Geoderma 310 (2018) 238–248

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Geoderma
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/geoderma

Effect of conversion from sugarcane preharvest burning to residues green- MARK

trashing on SOC stocks and soil fertility status: Results from different soil
conditions in Brazil
E.F. Lucaa,⁎, V. Chaplotb,c, M. Mutemac, C. Fellerd, M.L. Ferreirae, C.C. Cerrif,†, H.T.Z. Coutog
a
Instituto Florestal de São Paulo (IF), Rua Profa. Ana C. M. Ferraz, 78 CEP 13412-018 Piracicaba, SP, Brazil
b
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), Laboratoire d'Océanographie et du Climat: Expérimentations et approches numériques, UMR 7159, 4 place Jussieu,
75252 Paris Cedex 05, France
c
SAEES, Centre for Water Resources Research, University of KwaZulu-Natal, PB X01, Scottsville 3209, Pietermaritzburg, Republic of South Africa
d
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR Eco & Sols, SupAgro, bât. 12, 2 place Viala, 34060 Montpellier Cedex 2, France
e
Universidade Nove de Julho (UNINOVE), Av. Luiz Ignácio Anhaia Mello, 1363. Vila Prudente, CEP 03155-000 São Paulo, Brazil
f
Centro de Energia Nuclear na Agricultura (CENA/USP), Av. Centenário s/n, CEP 13400-000 Piracicaba, SP, Brazil
g
Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ/USP), Av. Pádua Dias s/n, CEP 13400-000 Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Editor: Bernd Marschner Land use and land management have a recognized impact on the cycle of elements such as carbon and nitrogen
Keywords: and are thus expected to play an important role in the mitigation against human-induced environmental changes
C sequestration such as global warming. Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugarcane and has in recent years, experienced a
Green-trashing shift from traditional cane preharvest burning (B) to mechanized green-trashing (GT), whose consequences on
Land degradation soil organic carbon and nutrients are still uncertain. This study performed in the São-Paulo state, Southeast
Soil aggregation Brazil, investigated the impact of shifting from B to GT on soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks, and chemical
Soil fertility elements at three 4-year and one 12-year old trial sites. Soil samples were collected from four sites representing
different soil types (clayey to sandy-clay Hapludox; Hapudult and sandy Quartzpsamment). Sampling was up to
0.4 m (0–0.05; 0.05–0.1; 0.1–0.2; 0.2–0.4 m) depths at six randomly selected pits from six plots (of 0.2 ha size
each) per treatment arranged in randomized block design. The samples were analysed for carbon and nitrogen
content and other soil properties such as texture, bulk density, aggregate stability, pH and chemical con-
centrations. Overall, conversion from B to GT increased fresh organic matter retained on soil surface by
12.8–13.0 Mg ha− 1 y− 1, and soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks in the top 0.4 m soil layer by
1.06 Mg C ha− 1 y− 1 and 0.11 Mg N ha− 1 y− 1, respectively. The highest carbon sequestration rate (108‰ y− 1)
occurred in the most carbon depleted soils, which were sandy soils with lowest proportion of macroaggregates
and chemical elements such as calcium, magnesium and potassium. All the chemical elements also showed a
general increase in concentration, especially within the topmost soil layer, because increased soil organic matter
had greater ability to tighten them together. Considering the average sequestration rate of 1.06 ton ha− 1 y− 1,
the resulting soil carbon sequestration rate for Brazil where 8.8 million hectares are under green-trashing of
sugarcane residues would be 9.3 million ton C y− 1. However, intermittent tillage every 4–5 years for replanting
poses limitations to carbon sequestration because a 12 year experiment which was sampled 1 year after re-
planting did not show any carbon sequestration, suggesting that all carbon stored between planting and re-
planting was lost at tillage. There is need for further research to quantify the dynamics of carbon stocks during
and immediately after tillage and to find sugarcane replanting techniques which minimize soil disturbance and
associated carbon losses.

