Characteristics of soil and productivity of Pinus radiata (D Don) in New South Wales .I. Relative importance of soil physical and chemical parameters

Soil Research ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 95 ◽  
Author(s):  
ND Turvey ◽  
AB Rudra ◽  
J Turner

The objectives of the study were to determine whether selected soil physical and chemical parameters could be used as predictors of site and the productivity of Pinus radiata (D. Don). The study was carried out in the Lithgow district of New South Wales. Sixty plots were located in first-rotation unthinned stands of P. radiata of age 11 years. None of the stands had received fertilizer. The stands were selected to cover a wide range of merchantable volume production (0-175 m3 ha-1), and were located on a range of geological types including siltstone, medium-grained quartz sandstone, conglomerate, and rhyolitic tuff and lava. Soil depth was positively correlated, and per cent sand negatively correlated with all stand production variables. No other soil physical-or chemical variables were correlated consistently with stand variables. Discriminant analysis was used to test for the ability of a selected subset of soil physical and chemical variables to discriminate (a) between three volume production classes, and (b) between three geological groups. Soil depth, per cent sand, and total nitrogen contributed to two functions which discriminated between volume production groups. Cation exchange capacity, Bray phosphorus, per cent sand, exchangeable sodium, and total nitrogen contributed to two functions which discriminated between geological groups. Thus soil physical parameters were predominant in discriminating between volume production groups, and soil chemical parameters were predominant in discriminating between geological groups.

Soil Research ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 103 ◽  
Author(s):  
PJ Ryan

Soil profile descriptions were made at a series of 11-year-old unfertilized Pinus radiata stands in the Lithgow district of New South Wales. Catenas within three soil parent materials were selected to compare variation in soil physical and morphological properties with growth of P. radiata. These parent materials were a Silurian siltstone, a Permian conglomerate and a Silurian-Devonian rhyolite. Basal area growth of the P. radiata stands increased down catenas on the Silurian siltstone as soil depth to a root impeding layer increased. Plateau soils on the Permian conglomerate had hardsetting surfaces and high gravel contents, and were associated with very poor pine growth. By way of contrast, lower slope, colluvial gradational earths were deep, fine-textured soils and supported more productive pine stands. The Silurian-Devonian rhyolite parent material produced highly leached soils, commonly with conspicuously bleached A2 horizons and poor sandy textures of surface soil. Both physical and chemical features of the rhyolite interacted with pedological processes to affect adversely soil physical conditions and trace element availability, in particular boron. The poorer P. radiata growth on lower or concave slope in comparison with upper slope position was a result of increased soil leaching and horizon differentiation. This pattern contrasted with improved pine growth on the deeper soils on lower slopes on the two sedimentary parent materials. These case studies emphasize the importance of geology and pedological processes when evaluating the applicability of specific soil physical factors to site classification for P. radiata plantations.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Quan Hua ◽  
Mike Barbetti ◽  
Ugo Zoppi ◽  
David M Chapman ◽  
Bruce Thomson

We have analyzed by radiocarbon 27 consecutive single rings, starting from AD 1952, of a preliminarily cross-dated section (DFR 021) of Pinus radiata, which grew in Armidale, northern New South Wales, Australia. The bomb 14C results suggested the possibility of 2 false rings, and, consequently, 2 misidentified rings in the preliminary count for this section. This possibility was supported by a better ring-width correlation between the revised DFR 021 count and other Pinus radiata chronologies in the study region. This indicated that bomb 14C is a useful tool to complement the standard techniques of dendrochronology in tree species where annual rings are not always clearly defined.


1977 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 281 ◽  
Author(s):  
PV Driscoll

Bird counts were taken in Feb., March and July 1975 in 4 native habitats, ranging from wet sclerophyll Eucalyptus forest to mallee (E. stricta)-heath on the Boyd Plateau, and two Pinus radiata habitats (20 yr and 40 yr) in the Jenolan State Forest, New South Wales, Australia. In each season the number of birds and the number of species was highest in the native forest habitats, lower in the pine habitats and least in the mallee-heath. The composition of native forest, pine forest, and mallee-heath bird communities shows considerable differences.


2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (4) ◽  
pp. 553 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Boschma ◽  
G. M. Lodge ◽  
S. Harden

Two adjacent sites (a naturalised pasture and a previously cropped area) with differing potentials for salinity/sodicity and waterlogging near Tamworth, New South Wales were sown with temperate perennial grasses and legumes, temperate annual legumes and tropical perennial grasses to assess their herbage mass and persistence from 2003 to 2006. Plots were either grazed or mown seasonally. Days to flower in the establishment year and seedling regeneration were assessed each year for the annual legumes. In May 2003, salinity levels at soil depths >0.6 m were as high as 8 and 12 dS/m at the naturalised pasture and previously cropped sites, respectively, but generally were >5 and >3 dS/m at a soil depth of 0–0.10 m for these sites in 2004–05. With below average rainfall, no waterlogging was observed at the previously cropped site and only short-term waterlogging of a few days duration occurred at the naturalised pasture site. Under these conditions Puccinellia ciliata cv. Menemen did not establish or perform well, but Thinopyrum ponticum (cvv. Dundas and Tyrrell) was productive and persistent compared with Phalaris aquatica. At both sites, Digitaria eriantha cv. Premier and Chloris gayana cv. Katambora were the best tropical grasses, while the performance of Bothriochloa bladhii subsp. glabra cv. Swann was good at the previously cropped site and Panicum coloratum subsp. makarikariense cv. Bambatsi was best at the naturalised pasture site. At both sites, Medicago sativa had the highest herbage mass and persistence, with cv. Aquarius being superior to cv. Salado after 3 years. Compared with M. sativa, the herbage mass and persistence of Trifolium fragiferum was low. Of the annual legumes, M. polymorpha cv. Scimitar and Melilotus sulcatus had the highest herbage mass.


