A meta-analysis to explore the impact of straw decomposing microorganism inoculant-amended straw on soil organic carbon stocks

doi:10.1016/j.jia.2025.02.002

Journal of Integrative Agriculture

2025, Vol. 24

Issue (4): 1577-1587 DOI: 10.1016/j.jia.2025.02.002

Agro-ecosystem & Environment

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A meta-analysis to explore the impact of straw decomposing microorganism inoculant-amended straw on soil organic carbon stocks

Chao Ma^{1, 2*}, Zhifeng He^{1, 2*}, Jiang Xiang^{1, 2}, Kexin Ding^{1, 2}, Zhen Zhang^{1, 2}, Chenglong Ye^{1, 2}, Jianfei Wang^{1, 2}, Yusef Kianpoor Kalkhajeh^3#

¹Anhui Province Key Lab of Farmland Ecological Conservation and Pollution Prevention, School of Resources and Environment, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China

²Research Centre of Phosphorus Efficient Utilization and Water Environment Protection along the Yangtze River Economic Belt, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei 230036, China

³Department of Environmental Science, College of Science, Mathematics and Technology, Wenzhou-Kean University, 325060 Ouhai, China

Highlights

● Co-application of SDMI and straw is a climate-smart straw management practice.

● SDMI-amended straw significantly increases SOC stock by 1.51% at ICNR>25.

● EDSR, SDMIR, and MAP are drivers of SDMI-amended straw impacts on SOC stock with an ICNR>25.

Abstract
References

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摘要

众所周知，施用腐秆剂可以加速秸秆分解，但在不同条件下，秸秆还田配施腐秆剂对土壤有机碳影响的潜在机制尚不清楚。本研究对公开发表86项研究的226组文献数据进行整合分析，以此来揭示相比秸秆还田，秸秆还田配施腐秆剂对土壤有机碳的影响。结果表明，相比秸秆单独还田，秸秆还田配施腐秆剂在初始碳氮比 (ICNR) > 25时，能显著提高1.51%的土壤有机碳储量（P < 0.05），而在ICNR ≤ 25时作用效果不显著。特别地，当ICNR > 25时，秸秆还田配施腐秆剂在温带大陆性气候条件、土壤pH > 7.5下对土壤有机碳储量的影响要显著高于在亚热带季风气候土壤pH ≤ 7.5下的影响。在农业管理措施方面，秸秆还田配施腐秆剂在旱地、翻耕还田、还田年限 ≥ 1年、秸秆还田量 > 6000 kg ha-1、腐秆剂用量> 30 kg ha-1下能显著土壤有机碳储量。当ICNR ≤ 25时，仅在不同的秸秆还田方式下，秸秆还田配施腐秆剂才对土壤有机碳的影响存在显著差异。通过相对重要性分析，当ICNR > 25时，秸秆还田年限、腐秆剂用量、年均降雨量是秸秆还田配施腐秆剂对土壤有机碳储量的重要影响驱动因子。总的来说，秸秆还田配施腐秆剂在ICNR > 25时能显著提高土壤有机碳储量，且与还田年限呈正相关关系，与年均降雨量呈负相关关系。本研究结果为在区域性或更大范围内，通过秸秆还田配施腐秆剂改变土壤有机碳储量的管理提供了科学的依据。

Abstract

Although the application of straw decomposing microorganism inoculants (SDMI) can accelerate straw decomposition, the underlying mechanisms affecting soil organic carbon (SOC) under different scenarios remain unclear. We conducted a meta-analysis using 226 observations from 86 studies on SOC changes under straw return with or without SDMI applications. Overall, our results indicated that straw with SDMI application increased the SOC stock by 1.51% at an initial carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (ICNR)>25 (P<0.05), while the effect of ICNR≤25 was insignificant. In particular, at ICNR>25, application of SDMI-treated straw increased SOC stocks in northern temperate continental areas (NTC) higher than in subtropical monsoon regions (STM). Furthermore, the straw with SDMI application increased higher SOC stocks in soils with pH>7.5 than those with pH≤7.5. In terms of agricultural management practices, SOC stocks were significantly higher in straw buried (SB), the experimental duration of straw return (EDSR)≥1 year, the straw return amount (SRA)>6,000 kg ha^–1, and the SDMI application rate (SDMIR)>30 kg ha^–1 conditions. The effect of straw with SDMI on SOC stocks under straw burying (SB) was significantly higher than that under straw mulching (SM) at ICNR≤25. At ICNR>25, EDSR, SDMIR, and the mean annual precipitation (MAP) were the main drivers of the effect of SDMI addition to straw on SOC stocks. Straw with SDMI induced SOC stock increases which increased with EDSR and decreased with increasing MAP. These findings provide a scientific basis for decision-makers and stakeholders to improve soil C management via the application of SDMI-amended straw at both regional and large scales.

Keywords: carbon sequestration meta-analysis straw-decomposing microbial inoculants soil organic carbon stock straw return straw retention

Received: 03 April 2024 Accepted: 04 November 2024

Fund:

This work was supported by the Key Science and Technology Project of Anhui Province, China (2023n06020056), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32071628), and the Colleges and Universities Science Foundation of Anhui Province, China (2024AH020002).

About author: #Correspondence Yusef Kianpoor Kalkhajeh, E-mail: ykianpoo@kean.edu * These authors contributed equally to this study.

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Chao Ma, Zhifeng He, Jiang Xiang, Kexin Ding, Zhen Zhang, Chenglong Ye, Jianfei Wang, Yusef Kianpoor Kalkhajeh. 2025. A meta-analysis to explore the impact of straw decomposing microorganism inoculant-amended straw on soil organic carbon stocks. Journal of Integrative Agriculture, 24(4): 1577-1587.

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