scholarly journals The effect of compost application on physical properties of sandy soil

2013 ◽  
pp. 67-70
Author(s):  
Tibor Aranyos ◽  
Lajos Blaskó ◽  
Attila Tomócsik ◽  
Marianna Makádi

The sewage sludge compost is suitable to improve the colloid-poor sandy soils, which are common characteristics of poor water- and nutrientholding capacity. The general characteristics of sandy soils are the light mechanical composition, the low content of humus and mineral colloids, large pore size and a bad aggregate stability. They have a poor nutrient supply capacity, due to its high porosity the organic matter is degraded very quickly to mineral colloids (Stefanovits et al., 1999). By the compost application the soil is enriched mineral and organic colloids, thereby improving the soil structure. The effect of addition of compost to soil the water- and nutrient-holding capacity and porosity could be increased and the bulk density could be decreased (Martens and Frankenberger, 1992). The aim of our experiment is to carry out physical measurements to determine the effects of compost treatment. In this study the results of the first year are presented.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Li ◽  
Ningning Yin ◽  
Ruiwei Xu ◽  
Liping Wang ◽  
Zhen Zhang ◽  
...  

AbstractWe constructed a mining soil restoration system combining plant, complex substrate and microbe. Sludge was added to reconstructed mine substrates (RMS) to accelerate the reclamation process. The effect of sludge on plant growth, microbial activity, soil aggregate stability, and aggregation-associated soil characteristics was monitored during 10 years of reclamation. Results show that the height and total biomass of ryegrass increases with reclamation time. Sludge amendment increases the aggregate binding agent content and soil aggregate stability. Soil organic carbon (SOC) and light-fraction SOC (LFOC) in the RMS increase by 151% and 247% compared with those of the control, respectively. A similar trend was observed for the glomalin-related soil protein (GRSP). Stable soil aggregate indexes increase until the seventh year. In short, the variables of RMS determined after 3–7 years insignificantly differ from those of the untreated sample in the tenth-year. Furthermore, significant positive correlations between the GRSP and SOC and GRSP and soil structure-related variables were observed in RMS. Biological stimulation of the SOC and GRSP accelerates the recovery of the soil structure and ecosystem function. Consequently, the plant–complex substrate–microbe ecological restoration system can be used as an effective tool in early mining soil reclamation.


Author(s):  
Christian Knoblauch ◽  
S.H. Renuka Priyadarshani ◽  
Stephan M. Haefele ◽  
Nicola Schröder ◽  
Eva‐Maria Pfeiffer

Soil Research ◽  
1991 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 777 ◽  
Author(s):  
AJ Ringrose-Voase

Micromorphological observation can provide insights into soil structure and aid interpretation of soil behaviour. Undisturbed samples are taken in the field and impregnated. They are used to prepare thin sections or images of the macropore structure using fluorescent photography. Sections can also be obtained at macro, meso and submicroscopic scales. The various elements of soil structure observed micromorphologically can be classified into pore space, physical, distribution and orientation fabrics, and associated structures. Examples of the importance of features in each category are given. Image analysis, especially when computerized, provides a way of parameterizing micromorphological observations. To date it has been used primarily on images of macropore space at the meso and microscopic scales. Such images can be digitized and segmented to show pore space and solid. The pore space can be allocated to pore types. This aids the estimation of 3-D parameters from I-D and 2-D measurements made on the image using stereology. Various ways of using structural parameters to compare structures are discussed. Applications for micromorphological observations, especially when quantitative, include comparison of structures formed by different management techniques. Structural measurements can aid interpretation of soil behaviour as described by physical measurements. They also have a role in estimating the representative elementary volume, on which physical measurements should be made, and in calibrating field estimates of soil structure.


2016 ◽  
Vol 837 ◽  
pp. 140-145
Author(s):  
Ivan Slavik

Geomaterials with typical low unit weight and high porosity are significantly prone to liquefaction as a result of dynamic – seismic load. Investigation of geomaterials that are prone to liquefaction due to seismic load can use certain SPT and CPT penetration tests. The method of investigating liquefaction caused by seismic activity was developed based on numerous penetration tests of sandy or silty–sandy soils and was elaborated in detail at the Workshop on Evaluation of Liquefaction Resistance of Soil, NCEER, Salk Lake City, USA, 1996. In the present paper, the results of penetration CPT test conducted at the ash impoundment in Zemianske Kostoľany are analyzed using methodology NCEER.


