Variation of Water Retention in Various Soils of Kuwait

Soil properties varied in water retention; due to soil texture and organic matter content. Variations of texture in many soils are effected mostly to soil forming factors of parent materials of the soil; biological activities; climactic variation; and duration of soil reaction. While the organic matter contents are affected totally by the environmental conditions of the soils. Water holding capacity of different soils influences' plant growth and development in diverse soil characteristics of the world and determines soil productivity. Water resources for agricultural activities are limited, particularly in arid environment and soil water-holding capacity of arid soil is very low. Kuwait can be good example of arid environment with limited water resources for agriculture activities and possess soil of coarse texture with very low organic matter content (Anonymous, 1997). Agricultural development in Kuwait meets many problems for crop production and urban landscaping. Water resources are limited and the quality is deteriorating at the same time soil water holding capacity is very low. Enormous amount of water, particularly desalinated expensive water is wasted for agricultural activities. This paper will study various parts of Kuwaiti soils water holding capacity and develop water retention data for efficient water irrigation and improvement of plant growth.     

Soil Biology Changes as a Consequence of Organic Amendments Subjected to a Severe Drought

Effect of severe drought events in combination with organic amendments (municipal solid waste, MSW, sheep manure, SM, and cow manure, CM) on soil dehydrogenase, urease, β‐glucosidase and phosphatase activities and microbial community by analyzing phospholipid fatty acids was studied under controlled laboratory conditions for one year. Two levels of irrigation were used: (1) watered soils, where the soils were maintained at 60% of their water holding capacity through the experiment, and (2) non‐watered soils, without irrigation through the experiment. The severe drought conditions negatively affected the soil enzymatic activities and total bacterial and fungal PLFA concentrations. The application of organic amendments to the soil subjected to severe drought increased soil water retention and encouraged the growth and activity of soil microbial populations. However, the chemical composition of the organic matter applied to the soil also strongly influenced soil moisture. In non‐watered soils and compared with the unamended soil, the dehydrogenase activity was 71 · 3%, 60 · 9% and 38 · 6% higher in the soil with SM, CM and MSW, respectively. Urease activity was 60 · 6%, 51 · 5% and 37% higher in the soil with SM, CM and MSW, respectively. β‐glucosidase and phosphatase activities had a similar trend. Water retention was higher when the organic wastes applied to the soils had a higher content of humic acids than fulvic acid contents. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of land use changes on the hydrological properties of volcanic ash soils in South Ecuador

Abstract. The effect of land use on the water retention capacity of Umbric Andosols in south Ecuador was studied. The objective was to acquire a better insight into the hydrological processes of the ecosystem and the role of the soil, in order to assess the impact of changing soil properties due to land use change on the hydrology of the high Andes region. Field data on the water retention capacity at wilting point of Umbric Andosols were collected for both cultivated field conditions and original bush vegetation. The pH in water and in NaF, texture, organic matter content and dry bulk density were measured to show which physicochemical soil characteristics are responsible for the water retention of the Umbric Andosols and for the irreversible loss in water retention due to air drying. Organic matter content appears to be very important and certainly more important than allophane clay content. Water retention of the organic litter layer was calculated to be 16 mm, this would be lost when vegetation was cleared and the land cultivated.     

Microbiological Properties in Acidic Forest Soils with Special Consideration of KCl Extractable Al

To determine the importance of Al-availability for soil micro-organisms 95 forest soils from Tyrol/Austria with comparable topography, vegetation, climatic conditions, soil type and with low soil pH (median = 3.9) were investigated for their physical (percentage of stable aggregates, water holding capacity), chemical (pH, electrical conductivity, contents of organic matter, concentrations of easily extractable aluminium, calcium, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus) and microbiological characteristics (microbial biomass and respiration, metabolic quotient, content of ATP, activities of protease and CM-cellulase, cfu-values of total and Al-tolerant bacteria and fungi). A highly significant negative correlation was detected between concentrations of KCl-extractable aluminium and soil pH. By the application of multivariate statistical methods, the effect of the concentration of KCl-extractable aluminium on abundance and activities of soil micro-organisms could be revealed. Al turned out to be of great importance for micro-organisms and often outmatched the significance of other well known soil properties like organic matter, pH or water holding capacity. However, due to very healthy trees at the sites under investigation no effect of Al or soil acidification on forest decline could be detected.     

