Carbon stocks in organic matter fractions as affected by land use and soil management, with emphasis on no-tillage effect

Land use and soil management may affect both labile and humified soil organic matter (SOM) fractions, but the magnitude of these changes is poorly known in subtropical environments. This study investigated effects of four land use and soil management systems (forest, native pasture, and conventional tillage and no-tillage in a wheat/soybean succession) on (i) total soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks (0 to 250mm depth) and on (ii) carbon (C) stocks in labile (coarse, light) and humified (mineral-associated, humic substances) SOM fractions (0 to 25mm depth), in a Hapludox soil from southern Brazil. In comparison to the adjacent forest site, conventionally tilled soil presented 36% (46.2Mg ha-1) less SOC in the 0 to 250mm depth and a widespread decrease in C stocks in all SOM fractions in the 0 to 25mm depth. The coarse (>53 mum) and light (<1kg dm-3) SOM fractions were the most affected under no-tillage, showing 393% (1.22Mg C ha-1) and 289% (0.55Mg C ha-1) increases, respectively, in relation to conventional tillage. Similar results were observed for mineral-associated SOM and humic substance C pools (34% and 38% increases, respectively) under no-tillage. Compared with labile SOM fraction results, the percentual increments on C stocks in humified fractions were smaller; but in absolute terms this C pool yielded the highest increases (3.06 and 2.95Mg C ha-1, respectively). These results showed that both labile and humified organic matter are better protected under the no-tillage system, and consequently less vulnerable to mineralization. Humified SOM stabilization process involving interactions with variable charge minerals is probably important in maintaining and restoring soil and environmental quality in tropical and subtropical regions.