Changes in soil pH and exchangeable calcium in two liming experiments on contrasting soils over 12 years

1977 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Bolton

SummarySoils were analysed from two long-term liming experiments on a sandy-clay loam at Rothamsted and a loamy sand at Woburn. Plots given four levels of limestone factorially combined with phosphate and potassium fertilizers (with magnesium subplots in 1974) were cropped with beans, barley, potatoes and oats from 1963 to 1974.The smallest limestone applications (5 t CaCO3/ha) increased soil pH the following year to values predicted by lime-requirement determinations using a standard advisory method. The larger limestone applications (10 and 20 t/ha) increased pH proportionally less. Soil pH decreased after the first year with 5 t/ha in both experiments but increased at the 20 t/ha rate for 6 years in the sandy-clay loam and for 3 years in the loamy sand before starting to decline.Exchangeable calcium (soluble in N ammonium acetate) decreased at approximately linear rates in all plots of both experiments from the first year. Slopes of the regressions were smaller at low than at higher rates of liming, depending primarily on the average pH. Rates of CaCO3 losses from the surface 23 cm of soil ranged from 225 to 823 kg/ha per year at Rothamsted and from 307 to 852 kg/ha per year at Woburn.Observed rates of Ca loss were compared with an empirical relationship suggested by Gasser (1973) between annual Ca losses and soil pH under average rainfall conditions and estimates based on a model system.

Soil Research ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (8) ◽  
pp. 814 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arkadiusz Telesiński ◽  
Teresa Krzyśko-Łupicka ◽  
Krystyna Cybulska ◽  
Barbara Pawłowska ◽  
Robert Biczak ◽  
...  

This study used laboratory experiments to compare the effects of coal tar creosote on the activity of oxidoreductive enzymes in sandy loam, loamy sand and sandy clay loam soils. Different amounts of coal tar creosote were added to soil samples as follows: 0 (control), 2, 10 or 50 g kg–1 dry matter. The activity of soil dehydrogenases (DHAs), o-diphenol oxidase (o-DPO), catalase (CAT), nitrate reductase (NR) and peroxidases (POX) was determined. Contamination of soil with coal tar creosote affected oxidoreductase activity. Oxidoreductive enzyme activity following soil contamination with coal tar creosote was in the following order: DHAs > CAT > NR > POX > o-DPO in loamy sand and in sandy loam; and DHAs > POX > CAT > NR > o-DPO in sandy clay loam. The index of soil oxidoreductive activity (IOx) introduced in this study confirms the negative effect of coal tar creosote on oxidoreductase activity in soil. DHAs were the most sensitive to the contamination of soil with coal tar creosote. Moreover, the greatest changes in oxidoreductase activities were observed in loamy sand. Knowledge of the mechanism underlying the effects of coal tar creosote on oxidoreductive processes may enable development of a method for the bioremediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-contaminated soils.


1989 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
PF White ◽  
AD Robson

Lupins characteristically grow poorly on fine-textured, alkaline or poorly drained soils. Little, however, is understood about which components of these soils affects lupin growth.Lupinus .sangustifolius, L. albus and L. cosentinii were grown at both an acid and an alkaline soil pH on a sandy clay loam and a sand with or without additional NH4NO3. Plant growth was poorest on the fine-textured, alkaline soil where emergence was inhibited and plants were chlorotic. Plant growth was also lower on the acidified fine-textured soil compared to the acid sand. Problems were related to the poor physical structure of the sandy clay loam. Poor growth and chlorosis of plants appeared to be caused by Fe deficiency and was unlikely to be due to Mn, Zn or Cu deficiencies. There was no effect of NH4NO3 on the growth of plants.Poor emergence and Fe deficiency therefore appear to be important factors restricting growth of lupins on the alkaline, sandy clay loam used in this experiment. Nitrogen fixation docs not appear to be a limiting factor.


Weed Science ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 270-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Mueller ◽  
Philip A. Banks ◽  
William C. Steen

Degradation of flurtamone in a Greenville sandy clay loam, a Cecil loam, and a Dothan loamy sand with 0, 1, or 2 yr of previous flurtamone field use was evaluated under controlled conditions. Soil sterilization by autoclaving significantly reduced flurtamone dissipation rate in all soils. Enhanced degradation of flurtamone was observed in a Greenville sandy clay loam after 1 yr of previous flurtamone field use and in a Cecil loam after 2 yr of previous flurtamone field use. No enhancement of flurtamone degradation was observed in a Dothan loamy sand. Flurtamone degradation kinetics in these studies was described as a first-order process. Microbial populations in each soil showed no major changes in total bacterial numbers due to preexposure to flurtamone in the field.