The effect of soil texture and organic amendment on the hydrological behaviour of coarse-textured soils

To gain more insight into the hydrological behaviour of coarse-textured soils, the physical properties of artificially created soil mixtures with different texture were determined. The mixtures were prepared according to the specifications of the United States Golf Association (USGA) for constructing putting greens. In addition, the effect of 10 vol.% organic matter addition was studied. The soil moisture retention and hydraulic conductivity relationships of the different mixtures were determined and their hydrological behaviour was studied using the numerical model SoWaM. Both texture and organic matter addition substantially affected the hydraulic properties. Hydraulic conductivity significantly increased with increasing coarseness while moisture retention decreased. On the other hand, organic matter addition reduced saturated hydraulic conductivity by a factor of 10 to 100 and distinctly increased moisture retention capacity. The amounts of total available water were increased by the addition of organic matter between 144% (slightly coarse texture) and 434% (very coarse texture). Results indicate that the mixtures can contain only 2–16% plant available water and therefore need frequent irrigation to maintain plant growth. Addition of organic matter seems a good solution to reduce the irrigation water requirements but it increases the risk of ponding or runoff because of large reductions in the saturated hydraulic conductivity sometimes to below the rate of 3.6 m/day recommended by the USGA.     

ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE BY IMPROVING WATER PRODUCTIVITY OF SOILS IN DRY AREAS

Considering extreme events of climate change and declining availability of appropriate quality water and/or highly productive soil resources for agriculture in dryland regions, the need to produce more food, forage and fibre will necessitate the effective utilization of marginal‐quality water and soil resources. Recent research and practices have demonstrated that effective utilization of these natural resources in dry areas can improve agricultural productivity per unit area and per unit water applied. This paper focuses on the following three case studies as examples: (1) low productivity soils affected by high levels of magnesium in soil solution and on the cation exchange complex; (2) degraded sandy soils under rainfed conditions characterized by low water‐holding capacity, organic matter and clay content and (3) abandoned irrigated soils with elevated levels of salts inhibiting growth of income generating crops. The results of these studies demonstrate that application of calcium‐supplying phosphogypsum to high‐magnesium soils, addition of clays to light textured degraded soils and phytoremediation of abandoned salt‐affected soils significantly improved productivity of these soils. Furthermore, under most circumstances, these interventions were economically viable, revealing that the efficient use of marginal‐quality water and soil resources has the potential to improve livelihoods amid growing populations in dry areas while reversing the natural resource degradation trend. However, considerably more investment and policy‐level interventions are needed to tackle soil degradation/remediation issues across both irrigated and dryland agricultural environments if the major challenge of producing enough food, forage and fibre is to be met. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

黄土高原藓类生物结皮对表层土壤水分运动参数的影响

生物结皮普遍存在于干旱和半干旱地区土壤表层,对土壤水分有重要影响。为了进一步探究生物结皮对表层土壤水力学特性和水分运动过程的影响,该研究以黄土高原风沙土和黄绵土上发育的藓结皮为研究对象,通过野外采样与室内试验相结合,测定了藓结皮覆盖土壤和无结皮土壤的Boltzmann变换参数、土壤水分扩散率、入渗过程、比水容量和非饱和导水率,对比分析了有无藓结皮覆盖对表层土壤水分运动参数的影响。结果表明:藓结皮覆盖抑制了表层土壤水分的扩散,藓结皮覆盖土壤的Boltzmann变换参数和水分扩散率分别比无结皮土壤降低7.9%～27.3%和99.2%～99.6%;藓结皮覆盖后表层土壤渗透性显著降低,其水分入渗参数(初始入渗率、稳定入渗率、平均入渗率、累积入渗量)和非饱和导水率分别降低了17.1%～55.4%和84.8%～92.3%;藓结皮显著提升了表层土壤的持水和供水能力,藓结皮层的水分常数(田间持水量、萎蔫系数、重力水含量、有效水含量和易利用水含量)比无结皮土壤高40.9%～1 233.3%,土壤水吸力在100k Pa时的比水容量比无结皮土壤高7.4%～1 540.5%;相比黄绵土,藓结皮覆盖对风沙土的渗透性影响较小,而对土壤持水和供水性的影响较大。综上,黄土高原藓结皮覆盖降低了土壤渗透性,同时显著提高了表层土壤的水分有效性,这可能导致土壤表层在雨后截留较多水分,进而使土壤水分分布趋于浅层化,并改变该地区的土壤水分有效性和植物水分利用策略。     

