C sequestration in soil organic matter and contribute to atmospheric CO2 mitigation strategies. However, little is known of the effectiveness of introduced grasses in restoring organic C in cultivated soils of the Canadian prairies. Our objective was to evaluate the C sequestration potential of crested wheatgrass (CWG) (Agropyron cristatum L. Gaertn.), a widely introduced, early-season grass. In 1995 and 1996, we measured soil CO2 fluxes, C inputs in plant material and total soil C under CWG and a fallow-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)-wheat rotation (F-W-W). These were two of the treatments in a replicated crop rotation experiment initiated in 1987 in southwestern Saskatchewan on a medium-textured soil that had previously been under long-term wheat production. Average to above-average growing season (1 May to 31 July) precipitation in 1995-1996 resulted in annual inputs of C in wheat residues of 3000-4500 kg ha-1. Growth of CWG, which was hayed and removed, was relatively poor in both years, but especially in 1995 when dry matter yield was only 1300 kg ha-1. For the 1988-1996 period, there was a strong correlation (R2=0.81; P < 0.001) between CWG yield and precipitation received in May, showing the importance of early spring rains determining CWG yield and C inputs to the soil. Carbon inputs under CWG (1200 kg ha-1 in 1995 and 2400 kg ha-1 in 1996) were less than under wheat but CO2-C emissions were similar under CWG and wheat. Soil C measurements in fall 1996 confirmed that CWG did not gain C relative to the F-W-W rotation. Although failure of CWG soil to store more C than cultivated soil may be partly because weather conditions during the experiment were more favourable for wheat than CWG, our results cast doubt on the ability of CWG to restore C stocks in prairie soils degraded by long-term cropping.