Author(s):
Zachary Simpson, Marshall McDaniel, Andy VanLoocke
Abstract:
This data package provides a spatially and temporally broad, multivariate dataset designed to quantify trade-offs and co-benefits of tillage (and related) management in North American row-crop systems. This dataset compiles treatment-level means for multiple ecosystem services, including crop yield, soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions, alongside detailed agronomic and environmental metadata. Data were extracted from primary studies curated through existing systematic reviews and meta-analyses with a tillage emphasis (Pittelkow et al. 2016, Nicoloso & Rice 2021). However, data was collected with more granular detail, thus representing combinations of practices (e.g., tillage × cover cropping × fertilization) and capturing year-to-year variability. Each observation represents a unique treatment-year combination per study location, supporting analyses that account for context-specific interactions across climate, soil, and management factors. The dataset includes standardized variables describing management practices (tillage, cover cropping, irrigation, manure application, fertility, crop rotation) and basic soil characteristics, alongside coordinates for joining geospatial data layers. Appropriate uses include meta-analyses, agroecosystem model validation , and machine learning applications to explore how conservation practices influence multiple ecosystem services simultaneously.
This is a beta release that contains records for the tillage dataset that have undergone verification steps. Further releases up to the 1.0 version will contain additional records for both ‘tillage’ (management description, yields, GHG emissions) and ‘SOC’ (soil bulk density, organic carbon/matter) tables. After that, we welcome additional summaries for other papers following the aggregation methods outlined here. Contact Dr. Marshall McDaniel to coordinate contributions.
Funder:
Iowa State University Presidential Interdisciplinary Research Initiative
Award Title:
Vice President of Research Presidential Interdisciplinary Research Initiative for the Consortium for Cultivating Human And Naturally reGenerative Enterprises
Award Number:
PG110214
Keywords:
conservation agriculture, cover crops, crop yield, meta-analysis, regenerative agriculture, residue management, soil carbon sequestration, soil health, soil organic carbon, tillage systems
Project (Abbreviated name):
CCHANGE_McDaniel_conservation_ag_ecosystem_services
Team:
Grass2Gas
Geographic Location:
United States and Canada
Families:
Asteraceae, Brassicaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, Linaceae, Malvaceae, Poaceae, Solanaceae
Species:
Avena sativa, Brassica napus, Crotalaria juncea, Cucurbita maxima, Glycine max, Gossypium hirsutum, Helianthus annuus, Hordeum vulgare, Lablab purpureus, Linum usitatissimum, Lolium multiflorum, Medicago sativa, Nicotiana tabacum, Pisum sativum, Secale ce
Data Mirror:
Data Table Column Names and Descriptions
| Table name | Column name | Data type | Units | Column description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | BD g cm3 | float | gramPerCentimeterCubed | Bulk density of this soil layer in grams per cubic centimeter. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Field Trt ID | string | NA | Unique identifier (within this study) pertaining to the field treatment(s) this row represents (e.g., no-till + cover crop, corn, 3rd N level). |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Identifier | string | NA | A Digital Object Identifier for the study. If no DOI is available, contains thesis publication information or a custom identifier formatted as ISSN_{e-ISSN}_{Volume number}_{Issue number}_{first page}-{last page}. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Location | string | NA | A description of the study location. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Notes | string | NA | Additional notes specific to the study; can be notes on methods, quirky experimental design, other potentially important details (e.g., "2012 was a drought year"), etc. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Pub year | float | number | Year of publication. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Reps | float | number | The number of field replicates captured in Field_Trt_ID; this pertains to (sub-) plot replicates for the treatment combination, not to (for example) the number of soil samples per plot. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | SOC SD g kg | float | NA | Standard deviation in soil organic carbon concentration for the soil layer. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | SOC g kg | float | NA | Average soil organic carbon concentration for the soil layer. Note that soil total C can be reasonably treated as SOC if soil pH is <8. Otherwise, a correction is needed to subtract inorganic C. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | SOC stock Mg ha | float | NA | The mean soil organic carbon stock (fixed depth basis) for the soil layer. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | SOC stock SD Mg ha | float | NA | The standard deviation in soil organic carbon stock (fixed depth basis) for the soil layer. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | SOM g kg | float | NA | Average soil organic matter concentration for the soil layer, if reported (this will be used in some cases if SOC was not measured). |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Source title | string | NA | Original article title. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Time ID | string | NA | Unique identifier pertaining to the time point this row represents, preferably by growing season year (e.g. "2011") but can also be e.g., "1st sampling" or similar if necessary. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | file | string | NA | The filename for the raw data. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | first author | string | NA | Family name of the first author. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | meta analysis | string | NA | The focus of this dataset and the meta-analysis the study was cited in. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | soil depth lwr | float | centimeter | The lower depth of this soil layer in cm. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | soil depth upr | float | centimeter | The upper depth of this soil layer in cm. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | stock fixed basis | string | NA | Either "depth" or "mass", referring to the basis for SOC stock calculation. If we have a choice, we will only collect the "fixed depth" stocks. However some papers only give "fixed mass" (aka equivalent soil mass [ESM]) stocks -- that's well and good, but sometimes the reference soil profile isn't clearly given and so the ESM stocks are shown for some mass-corrected depth and we don't know which way the stocks were corrected (to be equivalent with which treatment/time-point/etc.?). Thus comparing ESM stocks *between different studies with different reference soil profiles* is somewhat tricky. |
