Removal of crop residues for use as ethanol production feedstockmight deplete soil carbon and nutrient pools in
site- and management-specificways. We investigated the effect of residue removal (RR), tillage (T), and N fertilizer
rate (Nr) after five years of continuous corn (Zeamays L.) on total soil carbon (TC) and nutrient stocks at four
sites within Illinois. The experimental design was a split–split plot arrangement of treatments in a randomized
complete block design with four replications, and all treatments remained in the same place each year. Main
plots consist of one of three levels of corn residue removal (RR: full, partial, and none); split plots were two tillage
systems (T: chisel tilled and no-till) and split–split plots were four N fertilizer rates (Nr: 67, 134, 201, and
268 kg N ha−1). The highest TC stocks were found under no-till without residue removal; removing any residue
under no-till lowered TC to the levels found under chisel tillage. Removing residue in tilled soils produced higher
TC values similar to the levels foundwith no residue removal and no-till. Residue removal tended to lower P and
lowered K and EC in the surface 15 cmsoil. Tillage decreased the N and K stocks in the surface soil. Increasing the
rate ofNfertilizer lowered P, K, and pH, generally in an increasing, curvilinearmanner, but the response of ECwas
concave, increasing at the highest N rate used. These responses were closely related to corn grain yields, indicating
that the amount of nutrient removed by harvest of grain and residue and the amount of residue retained after
harvest affect TC and nutrient stocks in Illinois soils. This information will help producers and policy makers to
make better decisions regarding the feasibility of harvesting corn residue, and on agronomic practices that
might accompany residue removal in order to prevent soil nutrient depletion.