Reynaert et al. (2023): Basalt addition improves the performance of young grassland monocultures under more persistent weather featuring longer dry and wet spells
Simon Reynaert, Arthur Vienne, Hans J De Boeck, Tommy D’Hose, Ivan Janssens, Ivan Nijs, Miguel Portillo-Estrada, Erik Verbruggen, Sara Vicca, Sílvia Poblador IN: Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 340, 109610, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agrformet.2023.109610
Tha authors investigated whether basalt addition could attenuate effects of increasingly persistent precipitation regimes (PR) on two agricultural grassland monocultures differing in drought resistance (low: Lolium perenne (LP) vs high: Festulolium (FL)) and digestibility (high: LP, low: FL), while improving soil C sequestration. In total, 32 experimental mesocosms were subjected to either a low (1-day wet/dry alternation) or a highly (30-day wet/dry alternation) persistent PR over 120 days, keeping total precipitation equal. In half of these mesocosms, the authors mixed basalt with the top 20 cm soil layer at a rate of 50 t ha−1.