Soil aggregate formation and stability induced by starch and cellulose

Soil aggregate (SA) can be formed and stabilized when soil organic matter (SOM) is decomposed in the soil. However, the relationships between the SA dynamics and SOM with different decomposition rates have not been clarified. Therefore, this study examined the effects of the addition of polysaccharides to soil on SA formation and stability. A Japanese tropical soil was incubated for 99 d at 30 °C in a dark environment following the addition of 0.5% (w/w) starch or cellulose. The decomposition rates of the amendments, and SA formation and stability were evaluated by measuring soil respiration rates, and distribution fractions of soil aggregate sizes and mean weight diameter (MWD) of SA, respectively. The cumulative soil respirations with all treatments rapidly increased until Day 12 of the incubation. The initial slope of the cumulative soil respiration in the soil with starch was significantly higher than that in the soil with cellulose. In either soil with starch or cellulose, the fractions of macro-aggregates (>1000 μm in diameter) significantly increased, respectively, compared with control soil. However, the fractions of meso-aggregates (250–1000 μm) and nano-aggregate (<20 μm) in the soil with starch significantly decreased, while those fractions in the soil with cellulose fluctuated until Day 6. The MWDs reached the maximum on Day 6, indicating the SA formation in the soils with starch or cellulose. The increasing rate of the SA formation in the starch-amended soil was greatly higher than that in the cellulose-amended soil. After Day 6, the MWDs in the soils with either polysaccharide decreased with similar trends with no significant differences between treatments, indicating similar stability of the SA in both treatments. This study showed that the different decomposability of the organic amendments might influence the SA formation differently, but not the SA stability.     

Aggregation in a surface layer of a hardsetting and crusting soil as influenced by the application of amendments and grass mulch in a South African semi-arid environment

Hardsetting and crusting are forms of soil structure degradation associated with the collapse of macroaggregates during wetting and are responsible for poor seedling emergence, crop establishment and yields of food crops especially in semi-arid environments. This study investigated the effects of applying of 3.0 t ha⁻¹ phosphogypsum, 1.0 t ha⁻¹ polymer gel, 3.0 t ha⁻¹ grass mulch and 5.0 t ha⁻¹ cattle manure to the topsoil (0–15 cm) of a soil with hardsetting and crusting behavior and observed changes on aggregation under field conditions for two consecutive seasons. There were significant improvements in soil aggregate properties in the amended soil over the control. Both aggregate size distribution and wet aggregate stability showed significant differences between the amendments in the two seasons. The mean weight diameters of aggregates were 4.23 mm (mulch), 3.31 mm (manure), 2.17 mm (polymer gel), 2.23 mm (phosphogypsum) and 1.36 mm (control). The aggregates (2–4 mm) from amended soil were consistently more stable than the control and were in the order polymer gel = manure > mulch > gypsum > control. Tensile strength and bulk density of aggregates, on the other hand, were significantly higher (P < 0.05) in the unamended than amended soil.The application of soil amendments, especially mulch, significantly increased the soil water content over the two seasons and this was associated with lower soil penetration resistance in the latter. The reduced soil strength in the amended soils contributed to higher pegging, podding and grain yields of bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranean). This was confirmed by significantly higher correlations between soil aggregate characteristics, soil water, penetrometer resistance and growth and yield of bambara groundnut. The study concluded that significant improvements in soil aggregation can be obtained over a relatively short period and this can improve the yield of food crops.     

土壤原始颗粒对不同破碎机制下团聚体稳定性的影响

土壤团聚体是土壤结构的基本单元,其稳定性是描述土壤抵抗外力破坏作用的重要指标.目前常用的团聚体测定方法很少考虑到土壤原始颗粒对其不同破碎机制下稳定性的影响.以两种不同质地团聚体特征差异明显的壤质砂土和砂质黏壤土为研究对象,对土壤全样进行快速湿润(FW)、预湿润后震荡(WS)以及慢速湿润(SW)三种处理方式预处理以研究团...     