上海地区土壤持水特性研究

土壤水的研究,从Henri Darcy(1856)提出达西定律算起,已有一百多年历史.经历了由经验到理论、由静态到动态、由定性到定量、由宏观到微观逐步深入发展的过程^[1].1877年Briggs L.J.提出毛管假说,将土壤孔隙组成的孔道看成是一些大小不同的毛细管,认为表面张力是土壤保持水分的主要原因.     

云南腾冲火山灰土发生学特性的初步研究

腾冲火山灰土形成于第四纪火山碎屑喷出物,通常土壤为酸性,土层中含有多少不等的浮岩和其他形式的熔岩块.A层色暗、有机质含量和持水量都很高、容重特低.粘粒矿物中有显著量的水铝英石.基质含有大量细粒腐殖质和玻璃碎屑.肥力高,能高产.成土作用主要是岩成草甸过程的有机质大量积累和富铁铝伴有表土层的生物富硅作用.该土的许多发生特性与国外的火山灰土相似.鉴于该土受母质的影响深刻和与附近地带性土壤的差异,在分类上可定为岩成土纲中的一个特殊土类,名为火山灰土.     

Estimating water retention curves of forest soils from soil texture and bulk density

Forest soils differ significantly from the arable land in their distribution of the soil bulk density and humus content, but the water retention parameters are primarily derived from the data of agricultural soils. Thus, there is a need to relate physical parameters of forest soils with their water retention characteristics and compare them with those of agricultural soils. Using 1850 water retention curves from forest soils, we related the following soil physical parameters to soil texture, bulk density, and C content: air capacity (AC), available water capacity (AWC), and the permanent wilting point (PWP). The ACs of forest soils were significantly higher than those of agricultural soils which were related to the low bulk densities of the forest soils, whereas differences in AWCs were small. Therefore, for a proper evaluation of the water retention curves (WRCs) and the parameters derived from them, further subdivisions of the lowest (< 1.45 g cm^‐3) of the three bulk density classes was undertaken to the wide range of low soil densities in forest soils (giving a total of 5 bulk density classes). In Germany, 31 soil texture classes are used for the estimation of soil physical parameters. Such a detailed classification is not required because of insignificant differences in WRCs for a large number of these classes. Based on cluster analysis of AC, AWC, and PWP parameters, 10 texture collectives were obtained. Using 5 classes of bulk densities, we further calculated the ACs, AWCs, and the PWPs for these 10 classes. Furthermore, “van Genuchten parameters” (θ r, θ s, α, and n) were derived which described the average WRC for each designated class. In a second approach using multiple regression analysis, regression functions for AC, AWC, and PWP and for the van Genuchten parameter were calculated.     

