Uncovering the contribution of cover crop belowground inputs on soil carbon and nitrogen storage

增加生物多样性和保持健康的土壤是加强加拿大粮食系统的关键，覆盖作物可能发挥重要作用。覆盖作物是在主要作物（如玉米，大豆，西红柿）之间种植的植物，在秋季到次年春季田地通常裸露时提供土壤保护和富集。大多数覆盖作物的研究集中在覆盖作物的生长季节和下一年，但种植者谁使用覆盖作物这样做是长期的。此外，土壤指标的变化，如那些影响碳和氮动态发生在长期。因此，在了解覆盖作物对农业生态系统的真正影响方面存在着重大差距.

Increasing biodiversity and maintaining healthy soil are critical to enhancing Canadian food systems, for which cover crops may play an important role. Cover crops are plants grown in-between main crops (eg corn, soybeans, tomatoes), providing soil protection and enrichment during the fall to following spring when fields would normally be left bare. The majority of cover crop research focuses on the cover crop growing season and the following year, but growers who use cover crops do so over the long term. Moreover, changes in soil indicators, such as those affecting C and N dynamics occur over the long-term. Thus there is a significant gap in knowledge the true impact of cover crops in agroecosystems.