Soil Health of Recently Converted No-till Corn Fields in Maine

Jemison, John M.; Kersbergen, Richard; Majewski, Carl; Brinton, William F.

doi:10.1080/00103624.2019.1659302

Cited by 17 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Although the rate of increase in surface soil C in agriculture would have only a small contribution to C sequestration compared to emissions, this rate of increase in soil health characteristics would likely have significant positive effects on productivity and other ecosystem services. Jemison, Kersbergen, Majewski, and Brinton (2019) demonstrated these positive soil health effects in a study of 14 dairy farms in Maine. They also showed that meaningful changes in SOC were evident after at least 12 years of no‐till practice.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Comparing publicly available databases to evaluate soil organic carbon in Maine, USA

Bai

Fernandez

2020

Soil Science Soc of Amer J

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Elevated greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have resulted in growing societal interest in natural climate solutions that include enhancing soil organic carbon (SOC). This study evaluated SOC from three USDA soil databases for Maine, a state that is nearly 90% forested. These databases were: (1) Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA), (2) NRCS Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO), and (3) Rapid Carbon Assessment (RaCA). We compared estimates of SOC density and concentration among databases and analyzed relationships between key soil properties and SOC densities and concentrations. Estimates of SOC density to a 20 cm depth which allows comparison among all three databases were 77 ± 1.2 Mg ha −1 , 95 ± 0.3 Mg ha −1 , and 39 ± 2.2 Mg ha −1 for SSURGO, RaCA, and FIA, respectively. Significant differences existed among databases in SOC density at shallow depth increments, and marked differences existed among databases in the soil depths measured. Analysis of the influence of soil texture and drainage class on SOC highlighted the importance of silt and clay in SOC retention. A hypothetical increase in forest and agricultural SOC was compared to reported Maine GHG emissions to illustrate potential policy implications in the use of soil databases. We conclude that all three databases are valuable but not interchangeable. The database should be carefully chosen to match the objectives of the user. How to cite this article: Bai X, Fernandez IJ. Comparing publicly available databases to evaluate soil organic carbon in Maine, USA. Soil Sci. Soc.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Comparing publicly available databases to evaluate soil organic carbon in Maine, USA

Bai

Fernandez

2020

Soil Science Soc of Amer J

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“…To obtain CO 2 respiration rates 40 g of soil was moistened as indicated and evaluated after 24 hrs incubation at 20°C by utilizing two methods. Method A is the Solvita thin layer gel technique [33,35] and Method B employed an IRGA (ER-10 gas analyzer -Columbus Instruments Co, Ohio). The difference between the two approaches is that in Method A CO 2 produced by microorganisms accumulates inside the sealed test jar and equilibrates with the NaOH-Borate gel impregnated with pH-sensitive dyes.…”

Section: Biological Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For measuring water stable aggregates, a volumetric aggregate stability test (VAST) was employed [35]. This is a sieving method utilizing 2 mm dried soil which is successively dipped on a 35mesh sieve in room temperature water for 30 secs to initiate disaggregation.…”

Section: Biological Testsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Selected were 4 well-characterized soils from across the USA which were prepared specifically into two (2) sieve-size groups, "course" and "fine" and subsequently tested for biological test properties. To evaluate other traits associated with soil quality and which may be differently influenced by soil preparation and handling, we also measured water stable aggregates [35] and Solvita extractable amino-N [32].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Laboratory Soil Handling Affects CO2 Respiration, Amino-N and Water Stable Aggregate Results

Brinton¹

2020

ARTOAJ

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Laboratory analysis of soil traits associated with soil quality or soil health has gained popularity very recently reflecting a trend begun over a half-century ago scrutinizing farming systems for potentially deleterious soil effects. This renewed focus has brought into the forefront concerns about how laboratory soil handling may influence the observed traits. We find evidence in the literature that many but not all these concerns were addressed decades ago before the topic became of widespread interest but also before the soil testing industry modernized to high-throughput methods of soil homogenization not designed for soil quality investigations. Consequently, we find it necessary to retrace some steps in order to better characterize artifacts that may hamper objective evaluation of soil responses associated with soil health before conclusions of management effects of farming systems are drawn. Our study examined soils processed by a soil proficiency program by creating two size groups representing intensive and light soil disturbance and discerned differential effects of sieve sizes and moistening properties depending on which soil quality tests were used. The largest effects were due to wetting and not to sieving when comparing CO 2 respiration, whereas sieving significantly influenced extractable amino-N and water stable aggregates. We found no evidence that a colorimetric thin-layer gel method (Solvita) for CO 2 capture would lead to different conclusions when compared to an IRGA-infrared respirometer. It is recommended that future work continue to examine soil handling factors commonly employed for nutrient analyses which may be inconsistent with the goals of soil quality evaluation.

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“…Some of the first no‐till corn in the USA was planted into a killed pastured hay field, resulting in minimal soil erosion in corn (Meyers, 2018; Triplett et al., 1964). High biological activity in long‐term sod and an active soil food web lead to high porosity and aggregate stability, high infiltration, and low erosion (Jemison et al., 2019). It is unfortunate that modern farming systems exclude ruminant livestock from the landscape that could use these grasses for fodder, so that they could be re‐integrated in continuous no‐till systems.…”

Section: Long‐term No‐till Stops Interrill and Rill Erosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Soil Erosion by Water to Improve Soil Conservation

Grigar¹,

Duiker

Flanagan

2020

Crops & Soils

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Soil erosion by water is still the number one threat to sustainable crop production on upland soils while flooding caused by excessive runoff from uplands threatens lowland soils. High rainfall in recent years exposed cropping practices that do not provide sufficient protection, leading to visible soil erosion. In this article, we discuss the different types of soil erosion by water, the significance of visible soil erosion, and conservation practices used to treat different types of erosion. Earn 1.5 CEUs in Soil & Water Management by reading this article and taking the quiz at http://www.certifiedcropadviser.org/education/classroom/classes/805.

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Soil Health of Recently Converted No-till Corn Fields in Maine

Cited by 17 publications

References 35 publications

Comparing publicly available databases to evaluate soil organic carbon in Maine, USA

Comparing publicly available databases to evaluate soil organic carbon in Maine, USA

Laboratory Soil Handling Affects CO2 Respiration, Amino-N and Water Stable Aggregate Results

Understanding Soil Erosion by Water to Improve Soil Conservation

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