Soil Research ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 42 (7) ◽  
pp. 747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sevag Bedrossian ◽  
Balwant Singh

The occurrence of premature senescence (PS) in cotton in Australia has been related to decreased potassium (K) concentration in the affected plants. Soil samples (0–120 cm) were taken from paired cotton fields, i.e. PS fields and similar soils not affected by PS (Non-PS fields), in northern New South Wales. The samples were analysed for different forms of K in soil, mineralogy of various size fractions, and K adsorption characteristics to evaluate differences in their K availability. Smectite was the dominant clay mineral in the studied soils. The K-bearing mineral illite was present in the clay fraction of all samples and its content was generally higher in soils from the Non-PS sites than the PS sites from Moree, Pilliga, and Warren. Water-soluble K (H2O-K) ranged from 0.03 to 2.64 mg/kg (median 0.35 mg/kg), exchangeable K (Exch-K) from 43 to 687 mg/kg (median 107 mg/kg), non-exchangeable K (Nonexch-K) from 164 to 1981 mg/kg (median 819 mg/kg), and total K (Total-K) from 16 811 to 23 207 mg/kg (median 14 740 mg/kg). The values of various K forms were generally higher in samples from the Non-PS fields than the PS fields from Pilliga and Warren sites and the reverse trend occurred for the samples from Trangie. Similar H2O-K and Exch-K values were found for the PS and Non-PS samples from Moree, whereas Nonexch-K and Total-K contents were higher in the top 60 cm soil depth from the Non-PS field than the PS field. The equilibrium activity ratio (ARKe) values were significantly higher for surface samples from the Non-PS sites than the PS sites from Pilliga and Warren and the reverse was true for the Trangie site. There was a sharp decrease in ARKe with depth for the studied samples. The potential buffering capacity (PBCK) for both surface and subsurface samples from the Non-PS site (mean 31.5 (mmol/kg)/(mol/L)1/2) from Trangie was substantially higher than the corresponding samples from the PS sites (mean 14.7 (mmol/kg)/(mol/L)1/2). There was a significant increase in K adsorption for the subsurface samples than the surface samples for all sites, as indicated by the higher values of Freundlich adsorption coefficient, k. At the Pilliga and Warren sites, the occurrence of premature senescence in cotton plants can be explained on the basis of differences in the levels of different forms of K, mineralogy, and K adsorption characteristics of soils from the PS and Non-PS fields. At the Moree site, higher illite content in the Non-PS than the PS soil may explain the difference in their K availability. For the paired Trangie samples, greater PBCK of the Non-PS soil than the PS soil may be responsible for increased K availability in the Non-PS soil. The occurrence of PS symptoms in cotton at Narrabri site cannot be directly contributed to K supplying parameters analysed in the study. The results also show that Exch-K alone may not be adequate to measure K availability to cotton in these soils.


Soil Research ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 273 ◽  
Author(s):  
K Norrish ◽  
KG Tiller

The subplastic soils studied were two from the Riverina area of New South Wales, two montmorillonite rich clays formed on basalt, from South Australia and Queensland, and a krasnozem from New South Wales. To assess the effectiveness of physical and chemical methods of dispersion, theoretical clay contents were calculated from the ratio of the CEC of the soil to that of separated clay. The composition of the clay from the soils showed little or no change with degree of dispersion. To disperse the soils without chemical pretreatment, a method of disaggregation was devised that involved vigorous shaking of a soil paste. Following this technique the Riverina soils and the krasnozem yielded almost all their clay. Lithium saturation was the only chemical treatment that aided dispersion of the montmorillonite clays, and this, together with the high tetrahedral lattice charge, suggests that aggregate stability is mainly due to a large electrostatic interaction between clay sheets. Any pretreatments involving the use of sodium hydroxide improved clay yields for the Riverina soils. The data indicated that the loss of subplasticity was accompanied by the solution of clay, suggesting that aggregate stability was due to non-ionic bonds between clay particles, possibly as the result of intergrowth of clay mineral crystals. Organic matter and/or free iron oxide was responsible for cementation of the krasnozem.


Soil Research ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 51 (8) ◽  
pp. 668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Wilson ◽  
Vanessa E. Lonergan

We examined soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration (mg g–1) and total organic carbon (TOC) stock (Mg ha–1 to 30 cm soil depth) in three pasture systems in northern New South Wales: improved pasture, native pasture, and lightly wooded pasture, at two sampling times (2009 and 2011). No significant difference was found in SOC or TOC between sample times, suggesting that under the conditions we examined, neither 2 years nor an intervening significant rainfall event was sufficient to change the quantity or our capacity to detect SOC, and neither represented a barrier to soil carbon accounting. Low fertility, lightly wooded pastures had a slightly but significantly lower SOC concentration, particularly in the surface soil layers. However, no significant differences in TOC were detected between the three pasture systems studied, and from a carbon estimation perspective, they represent one, single dataset. A wide range in TOC values existed within the dataset that could not be explained by environmental factors. The TOC was weakly but significantly correlated with soil nitrogen and phosphorus, but a more significant pattern seemed to be the association of high TOC with proportionally larger subsoil (0.1–0.3 m) organic carbon storage. This we attribute to historical, long-term rather than contemporary management. Of the SOC fractions, particulate organic carbon (POC) dominated in the surface layers but diminished with depth, whereas the proportion of humic carbon (HUM) and resistant organic carbon (ROC) increased with soil depth. The POC did not differ between the pasture systems but native pasture had larger quantities of HUM and ROC, particularly in the surface soil layers, suggesting that this pasture system tends to accumulate organic carbon in more resistant forms, presumably because of litter input quality and historical management.


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