Abbreviations: B, manual harvest of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) with prior residue burning; ECEC, effective cation exchange capacity; GT, mechanical harvest with residue
mulching of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.); Hx, Typic Hapludox; Ht, Typic Hapudult; H++Al3 +, potential acidity; Qt, Quartzpsamment; SB, sum of exchangeable bases; SOCS, soil
organic carbon stocks (Mg ha− 1); SONS, soil organic nitrogen stocks (Mg ha− 1); V, base saturation (%); ρb, soil bulk density (Mg m− 3)
⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: efluca@if.sp.gov.br (E.F. Luca), vincent.chaplot@ird.fr (V. Chaplot), macdexo@gmail.com (M. Mutema), christian.feller@ird.fr (C. Feller),
mauecologia@yahoo.com.br (M.L. Ferreira), htzcouto@usp.br (H.T.Z. Couto).
†
In memoriam.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2017.09.020
Received 18 November 2016; Received in revised form 4 September 2017; Accepted 11 September 2017
0016-7061/ © 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V.
E.F. Luca et al.
1. Introduction
Soils store about 1500 Pg C in the top 1 m depth, which is three
times the amount of atmosphere carbon (C) estimated at 830 Pg C. The
C pool in this soil reservoir has been depleted by land use changes and
land miss-uses; therefore, soil C sequestration via improved manage-
ment is increasingly seen as a credible solution to sequestrate atmo-
spheric C for mitigating against climate change (Paustian et al., 2016).
Yet, discrepancies still exist on the impact of crop residue management
on soil C stocks and the main soil and environmental controls.
Brazil, with 8.8 million ha of sugarcane in 2014, is the largest su-
garcane producer of the world (CONAB, 2013). This crop is assumed to
play an important role in the global C budget. Cerri et al. (2007) esti-
mated that sugarcane production in Brazil to produce 156 million m3
hydrated alcohol and 71 million m3 anhydrous alcohol raised total at-
mospheric C by 0.172 Pg C during the 1975–2000 period. Brazilian
farmers produce on average 4.5 metric tons ha− 1 year− 1 of dry matter
sugarcane residues, which are mostly burnt. Assuming that 2.35 Mg of
the residues contain 1 Mg C (Macedo, 1998), then it suggests Brazil is
contributing large amounts of C to the atmosphere each year from the
sugar cane industry (Cerri et al., 2007). Elsewhere, a study by Dominy
et al. (2002) under sub-tropical humid conditions in South Africa de-
monstrated that continuous sugarcane production, a common practice
worldwide, resulted in drastic soil C losses. These authors pointed to a
decline of soil C content from 40 to 50 g C kg− 1 under natural grass-
lands to 17–33 g C kg− 1 after 30 years of continuous sugarcane pro-
duction. A shift in management is, therefore, expected to help store
back part of the lost C.
The traditional practice of sugarcane harvesting consists of pre-
harvest burning of both dead and green leaves to facilitate manual
harvesting of the stalks. These leaves constitute a large C pool which
could be returned to the soil instead of being emitted to the atmosphere.
Mechanized harvesting of the sugarcane stalks provides an opportunity
to abandon the practice of trash burning. Brazil began mechanized
harvesting in the early 1950s (Ripoli and Ripoli, 2009). Currently, 84%
or 4.1 million ha of sugarcane produced in São Paulo state is green-
trashed (São Paulo, 2003) yet the consequences of green-trashing on
atmospheric C sequestration in soils are not determined. There are also
very few world studies on the impact of land use change in general
(Batjes, 1996) and green-trashing in particular on soil C stock replen-
ishment such as by Blair (2000) and Noble et al. (2003) in Australia,
Dominy et al. (2002) and Graham et al. (2002) in South Africa, and
Ball-Coelho et al. (1993), Orlando Filho et al. (1998), Souza et al.
(2005), Galdos et al. (2009) and Pinheiro et al. (2010) in Brazil.
Pinheiro et al. (2010) showed that 14 years of green-trashing in São
Paulo State increased soil organic C stocks within the 0.1 m layer by
0.93 tons C ha− 1 yr− 1. At the São Martinho farm, also in the São Paulo
State, Galdos et al. (2009) observed enhanced soil organic C stocks of
0.15 tons C ha− 1 y− 1 in the 0–0.2 m layer after 8 years of green-
trashing. Noble et al. (2003), using a nine year experiment in the humid
wet tropics of north Queensland, showed that green-trashing increased
soil C stocks by as much as 0.44 Mg C ha− 1 y− 1. While most published
studies show that abandonment of preharvest residue burning (B) in
favour of green-trashing (GT) built up soil C, other studies, such as Ball-
Coelho et al. (1993), pointed to insignificant gains of soil C. There is
thus a need to better understand the impact of sugarcane trash man-
agement on soil C and other nutrient stocks such as soil nitrogen level.
Such an understanding will contribute to international initiatives
seeking to develop land management practices fostering C sequestration
to soils. Amongst these initiatives is the ‘4 per mille Soils for Food Se-
curity and Climate’ launched at the COP21 with as its goal to increase
global soil organic C stocks by 4 per 1000 (or 0.4%) per year (Lal, 2015;
Minasny et al., 2017; Chabbi et al., 2017; Dignac et al., 2017).
This study aimed at investigating the impact of abandoning pre-
harvest trash burning (B) in favour of green-trashing (GT) on soil or-
ganic C (SOCS) and nitrogen stocks (SONs) and on a series of other soil
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Geoderma 310 (2018) 238–248
properties such as soil bulk density (ρb), pH, available phosphorus (P),
exchangeable cations (ECEC), and aggregate stability. Evaluating the
changes in SOC and SON stocks in conjunction with soil aggregation
might yield important information on the controls of soil C and N se-
questration because soil structure and, especially, soil aggregation plays
an important role in soil carbon stabilization and destabilization me-
chanisms (Chaplot and Cooper, 2015). The study was carried out at four
farms showing different soil types but similar climates in the São Paulo
State, Southeast Brazil.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Site location and experimental design
Comparisons between two sugarcane trash management systems
involving manual harvest with prior residue burning (denoted B) and
mechanical harvest with residue mulching referred as green-trashing
(GT) were carried out on sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) planta-
tions at four sites in São Paulo state, Southeast Brazil (Fig. 1). One site,
denoted Hx4, was a 4-year experiment located at São Martinho farm
(21° 22′ S, 48° 03′ W) in the Pradópolis area. Soil at this site was
classified as clayey typic Hapludox (SSS, 1992), or Rhodic Ferralsol – FRr
(FAO, 1988). Two sites were located at Santa Luiza farm (21° 36′ S, 48°
22′ W) in the Matão area. One was a 4-year trial, while the other one
was a 12-year experiment. The sites were denoted Ht4 and Hx12, re-
spectively. The Ht4 site soil was classified as typic Hapudult (SSS, 1992),
or Haplic Acrisol – Ach (FAO, 1988); while the Hx12 soil was typic
Hapludox (SSS, 1992), or Haplic Ferralsol – FRh (FAO, 1988). The last
site, denoted Qt4, was a 4-year experiment located at Da Pedra farm
(21° 14′ S, 47° 36′ W) in the Serrana area. The soil there was classified
as sandy Quartzpsamment (SSS, 1992), or Ferralic Arenosol – ARo (FAO,
1988).
Soil textural characteristics for the top 0–040 m horizons are pre-
sented in Table 1. Globally, soil texture was similar in B and GT
treatments at a given site. Soils at Hx4 had greatest clay content
averaging 687 and 660 g kg− 1 for the B and GT, respectively. Qt4 had
lowest average clay content soils at 90 and 100 g kg− 1 for B and GT,
respectively. Soil texture showed little variation with depth at all sites,
except for Qt4 where clay content increased dramatically from
60 g kg− 1 in the 0–0.05 m horizon to 100 g kg− 1 in the 0.05–0.10 m
layer. The four sites were characterised by a tropical climate tropical
with mean annual precipitation varying from 1470 to 1550 mm. Most
of the precipitation comes between October and March each year. The
long-term mean annual temperature for São Paulo state is 23 °C (Pereira
et al., 2002).
All the four sites were under conventional sugarcane cultivation for
at least 40 years before the start of the experiments. The conventional
sugarcane planting procedure involved heavy disking two to three
times followed by sub-soiling and light disking of the whole area.
Thereafter, 0.20 to 0.30 m deep furrows were opened for fertilizer ap-
plication and planting of sugarcane pieces. The sugarcane pieces were
planted at 1.4 m inter-row and 0.5 m in-row. Fertilizer application was
done once a year at a rate of 25 kg N ha− 1, 125 kg P2O5 ha− 1 and
125 kg K2O kg ha− 1 at the time of planting, and 85 kg N ha− 1,
50 kg P2O5 ha− 1 and 100 kg K2O kg ha− 1 thereafter. Sugarcane har-
vesting was done each year during the driest months of winter.
Conventional harvesting was performed manually and was preceded by
burning of the trash (B). Mechanical harvesting (GT) was performed by
machine and the trash was left on the soil surface. The trash manage-
ment techniques (B and GT) were replicated 3 times at Hx4, Ht4 and
Qt4, and only 2 times at Hx12. Each replicate plot size was 70 m long
and 29.4 m wide (Fig. 2) Soil and trash sampling was performed within
a 50 × 12.6 m2 space in each plot. The sugarcane plants were left to
grow for 4 to 5 years before replanting.
E.F. Luca et al. Geoderma 310 (2018) 238–248

Fig. 1. Locations of municipalities in which the farms housing experimental sites (Pradópolis-São Martinho farm; Matão-Santa Luiza farm and Serrana-Da Pedra farm) were located in
São-Paulo State, Brazil.

Table 1
Soil clay, silt and sand content (g kg− 1) for different soil layers (0–0.05, 0.05–0.10, 0.10–0.20 and 0.20–0.40 m) under different trash management techniques (B: burning, and GT: green-
trashing) at the different experiment sites (Hx4 = 4-year trial, Ht4 = 4-year trial, Qt4 = 4-year trial and Hx12 = 12-year trial).

