With the aim of finding out if vegetation covers are a good strategy to stop the loss of soil organic carbon by erosion, a team coordinated by the researcher of the UCO research group AGR 126 “Mechanization and Rural Technology” of the UCO Francisco Márquez analyzed for four years the effects of vegetation covers on the loss of soil organic carbon compared to the use of conventional tillage. “We studied the main olive-growing areas of Andalusia, with eight farms in the main olive-growing regions with different soils, different types of olive groves (traditional, mountain and intensive olive groves) and with almost all types of vegetation covers to also know the influence of these factors on carbon loss,” explains Francisco Márquez.
The study concludes that vegetation covers not only reduce erosion and runoff, but also reduce soil organic carbon loss by three quarters, compared to tillage.
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