Although diversifying crop rotations with perennials and cover crops and implementing no-tillage practices has been promoted as an effective strategy for increasing soil carbon and nitrogen storage in the long-term, uncertainty still remains, particularly regarding the association between crop productivity and soil health. Therefore, using two long-term experiments, we investigated the effects of crop rotation, tillage system, and nitrogen fertilizer application (at Ridgetown only) on surface soil (0−15 cm depth) parameters (soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (TN), commercial soil health tests (evolved CO₂ and NH₃ indicating microbial activity)), and crop yield in 2016. We used 5-yr average crop yield variability to test for the relationship of SOC and TN with crop yield stability. Results indicated that diversification of corn and soybean rotations and their monocultures with cover crops, perennials, and small grain cereals enhanced soil health indicators (by 32% at Ridgetown (21 yr) and 49% at Elora (36 yr)) and crop productivity (16% at Ridgetown and 29% at Elora). At Ridgetown, corn yield was 10.4% greater with including red clover to the corn-soybean-winter wheat than monoculture corn. Similarly, corn yield was enhanced by 25% when alfalfa was added to monoculture corn at Elora. Nitrogen fertilizer application did not increase surface SOC storage at Ridgetown. No-tillage system had greater evolved NH₃-N (by 7.2%) and evolved CO₂-C (by 27.9%) than conventional tillage at Elora only. Consistent with management effects on crop yield, at both sites, evolved NH₃-N and CO₂-C were greatest from rotations with winter wheat, red clover, and alfalfa. Additionally, a strong positive relationship of SOC and TN with soil health tests confirms the suitability of the commercial tests to detect management effects on soil health indicators in the long-term. At both sites, SOC positively correlated with crop yield indicating a direct association between soil carbon status and agroecosystem resiliency. We conclude that diversifying crop rotations increases soil microbial activity, surface SOC sequestration, and crop productivity in the long-term; thus, is a critical component for developing sustainable agroecosystems.

尽管通过多年生植物和覆盖作物的多样化轮作和实施免耕做法已被推广为长期增加土壤碳和氮储存的有效策略，但不确定性仍然存在，特别是在作物生产力与土壤健康之间的关联方面。因此，通过两个长期实验，我们研究了轮作、耕作系统和施氮肥（仅在里奇敦）对表层土壤（0-15 厘米深度）参数（土壤有机碳 (SOC)、总氮）的影响(TN)、商业土壤健康测试（释放的 CO ₂和 NH ₃表明微生物活动））和 2016 年的作物产量。我们使用 5 年平均作物产量变异性来测试 SOC 和 TN 与作物产量稳定性的关系。结果表明，玉米和大豆轮作的多样化及其与覆盖作物、多年生植物和小粒谷物的单一栽培提高了土壤健康指标（在 Ridgetown（21 年）提高了 32%，在 Elora（36 年）提高了 49%）和作物生产力（ Ridgetown 为 16%，Elora 为 29%）。在 Ridgetown，在玉米-大豆-冬小麦中加入红三叶草的玉米产量比单一种植玉米高 10.4%。同样，在 Elora 将苜蓿添加到单一栽培玉米中时，玉米产量提高了 25%。施氮肥并未增加 Ridgetown 的地表 SOC 储存量。免耕系统具有更大的进化NH ₃-N (7.2%) 和释放的 CO ₂ -C (27.9%) 比仅在 Elora 的传统耕作。与管理对作物产量的影响一致，在两个地点，NH ₃ -N 和 CO ₂演变-C 最大来自与冬小麦、红三叶草和苜蓿的轮作。此外，SOC 和 TN 与土壤健康测试的强正相关证实了商业测试的适用性，以检测长期对土壤健康指标的管理影响。在这两个地点，SOC 与作物产量呈正相关，表明土壤碳状况与农业生态系统弹性之间存在直接关联。我们得出的结论是，从长远来看，作物轮作多样化会增加土壤微生物活动、表面 SOC 封存和作物生产力；因此，是发展可持续农业生态系统的重要组成部分。