Abstract:

Prolonged intensive agricultural practices have caused substantial loses of soil carbon and nitrogen pools,contributing to soil degradation and increased greenhouse gas emissions, thereby posing significant threats toagricultural sustainability. Crop rotation represents a crucial agricultural practice for maintaining soil sustain-ability and promoting long-term soil health. Well-designed crop rotation systems can effectively maintain soilfertility, enhance agricultural resource utilization efficiency, and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, therebygenerating significant ecological and economic benefits. The integration of legume green manure into rotationsoffers particular promise due to its nitrogen fixing capacity and soil health benefits. However, owing to theinherent complexity of soil systems and their multifunctionality, a comprehensive theoretical framework for soilcarbon sequestration and emission reduction within legume green manure rotation systems remains to beestablished. This review systematically examines the impact of legume green manure on key factors and pro-cesses controlling soil carbon dynamics and greenhouse gas emissions within rotation systems. We synthesizecurrent knowledge on the underlying mechanisms and identify critical research gaps. Future research shouldfocus on the following key aspects to advance our understanding and application of legume green manure inrotation systems: (i) clarifying the synergistic physico-chemical-biological mechanisms of soil carbon sequestration mediated by legume green manure; (i) investigating the impact of legume green manure on carbonsequestration and emission reduction in deep soil layers; (ii) enhancing quantitative analysis of carbon-nitrogencycling dynamics using advanced techniques like isotope tracing; (iv) conducting comparative studies onregional variations in the effects of legume green manure; and (v) advancing mechanization and precisionmanagement technologies for legume green manure integration.