Site Soil type Soil Layer (m) B GT

SSS (1992) FAO (1988) clay silt sand clay silt sand

g kg− 1

Hx4 Typic Hapludox Rhodic Ferralsol (FRr) 0–0.05 710 130 160 660 120 220
0.05–0.1 680 140 180 660 140 200
0.1–0.2 670 150 180 650 160 190
0.2–0.4 nd nd nd 670 140 190
Mean 687 140 173 660 140 200
Ht4 Typic Hapudult Haplic Acrisol (Ach) 0–0.05 180 60 760 200 40 760
0.05–0.1 180 60 760 180 20 800
0.1–0.2 200 20 780 200 60 740
0.2–0.4 240 60 700 220 40 740
Mean 200 50 750 200 40 760
Qt4 Quartzpsamment Ferralic Arenosol 0–0.05 60 40 900 100 40 860
(ARo) 0.05–0.1 100 40 860 100 20 880
0.1–0.2 100 40 860 80 60 860
0.2–0.4 100 60 840 120 40 840
Mean 90 45 865 100 40 860
Hx12 Typic Hapludox Haplic Ferralsol (FRh) 0–0.05 320 80 600 320 60 620
0.05–0.1 340 60 600 340 60 600
0.1–0.2 320 80 600 360 40 600
0.2–0.4 360 60 580 340 60 600
Mean 335 70 595 340 55 605

240
E.F. Luca et al.
Fig. 2. Representation of plot and locations of sampling positions for soils and litter;
horizontal lines represent sugarcane planting lines.
2.2. Soil and trash sample collection and preparation
Fig. 2 illustrates the sampling strategies adopted for both soils and
sugarcane trash. Six soil pits were excavated per replicate plot after su-
garcane harvesting in the fourth year and soil samples collected from 0 to
0.05, 0.05–0.1, 0.1–0.2 and 0.2–0.4 m layers. Samples from corresponding
soil depths at each plot were put together to make composite samples. The
bulk soil samples (n = 88), of about 1 kg each, were then air-dried and
gently crushed to pass a 2 mm sieve. These samples were later analysed for
SOCC, SONC and other soil chemical properties. Another part of the bulk
soils corresponding to the top 0–0.05 m layers (n = 22) were also air dried
separately and analysed for aggregate stability. In addition, two un-
disturbed samples per soil depth of each pit (n = 176) were collected by
using a metallic ring (0.05 m height × 0.05 m diameter) for soil bulk
density (ρb) determination. Litter was sampled from GT plots at Hx4 and
Qt4 (n = 30) after harvesting in the fourth year, using 0.5-m long by
0.7 m wide quadrates. The litter samples were dried at 60 °C until constant
weight. Litter samples from the other two sites were not considered in the
analysis because they were heavily damaged by pests.
2.3. Soil chemical analyses
Total carbon and nitrogen in the bulk soils and in the litter were
determined using dry combustion with a CN 2000 LECO auto analyser
(LECO Corporation, St. Joseph, MI). Soil pH was determined in a
0.01 mol L− 1 CaCl2 suspension (1:2.5 soil/solution, v/v). Total soil
acidity (exchangeable H++Al3 +) was assessed by a SMP neutral
(pH = 7) buffer procedure, while available phosphorus (P) and ex-
changeable potassium (K), calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) were
extracted by resin in a 1:2.5 soil/solution v/v. P was assayed by col-
orimetric method, K by flame photometry, and Ca and Mg by atomic
absorption spectrometry. All these procedures were standard methods
as described by Raij et al. (2001).
As soil pH was lower than 5.6 in all cases, we assumed that in-
organic carbon was absent in the soils and that organic carbon equalled
to total carbon. The total soil organic carbon and organic nitrogen
stocks (SOCS, SONS) of each soil layer were estimated from ρb, SOCC
and SONC following the same procedure described by Poeplau et al.
(2017). The fraction of rock fragments in soils at all the study was not
significant. The stocks were subsequently expressed by equivalent soil
mass (e.g. Ellert and Bettany, 1995) in order to account for changes in
soil volume consecutive to shifts in soil management.
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Geoderma 310 (2018) 238–248
Table 2
The average amount of trash input and remaining at two of the study sites in São Paulo
state, Brazil.
Site Input Remaining
Mg DM ha− 1 yr− 1 Mg DM ha− 1 yr− 1 C N
−1
Mg ha
Hx4 13.9 a 4.5 a 1.61 a 0.0223 a
Qt4 12.8 a 3.6 b 1.36 a 0.0209 a
DM = dry matter biomass.
C and N are the total carbon and nitrogen, respectively.
Different letters in the same column indicates significant difference at p < 0.05.
2.4. Soil aggregate stability
A laboratory method based on the wet-sieving technique (Kemper
and Rosenau, 1986) where 4 g of top (0–0.05 m) bulk soils were placed
in a 0.2 mm sieve and rapidly immersed into deionised water for
30 min, then wet-sieved using a vertical oscillation of 33 cycles min− 1
and 13 mm amplitude for 6 min, was used. The soil fraction over
0.2 mm, which included macro-aggregates (MA) and coarse sands
(CSd), was dried at 105 °C for 16 h before weighting. This fraction was
subsequently wet-sieved and dispersed in a NaOH solution
(0.05 mol L− 1), dried and weighted, in order to determine the CSd. The
proportion of stable macro-aggregates (> 0.2 mm) was calculated by
the difference between the > 0.2 mm fraction and CSd. Aliquots of
the < 0.02 mm fraction were used to determine the micro-aggregate
fractions by the pipette method (Gee and Bauder, 1986). The meso-
aggregate (0.02–0.2 mm) content was calculated by the difference be-
tween the total weight (4 g) and the other two fractions (Barthès et al.,
2008).
2.5. Statistical analysis
All data were first checked for Normality (Shapiro-Wilk test) and
variance stability (Box-Cox Test). The data were transformed in order to
correct them and then analysed again for Normality and Variance
Homogeneity before a complete randomized (one-way) analysis of
variance was performed (GLM procedure was used). When differences
were significant, a multiple comparison procedure was performed using
t-test for comparison of average values at 5% probability level (SAS, 9.3
version, SAS Institute, 2012). The t-tests on SOCS and SONS were per-
formed on data normalized by the mean of all samples. Data on bulk
density were used in the calculation procedures of SOCs and SONs. One-
on-one relationships between SOCC, SONC, SOCS, SONS, ρb, pH, content
of P, K, Ca, Mg, ECEC, and soil aggregate stability on one hand and soil
texture and duration since abandonment of preharvest burning on the
other hand were evaluated using Spearman correlations, while the
multiple associations were explored by performing principal compo-
nent analysis (PCA) using Statistica software (StatSoft, 1996). The PCA
technique extracts important information from a multivariate dataset
and displays the relationships amongst the study variables.
3. Results
3.1. Change of soil organic carbon and nitrogen with shift from B to GT
The average amount of dry matter litter input onto the GT plots
varied from 12.8 Mg ha− 1 year− 1 at Qt4 to 13.9 Mg ha− 1 year− 1 at
Hx4 (Table 2). Shifting from B to GT resulted in overall increase of soil
organic carbon (SOCC) and nitrogen (SONC) content for the soil profile
(Fig. 3). However, changes were only significant in the top layers with
SOCC increasing from 11.9 ± 0.4 to 14.5 ± 0.3 g kg− 1 (21%) in the
0–0.05 m layer, while SONC increased from 0.73 ± 0.03 to
E.F. Luca et al.
0.88 ± 0.02 and 0.69 ± 0.02 to 0.83 ± 0.04 g kg− 1 for the 0–0.5
and 0.05–0.1 m soil layer, respectively. The greatest benefits, corre-
sponding to increases of 43 and 61% for SOCC and SONC respectively,
accrued at Qt4 which was characterised by lowest soil clay content. The
gain in topsoil SOCC showed a general decrease with increasing soil clay
content. However, Hx4 recorded greater increase than Ht4. The gain in
topsoil SOCC at Hx4 was also greater than at Hx12, which was a longer-
term experiment but with much lower soil clay content. Benefits to
topsoil SONC also decreased with soil clay content. However, Hx12
gained more topsoil SONC than Ht4, which was on lower clay content
soil. The high overall gain in SONC in the 0.05–0.1 m layer was driven
by the uncharacteristically high positive gain at Ht4 from 0.45 ± 0.15
to 0.71 ± 0.35 g kg− 1, which corresponded to 58% over 4 years.
While Hx4 and Ht4 showed positive SOCC and SONC gains in all their
horizons, Qt4 and Hx12 showed depletions in some horizons. The re-
sultant SOCc/SONc ratios did not vary much with soil depth under both
treatments at all sites, and they varied from 17.7 to 19.8 and from 16.2
to 17.5 for B and GT, respectively. Qt4 exhibited greatest decreases of
SOCC/SONC ratios in corresponding soil layers following the shift from
B to GT.
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Geoderma 310 (2018) 238–248
In terms of stocks, the whole profile (0–0.4 m) increase following
the shift from B to GT was from 59.9 ± 1.3 to 64.1 ± 1.3 Mg C ha− 1
for SOCS, from 3.7 ± 0.1 to 4.2 ± 0.1 Mg N ha− 1 for SONS (Table 2).
These changes were significant at p < 0.05. The surface (0–0.05 m)
layer also experienced the greatest gains in the stocks (22% for both
SOCs and SONs). Across sites, only Qt4 and Hx12 gained SOCs and
SONs significantly in the top layers. However, Qt4 also gained SONS
significantly in the lower layers. On average, SOCS and SONS increased
with soil clay content in the order Hx4 > Hx12 > Ht4 > Qt4, while
gains in these stocks following the shift from B to GT was in reverse
order Qt4 > Ht4 > Hx12 > Hx4.
3.2. Change of soil nutrients and other properties with shift from B to GT
Sites Ht4 and Qt4 exhibited relatively higher soil bulk densities (ρb)
in comparison to Hx4 and Hx12 (Table 3), reflecting their lower soil
clay content (Table 1). Overall, abandonment of B for GT resulted in
significantly greater ρb in the top 0.2 m horizon. However, not all sites
recorded significant changes of the ρb following the shift. The longer
experiment (Hx12) experienced the most significant change of ρb (at
Fig. 3. Comparisons of soil total carbon (Ct, g kg− 1)
and nitrogen (Nt, g kg− 1) in different soil depths at the
experimental sites Ht4 (a and b), Ht4 (c and d), Qt (e
and f) and Hx12 (g and h) for the two sugarcane trash
management B: burning and GT: green-trashing. The
figures (a), (c), (e) and (g) are for Ct (g kg− 1), while
(b), (d), (f) and (h) are for Nt (g kg− 1).
E.F. Luca et al. Geoderma 310 (2018) 238–248

