FIELD STUDIES OF THE SOIL ATMOSPHERE II. OCCURRENCE OF NITROUS OXIDE

Studies were made of the seasonal changes in the occurrence of nitrous oxide in the atmosphere of two clay soils. During the winter of 1971-2 the nitrous oxide concentrations at both sites were in the range 20-50 ppm. Levels increased with rising soil temperatures in spring, the mean values reaching 50-170 ppm in May; some individual samples contained 1500-6500 ppm. The level of nitrous oxide was inversely related to the oxygen content of the soil atmosphere and was also correlated with the nitrate and nitrite concentration of the soil water, but could not be correlated with either the proximity of field drains, soil moisture content or rainfall.     

海绵田土壤结构特性与土壤肥力关系的研究

为了综合研究高产稳产田的肥力性状,自1971年以来,我们在山西省大寨大队及其邻近地区于玉米、小麦主要生育期内,测定了海绵田、非海绵田以及加快熟化新修地的土壤有机质、全量氮、磷、钾;并对微生物的季节性变化作了三年的测定;分别测定了雨季和旱季土壤水分和温度的变化;同时还利用薄片研究了土壤结构与土壤肥力的关系.     

THE APPLICATION OF MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS TO SOIL STUDIES

The assumption that the variation of soil can be characterized by the variation of a set of relatively few soil properties is examined. Different sets of properties describing the same soil profiles, in particular those measured in the field, and those measured in the laboratory, are used to group these profiles by principal components analysis. This numerical method is used so that each set is grouped by exactly the same procedure. Data from the Riverina plains of New South Wales and some Cotswold (Gloucestershire) beechwoods are examined in this way and a close correspondence found between grouping based on field and laboratory data separately. The results cannot be generalized, though the method is suitable for any area. In particular, the results are unlikely to hold if comparisons are made between single properties.     

THE APPLICATION OF MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS TO SOIL STUDIES

Allocation of a profile to a predetermined group is normally made by the surveyor in the field but alternatively a computer can be programmed to process data and make the allocation. Differences arising from these procedures may be due to differences in either the information used by computer and surveyor or the rules used to analyse the data. There is a third method, in which the surveyor, using the same data as the computer, provides a link between the other two. Comparison, in general terms, of possible results from these three methods is supported by a study on profiles from the Riverina, N.S.W. Using data for a standard set of variables and allocating into one of three groups, misallocation of 4 per cent of a test sample of forty-six profiles resulted from both the computer method and the surveyor in the laboratory as compared with the surveyor's allocation of the same profiles on morphological properties in the field. This concurrence between the surveyor and the computer method allows the skill of the surveyor to be extended by way of the computer to technicians.     

苏南地区水稻土的合理耕作的研究

苏南地区传统的土壤耕作要求水稻移栽前耕层土壤“上有泥糊、下有团块”,认为泥糊有利于土壤的养分释放,团块有利于土壤通气^[2];而对于秋耕,力求达到耕层土碎、田面平整。为此,必须耕耙配套,因而每年化费的劳动和能量很大。七十年代以来,由于大面积发展双三制,耕作次数增多和溃水时间延长,难以实现晒堡,农民普遍反映土壤发僵,通气性变坏^[1,4,7],碎土更加困难。为了摸清传统土壤耕作制中存在的问题,探索合理的土壤耕作制,我们于1978-1979年在无锡等地进行了不同整地方法的田间试验,并就出现的问题进行了盆栽对比研究。     

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SOIL VARIABILITY FOR FOREST SOIL STUDIES IN NORTH-EAST SCOTLAND

A study of 13 sample plots (0.01 ha) in 6 forests showed that the average number of topsoil samples required per plot to secure 95 per cent confidence limits for a range about the mean of 10 per cent was 6 for total nitrogen, 9 for total phosphorus and 29 for 0.5 M acetic acid extractable nutrients (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium). In some plots 95 per cent confidence intervals, based on 5 composite samples, for extractable nutrients were as large as the range of mean values for different plots within a forest. High variability within plots causes large variation in correlation coefficients between tree growth and soil properties so that the intensity of sampling should be of the order indicated above to identify factors affecting growth. For predicting timber yield the accuracy of regression equations containing predictors of high within-plot variability is too low to be of practical value. The sampling effort required to achieve a given level of precision does not increase greatly when plot size is increased from 0.01 to 0.1 ha. Since Yield Class, the most useful measure of growth, is not designed for areas less than 0.5 ha, the use of the larger plot size is recommended.     

