The extraction and characterization of soil polysaccharide by whole soil methylation

A soil of the Countesswells series was repeatedly methylated by the Hakomori procedure and a chloroform-soluble product isolated after each methylation. Ninety-two per cent of the material engendered by seven methylations was released during the first four methylations. This had a methoxyl content of about 20% and contained 2% N. Later fractions had lower methoxyl and N contents. Residual carbohydrate in the soil had reducing sugar content on hydrolysis, equivalent to about 3% of the original value. The extracted material had the infrared spectrum of a methylated soil polysaccharide and, on hydrolysis by 2 m trifluoracetic acid, released methylated sugar derivatives of which 68 were characterised by GC-MS. Derivatives corresponding to (1→4) linked sugars predominated for both hexose and pentose sugars but there was also a large proportion of (1→3) linkages, (1→3) linkages predominated for the deoxyhexose sugars. There were more sugars with only one or two methylated hydroxyl groups than could be accounted for as branching points because of the relatively small numbers of end groups. Prior reduction of the soil with sodium borohydride had no measurable effect on the nature or yield of the methylated product. This indicates that amino acid sugar linkages susceptible to β-elimination reactions can have only a very small influence on the reaction. The isolated sugar derivatives accounted for 70% of the total soil sugars. The methylated material before hydrolysis had a low nominal molecular weight on diafiltration, with 68% < 10000. Some of the sugars unaccounted for were probably lost during the dialysis stage necessary to remove dimethyl sulphoxide.     

The effect of oxidation by periodate on soil carbohydrate derived from plants and microorganisms

It has previously been shown that treatment of soil with periodate and tetraborate releases much of the carbohydrate and destroys an equivalent proportion of the soil aggregates. The residual carbohydrate is proportionately richer in glucose, arabinose and xylose, sugars characteristic of plant remains, than the whole soil. The effect of sodium periodate (0.02 M, 6–168 h) and sodium tetraborate (0.1 M, 6 h) treatment of soil on carbohydrates of different origin was examined using ¹⁴C-labelled soil in which the label was present in microbial products arising from 7 and 28 day incubations of ¹⁴C-glucose in soil, or in both plant and microbial materials resulting from 12 week incubations of ¹⁴C-labelled barley leaf and 1 year incubations of ¹⁴C-labelled ryegrass in soil. Arabinose and xylose were the sugars most resistant to periodate in the glucose incubated soil; in the ryegrass incubation arabinose, xylose and glucose were more persistent than galactose, mannose and rhamnose. In the barley leaf incubation arabinose was more persistent than galactose and rhamnose. Thus periodate oxidation did not distinguish between sugars of different origin in soil and it was concluded that in the case of arabinose and xylose the persistence related to differences in chemical structures rather than to physical factors such as particle size of the plant fragments. The composition of the more stable residue can therefore not be used as an indication of polysaccharide origin in any comparison of the relative effects of plant and microbially derived material as aggregating agents.     

Protection of soil carbon by microaggregates within earthworm casts

Earthworms are known to play a role in aggregate formation and soil organic matter (SOM) protection. However, it is still unclear at what scale and how quickly earthworms manage to protect SOM. We investigated the effects of Aporrectodea caliginosa on aggregation and aggregate-associated C pools using ¹³C-labeled sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) leaf residue. Two incubations were set up. The first incubation consisted of soil samples crushed <250 μm to break up all macroaggregates with three treatments: (i) control soil; (ii) soil+¹³C-labeled residue and (iii) soil+¹³C-labeled residue+earthworms. Earthworms were added after 8 d and 12 d (days) later, aggregate size distribution was measured together with total C and ¹³C in each aggregate fraction. A second incubation was made to assay protected versus unprotected total C and ¹³C from 21-d laboratory incubations of intact and crushed large (>2000 μm) and small (250-2000 μm) macroaggregates and microaggregates (53-250 μm). Eight different pools of aggregate-associated C were quantified: (1) and (2) unprotected C pools in large and small macroaggregates, (3) unprotected C pools in microaggregates, (4) and (5) protected C pools in large and small macroaggregates, (6) protected C pool in microaggregates, and (7) and (8) protected C pools in microaggregates within large and small macroaggregates. In the presence of earthworms, a higher proportion of large macroaggregates was newly formed and these aggregates contained more C and ¹³C compared to bulk soil. There were no significant differences between the samples with or without earthworms in the C pool-sizes protected by macroaggregates, microaggregates or microaggregates within small macroaggregates. However, in the presence of earthworms, the C protected by microaggregates within large macroaggregates was a significant pool and 22% of this C pool was newly added C. In conclusion, these results clearly indicate the direct involvement of earthworms in providing protection of soil C in microaggregates within large macroaggregates leading to a possible long-term stabilization of soil C.     

