Abstract. Adopting soil and crop management practices that conserve or enhance soil structure is critical for supporting the sustainable adaptation of agriculture to climate change, as it should help maintain agricultural production in the face of increasing drought or water excess without impairing environmental quality. In this paper, we evaluate the evidence for this assertion by synthesizing the results of 34 published meta-analyses of the effects of such practices on soil physical and hydraulic properties relevant for climate change adaptation in European agriculture. We also review an additional 127 meta-analyses that investigated synergies and trade-offs or help to explain the effects of soil and crop management in terms of the underlying processes and mechanisms. Finally, we identify how responses to alternative soil-crop management systems vary under contrasting agro-environmental conditions across Europe. This information may help practitioners and policymakers to draw context-specific conclusions concerning the efficacy of management practices as climate adaptation tools. Our synthesis demonstrates that organic soil amendments and the adoption of practices that maintain “continuous living cover” result in significant benefits for the water regulation function of soils, mostly arising from the additional carbon inputs to soil and the stimulation of biological processes. These effects are clearly related to improved soil aggregation and enhanced bio-porosity, both of which reduce surface runoff and increase infiltration. One potentially negative consequence of these systems is a reduction in soil water storage and groundwater recharge, which may be problematic in dry climates. Some important synergies are reductions in nitrate leaching to groundwater and greenhouse gas emissions for non-leguminous cover crop systems. The benefits of reducing tillage intensity appear much less clear-cut. Increases in soil bulk density due to traffic compaction are commonly reported. However, biological activity is enhanced under reduced tillage intensity, which should improve soil structure, infiltration capacity, and reduce surface runoff and the losses of agro-chemicals to surface water. However, the evidence for these beneficial effects is inconclusive, while significant trade-offs include yield penalties and increases in greenhouse gas emissions and the risks of leaching of pesticides and nitrate.

中文翻译：

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土壤和作物管理实践以及土壤的水分调节功能：与欧洲农业相关的综合分析

摘要。采用保护或增强土壤结构的土壤和作物管理实践对于支持农业可持续适应气候变化至关重要，因为它应该有助于在干旱或水资源过剩加剧的情况下维持农业生产，而不会损害环境质量。在本文中，我们通过综合 34 项已发表的关于此类做法对与欧洲农业适应气候变化相关的土壤物理和水力特性影响的荟萃分析结果来评估这一断言的证据。我们还回顾了另外 127 项元分析，这些元分析调查了协同作用和权衡，或有助于解释土壤和作物管理在基本过程和机制方面的影响。最后，我们确定了在整个欧洲不同的农业环境条件下，对替代土壤作物管理系统的反应如何变化。这些信息可以帮助从业者和政策制定者就管理实践作为气候适应工具的有效性得出具体的结论。我们的综合表明，有机土壤改良剂和采用保持“连续生物覆盖”的做法对土壤的水分调节功能产生了重大影响，主要来自于土壤的额外碳输入和生物过程的刺激。这些影响显然与土壤聚集的改善和生物孔隙度的提高有关，这两者都减少了地表径流并增加了渗透。这些系统的一个潜在负面后果是土壤储水量和地下水补给量的减少，这在干旱气候下可能是个问题。一些重要的协同作用是减少硝酸盐浸出到地下水和非豆科覆盖作物系统的温室气体排放。降低耕作强度的好处似乎不那么明确。通常报道由于交通压实导致土壤容重增加。然而，降低耕作强度会增强生物活性，这将改善土壤结构和入渗能力，并减少地表径流和农用化学品对地表水的损失。然而，这些有益效果的证据尚无定论，