STUDIES ON THE DECOMPOSITION OF PLANT MATERIAL IN SOIL

Soil samples taken during an experiment on the decomposition of ¹⁴C-labelled ryegrass in soil under field conditions (see Part I) were air-dried, irradiated, exposed to CHCl₃ or CH₃Br vapours, oven-dried or autoclaved. After these treatments the soils were inoculated, incubated, and the output of CO₂ measured. All these methods of partially (or, in some cases, completely) sterilizing soil rendered a small heavily labelled fraction of the soil organic matter decomposable. This fraction is postulated to be the soil biomass. Treatments involving heat or irradiation rendered small additional amounts of the soil organic matter decomposable (by processes other than the killing of organisms). Incubating unsterilized soil with partially sterilized soil did not decrease evolution of CO₂. This suggests that partial sterilization does not increase mineralization by destroying toxic substances that inhibit microbial growth, or by disturbing a host: predator balance in the unsterilized soil. The longer the labelled ryegrass was allowed to decompose in the field, the less labelled-CO₂ was evolved after partial sterilization. In contrast, the same amount of unlabelled-CO₂ was evolved from a soil that had been incubated 1 or 4 years with ryegrass. The labelled part of the biomass is considered to be largely zymogenic (with a half life of approximately 1.5 years), the unlabelled part largely autochthonous, remaining almost constant over the 3-year period. It is suggested that the size of the soil biomass can be roughly estimated from the size of the flush of CO₂ after CHCl₃ vapour treatment. Calculated on this basis, 2.3–3.5 Per cent the unlabelled-C in these soils (i.e. the C present in the soil before the labelled ryegrass was added) was in the biomass. Of the original ryegrass C added, 10–12 per cent was in the biomass after 1 year, decreasing to 4 per cent after 4 years.     

MEASUREMENT OF SOIL MOISTURE IN THE FIELD BY NEUTRON MODERATION

Design, calibration, working precautions and field use of a soil-moisture meter are described. The probe carries a source ²⁴¹Am-Be and a detector ¹⁰BF₃ in an Al case, 3.4 cm diam and 17 cm long. Source and detector are as close to each other as possible, so giving a desired linear relationship between thermal neutron count and the volumetric water content around the probe. The portable sealer incorporates some new features of circuit design that lead to ease of operation and small size: it weighs 5 kg. Factors involved in calibration or the interpretation of a calibration curve are: resolving time of the sealer, the volume of soil explored by the neutrons, the effect of a moisture gradient, and the possible effect of elements other than hydrogen. Field trials were in two groups. In 1962 and 1963 frequent measurements were made in bare clay soil and under a nearby barley crop: from the profiles, the extraction of water from the bare soil was limited to the top 30 cm, but the barley roots took water out at least as deeply as the maximum depth of measurement then possible, 90 cm. In 1964 similar measurements under first-year Timothy and Meadow Fescue, irrigated and non-irrigated, showed that the total water abstracted by each was nearly the same, but the Timothy took most of its water from the top 40 cm of the profile, whereas the Fescue took more water from the lower depths. Combining the estimated deficits with known rainfall gives values of periodic evaporation in good agreement with aerodynamic estimates based on temperature, humidity, and wind profiles above the crop, and in fair agreement with potential evaporation-rates calculated from routine weather records.     

