Wind erosion mostly occurs in flat, bare areas, with dry, fine sandy to coarse silty soil or where the soil is loose and degraded. Soil degradation, including decline in soil quality caused by its improper use or poor management and soil erosion, has been considered as a major environmental issue in arid and semi-arid areas (Cornelis, 2006; Stroosnijder, 2007; Youssef et al., 2012). In arid areas, wind erosion is the main cause of erosion that leads to desertification. The extent of wind erosion, however, varies in different soils. Soil properties such as soil texture, structure, wetness, organic matter and aggregate stability affect the displacement of particles by wind. Long-term cultivation and intensive grazing decreases soil organic carbon and soil aggregate stability and increases its erosion potential (Obia, Mulder, Martinsen, Cornelissen, & Børresen, 2016). Various methods exist to stabilize soils, including biological, chemical, physical and mechanical stabilization methods. The effective addition of materials to degraded soils can
Aims Finding how straw checkerboard barrier technology, as a sustainable and environment-friendly method, may affect soil chemical properties and water status despite wind erosion control directed us to evaluate this technique as a vital component of management plans in sloping lands of semi-arid areas. We were interested to know if it could support the soil capabilities to grow pilot plants and recover some ecological services via alleviate drought stress or amendment of soil attributes.Methods In order to study soil characteristic and growth performance of winter cover crops, an experiment was carried out in 2018. Checkerboards were setup in a 1×1 m pattern with rice residues. Seeds of sainfoin (Onobrychis sativa), rye (Secale montanum) and tall wheatgrass (Agropyron sp) were sown at the checkerboards and bare ground as the control. Detailed analyses include growth characteristics, physiological attributes i.e. photosynthetic pigment contents, proline and malondialdehyde contents and relative water contents of mentioned crops and the related soil properties during the growing season were carried out in borders and centers of the straw checkerboards and bare ground.Results Soil covered with straw checkerboard barriers was the most effective for improving vegetation growth and establishing taller plants with higher biomass. Based on the physiological analyses, the rye grown in straw checkerboard plots coped well with dry conditions. Higher proline content and more efficient osmotic adjustment indicates improvements of soil water retention status, which may alleviate drought stress damages and improve cover crop performance in straw checkerboard plots. Photosynthetic pigments also showed higher contents in checkerboards for rye. Soil organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, potassium and water storage increased in checkerboards too, however, such effects vary with the crop type. Conclusions straw checkerboards could be deemed as an effective management strategy in semi-arid areas, as an important method for conserving natural resources and sustaining productivity.
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