In the past several decades conservation tillage systems have been introduced to address the negative impacts of intensive tillage, but the potential of these technologies to improve soil function and maintain yields is still not fully understood. This study sought to examine the effects of conservation tillage on key soil quality parameters and profitability at a production scale. We evaluated soil properties and yields during the fifth and sixth years (2015 and 2016) of a field study comparing two conservation tillage systems: minimum tillage (MT) and strip tillage (ST), versus a conventional tillage control (CT). Measurements included residue cover, macrofauna abundance and diversity, permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC), aggregate stability, and infiltration. Results from both years suggest that conservation tillage can enhance macrofauna abundance (especially earthworms) and diversity. For example, ST had higher abundance of macrofauna (486 ind. m^‒2) than CT (178 ind. m^‒2) in 2015, while MT had greater species richness than CT (4.12 vs. 2.00 taxa sample^‐1; respectively). Infiltration rate in the ST treatment was 18% higher when compared with CT in 2015. Residue cover was positively correlated with earthworm abundance, while earthworm abundance was positively correlated with aggregated stability and infiltration. When comparing economic costs and profitability across systems, ST and MT treatments had a 34% and 22% greater net return relative to CT. These results suggest that conservation tillage has potential to improve soil quality, water dynamics, and increase farmer incomes within furrow‐irrigated systems of Colorado and beyond.

中文翻译：

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保护性耕作支持科罗拉多州以玉米为基础的灌溉种植系统中的大型土壤动物群落、渗透和农场利润


在过去的几十年里，人们引入了保护性耕作系统来解决集约耕作的负面影响，但这些技术改善土壤功能和维持产量的潜力仍未得到充分了解。本研究旨在探讨保护性耕作对关键土壤质量参数和生产规模盈利能力的影响。我们评估了实地研究第五年和第六年（2015 年和 2016 年）的土壤性质和产量，比较了两种保护性耕作系统：少耕（MT）和条带耕作（ST）与传统耕作控制（CT）。测量包括残留物覆盖、大型动物丰度和多样性、高锰酸盐可氧化碳（POXC）、聚集体稳定性和渗透。两年的结果表明，保护性耕作可以提高大型动物的丰度（尤其是蚯蚓）和多样性。例如，2015 年，ST 的大型动物丰度 (486 ind. m ^–2 ) 高于 CT (178 ind. m ^–2 )，而 MT 的物种丰富度高于 CT (分别为 4.12 vs. 2.00 类群样本^‐1 ) 。与2015年CT处理相比，ST处理的入渗率提高了18%。残留物覆盖度与蚯蚓丰度呈正相关，而蚯蚓丰度与聚集稳定性和入渗量呈正相关。在比较不同系统的经济成本和盈利能力时，ST 和 MT 治疗的净回报比 CT 高出 34% 和 22%。这些结果表明，保护性耕作有可能改善科罗拉多州及其他地区沟灌系统的土壤质量、水动态并增加农民收入。