外源氮添加对土壤微生物残体积累动态的影响－基于Meta分析

微生物残体是土壤有机碳库的重要贡献者。为明确外源氮添加对土壤微生物残体积累动态的影响,本文收集整理了1980—2020年已发表的文献,共选取122组试验观测数据,利用整合分析方法（Meta-analysis）,以微生物残体标识物－氨基糖为目标组分,定量分析了不同种类和数量的外源氮添加对土壤中微生物来源细胞残体积累数量和组成比例的影响,并系统解析其主要影响因素。结果表明:外源氮添加（0 ~ 6000 kg hm?1）对微生物细胞残体的积累有显著的促进作用,并能引起土壤中真菌和细菌来源细胞残体相对比例发生明显变化。与不加氮对照相比,氮添加使土壤氨基糖总量增加27%,其中氨基葡萄糖、氨基半乳糖和胞壁酸含量分别增加22.5%、29.8%和19.0%。同时,不同种类外源氮素添加对氨基糖积累特征的影响也有所不同,表现为有机氮（如动物厩肥）比无机氮添加对氨基糖积累的促进作用更大。此外,氮添加对氨基糖的影响程度还与土壤自身的碳氮比、土地利用类型和自然降雨量等环境因子密切相关。其中是否添加碳源对微生物残体的响应有较大影响,表现为:无碳源添加会降低土壤氨基糖葡萄糖和胞壁酸对氮添加的响应,削弱了微生物残体对土壤有机质的贡献比例;而氮源同时配合碳源添加条件下,土壤氨基糖积累量显著高于单一氮源添加的处理,说明氮添加对微生物残体积累的影响存在着碳氮耦合效应。     

长期不同施肥下黑土和红壤团聚体氮库分布特征

为阐明长期不同施肥下土壤氮库的演变特征,揭示氮库稳定性不同的团聚体对不同施肥的响应,为化肥和有机物的合理施用提供科学依据。本研究通过对黑土和红壤22年的田间肥料定位试验,研究了长期不同施肥模式对土壤全氮、 微生物氮以及各级团聚体中氮贡献率的影响。结果表明,长期不施肥（CK）和施用化肥（NPK）,黑土土壤全氮含量以0.015 g/(kga)的速率显著下降（P 0.05）;而长期化肥配施有机肥（NPKM）,黑土全氮含量以0.025 g/(kga) 的速率显著上升（P 0.05）。在CK、 NPK、 NPKM和秸秆还田（NPKS）处理下,红壤全氮含量均没有显著变化。施肥22年后,NPKM处理下黑土和红壤微生物氮含量较NPK处理下分别增加了15% 和 43%,全氮含量分别增加了43% 和45%,差异均达到显著水平（P 0.05）。氮素在黑土上主要积累在253 m 微团聚体中,达到0.73~1.21 g/kg,在红壤上主要积累在2 m 微团聚体中,达到0.46~0.98 g/kg。与NPK相比,NPKM 处理下黑土和红壤 250~2000 m大团聚体中氮素贡献率均显著提高,分别增加了4.3% 和 5.1%。与NPK相比,NPKM 和 NPKS 处理下,红壤 253 m 微团聚体中氮贡献率分别降低了5.9% 和 9.7%,而黑土除大团聚体外的各级团聚体氮贡献率均没有显著变化。可见,不同土壤类型对施肥响应不同, 主要是253 m 微团聚体中氮素的响应不同,化肥配施有机肥可提高土壤250~2000 m 大团聚体中氮的贡献率,进而增加土壤对作物的氮素供给能力,是有助于提高土壤肥力和生产力的农业生产可持续性施肥模式。     

