BBAuthors: Wang, Z.; He, H.; Advisor: -; Participants: - (2018)
We examined the distribution characteristics of RPF in the topsoils (0–40 cm) in an oasis agroecosystem in Northwest China. After cotton harvest in 2016, we collected 2304 soil samples - A total of 2471 pieces of RPF were separated and weighted. The accumulation of the larger RPF fragments (>25 mg per piece) primarily took place from 5 to 15 years after mulching started. It took over 15 years for the larger RPF fragments to degrade into smaller ones (<25 mg per piece), which accounted for 65% of the total number of RPF fragments in the field with 19-year of mulching. That said, with the constant mulching management, RPF pieces became more fragmented and distributed deeper, making mulc...