Table 3
Mean and standard deviation (between brackets) of soil total carbon (SOCS), nitrogen (SONS) stocks for the different soil layers at the four experimental sites.

Site and Soil layers (m) SOCS SONS

Mg C ha− 1 Mg N ha− 1

B GT % change B GT % change

†
Mean (n = 24)
0–0.05 8.02 (0.3) 9.82(0.2) 22a 0.49(0.02) 0.60(0.02) 22a
0.05–0.1 8.06(0.5) 8.34(0.4) 3 0.47(0.03) 0.57(0.04) 21a
0.1–0.2 16.76(1.0) 17.3(0.8) 3 1.08(0.06) 1.15(0.08) 6
0.2–0.4 27.04(1.6) 28.5(1.3) 5a 1.68(0.11) 1.82(0.10) 8a
Sum 59.88(1.3) 64.1(1.3) 7a,b 3.72(0.09) 4.15(0.11) 12a,b

Hx4 (n = 6)
0–0.05 12.2(2.5) 15.3(2.3) 25 0.83(0.15) 0.94(0.13) 13
0.05–0.1 25.2(3.4) 28.7(3.0) 14 1.71(0.24) 1.91(0.23) 12
0.1–0.2 51.0(5.4) 56.0(5.6) 10 3.59(0.51) 3.87(0.48) 8
0.2–0.4 91.4(8.4) 103(12) 13 6.32(0.82) 7.02(0.91) 11
Sum 179.8 203 13b 12.45 13.74 10b

Ht4 (n = 6)
0–0.05 6.9(1.1) 7.6(1.3) 10 0.46(0.18) 0.53(0.13) 15
0.05–0.1 13.2(3.2) 14.2(2.4) 8 0.83(0.16) 1.12(0.32) 35
0.1–0.2 25.6(4.4) 28.6(4.8) 12 1.73(0.26) 2.19(0.55) 27
0.2–0.4 45.8(8.3) 51.9(6.3) 13 3.30(0.61) 4.10(0.59) 24
Sum 91.5 102.3 12b 6.32 7.94 27b

Qt4 (n = 6)
0–0.05 5.4(1.2) 7.7(0.5) 43a 0.25(0.09) 0.40(0.05) 60a
0.05.-0.1 11.3(2.4) 13.6(0.8) 20a 0.46(0.11) 0.68(0.07) 48a
0.1–0.2 23.0(5.1) 25.8(3.6) 12 0.96(0.22) 1.30(0.29) 35a
0.2–0.4 40.1(6.9) 42.4(4.5) 6 1.60(0.24) 1.99(0.30) 24a
Sum 79.8 89.5 12b 1.47 1.84 25b

Hx12 (n = 4)
0–0.05 10.8(0.8) 12.5(0.1) 16a 0.61(0.05) 0.74(0.04) 21a
0.05–0.1 20.8(1.7) 23.0(1.3) 11 1.18(0.06) 1.36(0.09) 15a
0.1–0.2 43.8(4.1) 43.9(1.7) 0 2.56(0.24) 2.61(0.15) 2
0.2–0.4 82.3(7.8) 77.1(3.7) −6 4.75(0.42) 4.41(0.23) −7
Sum 157.7 156.5 −1b 9.10 9.12 0b

Mean† = mean of normalized data using the average for Hx4 as a reference.
n = number of plots.
See Table 1 for properties of soil at each site.
a
Significant difference between burn and green-trashing treatments at P ≤ 0.05. The dry matter biomass values for the two sites were also significantly different.
b
Change (%) for sum of the 4 soil layers.