Some Physico-chemical characteristics of soils influenced by Taal Volcano in reference to soil productivity

Soils of the northwestern part of the Taal Volcano in the Philippines representing four geomorphological units (upper, middle, and lower slopes and alluvial plains) were investigated and related to soil productivity. Results revealed that the soils on the upper and middle slopes contained higher amounts of organic matter and available P and displayed a low P retention together with more favorable physical properties such as loamy soil texture, loose and friable and well-drained soils compared to those on the lower slopes and in the alluvial plains. Due to these favorable soil characteristics, sustained agricultural production was higher at the upper elevations than at the lower elevations. Year-round multistorey / mixed cropping systems of cultivation in the upper and middle landscapes were also made possible because the higher precipitation was evenly distributed coupled with cooler temperatures compared the conditions on the lower slopes and in the alluvial plains. On the other hand, the soils on the lower slopes and in the alluvial plains had a clayey texture and contained a lower amount of organic matter and available P, in addition to the lower precipitation, resulting in reduced land utilization, as indicated by the limited types of crops grown and lower yield of crops.     

Estimation of soil texture from permanent wilting point measured with a chilled‐mirror dewpoint technique

Soil texture is an important factor governing a range of physical properties and processes in soil. The clay and fine fractions of soil are particularly important in controlling soil water retention, hydraulic properties, water flow and transport. Modern soil texture analysis techniques (x‐ray attenuation, laser diffraction and particle counting) are very laborious with expensive instrumentation. Chilled‐mirror dewpoint potentiameters allows for the rapid measurement of the permanent wilting point (PWP) of soil. As the PWP is strongly dictated by soil texture, we tested the applicability of PWP measured by a dewpoint potentiameter in predicting the clay, silt and sand content of humid tropical soils. The clay, silt, and sand content, organic matter and PWP were determined for 21 soils. Three regression models were developed to estimate the fine fractions and validated using independent soil data. While the first model showed reasonable accuracy (RMSE 16.4%; MAE 13.5%) in estimating the clay, incorporating the organic matter into the equation improved the predictions of the second model (RMSE 17.3%; MAE 10.9%). When used on all soil data, the accuracy of the third model in predicting the fine fraction was poor (RMSE 31.9%; MAE 24.5%). However, for soils with silt content greater than 30%, the model prediction was quite accurate (RMSE 7–12%; MAE 7–9%). The models were used to estimate the sand content and soil textures of soils, which proved relatively accurate. The dewpoint potentiometer can serve a dual purpose of rapidly estimating the PWP and the clay, fine fraction, and soil texture of soils in a cost efficient way.     

Evaluation of soil health in organic vs. conventional farming of basmati rice in North India

Conventional agricultural practices that use excessive chemical fertilizers and pesticides come at a great price with respect to soil health, a key component to achieve agricultural sustainability. Organic farming could serve as an alternative agricultural system and solve the problems associated with the usage of agro‐chemicals by sustainable use of soil resources. A study was carried out to evaluate the impact of organic vs . conventional cultivations of basmati rice on soil health during Kharif (rainy) season of 2011 at Kaithal district of Haryana, India, under farmers' participatory mode. Long‐term application of organic residues in certified organic farms was found to improve physical, chemical, and biological indicators of soil health. Greater organic matter buildup as indicated by higher soil organic carbon content in organic fields was critical to increase soil aggregate stability by increasing water holding capacity and reducing bulk density. Proper supplementation of nutrients (both major and micro nutrients) through organic residue addition favored biologically available nutrients in organic systems. Further, the prevalence of organic substrates stimulated soil microorganisms to produce enzymes responsible for the conversion of unavailable nutrients to plant available forms. Most importantly, a closer look at the relationship between physicochemical and biological indicators of soil health evidenced the significance of organic matter to enzyme activities suggesting enhanced nutrient cycling in systems receiving organic amendments. Enzyme activities were very sensitive to short‐term (one growing season) effects of organic vs . conventional nutrient management. Soil chemical indicators (organic matter and nutrient contents) were also changed in the short‐term, but the response was secondary to the biochemical indicators. Taken together, this study indicates that organic farming practices foster biotic and abiotic interactions in the soil which may facilitate in moving towards a sustainable food future.     

