Soil Quality of a Mature Alley Cropping Agroforestry System in Temperate North America

Abstract

Long-term effects of alley cropping on soils in the temperate zone are not widely known. Management, landscape, and soil depth effects on soil physical and biological properties were examined in a silver maple (Acer saccharinum L.) no-till corn (Zea mays L.)- soybean (Glycine max L.) rotation established in 1990 in northeast Missouri. Soils from crop alleys and tree rows were collected along transects traversing upper to lower landscape positions at three depths. Fluorescein diacetate hydrolase (FDA), β-glucosidase, β-glucosaminidase, and dehydrogenase activities were measured. Soil bulk density, aggregate stability, carbon (C), nitrogen N), and enzyme activities decreased with soil depth in alley and tree rows except for glucosaminidase. Soil physical and biological parameters did not differ significantly between alley and tree row. Landscape position effects were not significant for management or depth. Tree establishment improves soil quality in the crop alley as the system matures with improvements extended throughout the soil profile.

Keywords:

• Claypan soils
• corn-soybean
• enzymes
• maple
• total carbon

Acknowledgments

We thank Yarrow Titus for excellent technical assistance and Jim Ortbals for assisting with C and N analyses.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded through the University of Missouri Center for Agroforestry under cooperative agreements 58-6227-1-004 with the USDA-ARS. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.