Microaggregates in agricultural soils and their size distribution determined by X-ray attenuation

Understanding mechanisms of microaggregate formation in soils requires knowledge of their exact size distribution. With this in mind, we have used X‐ray attenuation to determine the size distributions of microaggregates and primary particles in the range 0.2–63 μm, with a resolution of 100 size increments. Ten arable and grassland soils with organic C contents ranging from 14.7 to 37.7 g kg^?1 were analysed. They were subjected to ultrasound at 52 J ml^?1 which destroyed most aggregates > 63 μm to give microaggregates in the size range 1–63 μm. The size distribution of microaggregates differed significantly from that of primary particles and was largely independent of their organic C content. Microaggregates were most abundant in 19 of the 100 size increments, contributing to 92% of the major peaks of the size distribution. These preferred increments differed from those of primary particles, but the order for the two was similar. Further analysis of the size distribution revealed a larger mean weight diameter of microaggregates, depending on the size distribution of primary particles. The results suggest a major effect of the size distribution of primary particles on microaggregation, whereas land use seems to have a negligible effect. The proportion of mechanically dispersible clay decreased with increasing C content and indicates structural stability at the microscale.     

长期免耕对东北地区玉米田土壤有机碳组分的影响

Increasing evidence has shown that conservation tillage is an effective agricultural practice to increase carbon (C) sequestration in soils. In order to understand the mechanisms underlying the responses of soil organic carbon (SOC) to tillage regimes, physical fractionation techniques were employed to evaluate the effect of long-term no-tillage (NT) on soil aggregation and SOC fractions. Results showed that NT increased the concentration of total SOC by 18.1% compared with conventional tillage (CT) under a long-term maize (Zea mays L.) cropping system in Northeast China. The proportion of soil large macroaggregates ( 2000 μm) was higher in NT than that in CT, while small macroaggregates (250-2000 μm) showed an opposite trend. Therefore, the total proportion of macroaggregates ( 2000 and 250-2000 μm) was not affected by tillage management. However, C concentrations of macroaggregates on a whole soil basis were higher under NT relative to CT, indicating that both the amount of aggregation and aggregate turnover affected C stabilization. Carbon concentrations of intra-aggregate particulate organic matter associated with microaggregates (iPOM m) and microaggregates occluded within macroaggregates (iPOM mM) in NT were 1.6 and 1.8 times greater than those in CT, respectively. Carbon proportions of iPOM m and iPOM mM in the total SOC increased from 5.4% and 6.3% in CT to 7.2% and 9.7% in NT, respectively. Furthermore, the difference in the microaggregate protected C (i.e., iPOM m and iPOM mM) between NT and CT could explain 45.4% of the difference in the whole SOC. The above results indicate that NT stimulates C accumulation within microaggregates which then are further acted upon in the soil to form macroaggregates. The shift of SOC within microaggregates is beneficial for long-term C sequestration in soil. We also corroborate that the microaggregate protected C is useful as a pool for assessing the impact of tillage management on SOC storage.     

