Aeration studies on arable soil, 2: The effect of a grass ley or cereal on the structure of a heavy clay
1989
Lindstroem, J. | McAfee, M. (Sveriges Lantbruksuniv., Uppsala (Sweden). Inst. foer Markvetenskap)
A number of soil physical and soil aeration parameters were measured in a very heavy clay (60-70% clay) cropped with a grass ley or with wheat, to detect structural differences under these treatments. Gaseous diffusion and air permeability coefficientes differed between layers within treatments and tended to decrease with depth. Differences between treatments were greatest in the 10-15 cm soil layer, where relative diffusion in the ploughed soil was one tenth of that in the grassed soil and where air-filled porosity at -10 kPa matric potential was 0.03 V/V in the ploughed soil compared to 0.10 V/V in the grass ley. Air permeabilbity coefficients were low in all layers and the only difference between plots was in the 10-15 cm layer, where the grassed soil was more permeable (p less than 0.01) at matric potentials less than -10 kPa. The oxygen content of soil air varied with stage of crop growth and water content of the soil. At the beginning of the season, it was lower on the ploughed soil while in autumn it was lower under the grass ley. The grass ley improved the structure of the topsoil by increasing the total porosity and improving pore continuity. However, the structure of the cultivation pan which occurs between 20 and 25 cm depth was not sigificantly improved by 3 years of grass.
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