Short‐term responses of soil carbon, nitrogen, and microbial biomass to cover crop mixtures and monocultures

Increasingly, cover crops are being adopted for the purpose of improving soil health, yet timescale and magnitude by which living annual might modify chemical biological aspects health is not well understood. At same time, there growing interest among farmers in crop mixtures due to perceptions that species-rich communities will enhance relative monocultures. In a field experiment southeast New Hampshire, we investigated how groups grown as monocultures specific seasonal niches (winter/spring, summer, fall) influenced levels nitrogen (N) carbon (C), microbial biomass (MBC), (MBN). Soils were sampled at maturity (winter/spring group), seeding, mid-season, (summer fall groups). winter/spring group, average total N ranged from 0.192 0.215 mg g−1 dry soil; highest C content was 2.66 MBC 304.8 387.3 μg soil. summer group decreased 909.5 mid-season 644.9 end growth cycle. fell rose over season range 236.0–808.3 We found little evidence parameters during period weedy control or differed MBN more seasonality than composition diversity stand.