12% for the 2 layers). The shift from B to GT was also associated with
significant increase of soil aggregation across sites, except Ht4 (Fig. 4).
Macroaggregation increased significantly by 17, 24 and 39% at Hx4,
Qt4 and Hx12 respectively. However, meso and micro-aggregation de-
creased significantly at each of these three sites. It was also interesting
to note that all site soils, except the sandy Qt4, were dominated by the
macroaggregate class following the shift. Ht4 was peculiar in that none
of the aggregate classes (i.e. micro, meso and macro aggregates)
changed significantly over 4 years.
The change from B to GT was accompanied by a decrease in average
available P in all soil layers with greatest loss occurring in the topsoil
(Table 3). However, Ca2 + and Mg2 + increased significantly, while K+
did not show any significant change. Ht4 experienced the greatest
losses in available P. It was also observed that Hx12 recorded increasing
available P with soil depth. It was also observed that Hx12 was the only
site with decreasing K+ following the shift from B to GT. Ht4 and Qt4
recorded big gains of K+ in the subsoil layers. Hx12 gained more Ca2 +
in all its soil layers than shorter-term trials. The shorter-term experi-
ments showed much greater accumulation of Mg2 + in the surface than
subsoil layers.
Overall, sum of exchangeable bases (SB) and base saturation (V)
increased significantly following the shift from B to GT, and they tended
to increase with soil depth (Table 4). Potential acidity (H+ + Al3 +)
changed significantly in all layers, but with an increase in the surface

Fig. 4. Aggregate size distribution for different combinations of soil type

and sugarcane trash management (B: burning vs GT: green-trashing)
technique at the four experimental sites. MI = microaggregates,
ME = mesoaggregates, and MA = macroaggregates. Different letters at
a site indicate significant difference between B and GT treatments at
P ≤ 0.05.

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 E.F. Luca et al.

Table 4
Mean and standard deviation (between brackets) of available phosphorus (P) and exchangeable potassium (K+), calcium (Ca2 +) and magnesium (Mg2 +) for different combinations of soil type and sugarcane trash management (B: burning vs GT:
green-trashing) techniques at the four experimental sites.

Site and Soil layers (m) ρb P K+ Ca2 + Mg2 +

Mg m− 3 mg kg− 1 mmolc kg− 1 mmolc kg− 1 mmolc kg− 1

B GT % change B GT % change B GT % change B GT % change B GT % change

Mean (n-24)
0–0.05 1.42(0.01) 1.52(0.01) 7a 19.6(0.08) 16.2(0.09) −17a 1.41(0.06) 1.32(0.06) −6 17.6(0.09) 20.0(0.09) 14a 6.35(0.29) 10.41(0.39) 64a
0.05–0.1 1.42(0.01) 1.52(0.01) 7a 18.8(0.14) 16.3(0.09) −13a 1.35(0.06) 1.28(0.06) −5 16.4(0.08) 21.1(0.14) 29a 5.83(0.26) 7.85(0.45) 35a
0.1–0.2 1.52(0.02) 1.60(0.01) 5a 17.0(0.07) 14.2(0.08) −16a 1.29(0.07) 1.23(0.06) −5 17.7(0.10) 19.3(0.11) 9a 6.10(0.36) 7.00(0.31) 15a
0.2–0.4 1.49(0.02) 1.51(0.01) 1 25.0(0.16) 23.4(0.17) −6a 0.82(0.06) 0.87(0.04) 6 11.5(0.06) 15.5(0.10) 35a 3.87(0.26) 5.70(0.33) 47a

Hx4 (n = 6)
0–0.05 26.9(6.0) 23.8(6.9) −12 1.26(0.33) 1.29(0.26) 2 19.3(7.8) 18.8(5.1) −3 6.39(2.67) 8.72(1.63) 36
0.05–0.1 1.30(0.05) 1.31(0.09) 1 24.6(8.9) 27.5(3.0) 12 1.16(0.41) 1.18(0.33) 2 17.1(6.2) 17.9(6.2) 5 5.66(2.81) 7.01(2.19) 24
0.1–0.2 1.30(0.05) 1.31(0.09) 1 24.4(5.9) 20.1(6.6) −18 0.95(0.37) 0.96(0.17) 1 22.8(6.9) 20.6(8.6) −10 8.25(3.36) 7.30(2.00) − 12
0.2–0.4 1.37(0.11) 1.37(0.11) 0 35.4(8.7) 31.4(11.6) −11 0.75(0.31) 0.74(0.13) −1 15.6(2.7) 19.0(6.4) 22 4.96(1.47) 6.85(2.61) 38
Mean 1.24(0.08) 1.26(0.10) 2 27.8(7.4) 25.7(7.0) −8 1.03(0.35) 1.04(0.22) 1 18.7(6.6) 19.1(6.6) 2 6.32(2.6) 7.47(2.1) 18

Ht4 (n = 6)

244
0–0.05 21.0(6.0) 12.0(6.2) −43 1.05(0.46) 1.35(0.27) 29 22.5(5.1) 20.5(4.0) −9 8.54(1.36) 14.23(1.77) 67a
0.05–0.1 1.52(0.03) 1.66(0.06) 9a 25.2(8.9) 10.7(4.2) −58 1.19(0.41) 1.63(0.37) 37 19.1(4.8) 24.2(5.9) 27 7.93(0.91) 9.83(1.39) 24
0.1–0.2 1.52(0.03) 1.66(0.06) 9a 16.0(5.9) 7.9(2.1) −51 1.10(0.32) 1.71(0.54) 55 20.7(6.1) 20.8(3.5) 0.5 7.28(1.45) 8.97(1.11) 23
0.2–0.4 1.65(0.06) 1.73(0.05) 5a 18.1(8.7) 12.7(4.4) −30 0.42(0.09) 1.16(0.40) 176a 11.2(2.6) 15.1(6.0) 35 4.07(1.73) 5.67(1.68) 39
Mean 1.63(0.07) 1.67(0.06) 2 20.0(7.4) 10.8(4.2) −46 0.94(0.32) 1.46(0.39) 55 18.4(4.65) 20.2(4.85) 10 6.96(1.36) 9.68(1.49) 39

