A Meta-Analysis of Tillage Effects on Soil Microbial Biomass and Enzymes Activities.

The activities of soil microorganisms are vital to many of the essential functions of soil in agroecosystems. Understanding how agricultural management practices alter the size, structure, and function of microbial communities can provide valuable information to help improve the productivity and sustainability of these cropping systems. Tillage practices directly influence the soil environmental conditions as well as the rate of decomposition of plant residues; in turn, microbial communities can control the cycling of carbon and nitrogen through decomposition of plant residues. Soil organic matter, aggregate stability and nitrogen, in both organic and plant-available forms, are all a result of these nutrient cycles and the functioning of the microorganisms. This study used meta-analysis to assess the influence of tillage practices on the size and functions of the microbial community. Data was collected from XX peer-reviewed studies conducted globally. The effect size used in this analysis was the response ratio of measured value (microbial biomass and enzyme activities for no-till compared to that of conventional tillage.  The influence of environmental factors, such as climate and soil type, agricultural management practices, such as crop rotation, cover crops, and fertilization, and experimental factors, such as the duration of the experiment and sampling depth, were also evaluated to assess how these factors influence the differences between conventional and no-till practices.