长期免耕和秸秆覆盖下黄土高原旱作土壤不同粒级复合体中酸解有机氮含量及分配比例变化

【目的】探明不同保护性耕作措施对黄土高原旱作土壤不同粒级复合体中有机氮含量与分配的影响,可对评价耕作措施的效果提供科学依据。【方法】基于黄土高原旱区14年的长期定位试验,采用Bremner法, 对传统耕作(T)、免耕(NT)、秸秆覆盖(TS)及免耕+秸秆覆盖(NTS)四种耕作措施条件下不同土壤粒级复合体中的有机氮含量和分配进行了研究。【结果】保护性耕作方式均增加了2~10 μm粒级土壤复合体的比例,增幅为20.0%~31.7%;降低了0~2 μm粒级土壤复合体在土壤中所占的比例,降幅为27.6%~31.0%。在所有耕作措施下,耕层土壤中不同粒级复合体所占的比例为10~50 μm＞2~10 μm＞0~2 μm＞50~100 μm＞100 μm。保护性耕作方式均明显提高了耕层0~2 μm粒级土壤复合体中氨基糖氮的含量,增幅在46.9%~107.1%,降低了单位质量0~2 μm粒级土壤复合体中的NH+4-N含量,降幅在14.8%~27.0%;明显提高了耕层单位质量2~10 μm粒级土壤复合体中酸解总氮、氨基酸氮和氨基糖氮的含量,增幅分别为8.2%~14.3%、16.2%~31.5%和154.9%~184.3%;降低了单位质量2~10 μm粒级土壤复合体中NH+ 4-N的含量,降幅为28.7%~46.6%。传统耕作(T)条件下,与各粒级土壤复合体相结合的有机氮量顺序为10~50 μm＞0~2 μm＞2~10 μm＞50~100 μm＞100 μm以上,而保护性耕作条件下,与各粒级土壤复合体相结合的有机氮量顺序为10~50 μm＞2~10 μm＞0~2 μm＞50~100 μm＞100 μm以上;与传统耕作相比,保护性耕作措施显著地增加了耕层土壤中酸解总氮、氨基酸氮、氨基糖氮的含量,增幅分别为6.6%~20.4%、89.0%~113.0%和11.9%~31.6%,降低了NH+4-N的含量。【结论】与传统耕作(T)处理相比,保护性耕作(NT、TS、NTS)措施明显提高了土壤2~10 μm粒级复合体的比例,降低了0~2 μm粒级复合体的比例;增加了耕层土壤中酸解氮总氮、氨基糖态氮和氨基酸态氮的含量,降低了NH+ 4-N的含量。土壤中以氨基酸态氮占优势地位,其它形态的有机氮无明显分布规律。     

化肥对黑土不同粒级碳水化合物的影响

本文采集公主岭市长期定位监测基地不施肥和施用不同化肥的黑土,通过超声波分散-离心分离得到细黏粒(<0.2μm)、粗黏粒(0.2～2μm)、粉粒(2～53μm)、细砂粒(53～250μm)、粗砂粒(250～2000μm)5个颗粒级别,分析全土及不同粒级中土壤碳水化合物并进行含量与分布的比较。结果表明,黑土中不同粒级碳水化合物库的性质差异显著,碳水化合物多集中在粉+黏粒中;长期施用化肥后,黑土全土及各粒级碳水化合物库大小和浓度基本上没有变化;粗砂粒级(Gal+Man)(:Ara+Xyl)下降,表明该粒级中植物来源碳水化合物所占比重有所增加,暗示出粗砂粒级对施肥措施更为敏感。     

美国北阿巴拉契亚地区耕作措施和土地利用管理对土壤团聚体和有机碳的影响

Promoting soil carbon sequestration in agricultural land is one of the viable strategies to decelerate the observed climate changes.However,soil physical disturbances have aggravated the soil degradation process by accelerating erosion.Thus,reducing the magnitude and intensity of soil physical disturbance through appropriate farming/agricultural systems is essential to management of soil carbon sink capacity of agricultural lands.Four sites of different land use types/tillage practices,i) no-till (NT) corn (Zea mays L.) (NTC),ii) conventional till (CT) corn (CTC),iii) pastureland (PL),and iv) native forest (NF),were selected at the North Appalachian Experimental Watershed Station,Ohio,USA to assess the impact of NT farming on soil aggregate indices including water-stable aggregation,mean weight diameter (MWD) and geometric mean diameter (GMD),and soil organic carbon and total nitrogen contents.The NTC plots received cow manure additions (about 15 t ha-1) every other year.The CTC plots involved disking and chisel ploughing and liquid fertilizer application (110 L ha-1).The results showed that both water-stable aggregation and MWD were greater in soil for NTC than for CTC.In the 0-10 cm soil layer,the ＞ 4.75-mm size fraction dominated NTC and was 46％ more than that for CTC,whereas the ＜ 0.25-mm size fraction was 380％ more for CTC than for NTC.The values of both MWD and GMD in soil for NTC (2.17 mm and 1.19 mm,respectively) were higher than those for CTC (1.47 and 0.72 mm,respectively) in the 0-10 cm soil layer.Macroaggregates contained 6％42％ and 13％ 43％ higher organic carbon and total nitrogen contents,respectively,than microaggregates in soil for all sites.Macroaggregates in soil for NTC contained 40％ more organic carbon and total nitrogen over microaggregates in soil for CTC.Therefore,a higher proportion of microaggregates with lower organic carbon contents created a carbon-depleted environment for CTC.In contrast,soil for NTC had more aggregation and contained higher organic carbon content within water-stable aggregates.The soil organic carbon and total nitrogen stocks (Mg ha-1) among the different sites followed the trend of NF ＞ PL ＞ NTC ＞ CTC,being 35％-46％ more for NTC over CTC.The NT practice enhanced soil organic carbon content over the CT practice and thus was an important strategy of carbon sequestration in cropland soils.     