Qt4 (n = 6)
0–0.05 15.1(6.0) 14.1(3.2) −7 0.42(0.07) 0.48(0.11) 14 13.0(2.5) 13.5(3.0) 4 3.10(0.50) 6.83(1.71) 120a
0.05–0.1 1.49(0.05) 1.60(0.02) 7a 12.8(8.9) 12.6(4.6) −2 0.20(0.10) 0.31(0.09) 55 13.4(3.4) 15.1(6.4) 13 2.90(0.74) 3.55(1.18) 22
0.1–0.2 1.49(0.05) 1.60(0.02) 7a 14.5(5.9) 14.2(5.1) −2 0.14(0.05) 0.38(0.08) 171a 12.6(3.0) 12.3(3.7) −2 2.56(0.63) 2.75(0.74) 7
0.2–0.4 1.56(0.08) 1.68(0.04) 8a 26.9(8.7) 23.7(10.3) −12 0.16(0.10) 0.26(0.08) 63 8.6(2.6) 7.6(2.4) −12 2.13(0.61) 1.92(0.88) − 10
Mean 1.60(0.09) 1.66(0.09) 4 17.3(7.4) 16.1(5.8) −7 0.23(0.08) 0.36(0.09) 57 11.9(2.87) 12.1(3.9) 2 2.67(0.62) 3.76(1.13) 41

Hx12 (n = 4)
0–0.05 15.4(6.0) 15.0(1.6) −3 2.89(0.31) 2.17(0.59) −25 15.7(3.0) 27.0(5.3) 72a 7.37(1.18) 11.87(2.43) 61a
0.05–0.1 1.36(0.10) 1.52(0.03) 12a 12.9(8.9) 14.6(2.3) 13 2.85(0.22) 1.99(0.30) −30a 15.9(0.5) 26.9(9.0) 69a 6.84(0.60) 11.02(4.03) 61
0.1–0.2 1.36(0.10) 1.52(0.03) 12a 12.9(5.9) 14.8(1.9) 15 2.94(0.52) 1.86(0.34) −37a 14.9(3.6) 23.6(5.2) 58 6.31(1.60) 8.96(2.16) 42
0.2–0.4 1.50(0.11) 1.60(0.04) 7 19.5(8.7) 25.7(6.4) 32 1.93(0.73) 1.33(0.20) −31 10.7(4.0) 20.3(4.2) 90a 4.32(1.28) 8.35(1.36) 93a
Mean 1.47(0.07) 1.46(0.04) −1 15.2(7.4) 17.5(3.0) 15 2.65(0.44) 1.84(0.36) −31 14.3(2.8) 24.5(6.1) 71a 6.21(1.16) 10.05(2.94) 62

n = number of plots.
See Table 1 for properties of soil at each site.
a
Significant difference at P ≤ 0.05 between burn and green-trashing treatments.
Geoderma 310 (2018) 238–248
E.F. Luca et al.
Fig. 5. Principal component analysis showing relationships between multiple controlling
factors (D: experiment duration, BD: soil bulk density, pH, Bio: mulch biomass, MA: soil
macroaggregates, SOCC and SONC for soil organic carbonand nitrogen content, Clay, Silt
and Sand for soil clay, silt and sand content, Ca: calcium, Mg: magnesium, Al: aluminium,
K: potassium, SB: sum of exchangeable bases, V: base saturation and ECEC: effective
cation echangeable capacity) as active variables and rates of change in soil carbon (%
SOCS) and nitrogen stocks (%SONS) for the 0–0.05 m soil layer were used as supple-
mentery variables.
(0–0.05 m) layer and decrease in the subsurface layers. The gains in
effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC) tended to decrease with soil
depth. Surface soil pH did not change significantly, but subsoil pH
changed significantly following the shift from B to GT with the change
increasing with soil depth. The variations of these soil chemical prop-
erties varied with site and soil depth. However, ECEC exhibited a trend
similar to SOCs and SONs in that it decreased with soil clay content in
the order Hx4 > Hx12 > Ht4 > Qt4.
3.3. Factors controlling the changes in SOCS
The principal component analysis (PCA) in Fig. 5 shows the multiple
relationships between rate of change in soil SOCS and SONS on one
hand and the controlling factors at the other. The two major principal
components accounted for 88.9% of the dataset variability, with PC1
accounting for 61.4% while PC2 accounted for 27.5%. PC1 was closely
associated with factors such as SOCC, SONC, ECEC, soil texture (Clay,
Silt and Sand content) and bulk density (BD), while PC2 was more
closely associated with experiment duration (D). The PCA results show
no direct link between rate of changes in SOCS and SONS, and soil
texture; but SOCC and SONC tended to increase with soil clay and silt
content, ECEC. There was also tendency for greater sequestration of
organic carbon and nitrogen in soils characterised by low biomass ac-
cumulation on soil surface, macroaggregation, chemical elements and
short experiment duration. These observations were confirmed by re-
sults from Spearman rank correlation analyses (Table 5). (See Table 6.)
4. Discussion
4.1. Impact of green-trashing on soil carbon stocks
On average, green-trashing of sugarcane residues increased SOCS in
245
Geoderma 310 (2018) 238–248
the 0–0.4 m soil layer by 7% over four years (Table 2), which corre-
sponded to 1.75% year− 1, under different soil conditions tested in
tropical Brazil. The 22% increase (an increase of 5.5% year− 1) of
surface (0–0.05 m) soil layer SOCS was greatest and only significant
change. Across sites, the greatest gain in surface soil SOCS and SONS
occurred at a site with lowest topsoil clay content which agreed with
results from other studies (e.g. Thorburn et al., 2012; Pinheiro et al.,
2010; Orlando Filho et al., 1998). Pinheiro et al. (2010) observed a 50%
increase of SOCS on sandy Brazilian soils 13 years following a shift from
burning to green-trashing. Orlando Filho et al. (1998) reported lower
SOCS gain with an average of 6.5% on clayey soils in Brazil. Elsewhere,
Thorburn et al. (2012) reported increased topsoil (0–0.2 m) SOCS only
after 5 years of green-trashing on soils of different textures in Australia.
The fact that our study sites recorded significant increases of surface
SOCS in fewer years than other studies was probably a consequence of
high productivity of the study sugarcane fields. The fields produced 12
to 13 metric tons year− 1 of green-trash (Table 2), which were com-
pletely broken down and decomposed by soil fauna thus potentially
contributing to the high SOCS. These amounts of biomass were com-
parable to observations by other recent studies in Brazil; for example,
Carvalho et al. (2013) who reported trash retention rates of average
11.3 and 11.5 tons ha− 1 year− 1, respectively. The greater increase of
SOCS and SONS in more degraded soils with lower clay content can be
explained by the fact these soils had lost more C due to aggregate break
down (Chaplot and Cooper, 2015).
While the overall results from our study show a general increase of
SOCs, one site (Hx12) showed decrease of SOCS and no change of SONS
for the whole soil profile (Table 2). This result agreed with long-term
study results from other land uses and environments. For example,
Dimassi et al. (2014) reported on rapid SOC accumulation in surface
(0–0.1 m) layers in the first 4 years of green-trashing with a plateau
being reached in 28 years and then followed by a decrease thereafter,
but the subsoil (0.1–0.3 m) layer was reported to experience continuous
decline throughout. Blair (2000) also reported decreasing SONS fol-
lowing a similar shift management to green-trashing, but Ball-Coelho
et al. (1993) reported no significant change of SOCS. While SOCS de-
creased by average 7% at Hx12 in 12 years of trashing for 12 years,
Blair (2000) reported a decrease of 13% in four years.
There was no clear explanation proffered for the decrease of SOCS in
short and long-term green-trashing experiments, but one possible
reason is that tillage for replanting of sugarcane done every 4–5 years at
Hx12 and other farms in Brazil contribute to significant losses of SOCS.
Tillage breaks down soil aggregates thereby exposing the physically
protected SOC to preferential erosion and accelerated decomposition
(Chaplot and Cooper, 2015). Tillage might induce “priming” by in-
corporating fresh organic material deep into the soil profile, which
accelerates SOC decomposition by microbial activity (Dimassi et al.,
2014). The fact that SOC accumulation in green-trash treatments takes
place only in the surface layer makes it vulnerable to decomposition
and release of CO2 to the atmosphere. Tillage operations every
4–5 years further jeopardise the long-term capacity of green-trashing to
sequester atmospheric C to the soil. Most of the atmospheric C se-
questered during the 4–5 year period is immediately released back into
the atmosphere at tillage stage; therefore, green-trashing might not
sequester significant amounts of soil C in the long-term. Our study re-
sults showed that SONS behaved in similar trend to SOCS, but there was
no overall soil profile SONS change at Hx12. However, it is important to
note that other past studies on the same sites e.g. Pinheiro et al. (2010)
and Galdos et al. (2009) observed lower C sequestration rates after 14
and 8 years, respectively, than our results.
4.2. Controls of the changes in SOCs following green-trashing
Generally, degraded soils with low C and nutrient stocks experience
the greatest change in SOCS following abandonment of mismanagement
and putting in place rehabilitation initiatives on that land (Guo and
 E.F. Luca et al.

