2020 U.S. Pacific West Coast wildfire disaster

Humping/hollowing and flipping are land development practices widely used on the West Coast to overcome waterlogging constraints to pasture production. However, there is very limited information about how the resulting "new" soils function and how their properties change over time following these extreme modifications. We hypothesised that soil quality will improve in response to organic matter inputs from plants and excreta, which will in turn increase nutrient availability. We tested this hypothesis by quantifying the soil organic matter and nutrient content of soils at different stages of development after modification. We observed improvements in soil quality with increasing time following soil modification under both land development practices. Total soil C and N values were very low following flipping, but over 8 years these values had increased nearly five-fold. Other indicators of organic matter quality such as hot water extractable C (HWC) and anaerobically mineralisable N (AMN) showed similar increases. With large capital applications of superphosphate fertiliser to flipped soils in the first year and regular applications of maintenance fertiliser, Olsen P levels also increased from values

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THE SOIL PATTERN AND TRENDS IN WEST COAST AGRICULTURE SINCE 1964

Proceedings of the New Zealand Grassland Association ◽

10.33584/jnzg.1981.42.1577 ◽

1981 ◽

pp. 19-28 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

D.B. Wright

Keyword(s):

West Coast ◽

Land Development ◽

Dairy Production ◽

Waste Land ◽

Development Costs ◽

Coastal Soils ◽

Physical Features ◽

Soil Pattern ◽

Great Scope

The physical features, climate and soils of the West Coast are described. Expansion since 1964 of dairy production, sheep and beef cattle numbers, and areas of improved grassland are highlighted, as is the role of the Crown in land development and settlement. While isolation and distance, development costs, river problems, and farmer attitude and knowledge are considered limitations, great scope exists for increased production by the adoption, of more intensive techniques, including horticulture on the best coastal soils, and by development of waste land.

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