Effects of cattle slurry and cultivation on air exchange in sandy and silty soils from northern Norway

Abstract

Gas diffusivity and permeability, and air-filled porosity, were measured in undisturbed soil cores at four water potentials between -1.5 kPa and -60 kPa. Virgin (never ploughed) and cultivated sandy and silty soils from two sites in northern Norway were used in the investigation. The cultivated soils had lower air-filled porosity and gas diffusivity than the virgin ones. Application of slurry (50 Mg ha-1) decreased gas diffusivity and changed the relationship between relative diffusivity and air-filled porosity for both the virgin and cultivated sandy soils and the virgin silty soil. The gas permeability of both the virgin and cultivated silty soil was low, and the relative diffusivity at field capacity less than the limit below which plant growth is affected. ;