. 2020 Jan 13;7:16. doi: 10.1038/s41597-020-0356-3

Table 1.

Conservation type included in SoilHealthDB.

Conservation type	Description
Cover crop (CC)	In conventional row crop farming systems, the soil surface often is left bare after harvesting and thus may cause soil erosion, leaching, and decreases in SOC^2–4. A cover crop is a plant grown during the fallow season. Grasses or legumes are the major types of cover crops but other green plants such as brassicas are also used. Cover crops are grown primarily for benefit of the soil rather than for crop yield, though cash crop yield increases can result from this practice²⁸.
No-tillage (NT)	No-tillage (also named no-till, zero tillage, and direct drilling) is a way of growing crops with minimal soil disturbance. Benefits of no-tillage include: reduced soil erosion, runoff, and leaching; improved soil infiltration; and increased soil organic carbon¹⁴.
Agriculture forest system (AF)	Agriculture forest system (also called agro-forestry) is a farmland management practice that combines trees or shrubs with crops or pastures. Benefits of agriculture forest systems include prevention of soil erosion and increased biodiversity. In sub-Saharan Africa and in parts of the United States, agriculture forest systems have been successfully applied¹⁶.
Organic farming (OF)	Organic farming uses organic fertilizers (e.g., compost manure, green manure, and bone meal) rather than inorganic chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Organic farming can lead to increased soil carbon concentrations¹⁵.