Management › Tillage › Tillage system → Properties › Biology › Microorganisms/Microbes
A clear tendency, not consistent
58 %
of 31 studies with a clear result report a significant increase
+24 %
typical change (21 studies with numbers)
34
studies · 58 findings
What the studies show
18 of 31 studies report a significant increase (58 %, 95 % confidence interval 41–74 %).
By the direction of each study’s results, significant or not: 20 of 25 studies with a direction point up (80 %, 95 % confidence interval 61–91 %; sign test p = 0.004).
2 findings on relative measures (shares, stratification ratios, values per unit) or on fractions and other compartments are not counted in this answer.
Every study counts once, however many findings it reports: one with 40 sampling dates does not outvote ten others. A study with a significant increase and decrease (say at different depths) counts as "both". A first synthesis for orientation, not a substitute for a systematic review.
Each layer on its own: a study that reports the topsoil and the subsoil counts in both. Choose a layer to see what goes with it.
In the top 10 cm, microbial biomass Carbon goes up in 77 % of the studies under reduced tillage, stays the same in 18 % and goes down in 5 %.
The conditions whose levels differ most clearly, each with the outcome that differs most between its levels of at least 10 study layers. Choose a layer in the profile to see them for that layer alone, or a level here to filter by it.
Testing every condition on every study layer…
Testing every condition on every study layer…