STUDIES ON THE DECOMPOSITION OF PLANT MATERIAL IN SOIL

The organic matter in soils containing decomposing ¹⁴C-labelled ryegrass was fractionated chemically. Earlier work on these soils had shown that they contained a small fraction, heavily labelled relative to the rest of the soil organic matter, that was mineralized when the partially sterilized soils were incubated. Reagents effective in extracting heavily labelled-C included cold o.in HC1, boiling saturated CaSO₄ solution, and o.in Ba(OH)₂, but neither these nor any other reagent tested could extract material as heavily labelled as that mineralized when partially sterilized soil was incubated. Reagents that extract heavily labelled-C are poor extractants for humified material and are not strongly hydrolytic: the more vigorous the hydrolysis the smaller the proportion of labelled-C in the hydrolysate. The amounts of labelled-C dissolved by Ba(OH)₂ from soils sampled after different periods in the field were directly proportional to the amounts of labelled-C mineralized by those soils when partially sterilized (by exposure to CHC1₃ vapour), inoculated and incubated. Balance sheets are presented for the distribution of labelled and unlabelled-C in fractions separated by hydrolysis with 6N HC1, by NaOH extraction, by neutral pyrophosphate extraction, and by oxidation with H₂O₂. The fraction remaining after hydrolysis with 6N HC1 was the most lightly labelled and had the widest C/N ratio. The percentage of labelled-C in the material dissolved by alkali or by pyrophosphate was little more than in the material not dissolved, despite the presence in the soil of fractions differing at least twenty-fold in intensity of labelling.     

土壤静电场对水稻生长发育的影响

稻田在淹水期间,水层的氧化还原电位明显高于土壤耕层,二者的电位差一般为0.2—0.6伏。于天仁等研究过水稻土淹水期间氧化还原电位在剖面上的分布^[1]。     

土壤中有机酸比色法测定的研究

对Montgomery(1962)比色法测定有机酸总量的方法作了若干改进。根据化学反应的平衡关系,将欲测试的土壤提取液水浴蒸干脱水,大大提高了有机酸的酯化程度,也就提高了测定的准确度。由于提取液浓缩至干,故测定一般可不受吸取的提取液体积和其中有机酸浓度高低的影响。结合温度、时间、pH等条件试验得到了测定的最佳条件。乙酸和丁酸的回收率分别可达99%和102%。几种有机肥料淹水培育10天用气相色谱测定的乙酸含量为本文提出的比色法测定总量的86%。采用这一方法测定土壤有机酸的量,可以在一定程度上反映有机物在土壤中腐解时产生有机酸的实际情况。     

STUDIES OF SOIL ORGANO-MINERAL FRACTIONS

Sand-, silt-, and clay-size organo-mineral fractions were isolated in bulk from surface horizons of five soils following ultrasonic dispersion in water. Good clay separation was achieved for all except one highly organic, calcareous clay soil. Organic-N and -C were concentrated in the clay and silt fractions but for each soil the organic C : N ratio decreased in the order sand > silt > whole soil > clay. Acid hydrolysis of the silt and clay fractions revealed a slight concentration of amino acid-N and NH₄-N in the clays but only small differences in the distribution of individual amino acids were observed. The results suggest that both silt and clay fractions may be important in the stabilization of soil organic matter.     

旱作高产田产量波动性和土壤干燥化

根据旱地作物长期田间试验数据，论述了旱作农业生产中作物产量波动性是一个规律性现象，并用波动系数加以表述。研究结果表明旱作高产田与低产田相比，存在相似的产量波动性，区别是它在较高产量水平上波动，高产田作物耗水量较高，从而导致土壤相对干燥化。土壤干部是高产田产量产生波动性的直接原因，而低产田则因作物吸水能力低，土壤储水不能充分利用所致。     

关于目前我国常用的几种土壤反应混合指示剂在使用上的探讨

一.引言随着农业生产事业的日益发展与农业科学技术的日益推广,农民们对于测定土壤反应的要求也日益增长,因此,一个简单而准确的反应混合指示剂已十分迫切需要。但是我国目前所用的指示剂,种类很多,即使是同一类型的混合指示剂,各地的配制方法     

芝麻秆还田防治水稻病虫、杂草及提高土壤肥力效应的研究

１９９１～１９９２年的试验结果表明，利用芝麻秆还田，晚稻病虫、杂草危害明显减轻，稻谷产量增加１７．０９％～３０．３４％，稻田土壤肥力亦有所提高。为水稻病虫、杂草的生物防治提供一条新途径。