Challenges of conservation agriculture practices on silty soils. Effects on soil pore and gas transport characteristics in North-eastern Italy

Piccoli, Ilaria; Schjønning, Per; Lamandé, Mathieu; Furlan, Lorenzo; Morari, Francesco

doi:10.1016/j.still.2017.05.002

Cited by 26 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The Authors hypothesized that the high traffic load and absence of tillage operations during a 3-year transition period were factors causing soil compaction. In this study, the BD was higher (average 1·8 g cm À3 ) than previously measured by Piccoli et al (2016Piccoli et al ( , 2017 irrespective of farm or treatment. These results are scale-dependent because the two studies referred to different soil sample sizes (Baveye et al, 2002).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 69%

“…Recently, Piccoli et al (2017) measured the degree of compactness (Keller & Håkansson, 2010) of 100 cm 3 cores collected from the same experiment. They demonstrated that Veneto low-lying silty soils are prone to compaction irrespective of agronomic management adopted owing to the limited amount of non-complexed organic carbon available for interaction with clay minerals and the low clay-silt ratio.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a previous study conducted on the silty soils of the lowlying Venetian plain, Piccoli et al (2017) observed that CA had generally not been able to improve the structural conditions compared with intensive tillage, yielding an increase in soil BD. They postulated that the limited amount of noncomplexed organic carbon available for interaction with the clay minerals and the low ratio between clay and silt particles prevented a resilient soil structure even in soils treated with CA practices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of CA practices on the soil pore network in terms of TP, PSD, morphology and architecture in the same silty soils as those studied by Piccoli et al (2017). Coupling MIP and X-ray micro tomography, we investigated the porosity from the macroscale to the ultramicroscale on 96 samples collected in a field experiment set up on four farms in which CA practices (no-tillage, cover crops and residues retention) were applied and compared with conventional tillage system over a 5-year transition period.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Conservation Agriculture Had a Poor Impact on the Soil Porosity of Veneto Low‐lying Plain Silty Soils after a 5‐year Transition Period

et al. 2017

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Conservation agriculture practices have been proposed as a set of techniques for improving soil structure properties and related ecosystem services. This study compared conservation agriculture (CA) practices (no‐tillage, cover crop and residue retention) and conventional intensive tillage system in order to evaluate their effects on total porosity, pore size distribution, pore architecture and morphology. The experiment was set up in 2010 on four farms of the low‐lying Veneto Region plain characterized by silty soils. Almost hundred soil samples were collected in 2015 at four depths down to 50‐cm layer and investigated for porosity from micrometre (0·0074 μm) to macrometre (2·5 mm) by coupling mercury intrusion porosimetry and X‐ray computed microtomography (μCT). Indices of soil morphology and architecture were derived by analysing 3D images and mercury intrusion porosimetry pore size curves. Results suggested that silty soils of Veneto plain are microstructured because much (82%) of the porosity ranged between 0·0074 and 30 μm. CA practices positively influenced the ultramicroporosity class (0·1–5 μm) (1·86E‐01 vs 1·67E‐01 μm3 μm−3) that is strictly linked to soil organic carbon stabilization while no effects were observed in X‐ray μCT porosity domain (> 26 μm). Silty soils of Veneto plain showed a slow reaction to CA because of the poor aggregate stability and low soil organic carbon. However, the positive response of the ultramicropore fraction indicates that a virtuous cycle was initiated between soil organic carbon and porosity, hopefully leading to well‐developed macropore systems and, in turn, enhanced soil functions and ecosystem services. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 69%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Conservation Agriculture Had a Poor Impact on the Soil Porosity of Veneto Low‐lying Plain Silty Soils after a 5‐year Transition Period

et al. 2017

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“…For these reasons, in 2010, a field experiment comparing CA practices with conventional practices (CV) was set up at four Veneto region (northeastern Italy) farms characterized by silty soil. Previous studies, conducted during the transition phase, showed a slow reaction of soil structure under CA, as demonstrated by the poor effect on soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration, soil porosity and functioning (Piccoli et al, 2016;Piccoli, Schjønning, et al, 2017). More recently, Camarotto et al (2018) demonstrated that CA practices may respond differently in the short-and long-term, mainly due to the initial inertia of SOC dynamics.…”

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confidence: 99%

Examining conservation agriculture soil profiles: Outcomes from northeastern Italian silty soils combining indirect geophysical and direct assessment methods

Piccoli

Furlan²,

Lazzaro

et al. 2019

European J Soil Science

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Conservation agriculture (CA) is an agronomic system, including no-tillage, cover crops and residue retention on the soil surface, which represents more sustainable management compared to conventional ploughing systems (CV). Conservation agriculture is widespread in some parts of the world (i.e. South America and the USA), whereas it is still developing in others (i.e. Europe). One of the main reasons for the slow European uptake of CA is low yield because of the worsening of soil physical quality, in particular increased compaction and reduced hydraulic permeability. The effects of CA on soil physical dynamics are poorly documented, particularly during the transition phase between CV and CA and for fine-textured soils. Therefore, in this study, the effects of CA on soil volumetric water content, bulk

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Relationships among water and gas transport properties in soils from natural and induced clay gradients

Yang

Xing

Kankanamge

et al. 2022

Vadose Zone Journal

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Clay content in soil potentially has strong influence on soil structure and thereby controls soil physical, hydraulic, and gas transport properties. Only few studies have investigated the effect of clay content on saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and gas transport parameters such relative gas diffusivity (Dp/D0) and air permeability (Ka) under varying conditions of clay contents. In this study, two clay gradients were investigated: a natural clay gradient and an induced (clay mineral attapulgite‐controlled) clay gradient. We determined the effect of the two clay gradients on soil air and water parameters and identified the potential relationships between these parameters and other physical properties. The results indicated that all Dp/D0, Ka, and Ks decreased with increasing clay content. The differences among the various treatments were dependent on the soil pore characteristics (air‐filled porosity, ε; pore continuity, POA; pore tortuosity, τ; and pore size distribution). Under the natural clay gradient, the increased clay content resulted in 52.8% more micropores and 35.2% fewer macropores. The slope of τ vs. clay content under the induced clay gradient was found to be higher than that under the natural gradient. Statistically meaningful correlations could be found between Ks and Ka (|r| = .904) and also between Ks and Dp/D0 (|r| = .810), whereas Dp/D0 was evidenced to be better correlated with Ks regardless of the type of clay gradient (P < .01). The results thus provide a valuable experimental and numerical insight to develop useful correlations among Ks, Ka, and Dp/D0 under differing clay gradients.

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Challenges of conservation agriculture practices on silty soils. Effects on soil pore and gas transport characteristics in North-eastern Italy

Cited by 26 publications

References 46 publications

Conservation Agriculture Had a Poor Impact on the Soil Porosity of Veneto Low‐lying Plain Silty Soils after a 5‐year Transition Period

Conservation Agriculture Had a Poor Impact on the Soil Porosity of Veneto Low‐lying Plain Silty Soils after a 5‐year Transition Period

Examining conservation agriculture soil profiles: Outcomes from northeastern Italian silty soils combining indirect geophysical and direct assessment methods

Relationships among water and gas transport properties in soils from natural and induced clay gradients

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