2025/07/04 by Cole R. Dutter, Elizabeth L. Rieke, Sydney Pottebaum +1
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics #Soil and Water Nutrient Dynamics #Soil erosion and sediment transport
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/00224561.2024.2435683
crossref issued 2025/07/04 · crossref published 2025/07/04 · crossref published-print 2025/07/04 · openalex publication_date 2025/07/04 · crossref published-online 2025/09/26 · crossref created 2025/09/26 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/04/16 · crossref indexed 2026/07/29 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Prairie strips are a newer management practice designed to restore lost agroecosystem services while maintaining crop production. Prairie strips have demonstrated many environmental benefits including increased biodiversity, greater pollinator habitat, and reduced sediment and nutrient loss. However, the impacts of prairie strips on soil health (i.e., soil ecosystem services) remain underexplored, especially compared to studies of large tracts of grassland or prairie restoration. Our objectives were twofold. First, we assessed the impact of prairie strips on soil health through time using a 2- to 13-year paired chronosequence across Iowa. We determined how prairie strips affect soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC), soil organic matter (SOM), nitrate, cation exchange capacity (CEC), maximum water holding capacity (MWHC), and aggregate stability. Second, we expanded upon these six soil health metrics in the paired chronosequence and performed a comprehensive soil health assessment, including 12 soil health indicators at the 12-year-old prairie strips. Our paired chronosequence results showed that prairie strips rapidly increased four soil health metrics—MBC (up to 54%), SOM (up to 23%), MWHC (up to 7%), and aggregate stability (up to 80%)—within a decade. The shape of the response curves with time, however, differed among soil health metrics. Soil MWHC and aggregate stability responded linearly, while MBC and SOM fitted quadratic response curves. There was no prairie strip effect on CEC through time, but nitrate concentrations were immediately decreased and remained 65% lower than cropland soil. Also, after 12 years of implementation, prairie strips enhanced 8 out of 12 soil health indicators in our comprehensive assessment. Our results show that prairie strips are an effective way to build soil health within an actively cropped field and within a short timeframe.