Effect of tillage system on the root growth of spring wheat

Abstract

Little research has examined the influence of tillage system on root growth in wheat grown on rainfed Vertisols. A 3-year field study (2003, 2004 and 2005) was carried out on a typical Vertisol (southern Spain), to determine the effects of tillage system on root growth in spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L) grown in continuous rotation with faba bean (Vicia faba L), within the framework of the longterm "Malagón" experiment started in 1986. Tillage treatments were no-tillage (NT) and conventional tillage (CT), and the experiment was designed as a randomized complete block with three replications. The following parameters were measured: above-ground biomass, grain yield, root length density (RLD), root biomass (RB) and root N content. In the topmost 10 cm of soil, higher values were found under CT than under NT for RLD in the rainiest year (20.2 km m −3 vs. 9.6 km m −3 respectively) and for RB (512 kg ha −1 vs. 261 kg ha −1 respectively) in all study years. In deeper layers, no difference was recorded between the two tillage systems. Greater wheat root development in the upper soil layer under CT may reflect the greater soil penetration resistance found in the topmost 10 cm under NT. Root separation using a sieve with a 0.5 mm mesh screen led to a marked underestimation of RLD and RB, with values up to three times higher when using a 0.2 mm mesh screen. Mean wheat root N content in the topmost 30 cm of soil accounted for over 80% of total root N content. The highest grain yield was observed under NT, since this system provided greater water storage in the soil profile in the mostly dry study years.

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity, root colonization, and soil alkaline phosphatase activity in response to maize-wheat rotation and no-tillage in North China

“…In a similar sandy loam soil in western Iran, NT resulted in higher soil bulk density and lower root length density compared with CT (Mosaddeghi et al, 2009). Moreover, in a typical Vertisol in southern Spain, lower values were also found for the root length density and root biomass in the topmost 10 cm of soil under NT than under CT (Muñoz-Romero et al, 2010). Therefore, it can be deduced that there were possible decreases in the root biomass or length density under NT in this experimental field, which might provide less carbohydrates for feeding AM fungi.…”

Root system-based limits to agricultural productivity and efficiency: the farming systems context

“…In such situations, both cover crops and growing deeprooted crops in the following year are options to reduce leaching and recover some of the N leached deep in the soil (Dresboll and Thorup-Kristensen, 2014). Delaying or omitting incorporation is a strategy that has been implemented in environmental regulation in both Denmark and Sweden (Larsson et al, 2005;Kronvang et al, 2008) but the effect of this on soil N dynamics as compared with early straw incorporation are not well understood (Munoz-Romero et al, 2010;Myrbeck et al, 2012;Hansen et al, 2015).…”

Effects of fine root length density and root biomass on soil preferential flow in forest ecosystems

“…Experimental plots 1 and 2 were located in Sophora japonica Linn, experimental plots 3 and 4 in Platycladus orientalis Franco, and experimental plots 5 and 6 in Quercus dentata Thunb sections Plant root systems situated in farmland, desert, forest soil, rangeland and grassland perform a vital role in water and nutrient uptake, and this role varies due to changes in root morphology, traits, and distribution during their growth (Wiel & Wample, 1985;Tscherning et al, 1995;Puhe, 2003;Yan et al, 2011). Root growth is controlled by many factors containing soil compaction (Panayiotopoulos et al, 1994;Alameda et al, 2012;Glab, 2013), tillage systems (Muñoz-Romero et al, 2010;Kadžienė et al, 2011;Vakali et al, 2011), macropores, soil strength and structure (Dexter, 2004;Vocanson et al, 2006) and temperature (Gladish & Rost, 1993;Finer et al, 2011a) which determine much of the development of roots (Tracy et al, 2013;Dastidar et al, 2012). Roots are able to form wellconnected macropores or channels and also normally grow into rigid pores broader than their own diameters (Logsdon & Allmaras, 1991).…”