Changes in selected soil properties caused by 30 years of continuous irrigation under Mediterranean conditions

Nunes, José Rato; López‐Piñeiro, Antonio; Albarrán, Ángel; Múñoz, Ángel Suárez; Coelho, José Carlos

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2007.02.010

Cited by 45 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…It is known that irrigation modifies SOC mineralization rates, as more water is available when temperatures are adequate for microbial degradation of organic matter [72], regardless of the tillage system used. Increased mineralization rates have indeed been reported as a reason for no changes in SOC stocks observed following irrigation adoption in the region in the short-term [46], and for SOC losses in the long-term in other semi-arid areas [52], most likely associated to improved soil moisture conditions and nutrients availability [73][74][75].…”

Section: Soil Quality Indicator Selection-dryland Vs Irrigated Soil mentioning

confidence: 96%

“…These changes are not always related to changes in crop yields [50,51], as this is also related to soil type and crops management. For instance, soil C losses associated to the implementation of irrigation have been reported in other semi-arid areas [52]. Modeling scenarios also point out the possibility of C losses upon irrigation adoption in the long term [53,54].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

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Tillage Effects on Soil Quality after Three Years of Irrigation in Northern Spain

et al. 2017

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Abstract:Irrigation is being initiated on large areas of traditionally rainfed land to meet increasing global demand for food, feed, fiber and fuel. However, the consequences of this transition on soil quality (SQ) have scarcely been studied. Therefore, after previously identifying the most tillage-sensitive SQ indicators under long-term rainfed conditions, conversion of a research site on a Haplic Calcisol in Navarre, in northeast Spain provided an ideal location to reevaluate those SQ indicators after three years of irrigated management. The Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) was used to test our hypothesis that adopting irrigation could change the sensitivity and importance of non-irrigated SQ indicators. Several soil physical, chemical, and biological indicators along with crop yields were used to evaluate SQ three years after initiating irrigation on a long-term conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT) and no-tillage (NT) study where either barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) or wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was being grown. The results confirmed our hypothesis that irrigation would change the relative importance of various SQ indicators and suggested that some SMAF algorithms, such as those used to assess bulk density, needed to be recalibrated for these Mediterranean soils.

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Section: Soil Quality Indicator Selection-dryland Vs Irrigated Soil mentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Tillage Effects on Soil Quality after Three Years of Irrigation in Northern Spain

et al. 2017

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“…Finally, a particular case of land-use change can be observed within agricultural land upon irrigation adoption (e.g., [105][106][107]). Overall, the socio-economic relevance of irrigation is considerable in WE [108].…”

Section: Land-use Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the environmental impacts of irrigation are variable and still poorly documented in many WE countries [108]. In relation to soil degradation, problems involving erosion and salinization are most often associated with irrigation in Southern Europe [108,[113][114][115], although some cases of organic matter loss have also been reported [105]. Recent studies have shown that deficit irrigation strategies must be implemented with caution because they may lead to soil salinization and sodification problems, especially when moderately saline waters are used [116,117].…”

Section: Land-use Changesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil Degradation and Soil Quality in Western Europe: Current Situation and Future Perspectives

et al. 2014

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“…While there are soils with greater power to oppose changes in their chemical composition, there are others very sensitive to these changes [29,30]. This fact has been clearly demonstrated, for example, in the work carried out on the same region where it has been possible to verify that Vertisols have an ability to mitigate the changes imposed by irrigation practices, which are significantly higher in other soil groups, as is the case of the Luvisols or even the Cambisols [41,42]. Recent researches on different areas, have also demonstrated similar findings regarding other parameters, as is the case of the evolution of organic carbon content in the soil [37], and phosphorus concentration in different types of soil subject to similar agricultural practices [38].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of the European Union Agricultural and Environmental Policies in the Sustainability of Most Common Mediterranean Soils

et al. 2017

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Agro-environmental measures promoted by the European Union focus mainly on environmental protection by maintaining sustainable levels of productivity that are adequate to the agro-ecological conditions of each region on different Member States. Among these European Union promoted measures the one known as “Extensive Forage Systems” is particularly relevant for the Mediterranean Region. In order to analyze the impact of this measure and to verify if the high expenditure of communitarian funds, with its implementation in Mediterranean soils, is aligned with the predicted benefits, a seven-year study in a southern Portugal region was conducted. In this regard, several soil chemical parameters such as organic matter, pH, electrical conductivity, “available” phosphorus, “available” potassium and heavy metal levels (Cd, Cr, Cu, Zn, Mn, Pb and Ni), were assessed, in 1329 different plots in order to represent some of the existing diversity of the Mediterranean environment, identified by the Portuguese Parcel Identification System, and considering the possibility to evaluate the evolution of these parameters on the main soil types of the region. The obtained results enabled us to verify that the application of the agro-environmental measure “Extensive Forage Systems” did not lead, during the 7 years of the study, to any significant change in terms of organic matter, soil pH and/or heavy metals content. Still it contributed for a small growth on “available” phosphorus and potassium levels and to a significant increase on Soil electrical conductivity (EC). As a final conclusion we can refer that the application of the agro-environmental measure “Extensive Forage Systems”, in soil, clime and cultural conditions prevailing in this study (Typical Mediterranean conditions from the South of Europe), did not reach its main objective, which was to increase the organic matter content in soils.

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Changes in selected soil properties caused by 30 years of continuous irrigation under Mediterranean conditions

Cited by 45 publications

References 18 publications

Tillage Effects on Soil Quality after Three Years of Irrigation in Northern Spain

Tillage Effects on Soil Quality after Three Years of Irrigation in Northern Spain

Soil Degradation and Soil Quality in Western Europe: Current Situation and Future Perspectives

Effects of the European Union Agricultural and Environmental Policies in the Sustainability of Most Common Mediterranean Soils

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