Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the Spanish National R+D+i Plan (AGL2012-37815-C05-01, AGL2012-37815-C05-04) and very specifically the workshop held in December 2016 in Butrón (Bizkaia) to synthesize the most promising measures to reduce N2O emissions from Spanish agricultural soils. BC3 is sponsored by the Basque Government. M. L. Cayuela thanks Fundación Seneca for financing the project 19281/PI/14. This paper has been produced within the context of the REMEDIA network: http://redremedia.wordpress.com/.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprin

16 Pag., 1 Fig., 1 Tabl. The definitive version is available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/01671987. Available online 25 February 2014.Agricultural management practices play a major role in the process of SOC sequestration. However, the large background of stable carbon (C) already present in the soil and the long period of time usually required to observe changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks have increased the necessity to identify soil C fractions with a fast response to changes in agricultural management practices. Consequently, we quantified the response of total SOC, permanganate oxidizable organic carbon (POxC), particulate organic carbon (POC) and the carbon concentration of water-stable macroaggregates, microaggregates within macroaggregates and the silt-plus clay-sized fraction (M-C, mM-C, s+cM-C, respectively) to changes in management. We chose a long-term tillage and N fertilization field experiment (18 years) located in NE Spain. In the first 5 cm depth under no-tillage (NT) compared with conventional tillage (CT), the POxC fraction and total SOC increased similarly (about 59%). However, other C pools studied (i.e., M-C, M-POxC, mM-C, POC and s+cM-C) had lower increases with values ranging from 17% to 31%. For the 5–20 and 20–40 cm soil depths, the POC was the most sensitive fraction to tillage with 46% and 54% decrease when NT was compared to CT, respectively. Likewise, the POC fraction presented the highest response to N fertilization in the three depths studied (i.e., 0–5, 5–20 and 20–40 cm). The mM-C and s+cM-C fractions presented the lowest sensitivity to changes in tillage and N fertilization management. Our results showed that the POC fraction had the greatest sensitivity to changes in agricultural management practices, proving its ability as an early indicator of optimized practices to sequester C in soil.This research was supported by the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología of Spain (AGL2004-07763-C02-02 and AGL2010-\ud 22050-C03-01/02). D. Plaza-Bonilla was awarded a FPU fellowship by the Spanish Ministry of Education.Peer reviewe

Dryland areas cover about 41 % of the Earth’s surface and sustain over 2 billion inhabitants. Soil carbon (C) in dryland areas is of crucial importance to maintain soil quality and productivity and a range of ecosystem services. Soil mismanagement has led to a significant loss of carbon in these areas, which in many of them entailed several land degradation processes such as soil erosion, reduction in crop productivity, lower soil water holding capacity, a decline in soil biodiversity, and, ultimately, desertification, hunger and poverty in developing countries. As a consequence, in dryland areas proper management practices and land use policies need to be implemented to increase the amount of C sequestered in the soil. When properly managed, dryland soils have a great potential to sequester carbon if financial incentives for implementation are provided. Dryland soils contain the largest pool of inorganic C. However, contrasting results are found in the literature on the magnitude of inorganic C sequestration under different management regimes. The rise of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels will greatly affect dryland soils, since the positive effect of CO₂ on crop productivity will be offset by a decrease of precipitation, thus increasing the susceptibility to soil erosion and crop failure. In dryland agriculture, any removal of crop residues implies a loss of soil organic carbon (SOC). Therefore, the adoption of no-tillage practices in field crops and growing cover crops in tree crops have a great potential in dryland areas due to the associated benefits of maintaining the soil surface covered by crop residues. Up to 80 % reduction in soil erosion has been reported when using no-tillage compared with conventional tillage. However, no-tillage must be maintained over the long term to enhance soil macroporosity and offset the emission of nitrous oxide (N₂O) associated to the greater amount of water stored in the soil when no-tillage is used. Furthermore, the use of long fallow periods appears to be an inefficient practice for water conservation, since only 10–35 % of the rainfall received is available for the next crop when fallow is included in the rotation. Nevertheless, conservation agriculture practices are unlikely to be adopted in some developing countries where the need of crop residues for soil protection competes with other uses. Crop rotations, cover crops, crop residue retention, and conservation agriculture have a direct positive impact on biodiversity and other ecosystem services such as weed seed predation, abundance and distribution of a broad range of soil organisms, and bird nesting density and success. The objective of sequestering a significant amount of C in dryland soils is attainable and will result in social and environmental benefits.

36 Pags.- 6 Figs. The definitive version is available at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03784290This study focuses on the quantification of soil water storage and crop yield under different tillage systems in dryland semiarid Mediterranean conditions. Three long-term tillage experiments based on cereal production were initiated in 1987, 1990 and 1992, at three different locations in the Ebro river valley (NE Spain): El Canós, Selvanera and Agramunt, with an increasing degree of aridity. Different tillage intensities were compared in each experiment using different implements: no tillage (NT), minimum tillage (MT), chisel (Ch), subsoiler up to 25 cm depth (Sub-25) and up to 50 cm (Sub-50), and mouldboard plough (Mb). Soil water content (SWC) up to 100 cm, soil water storage (SWS), precipitation storage efficiency (PSE) and crop yield were quantified during 8 (El Canós) and 19 years (Selvanera and Agramunt). The use of MT (at Selvanera) and NT (at El Canós and Agramunt) led to the highest SWC after the storage period (i.e., from previous harvest to crop tillering), with a major role played by the storage of water at deep soil layers. At Agramunt, Mb presented the lowest SWS when compared to Ch, Sub-50 and NT, and, consequently, the lowest post-tillering evapotranspiration. On the contrary, no differences were found between tillage systems on SWS at El Canós or at Selvanera. Significant yield differences were found at Agramunt being: NT > Sub-50 > Ch = Mb. These differences were especially important in years with mean yield below 2000 kg ha−1, in which NT obtained the highest productions. At Selvanera yield was greater under conservation tillage (NT, MT) than under intensive tillage (Sub-50). Contrarily, no yield differences were found between tillage systems at El Canós, the site with the lowest water deficit, where crop residues were removed. A strong linear relationship was found between SWS and yield at Agramunt and Selvanera. At Agramunt the relationship presented a greater slope under Mb. In this site, in years with previous harvest-to-tillering SWS below 100 mm and with precipitation over 100 mm between tillering and anthesis, yields were, as an average, 1245 kg ha−1 higher than in standard years. This study demonstrates that under semiarid rainfed conditions, soil water storage increases with the use of conservation tillage systems, being amplified with the degree of aridity of the site. The relationship between water stored in the soil and crop yield and its reliability is site-specific. Once determined, it could be used to predict yield at the end of the vegetative phase of the crop to help take management decisions.This work was funded by the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (CICYT) of the Spanish Government, AGR91-312, AGF94-198, AGF98-261-C02, AGL2001-2238-CO2-02, AGL2004-7763-C02-01, AGL2007-66320-C02-01, AGL-2010-22050-C03-01, AGL2013-49062-C4-1 projects.Peer reviewe