caa a22 4500 606217746 CHVBK 20210128101109.0 cr unu---uuuuu 210128e20150701xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s11104-015-2463-z doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s11104-015-2463-z Root carbon inputs under moderately diverse sward and conventional ryegrass-clover pasture: implications for soil carbon sequestration [Elektronische Daten] [Samuel McNally, Daniel Laughlin, Susanna Rutledge, Mike Dodd, Johan Six, Louis Schipper] Background and aims: A strategy to increase soil C under pasture-based systems is to increase the root mass inputs or increase rooting depth of plants. Our objective in this study was to measure the seasonal dynamics of root mass and C inputs under two different pasture types (ryegrass-clover vs moderately diverse) that differ in plant diversity and which are commonly used in New Zealand agriculture. Methods: This study was carried out on an existing plant diversity field trial containing six replicate paddocks of both moderately-diverse and ryegrass-clover pastures. Soil cores (0-100-200-300mm sections) were collected seasonally across 1year and individual root traits assessed from all species. Results: The moderately diverse pasture had greater root mass (5320-9350kg ha−1) than the ryegrass-clover pasture (3810-5700kg ha−1) for all seasons and had greater root mass lower in the soil profile. A secondary objective demostrated no significant difference in root mass between high and low sugar ryegrass cultivar. Increased root mass results in an estimated increase of C input to the soil of about 1203kg C ha−1 (0-300mm depth) under the moderately diverse pasture, excluding root exudates. Root trait measurements demonstrated a greater diversity of root traits in the moderately diverse sward compared to the ryegrass-clover pasture. Conclusions: Moderately diverse pasture systems offer scope to increase soil C under grazed pastures through increased root mass inputs and rooting depth. Springer International Publishing Switzerland, 2015 Grazed pastures nationallicence Root mass nationallicence Soil C nationallicence Moderately diverse pasture nationallicence Ryegrass-clover nationallicence McNally Samuel School of Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, 3240, Hamilton, New Zealand aut Laughlin Daniel School of Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, 3240, Hamilton, New Zealand aut Rutledge Susanna School of Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, 3240, Hamilton, New Zealand aut Dodd Mike AgResearch Limited, Grasslands Research Centre, Private Bag 11008, 4442, Palmerston North, New Zealand aut Six Johan Department of Environmental Systems Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH-Zurich, Tannenstrasse 1, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland aut Schipper Louis School of Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, 3240, Hamilton, New Zealand aut Plant and Soil Springer International Publishing 392/1-2(2015-07-01), 289-299 0032-079X 392:1-2<289 2015 392 11104 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2463-z text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-015-2463-z text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- McNally Samuel School of Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, 3240, Hamilton, New Zealand aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Laughlin Daniel School of Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, 3240, Hamilton, New Zealand aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Rutledge Susanna School of Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, 3240, Hamilton, New Zealand aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Dodd Mike AgResearch Limited, Grasslands Research Centre, Private Bag 11008, 4442, Palmerston North, New Zealand aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Six Johan Department of Environmental Systems Science, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH-Zurich, Tannenstrasse 1, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Schipper Louis School of Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, 3240, Hamilton, New Zealand aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Plant and Soil Springer International Publishing 392/1-2(2015-07-01), 289-299 0032-079X 392:1-2<289 2015 392 11104