生物炭对东北黑土持水特性的影响

为探究生物炭对东北黑土持水特性的影响,系统研究3种添加比例(2%、5%、10%)、3种粒径(0.25、0.5、1 mm)的杨木炭和竹炭对3种质地东北黑土(壤土、砂壤土、砂土)田间持水量和含水率的影响规律,构建添加生物炭黑土的水分特征曲线,并采用Van-Genuchten和Broods-Corey模型进行拟合。结果表明:生物炭能显著提高不同质地东北黑土的持水能力,黑土的田间持水量与生物炭的添加比例呈显著正相关,而与生物炭的粒径呈负相关,0.5 mm和1 mm粒径的生物炭对黑土田间持水量的影响差异不显著,杨木炭显著优于竹炭,0.25 mm、10%添加比例的杨木炭对东北黑土持水能力的提高效果最优,壤土、砂壤土、砂土3种质地黑土的田间持水量和饱和含水率分别可提高64.97%、66.42%、69.39%和47.60%、38.93%、31.18%;Van-Genuchten模型能更精确的模拟添加生物炭黑土的水分特征曲线,最佳离心时间为100 min,三次函数曲线能够较好的拟合添加生物炭黑土的体积含水率与离心吸力之间的多元动态关系,为生物炭对各种质地东北黑土水分运动规律的深入研究提供理论依据。     

Contact angle of soils as affected by depth, texture, and land management

Water repellency can be a significant factor in soil physical behaviour, but little is known about the depth dependence of the contact angle of field soils. We investigated contact angles and wetting properties as a function of depth for a wide range of agricultural and forest soils in Germany. The agricultural soils ranged from silty to sandy texture (six profiles), and the forest soils ranged from sandy to loamy texture (eight profiles). Contact angles (CA) were measured with the Wilhelmy plate method (WPM). In most of the soils, advancing WPM contact angles were considerably greater than 0° and they varied irregularly with depth. In general, sandy soils had larger WPM contact angles than silty soils. From the relation of the contact angle with texture and pH the quality of soil organic matter (SOM) was considered as more important for the wetting properties than the total amount of soil organic carbon (SOC). Finally, it was found that for soils with intermediate sand contents either under agricultural or forest use, the kind of land use seemed not to influence CA. Coarse‐textured sandy soils that were used only as forest sites were more hydrophobic than silty soils which were exclusively used as agricultural soils. We conclude that a coarse texture favours, in combination with other factors (mainly pH), hydrophobic SOM.     

Soil organic matter, effects on soils and crops

Abstract. Manurial treatments and cropping history have remained unchanged for many years in classical and long-term experiments at Rothamsted and Woburn, in some cases for more than 100 years. Soil samples taken periodically have been analysed to follow changes in organic carbon content with time and treatment. Data presented here clearly show effects of carbon input and soil texture on equilibrium organic matter content.
Until recently increasing amounts of soil organic matter had little effect on yields of arable crops especially if fertilizer nitrogen dressings were chosen correctly. However the yield potential of many crops has increased and various agronomic inputs have become available to achieve that potential. Yields of many crops are now larger on soils with extra organic matter both on the sandy loam at Woburn and the silty clay loam at Rothamsted. Some of the effect appears to be related to extra water holding capacity, some to availability of nitrogen in ways which cannot be mimicked by dressings of fertilizer N, and some to improved soil physical properties. Responses to fertilizer N have been larger on soils with more organic matter.     

动物粪液中可溶性磷在土壤中的吸附和迁移特性研究

农田土壤施用动物粪肥引入了大量的可溶性有机物、有机磷和无机磷,了解这些可溶性物质在土壤中的相对移动性及它们之间的相互作用有助于指导农田养分管理。本研究从粪液中分离获得含水溶性无机磷、有机磷和有机物（碳）的溶液,选择了具不同质地和有机质含量的4个土壤（含高量有机质的黄筋泥、含低量有机质的黄筋泥、淡涂泥和清水沙）,应用等温吸附和土柱模拟淋洗方法研究了可溶性有机碳、无机磷和有机磷共存条件下,粪液中可溶性有机态磷和无机态磷在土壤中的吸附和迁移特性。吸附试验表明,可溶性有机物（碳）的存在大大降低了土壤对有机态磷和无机态磷的吸附,表明施用液态有机肥比施用化肥具有更大的磷流失风险。供试土壤对无机态磷的吸附强度高于有机态磷,但对二者的吸附量大小为:黄筋泥>淡涂泥>清水沙;并与粘粒含量、氧化铁含量呈正相关。有机质较高的土壤对有机磷的吸附明显低于有机质低的土壤。淋洗试验表明,在供试土壤中,这3种可溶性物质在土壤中吸持(包括生物吸持)的顺序为:可溶性无机磷>可溶性有机碳>可溶性有机磷;有机态磷比无机态磷更易在土壤中迁移。     

