Conservation tillage and soil biodiversity in the black soil region of northeast China: results from a long-term tillage trial

<p>Conservation tillage has become the core technology to&#160;conquer&#160;the degradation of black soil, the &#8216;giant panda in arable land&#8217;. Since soil is a home to a variety of organisms, it is very important to regard soil as a living system to evaluate the impact of conservation tillage on the health of black soil. Therefore, based on the long-term conservation tillage trial established by the Key Laboratory of Mollisols Agroecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences,&#160;the responses of soil biodiversity&#160;and its function to conservation tillage were comprehensively elucidated in this study. Compared with conventional tillage, conservation tillage&#160;strongly improved the&#160;species richness&#160;(1-8%), density&#160;(25-57%), and biomass (30-50%) of the entire soil assemblages, including microorganisms, nematodes, collembolans, mites and earthworms, as well as the connectance&#160;of soil food web&#160;(14-32%). Furthermore, conservation tillage promotes the performance of soil biotic function in soil structure formation, soil carbon sequestration and nitrogen efficient utilization&#160;and crop yield stability. These&#160;results suggest&#160;that conservation tillage can effectively utilize the functional potential of soil organisms, which is of great significance to supporting the healthy&#160;and sustainable development of&#160;agriculture in the black soil region&#160;of northeast China.</p>