Table 5
Mean and standard deviation (between brackets) of sum of bases (SB), potential acidity (H++Al3 +), effective cation exchange capacity (ECEC), base saturation (V) and pH for different combinations of soil type and sugarcane trash management (B:
burning vs GT: green-trashing) techniques at the four experimental sites.

Site and Soil layers (m) SB H++Al3 + ECEC V pH (CaCl2)

mmolC kg− 1 mmolC kg− 1 %

B GT % change B GT % change B GT % change B GT % change B GT % change

Mean (n = 24)
0–05 25.4(0.12) 31.7(0.13) 25a 32.8(0.08) 33.1(0.08) 1a 58.1(0.90) 64.8(1.14) 12a 45.3(1.51) 50.4(1.43) 11a 4.98(0.05) 4.99(0.04) 0.2
0.05–0.1 23.5(0.10) 30.2(0.13) 29a 34.9(0.11) 33.0(0.09) − 5a 58.4(1.47) 63.1(1.47) 8a 42.4(1.57) 49.0(1.92) 16a 4.89(0.04) 5.03(0.05) 3a
0.1–0.2 25.1(0.13) 27.6(0.14) 10a 34.6(0.13) 30.2(0.07) − 13a 59.7(0.12) 57.7(1.12) − 3a 43.2(1.78) 48.4(1.08) 12a 4.87(0.06) 5.09(0.04) 5a
0.2–0.4 16.2(0.08) 22.1(0.3) 36a 37.1(0.12) 31.9(0.08) − 14a 53.3(0.10) 54.0(0.96) 1 30.8(1.55) 40.1(1.88) 30a 4.56(0.05) 4.82(0.06) 6a

Hx4 (n = 6)
0–05 26.9(10.6) 28.8(6.4) 7 55.9(8.4) 60.5(6.7) 8 82.8(3.5) 89.3(7.7) 8 32.2(11.8) 32.2(5.9) 0 4.82(0.51) 4.65(0.15) −4
0.05–0.1 23.9(8.7) 26.1(8.1) 9 57.7(9.0) 61.8(9.2) 7 81.6(3.5) 87.9(2.7) 8a 29.0(12.5) 29.8(9.4) 3 4.65(0.26) 4.63(0.21) − 0.4
0.1–0.2 32.0(9.8) 28.9(11.0) −10 53.2(10.5) 51.9(5.1) −2 85.2(7.4) 80.7(7.8) −5 36.5(8.0) 35.1(9.5) −4 4.73(0.35) 4.80(0.22) 1
0.2–0.4 21.3(3.9) 26.6(9.1) 25 53.4(9.0) 51.3(4.3) −4 74.7(1.5) 77.9(7.5) 4 28.5(5.1) 33.6(9.3) 18 4.63(0.29) 4.77(0.20) 3
Mean 26.0 27.6 55.0 56.4 81.3 83.9 31.9 32.7 4.71 4.71

Ht4 (n = 6)

246
0–05 32.1(6.0) 36.1(5.8) 12 19.0(1.6) 19.5(2.2) 3 19.0(1.6) 19.5(2.2) 9 62.5(3.7) 64.7(5.8) 4 5.35(0.12) 5.42(0.25) 1
0.05–0.1 28.2(5.5) 35.9(7.6) 27 19.7(1.9) 18.9(2.6) −4 19.7(1.9) 18.9(2.6) 14 58.6(4.6) 64.5(7.3) 10 5.30(0.13) 5.47(0.30) 3
0.1–0.2 29.1(6.5) 31.5(4.5) 8 19.0(2.0) 17.7(1.6) −7 19.0(2.0) 17.7(1.6) 2 59.9(5.8) 63.9(3.8) 7 5.26(0.19) 5.52(0.16) 5
0.2–0.4 15.7(3.3) 21.9(7.6) 39 27.4(3.3) 22.5(4.0) − 18 27.4(3.3) 22.5(4.0) 3 34.8(7.3) 48.0(11.1) 38 4.48(0.35) 4.97(0.45) 11
Mean 26.3 31.3 21.3 19.6 21.3 19.6 54.0 60.3 5.10 5.35

Qt4 (n = 6)
0–05 16.5(3.0) 20.8(4.7) 26 21.7(4.8) 25.6(5.3) 18 38.2(3.6) 46.4(3.8) 21a 43.5(9.4) 44.9(9.9) 3 4.96(0.25) 4.79(0.25) −3
0.05–0.1 16.5(4.0) 19.0(7.4) 15 23.6(7.5) 23.1(5.2) −2 40.1(6.1) 42.1(6.2) 5 41.9(12.4) 44.3(13.2) 6 4.92(0.36) 4.97(0.41) 1
0.1–0.2 15.3(3.6) 15.4(4.3) 1 25.1(8.6) 23.2(4.3) −8 40.3(5.5) 38.6(3.3) −4 39.3(13.3) 39.8(0.4) 1 4.90(0.38) 4.97(0.24) 1
0.2–0.4 10.9(3.2) 9.8(3.2) −10 24.0(6.0) 24.1(3.0) 0.4 34.9(4.9) 33.9(1.9) −3 31.9(10.1) 28.8(8.7) − 10 4.66(0.27) 4.67(0.22) 0.2
Mean 14.8 16.3 23.6 24.0 38.4 40.3 39.1 39.5 4.86 4.85 0

