Spatio-temporal variation of surface soil hydraulic properties under different tillage and maize-based crop sequences in a Mediterranean area

Abstract

Aims The surface crust formed by the drop impact of rainfall and/or irrigation is a prevalent characteristic in many Mediterranean soils. However, the temporal variation of soil hydraulic properties induced by surface crust during the high-frequency irrigation has rarely been investigated. Methods Beerkan infiltration tests in conjunction with the BEST method were used to investigate the effects of surface crusting on the spatio-temporal variation of saturated soil hydraulic conductivity (Ks, mm s−1), sorptivity (S, mm s−0.5), mean pore size (r, mm), number of effective pores per unit area (N, m−2) in Agramunt, NE Spain. Results In response to autumn tillage, intensive tillage (IT) increased Ks and S due to higher r and N, but both declined after 60 days. Reduced tillage (RT), maintained comparable Ks and S values, despite having a lower N value. After the spring tillage, both IT and RT developed crusted layers, resulting in decreased Ks, S and N. Long-term no-tillage (NT) showed an increasing trend of Ks and S over time, except for the last sampling. Spatial variation (i.e., between the rows, B-row vs. within the row of crops, W-row) of Ks and S was found, and non-crusted soils (W-row) had consistently higher Ks and S than crusted soils (B-row). Conclusions Conservation tillage i.e., RT and NT improve the surface soil structure and reduce the risk of crust development. Surface cover by crops may help to prevent crust formation within the row of crops, improving soil hydraulic conductivity.

Editorial: Belowground adaptation of plants to climate change

“…Soil characteristics such as silt and clay content increase crusting, while factors like aggregate stability and organic matter content mitigate it, highlighting the complex interplay of soil properties in crusting susceptibility (Chen et al 2013). In this issue, Talukder et al (2022) investigated the temporal variation of soil hydraulic properties induced by surface crust in Mediterranean soils in NE Spain during high-frequency irrigation. Using Beerkan infiltration tests and the BEST method, this study revealed that intensive tillage initially elevated both saturated soil hydraulic conductivity and sorptivity compared to autumn tillage, but these values declined after a 60-day period.…”

Soil hydraulic properties and pore dynamics under different tillage and irrigated crop sequences

“…3c). Spatial variations of K(Ψ) might be due to presence of plant roots and its growth and development W-row that creates preferential flow channels (Talukder et al, 2022a). Therefore, soil water flow is significantly greater along the root-soil interface (W-row) than distant from the plants (B-row) (Zhang et al, 2017).…”

Using Beerkan Procedure to Estimate Hydraulic Soil Properties under Long Term Agroecosystems Experiments

“…On the other hand, differences in hydraulic properties tend to become insignificant a few months after the last tillage, even when comparing treatments such as conventional and untilled [6,9]. However, soils treated with minimum tillage or untilled are less prone than those treated with conventional tillage to surface crust formation [10] and can lead to progressive increases in SOC [11].…”