In this master’s thesis, the influence of tillage, texture and depth on soil organic carbon (Corg) content and microbial biomass was investigated. Soil sampling was carried out in 2020 on an experiment set up in 2011 on two sites with different textures (light and heavy). The experiment compared ploughing (O) and minimum, shallow tillage with Evers 4-row Vario Disc (E), both treatments were further divided into no-till (NTo and NTe) in 2017. Four soil depths were sampled (0–1 cm, 0–10 cm, 10–20 cm and 30–60 cm). Corg was found to accumulate in the topsoil layer (0–10 cm), with the highest Corg contents in the conservation tillage treatments (E and NTe): 3.08 % and 2.89 % in the texturally heavy soils, and 1.93 % and 1.98 % in the texturally light soils. The effect of texture was observed at all depths, with Corg contents about 30 % lower in the texture-light soils. In the second part of our study, we determined microbial biomass using two methods, chloroform fumigation and isolation of total DNA from soil. The results of both methods gave similar conclusions; microbial biomass was concentrated in the top layer of the soil (0–10 cm), and higher values were obtained in all three conservation soil treatments (E, NTe and NTo). The microbial biomass content was significantly higher in the soil with heavier texture compared to lighter, although in the lower depths (10–20 cm and 30–60 cm) only, while the effect of texture on microbial biomass in the top layer (0–10 cm) was not detected. We have documented a positive effect of minimal tillage methods on important soil quality indicators (Corg and microbial biomass). In the future, it would be beneficial to study the diversity and activity of microbial communities and determine their role in soil ecosystem functioning.
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