Hx12 (n = 4)
0–05 26.0(4.2) 41.1(7.9) 58a 34.5(1.5) 27.1(1.8) − 21a 60.5(3.3) 68.1(6.2) 13 42.8(4.7) 59.8(6.3) 40a 4.78(0.07) 5.08(0.09) 6a
0.05–0.1 25.6(0.9) 39.9(3.2) 56a 38.5(2.3) 28.0(1.6) − 27a 64.1(2.8) 67.9(3.0) 6 39.9(1.2) 57.7(7.6) 45a 4.68(0.06) 5.04(0.12) 8a
0.1–0.2 24.1(5.6) 34.5(7.5) 43 41.0(5.2) 27.9(2.5) − 32a 65.1(3.5) 62.4(6.1) −4 36.9(7.8) 54.8(7.3) 49a 4.60(0.14) 5.06(0.14) 10a
0.2–0.4 17.0(5.4) 30.0(5.6) 76a 43.5(5.1) 29.8(3.9) − 31a 60.5(6.1) 59.7(3.7) −1 27.8(7.9) 50.0(7.8) 80a 4.46(0.13) 4.86(0.24) 9a
Mean 23.2 36.3 39.4 28.2 62.5 64.5 36.9 55.6 4.63 5.01

n = number of plots.
See Table 1 for properties of soil at each site.
a
Significant difference at P ≤ 0.05 between burn and green-trashing treatments.
Geoderma 310 (2018) 238–248
E.F. Luca et al.
Table 6
Spearman rank correlations between experiment duration (D), biomass accumulated
on soil surface (Bio), soil texture (Clay, Silt and Sand content), bulk density (BD),
macroaggregates (MA), organic carbon and nitrogen content (SOCc and SONc, re-
spectively), chemical properties (pH, Ca: calcium, Mg: magnesium, Al: aluminium, K:
potassium, SB: sum of exchangeable bases, V: base saturation and ECEC: effective
cation echangeable capacity) and changes in soil organic carbon and nitrogen stocks
per year (%SOCS and % SONS, respectively).
%SOCS
D −0.77 a
Clay −0.80a
Silt −0.80a
Sand 0.80a
SOCc −0.80a
SONc −0.80a
BD 0.60a
Bio −0.32
P 0.00
K −0.80a
Ca −0.80a
Mg −0.40
SB −0.80a
Al −0.60a
ECEC −0.80a
V 0.00
pH 0.60a
MA −0.40
a
Significant at p < 0.05.
Gifford, 2002). The present study confirmed this by showing negative
correlations between soil organic carbon and nitrogen content and rate
of change in SOCS (Fig. 5). This did not only apply to C and nutrient
contents, but also to all the studied chemical elements. The higher rate
of C sequestration in degraded soils reflects a sink due to past land
mismanagement. The high rate of SOCS change in degraded soils can be
explained by high amount of available sites for insertion of the C and
other elements, but the sequestration capacity is likely to be finite and
will only correspond to the refilling of the depleted C (Mackey et al.,
2013; Six et al., 2002).
The highest sequestration rate also corresponded to sandy soils
(Fig. 5) because they are more prone to degradation due to their low
aggregate stability and high erosion rate, which dramatically affect
SOCS by biological decomposition of the organic C. The sandy soils also
have high potential for preferential detachment and transport of or-
ganic C by water (Müller-Nedebock et al., 2016). Low proportion of
macroaggregates under the studied sandy soils (Fig. 5) confirmed their
higher initial degradation level and thus highest C sequestration rate
following abandonment of preharvest burning of sugarcane trash in
favour of green-trashing.
Sandier soils also experienced greater increase of soil bulk density
following the shift from preharvest burning to green-trashing, which
was in agreement with results from other studies elsewhere (e.g.
Osunbitan et al., 2005). Soil compaction, which results in greater bulk
densities, may help in sequestering C because of reduced gaseous ex-
change between soils and the atmosphere.
The increased proportion of macroaggregates following green-
trashing at all the studied sites also inform on the C sequestration
mechanism in soils. Soil aggregation by biological and/or physical
mechanisms, which enhance carbon and nitrogen protection (Feller and
Beare, 1997), most probably had a role in enhancing C storage under
green-trashing. Elsewhere in Brazil, Souza et al. (2005) reached similar
conclusions at Hapludox sites where green cane trash left on the soil
surface resulted in increased mean diameter of soil aggregates by 62%.
Blair (2000) reported a similar increase in Australia. All these results
point to carbon sequestration benefits of enhanced soil aggregation.
Generally, there is a positive effect of sugarcane green-trashing on
soil chemical fertility, especially in medium to long term (Bruce et al.,
1999; Tivet et al., 2013). The present study pointed to a sharp increase
Geoderma 310 (2018) 238–248
in the content of exchangeable bases in the green mulching treatment,
which was concomitant to a decrease in K content. In contrast, Orlando
Filho et al. (1998), also in Brazil, found a decrease in soil available P
content and exchangeable Ca and Mg, but an increase in available K,
results that they explained by nutrient leaching and nutrient plant as-
similation (Orlando Filho et al., 1998; Ball-Coelho et al., 1993). Overall,
green-trashing increased SOCS, SONS and chemical elements, especially
%SONS
in the topmost layer, because increased soil organic matter formed had
greater ability to tighten the elements together.
− 0.77a
− 0.80a 5. Conclusions
− 0.80a
0.80a
− 0.80a This study aiming to assess the impact of changing sugarcane trash
− 0.80a management from preharvest burn to green-trashing on carbon se-
0.60a questration into soils showed that this shift can increase soil carbon
− 0.32
stocks by an average 17.5‰ per year, with most of the carbon se-
0.00
− 0.80a questration occurring in the superficial 0–0.05 m soil layer. The highest
− 0.80a sequestration rate (108‰ per year) occurred in the most carbon de-
− 0.40 pleted soils which happened to be sandy soils. Considering an average
− 0.80a sequestration rate of 1.06 ton ha− 1 y− 1, the resulting soil carbon se-
− 0.60a
questration rate for Brazilian sugar cane soils alone would be 9.3 mil-
− 0.80a
0.00 lion ton C y− 1. Green-trashing appears to be an efficient technique for
0.60a atmospheric C sequestration to soils to meet the objective of the ‘4 per
− 0.40 mille Soils for Food Security and Climate’ which was launched at the
COP21. However, intermittent tillage may pose limitations to carbon
sequestration using green-trashing because the longer experiment
which was sampled one year after tillage for replanting did not show
any carbon sequestration, suggesting all the carbon stored over four
years between planting and replanting was lost at tillage. This calls for
further research to quantify the dynamics of carbon stocks during and
immediately after tillage and to seek for sugarcane replanting techni-
ques that minimize soil disturbance and associated carbon losses.
Acknowledgements
We thank FAPESP (process 12.648-3) (Research Support Foundation
of the State of São Paulo) for supporting this research and providing a
post-graduate grant to the first author, as well as the CTC (Sugarcane
Technology Center, former Copersucar), São Martinho, Santa Luiza and
Da Pedra for providing the experimental areas.
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