浅表地块着色处理作为可视化诊断标准在农业管理中的应用

Soil management matters in semiarid lands are key to have acceptable yields and to preserve diversity. After the major agricultural intensification underwent in the semiarid lands of Monegros, NE Spain, custom tailored tools are needed to reconcile agriculture with habitats conservation. The objectives of this study were to quantify the effect of soil properties of two distinctly colored soils, white patches （WP） and dark patches （DP）, dominant in the arid landscape of the central Ebro Basin, Spain on winter cereal grain yield and to prove that superficial soil color could be used as a visual diagnostic criterion for evaluation of agricultural practices in arid lands. Significant differences between WP and DP soils were found in gypsum, carbonate contents, available water holding capacity and infiltration rate. The grain yield ranged from 51 to 5 713 kg ha-1. Significantly lower yields （P 〈 0.01） and precipitation-use efficiency （P 〈 0.05） were attained in the WP soils for the three seasons studied. This difference increased with the average rainfall due to the significantly lower soil water infiltration （P 〈 0.01） and water holding capacity （P 〈 0.05） found in the gypseous soils. Our results show that mapping the soil surface color at farm scale can be a low=cost tool for optimizing agricultural practices and recovering the natural vegetation. This approach can be advantageous in similar arid or semiarid environments around the world.     

容重对土壤水分蓄持能力影响模拟试验研究

通过人工改变土壤颗粒级配,并设置不同容重水平,测定土壤水分特征参数,研究了容重对土壤水分蓄持能力的定量影响。结果表明:(1)容重对土壤水分特征曲线、比水容量有较大影响,试验土壤各吸力段水分蓄持能力均随容重增大递减,比水容量也随容重增大递减。(2)容重对试验土壤饱和含水量、田间持水量、凋萎系数有较大影响,此3个水分参数均随容重增大递减。饱和含水量与容重呈幂函数负相关关系,田间持水量及凋萎系数均与容重呈指数负相关关系。(3)容重对试验土壤有效水、易效水、迟效水含量有较大影响,此3水分参数均随容重增大递减,分别与容重呈指数、幂函数、对数负相关关系。     

Arsenic Contamination in Rice, Wheat, Pulses, and Vegetables: A Study in an Arsenic Affected Area of West Bengal, India

Water retention and transport in soils is dependent upon the surface tension of the aqueous phase. Surfactants present in aqueous solution reduce the surface tension of aqueous phase. In soil–water systems, this can result in water drainage and reductions in field capacity and hydraulic conductivity. In this investigation, the surface tension of surfactant solutions mixed with soil—in a constant fixed ratio—was measured as a function of surfactant concentration. Two anionic surfactants were used: sodium dodecyl sulphate and sodium bis (2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate. Two soils were also used—a clay soil and a sandy soil. The key observation made by this investigation was that the addition of soil to the surfactant solution provided a further component of surface tension reduction. Neither soil sample reduced the surface tension of water when surfactant was absent from the aqueous phase, though both soils released soil organic matter at low surfactant concentrations as shown by measurement of the chemical oxygen demand of the supernatant solutions. Furthermore, both surfactants were shown to be weakly adsorbed by soil as shown by the use of a methylene blue assay. It is therefore proposed that the additional reduction in surface tension arises from synergistic interactions between the surfactants and dissolved soil organic matter.