| dataset soc meta analysis v beta 0.1 | table name | string | NA | The name of the table in SILPH containing this data. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | CH4 flux SD kg CH4 ha | float | NA | Standard deviation in the cumulative methane flux. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | CH4 flux kg CH4 ha | float | kilogramPerHectare | Cumulative mean soil methane flux corresponding to the year given by "Time_ID" but with more specific timeframe (if not calendar year) given by start/end dates; negative fluxes indicate methane consumption by soil. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Coord accuracy | string | NA | Dataset authors' assessment of the accuracy of the coordinates. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Field Trt ID | string | NA | Unique identifier (within this study) pertaining to the field treatment(s) this row represents (e.g., no-till + cover crop, corn, 3rd N level). |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | GHG end date | dateTime | YYYY-MM-DD | For cumulative GHG fluxes, the effective end date for monitoring. Note this does not strictly have to fall within the calendar year in `Time_ID`. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | GHG methodology | string | NA | The GHG measurement methodology. Usually "static chamber" or "eddy covariance"; otherwise, described in more detail as needed. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | GHG samp dur min | float | minute | The duration of GHG sampling, in minutes, particularly for chamber-based methods; if eddy covariance was used, then can leave blank. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | GHG samp freq | string | NA | Description of frequency of GHG data collection, e.g., "weekly", "monthly" etc.; can also be "event based" or other rationale (e.g., "monthly + events"). If eddy covariance was used, then blank. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | GHG start date | dateTime | YYYY-MM-DD | For cumulative GHG fluxes, the effective start date for monitoring. Note this does not strictly have to fall within the calendar year in `Time_ID`. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Identifier | string | NA | A unique identifier for this study. A Digital Object Identifier (DOI), or if a DOI is not available, a hyperlink or custom unique identifier formatted as ISSN_{e-ISSN}_{Volume number}_{Issue number}_{first page}-{last page}. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Latitude | float | degree | The latitude of this data point. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Location | string | NA | The location description given by the paper. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Longitude | float | degree | The longitude of this data point. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | N2O flux SD kg N ha | float | NA | Standard deviation in the cumulative nitrous oxide flux. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | N2O flux kg N ha | float | kilogramPerHectare | Cumulative mean nitrous oxide flux corresponding to the year given by "Time_ID" but with more specific timeframe (if not calendar year) given by start/end dates. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Notes | string | NA | Additional notes specific to the study; can be notes on methods, quirky experimental design, other potentially important details (e.g., "2012 was a drought year"), etc. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Pub year | float | number | Year of publication. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Reps | float | number | The number of field replicates captured in Field_Trt_ID; this pertains to plot replicates for the treatment combination, not to (for example) the number of soil samples per plot. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Soil taxonomy | string | NA | General column for recording any reported soil taxonomic information (e.g., soil order and series). |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Source title | string | NA | Original article title. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | Time ID | string | NA | Unique identifier pertaining to the time point this row represents, preferably by growing season year (e.g., "2011") but can also be e.g., "1st sampling" or similar if necessary. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | clay perc | float | percent | Percent of soil particles classified as clay (generally <4 um). |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | cover crop | string | NA | Either none, legume, non-legume, or mix (of legume/non-legume). |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | cover crop biomass Mg ha | float | tonnePerHectare | If available, the cover crop (aboveground) biomass yield. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | cover crop duration yr | float | NA | The duration in years the cover crop practice has been in place. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | cover crop incorporation | string | NA | Was the cover crop also physically incorporated into the soil? (i.e., some would call it a ‘green manure’) |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | cover crop species | string | NA | If available, the species of cover crop plant(s). Mixes are separated by underscores (e.g., "Secale-cereale_Vicia-villosa"); alternatively, the common name (e.g., "Cereal-rye_Hairy-vetch"). |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | cover crop termin before days | float | NA | The number of days prior to planting that the cover crop was terminated. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | cover crop timing | string | NA | The cover crop growth season. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | crop current season | string | NA | The crop in production for the season represented in this row, corresponding to the Time_ID column. E.g., a corn-soybean rotation measured across 2010-2013 might alternate across the 4 years (rows) as corn, soybean, corn, soybean. