Highway to health: Microbial pathways of soil organic carbon accrual in conservation farming systems

•On-farm evaluation of physico-chemical and microbial pathways of SOC accrual.•Comparison of 21 conventional and conservation farming systems at various soil types.•Conservation farming systems moderate microbially-mediated (‘in-vivo’) SOC dynamics.•Management practices influence biochemical parameters intrinsic to accrual pathways. Increasing pressure on arable land related to climate change mitigation and adaptation within recent policy frameworks has generated widespread interest in the effect of sustainable agricultural management practices on soil organic carbon (SOC) storage. Current frameworks point to soil microorganisms and their functioning as the key drivers of SOC accrual. This study provides a comprehensive on-farm assessment of changes in SOC formation pathways (physico-chemical and microbial) and the underlying drivers comparing three soil use systems: conservation and conventional farming systems as well as permanently vegetated adjacent reference soils (i.e., field margins) without agricultural land-use. Overall, our results indicated substantial increases in extractable organic carbon (+22 %), microbial biomass carbon (+29 %) and necromass carbon stocks (+11 %) in soils of conservation farming systems as compared to conventional farming systems. Differences between all three soil use systems were strongly pronounced in the surface soil (0–5 cm) and declined in deeper soil layers. Structural equation modelling revealed a varying influence of SOC storage pathways among soil use systems, with microbial-mediated (‘in-vivo’) turnover and direct sorption being the most dominant pathways. Moreover, diversity of crop rotation and tillage intensity were identified as the most important factors influencing extractable organic carbon and carbon-liberating enzyme activity within conservation farming management. Our on-farm approach demonstrates that enhanced bioavailable carbon inputs and reduced soil disturbance are the key drivers for microbially-controlled SOC accrual in arable soils and that conservation farming systems with extended plant coverage and increased crop diversity can substantially advance the restoration of soil health.