Soil Quality and Spatial Variability Assessment of Land Use Effects in a Typic Haplustoll

Abstract

Soil management practices can have negative or positive effects on soil quality. Our objective was to assess the effect of long-term agricultural practices by evaluating selected soil physical and chemical properties. Soil samples were collected from two depths (0 to 15 and 15 to 30 cm) within a native pasture and an adjacent agricultural field that was being used for three different crop rotations. Soil quality was quantified using aggregate stability, bulk density, soil texture and available water content as physical properties and pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter and available phosphorus as chemical properties. The farmland soils were functioning at 71 and 70 per cent of their full potential at the 0-to 15-and 15 to 30-cm-depth increments, respectively, whereas those from the pasture were functioning at 73 and 69 per cent, respectively. The assessment showed substantial loss in soil organic carbon following 50 years of farmland cultivation. Tillage and fertilizer applications were presumably the primary reasons for weaker spatial dependence within farmland at the 0-to 15-cm depth. Grazing was postulated as the main reason for weaker spatial dependence within the pasture soils at the 15-to 30-cm depth. Overall, we conclude that 50 years of cultivation has not caused soil quality to decline to a point that threatens sustainability of the agricultural fields.Notes: CV, coefficient of variation; ns, not significant; TOC, total organic carbon; BD, bulk density; EC, electrical conductivity; SQI, soil quality index. a Significant at the 0·01 level. b Significant at the 0·05 level.

Assessment of environmental soil quality around Sonepur Bazari mine of Raniganj coalfield, India

“…Moreover an integrated index is essential for quantitative comparison of different soils. Several indices have been proposed to assess soil quality, which were mostly microbial in nature and for agricultural soils (Sharma et al, 2005;Masto et al, 2007aMasto et al, , 2008aOzgoz et al, 2013;Sinha et al, 2009;Morugán-Coronado et al, 2013;van Leeuwen et al, 2015). Indexing involves three main aspects: (1) choosing appropriate indicators for a minimum data set, (2) transforming the indicators to scores, and (3) combining the scores into an index (Sinha et al, 2009).…”

Influence of humic acid applications on modulus of rupture, aggregate stability, electrical conductivity, carbon and nitrogen content of a crusting problem soil

“…It is well known that soil organic matter, especially humic materials, is cementing agents in soil particles; however, certain organic components can paradoxically play a role as a dispersion element in claywater systems (Tarchitzky et al, 1993). Reduced input rate of organic matter and translocation of surface soils with water erosion are also reasons for low organic matter content of cultivated soils (Ozgöz et al, 2013). Lower organic carbon content in farmland caused a significant difference in aggregate stability values (Ozgöz et al, 2013).…”

“…Reduced input rate of organic matter and translocation of surface soils with water erosion are also reasons for low organic matter content of cultivated soils (Ozgöz et al, 2013). Lower organic carbon content in farmland caused a significant difference in aggregate stability values (Ozgöz et al, 2013). Shanmuganathan and Oades (1983) reported that addition of anions to soils causes dispersion in clay fraction associated with decreas- ing isoelectric point, and it is known that especially fulvic acids are the most efficient anions.…”

Soil organic carbon along an altitudinal gradient in the Despeñaperros Natural Park, southern Spain

“…The topographic factor has been traditionally included in the study of the spatial distribution of soil properties (Fernández-Calviño et al, 2013;Haregeweyn et al, 2013;Ozgoz et al, 2013;Wang and Shao, 2013). Over time, many researchers have quantified the relationships between topographic parameters and soil properties such as soil OM and physical properties such as particle size distribution, bulk density and depth to specific horizon boundaries (McKenzie and Austin, 1993;Gessler et al, 1995Gessler et al, , 2000Pachepsky et al, 2001;Ziadat, 2005).…”