Food security involves the sustainable utilization of soil and land resources. Zero‐tillage (ZT) practice is a proponent of better resource utilization, to improve soil physical condition, and a potential sink to atmospheric carbon. However, the impact varies across climates, over the ZT history, cropping systems, and soil depths. A meta‐analysis was performed, based on 4,131 paired data from 522 studies spread globally, to evaluate the effect of ZT in comparison to conventional tillage, on soil physical condition (bulk density; mean weight diameter of aggregates; field capacity water content; and steady‐state infiltration rate), soil organic carbon (SOC) content, and the root response (root length density). Zero‐tillage significantly improved mean weight diameter of aggregates and field capacity water content at surface and subsurface layers by 19–58% and 6–16%, respectively, and resulted in no change in bulk density in either of the layers, but infiltration rate increased by 66%. Surface 0‐ to 5‐ and 5‐ to 10‐cm layers had significantly higher SOC content under ZT, whereas in other layers, the SOC content either reduced or did not change, resulting in a small and insignificant variation in the SOC stock (~1.1%) in favor of ZT. The root length density improved by ~35% in ZT only at 0‐ to 5‐cm soil depth. Effect of climate, soil type, or cropping system could not be broadly recognized, but the impact of ZT certainly increased over time. Improvements in soil aggregation and hydraulic properties are highly convincing with the adoption of ZT, and therefore, this practice leads to the better and sustainable use of soil resources.

中文翻译：

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免耕对土壤物理条件和有机碳含量以及植物根系响应影响的全球分析

粮食安全涉及土壤和土地资源的可持续利用。零耕 (ZT) 实践支持更好地利用资源、改善土壤物理条件和潜在的大气碳汇。然而，影响因气候、ZT 历史、种植系统和土壤深度而异。一项荟萃分析基于来自全球 522 项研究的 4,131 对数据，以评估 ZT 与常规耕作相比对土壤物理条件（堆积密度；团聚体的平均重量直径；田间持水量；和稳态入渗率）、土壤有机碳（SOC）含量和根系响应（根长密度）。零耕显着提高了地表层和地下层的集料平均重量直径和田间持水量分别提高了 19-58% 和 6-16%，并且导致任一层的容重没有变化，但入渗率增加了 66%。在 ZT 下，表面 0 到 5 和 5 到 10 厘米层的 SOC 含量显着更高，而在其他层，SOC 含量要么减少要么没有变化，导致 SOC 储量的变化很小且不显着（~ 1.1%) 支持 ZT。仅在 0 至 5 厘米土壤深度下，ZT 中的根长密度提高了约 35%。气候、土壤类型或种植制度的影响无法得到广泛认可，但 ZT 的影响肯定会随着时间的推移而增加。通过采用 ZT，土壤团聚和水力特性的改善非常令人信服，