Nature of soil carbohydrate and its association with soil humic substances

The fulvic acid and alkali-soluble polysaccharide fractions of a sandy loam arable soil of the Countesswells series have been subjected to acid hydrolysis or methylation and the products examined by infra-red and NMR spectroscopy, pyrolysis mass spectrometry and chemical analysis. Infra-red and NMR spectroscopy of the polysaccharide fraction indicated that the substance was predominantly carbohydrate, although sugars accounted for less than one-third of the weight by chemical analysis. Pyrolysis mass spectrometry con-firmed the presence of sugars by sugar anhydride formation, but also showed the presence of ‘secondary’ or ‘pseudo’ polysaccharide. The fulvic acid contained only 2–3% sugars by chemical analysis, whereas a much larger carbohydrate component was suggested by physicochemical analyses. Infra-red and pyrolysis mass spectrometry difference spectra for the residues after acid hydrolysis indicated the release of material with some of the characteristics of glycoprotein. Most of the carbohydrate present in the fulvic acid was of the secondary or pseudo polysaccharide type. The hypothesis that the secondary polysaccharide could be a degraded polysaccharide structure in which some sugar residues have been partly transformed to melanoidins by Maillard reaction is explored.     

地膜残留量对新疆棉田蒸散及棵间蒸发的影响

为探讨残膜对干旱区农田蒸散耗水特征的影响,在新疆阿克苏典型覆膜滴灌棉田开展2 a小区试验研究,设计0、225、450 kg/hm2共3种不同的地膜残留量,采用水量平衡法,微型棵间蒸发仪法,于主要生育时期测定并计算土壤含水量、蒸散量、棵间蒸发量、作物蒸腾量、棵间蒸发占蒸散的比例。结果表明:随着地膜残留量增加棵间蒸发量、棵间蒸发占蒸散的比例呈增大趋势,而蒸散量及作物蒸腾量则逐渐减小。与无残膜处理相比,225和450 kg/hm2处理全生育期田间无效耗水的棵间蒸发量分别增加了9.27和22.20 mm,棵间蒸发占蒸散的比例增幅分别为2.6%和6.1%,作物蒸腾量降低34.89和55.94 mm。在棉花生育期内,棵间蒸发占蒸散的比例(E/ET)与叶面积指数(leaf area index,LAI)呈幂函数关系,各处理间棵间蒸发占蒸散的比例对叶面积指数的响应差异不同,450 kg/hm2处理蒸发占蒸散的比例随着LAI的增加,曲线下降趋势较明显;无残膜处理棵间蒸发占蒸散的比例与LAI的决定系数最高,均在0.9以上。土壤水分利用率也随残膜量的增加依次降低,当残膜量由0增加到450 kg/hm2时,土壤水分利用率从28.25%降至24.91%,可见,残膜增大了农田的无效耗水,不利于土壤水分的有效利用。研究可为制定缓解或克服残膜危害的应变调控技术提供依据。     

Water-stable aggregates and associated organic matter in forest,savanna, and cropland soils of a seasonally dry tropical region,India

