“…Thus, many producers in the midsouthern and southeastern United States choose to burn wheat residue soon after harvesting to facilitate timely planting of soybean (Sanford, 1982). However, burning has been reported to decrease soil C, N, aggregate stability, water infiltration (Wuest et al, 2005;Murphy et al, 2006), and extractable soil P, S, Ca, and Mg compared with leaving residue intact on the soil surface (Murphy et al, 2006) 780 AMURI AND BRYE SOIL SCIENCE while increasing gaseous emissions of N, C, and S caused by high temperatures during combustion, which favor volatilization of the gaseous forms of these elements (Boubel et al, 1969;Caldwell et al, 2002;Murphy et al, 2006). Although surface residues have been reported to reduce machine-induced compaction in forest soils (Ess et al, 1998), retaining crop residues in agricultural fields has produced varied results with regard to soil compaction (Guerif, 1979;Ess et al, 1998).…”