Cover crop root-derived organic carbon influences aggregate stability through soil internal forces in a clayey red soil

Geoderma

Waqar Ali, Sadeed Hussain, Jiazhou Chen, Feinan Hu, Jingfang Liu, Yangbo He, Mingxuan Yang

Soil aggregate stability is influenced by soil organic carbon (SOC). However, the influence of SOC from different fall/winter cover crop roots (annual and perennial crops) on aggregate stability through soil internal forces (SIFs) (electrostatic repulsive force (Perf), van der Waals attractive force (Pvdw), and surface hydration repulsive force (Ph)) remains unclear...