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Herbal leys have no effect on soil porosity, earthworm abundance, and microbial community composition compared to a grass-clover ley in a sheep grazed grassland after 2-years

Cooledge, Emily C.; Sturrock, Craig J.; Atkinson, Brian S.; Mooney, Sacha J.; Brailsford, Francesca L.; Murphy, Daniel V.; Leake, Jonathan R.; Chadwick, David R.; Jones, Davey L.

Herbal leys have no effect on soil porosity, earthworm abundance, and microbial community composition compared to a grass-clover ley in a sheep grazed grassland after 2-years Thumbnail


Authors

Emily C. Cooledge

Brian S. Atkinson

Francesca L. Brailsford

Daniel V. Murphy

Jonathan R. Leake

David R. Chadwick

Davey L. Jones



Abstract

Herbal leys (multispecies swards) can potentially deliver greater agronomic and environmental benefits than conventional grass-clover swards in grazed agroecosystems. However, despite their popularity in agri-environment schemes, little is known about the effect of herbal leys on soil physical (e.g., porosity), chemical (e.g., carbon), and biological (e.g., soil fauna) characteristics. In the UK, a 2-ha replicated-field experiment utilising a herbal or grass-clover ley (n = 3 per sward) aimed to investigate the effect of sward type on soil quality. Each sward was rotationally grazed by weaned lambs (3.2 LU ha−1) over two grazing seasons, with soil physiochemical and biological characteristics assessed after 2-years using techniques such as X-ray micro-Computed Tomography (µCT) and microbial shallow shotgun sequencing. Soil chemical characteristics (e.g., pH) were unaffected by sward type. Similarly, topsoil (0–10 cm) organic carbon stocks measured after 2-years did not differ between the herbal (26.1 ± 1.1 t C ha−1) and grass-clover ley (25.7 ± 1.1 t C ha−1). X-ray µCT analysis revealed greater pore connectivity (Euler number) in grass-clover ley intact soil cores (0–10 cm depth, 7.5 cm width) than herbal ley cores dominated by Plantago lanceolata (p = 0.008). However, there was no sward-type difference in aggregate stability or general pore characteristics, determined using X-ray µCT, in air-dried 4 mm aggregates obtained from 0–5 or 5–10 cm depth, nor did sward type affect earthworm abundance, microbial community composition or the functional gene profile. This study is the first to explore the effects of a commercial herbal ley on physical, chemical, and biological soil quality indicators in a rotationally grazed sheep pasture. While no improvements in soil quality indicators were observed after 2-years, these findings have significant implications for agri-environment schemes promoting herbal leys to achieve soil quality and sustainability, with further research needed to optimise the seed mixture and management regime to deliver greater long-term below-ground ecosystem service benefits.

Citation

Cooledge, E. C., Sturrock, C. J., Atkinson, B. S., Mooney, S. J., Brailsford, F. L., Murphy, D. V., Leake, J. R., Chadwick, D. R., & Jones, D. L. (2024). Herbal leys have no effect on soil porosity, earthworm abundance, and microbial community composition compared to a grass-clover ley in a sheep grazed grassland after 2-years. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 365, Article 108928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.108928

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Feb 3, 2024
Online Publication Date Feb 15, 2024
Publication Date May 1, 2024
Deposit Date Feb 6, 2024
Publicly Available Date Feb 16, 2025
Journal Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment
Print ISSN 0167-8809
Publisher Elsevier
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 365
Article Number 108928
DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.108928
Keywords Multispecies sward; Grass-clover ley; Soil carbon; Aggregate stability; X-ray µCT imaging
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/31147829
Publisher URL https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016788092400046X
Additional Information This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Herbal leys have no effect on soil porosity, earthworm abundance, and microbial community composition compared to a grass-clover ley in a sheep grazed grassland after 2-years; Journal Title: Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2024.108928; Content Type: article; Copyright: © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.

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