Degradable film mulching increases soil carbon sequestration in major Chinese dryland agroecosystems

Zihan Liu, Chenxu Zhao, Nanhai Zhang, Jing Wang, Zhaoyang Li, Yves Uwiragiye, Nyumah Fallah, Thomas W. Crowther, Yuanyuan Huang, Yuanyuan Huang, Yi Xu, Sheng Zhang, Yakov Kuzyakov, Kadambot H. M. Siddique, Zhikuan Jia (), Zucong Cai, Scott X. Chang, Minggang Xu, Christoph Müller and Yi Cheng ()
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Zihan Liu: Nanjing Normal University
Chenxu Zhao: Northwest A&F University
Nanhai Zhang: Northwest A&F University
Jing Wang: Nanjing Forestry University
Zhaoyang Li: Northwest A&F University
Yves Uwiragiye: Nanjing Normal University
Nyumah Fallah: Nanjing Normal University
Thomas W. Crowther: ETH Zurich
Yuanyuan Huang: German Centre of Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle–Jena–Leipzig
Yuanyuan Huang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yi Xu: China Agricultural University
Sheng Zhang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yakov Kuzyakov: University of Göttingen
Kadambot H. M. Siddique: The University of Western Australia
Zhikuan Jia: Northwest A&F University
Zucong Cai: Nanjing Normal University
Scott X. Chang: University of Alberta
Minggang Xu: Shanxi Agricultural University
Christoph Müller: Justus Liebig University Giessen
Yi Cheng: Nanjing Normal University

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract Plastic film mulching (PM), which contributes to nearly half of the increased crop yields in dryland agroecosystems, exacerbates environmental burdens due to its non-degradable nature. Globally, there is a growing demand to replace non-degradable PM with degradable film mulching (DM), yet its impacts on soil organic carbon (SOC) in dryland agroecosystems remains unknown. Here, using multi-field studies and mesocosm experiments, we found that DM strongly increased but PM reduced SOC storage (0–1 m). This difference is likely attributable to the higher microbial C use efficiency in soil under DM, leading to increased microbial-derived C compared to PM. Under the high roading scenario for 2100, DM could reduce the decomposition of SOC (0–1 m) in China’s drylands by 9.0 ± 1.0 Mg ha–1 year–1 (one standard error) compared with PM. Our findings highlight that DM is a promising alternative to PM for sequestrating SOC and alleviating C loss under climate change in dryland agroecosystems.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-60036-5

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