Weed Science ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 275-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas C. Mueller ◽  
Philip A. Banks

Flurtamone and atrazine adsorption to soil was examined using a batch equilibrium method. Flurtamone mobility in packed soil columns under saturated flow conditions was also evaluated. Adsorption was greater for flurtamone than atrazine in the three soils, and the order of adsorption to soil for both herbicides was Greenville sandy clay loam > Cecil loam > Dothan loamy sand. Greater adsorption of each herbicide corresponded to soils with greater organic matter and clay content. The14C–flurtamone movement under saturated flow conditions in 28–cm soil–packed columns was limited to 16 cm, with no flurtamone leaching from any soil column after the addition of two pore volumes of water. Seventy–five percent of the applied14C–flurtamone remained in the 0– to 4–cm soil depth in the Greenville sandy clay loam, with less than 5 percent moving to a depth > 4 cm. Flurtamone movement was greater in the Cecil loam and the Dothan loamy sand, with movement in each soil to a depth of 16 and 12 cm, respectively.


1988 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 628-632 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. L. Tuttle ◽  
M. S. Golden ◽  
R. S. Meldahl

Soil bulk density was related to loblolly pine (Pinustaeda L.) seedling establishment and growth during the first 28 weeks after sowing. Seedling heights were lower when bulk densities exceeded 1.3 Mg m−3 on a sandy clay loam and 1.4 Mg m−3 on a loamy sand. Heights were also lower for bulk densities below 1.2 Mg m−3 on the sandy clay loam soil. Seedling depth of rooting, root weight, and shoot weight were reduced at high bulk densities on both a sandy clay loam and a loamy sand. However, root and shoot weights were also reduced when bulk density fell below 1.3 Mg m−3 on the sandy clay loam. Bulk densities for best seedling growth were 1.3 Mg m−3 for the sandy clay loam and 1.4 Mg m−3 for the loamy sand.


2003 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 273 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. Hamza ◽  
W. K. Anderson

In the low rainfall, cropping area of Western Australia, massive soil structure due to machinery traffic is common on a range of soil types and is a major obstacle to crop yield improvement. Yield increases on compacted soils have been poor in the last decade compared with those on other soils. An experiment was conducted over 4 years (1997–2000) on a loamy sand soil with massive subsoil structure using a factorial combination of soil ripping to 0.4 m (DR), and application of commercial grade gypsum at 2.5 t/ha (G) to address the soil compaction problem. Complete nutrients, based on soil test each year, were applied to all treatments and regarded as the control treatment. All crop residues were retained after harvest and returned to the soil. The experiment was conducted in a wheat–grain legume (chickpea in 1998, field pea in 2000) rotation at Tammin in Western Australia. The purpose of the experiment was to assess possible improvements in soil properties and grain yields that may result from deep soil disturbance and application of an aggregating agent such as gypsum on a loamy sand soil in a low rainfall cropping system. Soil water infiltration rate, soil strength, porosity, water-stable aggregates, exchangeable Ca and Mg, cation exchange capacity, and grain yields were measured. The results of this experiment on a loamy sand soil are compared and contrasted with those from a similar experiment on another common soil type in the low rainfall zone, a sandy clay loam soil (reported earlier by MA Hamza and WK Anderson). Grain yields were increased slightly more on the loamy sand soil at Tammin than on the sandy clay loam soil at Merredin due to deep ripping and gypsum application, even though the corresponding improvements in soil parameters were not as great on the loamy sand soil. The yield increases of wheat and legumes due to gypsum treatment were significantly lower on both soil types than those due to the combination of gypsum and ripping, whereas ripping alone without gypsum produced a yield decrease in the third and subsequent years after treatment. The main treatment effects on yield were additive, as significant interactions between the treatments on yield were seldom found. Deep ripping and gypsum application (DRG) resulted in the greatest improvement in the soil physical properties as indicated by crop growth on both soil types. The DRG treatment increased soil water infiltration rate by about 90% on the loamy sand soil but by more than 130% on the sandy clay loam soil 4 years after the application of the treatments. Strength and porosity of the topsoil were decreased much more on the sandy clay loam soil. Summer rain stored in the soil prior to seeding was increased almost 3 times in both soils. The increase in water-stable aggregates was only 8% in the loamy sand soil but 46% on the sandy clay loam soil. Cation exchange capacity and exchangeable calcium were also increased more on the clayey than on the sandy soil by the use of DRG. Economic analysis of the yield improvements showed that the DRG treatment produced significantly higher profit than the G or DR treatments alone on both soil types, but was slightly greater on the loamy sand soil type. The combination of soil ripping and gypsum application in the presence of complete nutrients and annual return of crop residues to the soil had somewhat different effects on the soil physical properties and grain yields at a loamy sand soil site compared with the sandy clay loam soil site. However, the effect in both cases was favourable and is suggested to improve crop grain yield and soil physical fertility on both commonly occurring soil types in the low rainfall, cropping zone of Western Australia.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maoz Dor ◽  
John Koestel ◽  
Simon Emmanuel ◽  
Yael Mishael