The study was undertaken to quantify the distribution of soil in different size fractions of water-stable aggregates, and organic C, total N, and total P associated with these aggregates, along a gradient of forest-savanna-cropland in the Indian dry tropics. The effect of residue (wheat straw) amendment under dryland cultivation was also investigated. Proportions of macroaggregates (>0.3 mm) were highest in the forest and lowest in the cropland soil and ranged from 58–66% in forest, to 55% in savanna and 25–36% in cropland. In contrast, microaggregates (<0.3 mm) were highest in cropland (64–75%), followed by savanna (45%), and lowest in forest soil (34–42%). Organic C, total N, and total P associated with the macroaggregates ranged from 6.52–29.56, to 0.62–2.44 and 0.06–0.15 g kg^-1 soil, respectively, while the respective values in microaggregates were 4.99–22.11, 0.42–2.01, and 0.07–0.19 g kg^-1 soil. This study indicates that land-use changes (conversion of forest into savanna and cropland) reduce the organic matter input to the soil and the proportion of macroaggregates. The application of wheat straw did not significantly influence the organic C and total N levels (P>0.05) in the short term, although the proportion of macroaggregates increased, indicating an improvement in soil structure. Thus soil degradation after conversion of natural systems to cropland can be arrested up to some extent by residue input to the soil.     

Soil Organic Matter/Carbon Dynamics in Contrasting Tillage and Land Management Systems: A Case for Smallholder Farmers with Degraded and Marginal Soils

This study reveals that soil organic matter (SOM) is 58% soil organic carbon (SOC) and the processes that govern SOM dynamics include those that promote SOM synthesis from organic inputs and those that decrease SOM through decomposition. Land use is a key determinant of SOC dynamics and spatial differences in SOM. Agricultural soils can accommodate extra carbon (C) between 140 and 170 Pg C. Globally sub soils store more than half of total SOC. The SOM can increase under no-tillage management even with low crop residue input. Soil tillage induces loss of carbon in macroaggregates (>250 μm) and a gain of carbon in microaggregates (<250 μm). The stage of plant development rather than plant species determines carbon dynamics from plants to soil, and the rate depends on the plant development. However, sorption of dissolved organic matter to mineral soil influences the stabilization of dissolved organic matter.     

Carbohydrate composition in relation to structural stability, compactibility and plasticity of two soils in a long-term experiment

The effects of tillage on soil organic carbon content, carbohydrate content, monosaccharide composition, aggregate stability, compactibility and plasticity were investigated in a field experiment on a gleysol and on a cambisol under winter barley in South-East Scotland. Two long-term treatments (direct drilling and conventional mouldboard ploughing for 22 years) were compared with short-term direct drilling and broadcast sowing plus rotavation for 5 years. Carbohydrate released sequentially to cold water, hot water, 1.0 M HCl and 0.5 M NaOH was determined after hydrolysis as reducing sugar equivalent to glucose in both fresh and air-dried samples. All other measurements were made on dry soils only. About 3% of the soluble carbohydrate was extracted by cold water, 10% by hot water, 12% by HCl and 75% by NaOH from both the dry and fresh soils. The total reducing sugars of the fractions were proportional to the total organic carbon determined by dichromate oxidation or C analysis. Organic carbon and carbohydrates were concentrated near the surface of the direct drilled soil, but were more uniformly distributed with depth in the ploughed soil. The surface soil under direct drilling was more stable, less compactible and had greater plasticity limits than under ploughing. However, particle size distributions were unaffected by tillage so that differences in soil properties were attributed to differences in the quantity and quality of organic matter. Differences in compactibility, structural stability and plasticity limits between depths and tillage treatments correlated with total carbon and with total carbohydrates. The hot water extractable carbohydrate fraction correlated best with aggregate stability and the NaOH fraction correlated best with compactibility and plastic limit. Both fractions were greatest in the long-term direct drilled soil. The hot water fraction had a galactose plus mannose over arabinose plus xylose ratio of 1.0–1.6 in comparison to 0.4–0.7 in the NaOH fraction indicating that the microbial contribution within the hot water-soluble fraction was the greater. The hot-water fraction was likely to contain more exocellular microbial polysaccharides involved in the stabilizing of soil aggregates. The hot-water and NaOH carbohydrate fractions may be good indicators of soil organic matter quality relevant to the preservation of good soil physical conditions.     

