Rothamsted Continuous Maize

Local identifier
R/CS/477
Years operational
1997—2015
Objective
To monitor the fate of organic carbon in the soil organic matter.
Description
Continuous maize and barley plots with different amounts of maize tops incorporated. The experiment is duplicated at Woburn on a contrasting sandy loam soil. Maize and spring barley were chosen as crops with contrasting delta 13C enrichment in their residues. This can be used to follow the fate of the C incorporated in the crop residues. The experiments were established initially for use in SOM fractionation studies, but staff and analytical funds are no longer available to support this work, so the experiment was discontinued in 2015.
Data Access Statement
Available to any researcher on request
Data license
CC BY
Data policy
Yes (not online)
Organization
Rothamsted Research
research organisation
Person
Dr Margaret Glendining
data manager
Rothamsted Research
Computational and Analytical Sciences

Site: Hoosfield

Type
research station field
Location
Harpenden
Hertfordshire
United Kingdom
Geographic location
51.811958, -0.376067
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Visits permitted?
No
Visiting arrangements
Dr Andy Gregory, LTE Manager
Soil type
luvisol
Climatic type
temperate oceanic climate

Design period: (1997—2015)

Description
Soil samples were collected in 1997, 2008 and 2015
Design description
There were six crop and straw treatment combinations
Number of blocks
3
Number of plots
18
Number of replicates
3
Number of harvests per year
1
Crops
CropYears grown
maize
barley
Factor
Factor name
Factor levels
crop residue management exposure
Plot application: Whole plot
Continuous maize, stubble incorporated
Continuous maize, stubble plus 10t maize tops incorporated
Maize after three years of spring barley, straw removed
Spring barley after five years maize, stubble incorporated
Continuous spring barley, straw removed plus 10 t maize tops incorporated
Continuous spring barley, straw removed
Measurement
VariableMaterialUnitsFrequencyScaleComment
grain yield traitAll cropst/haannualplot