Effect of raindrop impact and its relationship with aggregate stability to different disaggregation forces

A soil surface exposed to rainfall is subjected to processes of wetting and drop impact which can lead to the formation of a seal during the rainfall, reducing infiltration and increasing erosion by increasing runoff. The objective of this research was to evaluate the relationship between the effect caused by the drop impact and the aggregate stability of the soils when they are subjected to different disaggregation forces. The aggregates were subjected to cracking (by slow wetting), slaking (by fast wetting) and mechanical breakdown (by mechanical stirring after pre-wetting in ethanol). The effect of each process was evaluated by measuring the mean weight diameter (MWDsl, MWDf and MWDst, respectively) calculated as the sum of the mass fraction of soil left in the sieve after fractionation into four size classes, ranging from <0.25 to 2 mm, multiplied by the mean aperture of the sieve meshes and divided by the initial soil weight. The effect of water impact plus wetting was quantified by the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the seal (Ks) and the time necessary to reach this value. A relative sealing index (RSI) that measured the reduction of water intake caused by sealing was defined as the relationship between the minimum value of saturated hydraulic conductivity of the seal and that reached when the drop impact was avoided. The air-dry material rupture was evaluated with a penetrometer. The main soil characteristics that determine all these processes for the study soils were analysed. Most of the studied soils were very sensitive to slaking and mechanical breakdown, while they were stable when they were subjected to slow wetting. A significant relationship was found between the minimum saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and the MWDst (R²=0.40, p<0.005), and between Ks and the MWDf (R²=0.69, p<0.05). In both treatments, slaking and mechanical stirring, the percentage of aggregates retained in the larger sieve mesh was also significantly correlated with Ks. This result could indicate that both processes are implicated in the disaggregation produced by drop impact, which contribute to seal formation process. The less stable soils had the lowest Ks value (<1 mm h⁻¹), which was reached in a short period of time (<10 min). The high silt content and the low organic matter control the loss of aggregation by mechanical breakdown and the formation of the seal. The RSI values indicated a 200-fold reduction in water infiltration for some soils, caused by the formation of a seal.     

雨滴机械打击和消散作用对土壤团聚体的破坏特征

土壤团聚体是土壤结构的基本单元,其稳定性是描述土壤抵抗侵蚀过程中破坏作用的重要指标。但溅蚀过程中,雨滴对团聚体的消散和机械打击两种破坏作用的相对贡献及其破坏机制尚未明晰。利用酒精和超纯水作为雨滴形成材料,模拟机械打击单独作用及消散和机械打击共同作用,分别在五个高度(0.5、1、1.5、2和2.5 m)对塿土和黄绵土进行溅蚀实验。结果表明:当降雨动能相同时,塿土的溅蚀率均小于黄绵土。同时,超纯水雨滴对土壤的机械打击和消散共同作用所导致的溅蚀率均大于酒精雨滴单一机械打击作用的溅蚀率。随着降雨动能增加,两种雨滴对两种土壤的溅蚀率均呈幂函数增加;团聚体因消散破坏作用和机械打击作用的溅蚀率均亦随之增加。但两种土壤的消散破坏作用和机械打击作用的贡献率分别随着降雨动能增加而减小和增加。在相同降雨动能时,塿土消散破坏作用的贡献率均大于黄绵土,而机械打击作用贡献率均小于黄绵土。研究结果对深入理解溅蚀过程中团聚体破坏机理及评价溅蚀过程中团聚体稳定性具有重要意义。     

有机质影响溅蚀破坏土壤团聚体的主要作用机制

土壤有机质是团聚体的重要组成部分,其在团聚体形成过程中作用机制已有大量研究,但有机质在团聚体破坏过程中起何种作用尚未明晰,其对团聚体破坏过程中雨滴机械打击和消散作用贡献的影响也有待深入研究.为研究不同有机质含量对土壤团聚体的影响,选取5种不同退耕还林年限的土壤为研究对象,利用95％酒精和超纯水作为降雨液体,分别在4个高...