The evaluation of basal respiration and some chemical properties of soils under cover crop treatments in acherry orchard

Abstract

Effects of different cover crops (CCs), mechanical cultivation and herbicide treatments onsome soil chemical properties [pH, EC, total N, available P, exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, K,Na) and the DTPA-extractable micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn, Cu)] and basal soil respiration(BSR) were investigated in a cherry orchard from 2013 to 2014. The present study wasconducted in a cherry orchard located at the Experiment Station of Black Sea AgriculturalResearch Institute in Samsun province on the Northern side of Turkey. CC treatments,included Trifolium repens L. (TR), Festuca rubra subsp. Rubra (FRR), Festuca arundinacea(FA), T. repens (40%)+F. rubra rubra (30%)+F. arundinacea (30%) mixture (TFF), Viciavillosa (VV) and Trifolium meneghinianum (TM). Control treatments included mechanicalcultivated (weed-free), herbicide treated (weed-free) and control plots, i.e., bare groundplots (with no cover crop) were allowed to become weedy. The experiment was conductedin a randomized complete block design with four replicates. The CCs were mowed in theflowering stages of the plants. After 90 days following seed harvest, soil samples werecollected from two depths (0-20 and 20-40 cm) in each plot. All cropping species showedpositive effects on soil chemical properties and BSR. The CC treatments decreased soil pHand exchangeable Na and increased EC, total N, available P, exchangeable cations (Ca, Mg, K)and the DTPA-extractable micronutrients (Fe, Mn, Zn). Effects of mechanical cultivation andherbicide treatments on soil chemical properties and BSR values were not found significantfor both soil depths as compared to control (p