<p>Soil mucilage strongly affects soil structural packing and stability. We characterized the effects of mucilage and the subsequent effect of wetting and drying on the microstructure of three agricultural soils: clayey, sandy-clay-loam, and loamy-sand soils. Soil stability measurement trends, assessed by a laser granulometry based aggregate durability index (ADI), varied between the soils. While aggregates stability of the clayey and loamy-sand soils decreased after subjecting soil samples to wetting and drying, stability increased in the case of the sandy-clay-loam soil. This observation can be explained by the high CaCO<sub>3</sub> content in the loamy-sand soils (19.5%) which contributes to the formation of durable aggregates induced by calcite cementation. ADI values of all soils increased following mucilage amendment (0.035 w/w). Mucilage, consisting mainly of polysaccharides and lipids, may affect soil mechanical properties and structure by binding soil particles due to its adhesive properties, thus reinforcing the internal structure of the aggregates. Stability was further analyzed after subjecting the mucilage amended samples to a wetting and drying cycle, and a diverse trend was measured. While stability increased for the clayey and the loamy-sand soils, it decreased for the sandy-clay-loam soil. Mucilage is known to induce surface hydrophobicity, following its dehydration, which may lead to a decrease in the wettability of soil particles and protect aggregates from deterioration by water. However, in the sandy-clay-loam soil, the cumulative effect CaCO<sub>3</sub> and mucilage which increases entropy overpowers the mucilage stabilizing effect.</p><p>The packing of the microstructure as a function of mucilage amendment and wetting and drying was characterized by quantifying morphological and geometrical changes within the pore-network, extracted by X-ray computed tomography (XCT). Pore volume in all soils decreased upon mucilage amendment, correlating with the observed increase in stability. However, while porosity of the clayey soil increased after wetting and drying, it decreased or remained the same in the Loamy-sand and sandy-clay-loam soil, respectively. To evaluate pore connectivity, we calculated the Euler number (c) in which smaller values (negative) indicate better pore-connectivity. Poor connectivity was assessed in the amended clayey (c=1128) and sandy-clay-loam (c=172085) soils, probably due to soil aggregation which is in correlation with porosity assessment. Following wetting and drying, connectivity improved in the clayey soil <br>(c=-17281), while in the sandy-clay-loam it remained poor (c=143119). As expected, pore connectivity (c<0) of the loamy-sand soil remained in all treatments. These observations are in agreement with the stability results. As stability increased in all soils following mucilage amendment, pore-volume, and connectivity decreased. Wetting and drying of the stabilized clayey soil increased porosity and connectivity. However, the decreased stability of the sandy-clay-loam soil, due to the cumulative effect of CaCO3 and mucilage, was expressed by poor connectivity and porosity. These results demonstrate the effect of mucilage amendment and wetting and drying cycle on soil structure. Finally, applying X-ray tomography and laser granulometry measurements to characterize soil structure as a function of soil amendments may shed light on how soil structure controls the storage and fluxes of water, nutrients, and gases.</p>


Geoderma ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 301 ◽  
pp. 72-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Miguel Reichert ◽  
André Anibal Brandt ◽  
Miriam Fernanda Rodrigues ◽  
Milton da Veiga ◽  
Dalvan José Reinert

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 1038-1041
Author(s):  
C Bharathi ◽  
P Murali Arthanari ◽  
C Chinnusamy

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