Soil organic carbon and fertility interactions affected by a tillage chronosequence in a Brazilian Oxisol

No-till (NT) adoption is an essential tool for development of sustainable agricultural systems, and how NT affects the soil organic C (SOC) dynamics is a key component of these systems. The effect of a plow tillage (PT) and NT age chronosequence on SOC concentration and interactions with soil fertility were assessed in a variable charge Oxisol, located in the South Center quadrant of Paraná State, Brazil (50°23’W and 24°36ʹS). The chronosequence consisted of the following six sites: (i) native field (NF); (ii) PT of the native field (PNF-1) involving conversion of natural vegetation to cropland; (iii) NT for 10 years (NT-10); (iv) NT for 20 years (NT-20); (v) NT for 22 years (NT-22); and (vi) conventional tillage for 22 years (CT-22) involving PT with one disking after summer harvest and one after winter harvest to 20 cm depth plus two harrow disking. Soil samples were collected from five depths (0–2.5; 2.5–5; 5–10; 10–20; and 20–40 cm) and SOC, pH (in H2O and KCl), ΔpH, potential acidity, exchangeable bases, and cation exchangeable capacity (CEC) were measured. An increase in SOC concentration positively affected the pH, the negative charge and the CEC and negatively impacted potential acidity. Regression analyses indicated a close relationship between the SOC concentration and other parameters measured in this study. The regression fitted between SOC concentration and CEC showed a close relationship. There was an increase in negative charge and CEC with increase in SOC concentration: CEC increased by 0.37 cmolc kg−1 for every g of C kg−1 soil. The ratio of ECEC:SOC was 0.23 cmolc kg−1 for NF and increased to 0.49 cmolc kg−1 for NT-22. The rates of P and K for 0–10 cm depth increased by 9.66 kg ha−1 yr−1 and 17.93 kg ha−1 yr−1, respectively, with NF as a base line. The data presented support the conclusion that long-term NT is a useful strategy for improving fertility of soils with variable charge.