Soil and water conservation benefits of cover crops have been hypothesized as a way to mitigate and adapt to changing climatic conditions, but they can also have detrimental effects if rainfall is limited. Our objective was to quantify effects of winter cover crops on soil water storage and yield of silage maize under the agro-ecological conditions within Vojvodina Province in Serbia. The experiment was conducted under rain-fed conditions at three locations and included a control (bare fallow) plus three cover crop and two N rate treatments. The cover crop treatments were common vetch (Vicia sativa L.), triticale (x Triticosecale Wittm. ex A. Camus) and a mixture of the two species. All were managed as green manure and subsequently fertilized with either 120 or 160 kg N ha⁻¹ before planting silage maize (Zea mays L.). Cover crop effects on soil water storage were calculated for two periods, March–May and May–September/October. A Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) used to characterize drought severity for 2011/2012 and 2012/2013, showed values of 3 and 9, respectively, for the two periods. Soil water storage was reduced by all cover crop treatments, with the greatest deficiency occurring during the extremely dry year of 2012. Previous studies have shown cover crop growth reduced by soil water depletion during their growing season and negative effects on early-season growth and development of subsequent cash crops such as silage maize, but if rainfall is extremely low it can also reduce cash crop yield. This detrimental effect of cover crops on soil water balance was confirmed by correlations between soil water storage and maize silage yield.

Reduction of soil greenhouse gas emissions is crucial to control increases in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations. Permanent grasslands are of considerable importance in climate change mitigation strategies as they cover about 13% of the global agricultural area. However, uncertainties remain for the effects of management practices on soil respiration, especially over the short term. This study investigated the influence of different mowing intensities on soil respiration over the short term for Bromus erectus-dominated grasslands in the central Apennines. From 2016 to 2018, soil respiration, temperature, and moisture were measured under three different management systems: customary management, intensive use, and abandonment. Both soil water content and temperature changed over time, however mowing did not affect soil water content while occasionally altered soil temperature. The intensive use promoted higher seasonal mean soil respiration compared to the abandonment only during the 2016 growing season. Soil temperature was the main driver of soil respiration above a soil water content threshold that varied little among treatments (18.23–22.71%). Below the thresholds, soil moisture was the main driver of soil respiration. These data suggest that different mowing regimes have little influence on soil respiration over the short term in Bromus erectus-dominated grasslands. Thus, more intensive use would not have significative impacts on soil respiration, at least over the short term. Future studies need to clarify the role of root mycorrhizal and microbial respiration in the light of climate change, considering the seasonal redistribution of the rainfall.

Permanent grasslands provide a wide array of ecosystem services. Despite this, few studies have investigated grassland carbon (C) dynamics, and especially those related to the effects of land-use changes. This study aimed to determine whether the land-use change from permanent grassland to arable lands resulted in variations in the soil C stock, and whether such variations were due to increased soil respiration or to management practices. To address this, seasonal variations of soil respiration, sensitivity of soil respiration to soil temperature (Q₁₀), and soil C stock variations generated by land-use changes were analyzed in a temperate mountain area of central Italy. The comparisons were performed for a permanent grassland and two adjacent fields, one cultivated with lentil and the other with emmer, during the 2015 crop year. Soil respiration and its heterotrophic component showed different spatial and temporal dynamics. Annual cumulative soil respiration rates were 6.05, 5.05 and 3.99 t C ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ for grassland, lentil and emmer, respectively. Both soil respiration and heterotrophic soil respiration were positively correlated with soil temperature at 10 cm depth. Derived Q₁₀ values were from 2.23 to 6.05 for soil respiration, and from 1.82 to 4.06 for heterotrophic respiration. Soil C stock at over 0.2 m in depth was 93.56, 48.74 and 46.80 t C ha⁻¹ for grassland, lentil and emmer, respectively. The land-use changes from permanent grassland to arable land lead to depletion in terms of the soil C stock due to water soil erosion. A more general evaluation appears necessary to determine the multiple effects of this land-use change at the landscape scale.

Soil-biodegradable mulch films are a promising solution to replace conventional polyethylene-based mulch films, the use of which has led to negative environmental impacts. Soil-biodegradable mulch films are specifically designed to be incorporated into the soil at the end of the cropping cycle, and are expected to be biodegraded by soil microorganisms. The biodegradability of such products must be tested under laboratory-controlled conditions following international standards, although these can fail to represent real environmental conditions where mulch films are used. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of soil refinement on the degradation rates of three different commercial soil-biodegradable mulch films after their incorporation into the soil. The hypotheses were that: (i) soil refinement (i.e., ploughing followed by grubbing) creates more favourable conditions for film biodegradation compared to ploughing alone; and (ii) different mulch films show different degradation rates. An open-field completely randomised design was applied to test the effects of soil refinement by ploughing to 0.35 m depth without and with subsequent grubbing to 0.15 m depth twice. Three commercially available soil-biodegradable mulch films were sampled in 2020 (i.e., two Mater-bi-based, one Ecovio-based) at the end of a zucchini growing season (~3 months) when films were still lying above ground, and were later buried at 0.2 m depth inside mesh bags. Biodegradation rates of the sampled films were assessed with the indirect indicators of film weight loss and surface area loss at ~2-month intervals over 314 days. The results showed that soil refinement significantly accelerated degradation of the three tested mulch films by 14% and 17% according to the loss of weight and surface area indicators, respectively. One Mater-bi-based film showed higher degradation rates compared to the other two films. Future studies are needed to quantify the time needed for these different mulch films to be completely biodegraded. Such studies should be carried out following standards for laboratory incubation and/or in-field quantification of residual polymers in the soil over time. Highlights- Degradation rates of three biodegradable mulch films were evaluated in the open-field.- Soil refinement accelerates the degradation of film weight (14%) and surface (17%).- Highest degradation rates were observed for one Mater-bi-based film.- Fastest degradation rates were observed in spring for all the tested films.- Weight and surface area loss indicators showed positive relationship.