Dynamics of soil organic matter associated with particle-size fractions of water-stable aggregates

Stable macroaggregates (> 200 μm) of cultivated soils are reported in the literature to be richer in organic carbon, and in young organic carbon in particular, than microaggregates (< 200 μm). However, the nature of this additional carbon is not yet known. To determine it, we compared the composition of organic matter in stable macroaggregates with that in unstable ones. Macroaggregates 2–3 mm in diameter were separated from two silty cultivated soils from the Paris basin. They were slaked, and the primary particle composition of the resulting fractions was analysed. We used the natural abundance of ¹³C to quantify the amount of young carbon, derived from a maize crop, in the various size fractions. The stable macroaggregates were richer in total C and in young C (younger than 6 and 23 years respectively in the two soils studied) than the unstable ones. This young C comprised 50% particulate organic matter, 20% associated with silt and 30% with clay particles. We propose a schematic composition of aggregates in these soils in which stable aggregates are formed by the binding of microaggregates by additional young organic matter, predominantly plant debris. Young organic matter is preferentially incorporated and is responsible for aggregation, though it is eventually redistributed among aggregate classes through the destruction and re‐formation of the aggregates. We have developed a model to simulate this redistribution. The model shows that stable macroaggregates have a life of a few years, but that microaggregates may exist for decades. We suggest that the stabilization and de‐stabilization of macroaggregates in soils is linked to the incorporation and biodegradation of plant debris.     

Nitrogen supply to cereals and sugar beet by mass flow and diffusion on a silty loam soil

In a four-year field study the nitrogen supply by mass flow and diffusion to cereals (spring wheat, winter barley, winter wheat) and sugar beet was investigated on a silty loam soil. The rates of water withdrawal, N mass flow and N diffusion were determined as a function of soil depth and time. The contribution to the N supply to roots by mass flow was 15–33% and mainly confined to the topsoil layer. The N supply by diffusion plays with 67–85% the dominant role, particularly in deeper rootzone layers. During periods of high N uptake, the N inflow (per unit root length and time) ranges between 0.26–2.07 μmol/(m · d) at various rootzone layers for cereal, and between 3.80–8.98 μmol/(m · d) for sugar beet, respectively. As a consequence of the high proportion of diffusion supply, at harvest the whole rootzone was largely depleted of nitrate. Thus, nitrate leaching losses during winter were small, the average nitrate concentration of the yearly groundwater recharge being only 7.9 mg N/l. Additionally, some results on supply of K, Ca, Mg and Cl for spring wheat and sugar beet are given. Diffusion supply prevails for K, and in the case of sugar beet for Mg and Cl also. Mass flow of Ca exceeded uptake considerably.     

Relationships between soil macroaggregation and humic carbon in a sandy loam soil following conservation tillage

Purpose

Humic substances are recalcitrant and might act as persistent binding agents to form macroaggregates. The focus of this study is in investigating the contribution of humic carbon (HC) to soil aggregation in response to various tillage and residue managements.

Materials and methods

Arable soils following 8-year contrasting managements were collected to determine aggregate size distribution and stability and HC fractions including humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA). The contribution of HC to aggregation was divided into three special effects including positive effect (PE), negative effect (NE), and combined effect (CE), and these effects were measured using aggregate fractionation techniques.