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | crop longevity type | string | NA | Whether the species given in "crop_rotation" was grown as "annual" or "perennial". E.g., for the "corn_soybean", it would be "annual_annual". For a "corn_soybean_alfalfa" with rotation years of "1_1_2", it may be annual_annual_perennial. If a perennial species is managed like an annual, then it should be designated "annual". |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | crop rotation | string | NA | The full rotation of crops grown (or, if not, indicate with "fallow") in this plot treatment. E.g., "corn_soybean", "corn_soybean_wheat", "corn_fallow", separated with an underscore. If name of crop species was two words or more, dashes were used as spaces, e.g., "Zea-mayes_Cotton". |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | crop rotation duration yr | string | NA | The duration in years this rotation has been established. Values including ">" indicate rotation existed before experiment started. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | crop rotation years | string | NA | The number of consecutive years/growing seasons that the crop in "crop_rotation" was grown. E.g., for "corn_soybean" and "corn_soybean_wheat", it could be "1_1" (rotates each year) and "1_1_2" (all are in production for just one growing season except the wheat which is grown for 2 seasons). As for crop_rotation, values are with underscores. NOTE: if multiple crops are grown for the Field_Trt_ID during the full experiment but the rotation is inconsistent, value is "irregular" (e.g., corn for 2 years, soybean for 3 years, back to corn for 3 years, etc.). |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | crop yield Mg ha | float | tonnePerHectare | Crop yield for the crop indicated in column "crop_current_season" and for the growing season given by "Time_ID"; only grain yields are recorded, other yields (e.g., silage, total biomass) don't apply. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | crop yield SD Mg ha | float | NA | Standard deviation in the crop yield; note that this is rarely reported in much of the agronomy literature; reminder: SE = SD/sqrt(N), hence SD = SE * sqrt(N) where SE is standard error and N is the number of field replicates. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | fert inorg kg N ha | float | kilogramPerHectare | Kilograms of synthetic nitrogen applied across thefull season? Manure does not apply here. If fertilizer was also applied to a cover crop before the main crop, it is included. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | fert inorg kg P ha | float | kilogramPerHectare | Kilograms of synthetic phosphorus applied across the full season? Manure does not apply here. If fertilizer was also applied to a cover crop before the main crop, it is included. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | first author | string | NA | Family name of the first author. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | irrigation | string | NA | Was irrigation applied? |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | irrigation cm yr | float | centimeter | If irrigation is "Yes", then this is the amount applied in that growing season/year, given in centimeters. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | manure application method | string | NA | How the manure was applied. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | manure kg C ha yr | float | kilogramPerHectare | Rate of carbon applied in form of manure. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | manure kg N ha yr | float | kilogramPerHectare | Rate of nitrogen applied in form of manure. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | manure kg P ha yr | float | kilogramPerHectare | Rate of phosphorus applied in form of manure. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | manure pretreatment | string | NA | Describes the nature of the manure applied. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | manure type | string | NA | The type of animal manure. E.g., poultry, beef, dairy, swine, horse, sheep, farmyard. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | meta analysis | string | NA | The focus of this dataset and the meta-analysis the study was cited in. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | pH | float | NA | Soil pH ideally on a 1:1 basis with water (to match with sources like SSURGO); if reported for 1:1 CaCl2, converted to pH_(1:1 water) via: (pH_CaCl2 + 0.973) / 1.08 (see Miller and Kissel 2010, 10.2136/sssaj2008.0047). |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | residue retention | string | NA | Was crop residue retained on the field following harvest? Following Pittelkow et al. 2015, we indicate this as "Yes" if no mention is made of residue harvest or burning, otherwise "No"; if unclear, then left NA. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | sand perc | float | percent | Percent of soil particles classified as sand (particles generally 63-2000 um). |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | secondary tillage desc | string | NA | Description of any additional (secondary) activities related to soil tillage. This can include spring seedbed preparation, tillage as a result of manure incorporation, etc. Useful as secondary information for classifying the overall "tillage intensity" (or similar) for the observations. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | table name | string | NA | The name of the table containing this data, subsetted by study. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | tillage depth cm | string | NA | The depth of tillage in centimeters for the primary tillage operation. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | tillage duration yr | string | NA | The duration in years this primary tillage practice has been established? Note: some studies had tillage practices in place prior to the beginning of the experiment but for some unspecified time. To account for this, we indicate the duration as, more accurately, "greater than nominal duration" with a ">" (e.g., for a field previously under chisel-plow before experiment, the "new" chisel-plow treatment 5 years later is ">5"). |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | tillage frequency peryear | string | NA | The frequency that the primary tillage operation was performed. E.g., for twice a year, once a year, and every 4 years it would be represented as 2, 1, and 0.25 yr-1 respectively. Secondary tillage operations (e.g., "finishing" to establish seedbed) don't apply here. |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | tillage timing | string | NA | The season the primary tillage operation was performed (spring, summer, fall, winter). |
| dataset tillage meta analysis v beta 0.1 | tillage type | string | NA | A description of the method of primary tillage (e.g., moldboard plow, disk, chisel, strip etc.). |