Results and discussion

As well as to promote structural stability, HC bounds predominantly with the silt + clay fraction and secondarily with microaggregates to form larger aggregates. The PE increased with increasing aggregate size, whereas the NE followed the opposite pattern. A positive CE was observed for large and small macroaggregates, whereas the CE for microaggregates and the silt + clay fraction was negative. Compared to continuous tillage, reduced- and no-tillage decreased the PE for large and small macroaggregates by 1.58–30.98% at the 0–20 cm depth, and straw returning also slightly decreased the corresponding PE relative to straw removing. By contrast, a significantly higher NE for small macroaggregates at the 0–10 cm depth while 6.33–81.11% decreases in CE for large and small macroaggregates at the 0–10 cm depth as well as for large macroaggregates at the 10–20 cm depth, were observed under reduced- and no-tillage. The extraction of HC significantly reduced the aggregate stability and reduced- and no-tillage effectively limited its decrease magnitude. Small macroaggregates and microaggregates made larger contributions to soil HC accumulation than did other fractions. An averagely increased contribution from large or small macroaggregates was observed under both reduced-/no-tillage and straw returning at the 0–20 cm depth. A significant and positive relationship was found between the mass proportion of macroaggregates and the HC accumulation in 0–20 cm soil. Large macroaggregates had significantly higher HA/FA ratios than small macroaggregates, and reduced- and no-tillage significantly increased these ratios both in large and in small macroaggregates. The CE for large or small macroaggregates was also significantly negatively correlated with their HA/FA ratios.

Conclusions

Overall, the HC accumulation in soil is likely to play a key role in macroaggregation, but conservation tillage might decrease the contribution magnitude of HC to large or small macroaggregation through increasing the corresponding HA/FA ratios.

     

Long-term impact of reduced tillage and residue management on soil carbon stabilization: Implications for conservation agriculture on contrasting soils

Residue retention and reduced tillage are both conservation agricultural management options that may enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) stabilization in tropical soils. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of long-term tillage and residue management on SOC dynamics in a Chromic Luvisol (red clay soil) and Areni-Gleyic Luvisol (sandy soil) in Zimbabwe. At the time of sampling the soils had been under conventional tillage (CT), mulch ripping (MR), clean ripping (CR) and tied ridging (TR) for 9 years. Soil was fully dispersed and separated into 212–2000 μm (coarse sand), 53–212 μm (fine sand), 20–53 μm (coarse silt), 5–20 μm (fine silt) and 0–5 μm (clay) size fractions. The whole soil and size fractions were analyzed for C content. Conventional tillage treatments had the least amount of SOC, with 14.9 mg C g⁻¹ soil and 4.2 mg C g⁻¹ soil for the red clay and sandy soils, respectively. The highest SOC content was 6.8 mg C g⁻¹ soil in the sandy soil under MR, whereas for the red clay soil, TR had the highest SOC content of 20.4 mg C g⁻¹ soil. Organic C in the size fractions increased with decreasing size of the fractions. In both soils, the smallest response to management was observed in the clay size fractions, confirming that this size fraction is the most stable. The coarse sand-size fraction was most responsive to management in the sandy soil where MR had 42% more organic C than CR, suggesting that SOC contents of this fraction are predominantly controlled by amounts of C input. In contrast, the fine sand fraction was the most responsive fraction in the red clay soil with a 66% greater C content in the TR than CT. This result suggests that tillage disturbance is the dominant factor reducing C stabilization in a clayey soil, probably by reducing C stabilization within microaggregates. In conclusion, developing viable conservation agriculture practices to optimize SOC contents and long-term agroecosystem sustainability should prioritize the maintenance of C inputs (e.g. residue retention) to coarse textured soils, but should focus on the reduction of SOC decomposition (e.g. through reduced tillage) in fine textured soils.     

Soil microaggregation as influenced by uncharged organic conditioners

Abstract

To assess the interaction of water soluble stabilizing agents with soil particles, soil microaggregation was studied after treatments with two uncharged organic conditioners, Polyvinyl alcohols (PVAs) and Dextrans, of different molecular weight. The size distribution of microaggregates (diameter <250 pm) was determined on two soils of low organic matter contents with differing texture by means of a laser light technique. PVAs and Dextrans modified the microaggregate size distribution, increasing the proportion of >75 μm aggregates. The extent of this modification increased with the molecular weight of the conditioners and, for the same molecular weight, decreased with increasing amount of conditioner used. The aggregating effect of PVAs was stronger on particles smaller then 5 μm, which formed microaggregates in the range 10–100 μm which were not broken down even by ultrasonication. S.E.M. micrographs of soil aggregates confirmed the results reported above. PVAs and Dextrans appeared to produce a more porus structure with more aggregates of about 100 μm size, both in the clay soil and, to a lesser extent, in the sandy soil.