Soil Research ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 847 ◽  
Author(s):  
CDA Mclay ◽  
GSP Ritchie ◽  
WM Porter ◽  
A Cruse

Two field trials were sampled to investigate the changes to soil solution chemical properties of a yellow sandplain soil with an acidic subsoil following the application of gypsum and lime to the soil surface in 1989. The soils were sandy textured and located in a region of low annual rainfall (300-350 mm). Soil was sampled annually to a depth of 1 m and changes in soil solution composition were estimated by extraction of the soil with 0.005 M KCl. Gypsum leaching caused calcium (Ca), sulfate (SO4) and the ionic strength to increase substantially in both topsoil and subsoil by the end of the first year. Continued leaching in the second year caused these properties to decrease by approximately one-half in the topsoil. Gypsum appeared to have minimal effect on pH or total Al (Al-T), although the amount of Al present as toxic monomeric Al decreased and the amount present as non-toxic AlSO+4 ion pairs increased. Magnesium (Mg) was displaced from the topsoil by gypsum and leached to a lower depth in the subsoil. In contrast, lime caused pH to increase and Al to decrease substantially in the topsoil, but relatively little change to any soil solution properties was observed in the subsoil. There was an indication that more lime may have leached in the presence of gypsum in the first year after application at one site. Wheat yields were best related to the soil acidity index Al-T/EC (where EC is electrical conductivity of a 1:5 soil:water extract), although the depth at which the relationship was strongest in the subsoil varied between sites. The ratio Al-T/EC was strongly correlated with the activity of monomeric Al species (i.e. the sum of the activities of Al3+, AlOH2+ and Al(OH)+2 in the soil solution. An increase in the concentration of sulfate in the subsoil solution (which increased the ionic strength, thereby decreasing the activity of Al3+, and also increased the amount of Al present as the AlSO+4 ion pair) was probably the most important factor decreasing Al toxicity to wheat. The results indicated that gypsum could be used to increase wheat growth in aluminium toxic subsoils in sandy soils of low rainfall regions and that a simple soil test could be used to predict responses.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwame Agyei Frimpong ◽  
Emmanuel Abban-Baidoo ◽  
Bernd Marschner

AbstractSoil fertility decline represents a major constraint to crop productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. Many studies have shown that addition of biochar or compost can effectively improve soil quality. Biochar produced from crop residues are often N-poor but rich in stable C while poultry manure composts, which is often rich in nutrients including N decomposes rapidly under high rainfall and temperature conditions. Combined biochar and compost application can compensate for the shortcomings of each other such that their interactive effect is likely to improve soil quality. A 30-days incubation experiment was carried out on a Haplic acrisol amended with corn cob biochar, rice husk biochar, coconut husk biochar, poultry manure compost and composted rice husk or corn cob biochar to examine the effect of compost and biochar, applied singly, in combination or as co-compost on basal soil respiration, and soil quality indicators such as soil pH; soil microbial carbon; cation exchange capacity; total organic carbon, total nitrogen and available nitrogen concentration. The results showed that addition of the different amendments increased soil pH compared with the untreated control with the combined corn cob and rice biochar and compost treatments recording the highest pH values. Basal respiration following sole compost, composted biochar and combined biochar and compost application were significantly greater than the sole biochar and the control treatments. TOC increased by 37% in the sole compost treatment to 117.3% in the combined corn cob biochar and compost treatment, respectively. MBC increased by 132.2% in the combined rice husk biochar and compost treatment and by 247% in the sole compost treatment compared to the control. The study has demonstrated the potential of compost, biochar and especially composted biochar to enhance soil quality, C stabilization and reduce soil C loss through basal respiration.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 939
Author(s):  
Qiang Chen ◽  
Xingyi Zhang ◽  
Li Sun ◽  
Jianhua Ren ◽  
Yaru Yuan ◽  
...  

Tillage practices are critical for sustaining soil quality necessary for successful crop growth and productivity, but there are only few studies for strip tillage (ST) in the Mollisols region of Northeast China at present. A long-term (≥10-year) study was carried out to investigate the influence of within the tilled row (IR) and between rows (BR) in ST (10-year), conventional tillage (CT, 14-year) and no tillage (NT, 14-year) treatments on soil physicochemical properties. Soil samples were taken in May of 2019 at 0–5, 5–10, 10–20 and 20–30 cm depths and used to analyze bulk density (BD), soil aggregate distribution and stability, and soil organic carbon (SOC). Meanwhile, our study also explored the differences in seed emergence, soil moisture, and temperature during the seed emergence period, and yield of maize (Zea mays L.) among the different treatments. Similar soil properties were observed between ST-BR and NT, which showed they had a significantly greater BD, >0.25 mm water stable aggregate content (WR0.25) (especially in the amount of >2 mm and 1–2 mm size proportion), aggregate stability, and SOC than ST-IR and CT-IR at a depth of 0–20 cm. By improving soil conditions of seedbed, ST-IR and CT-IR increased soil temperature above NT by 1.64 °C and 1.80 °C, respectively, and ST-IR had a slight greater soil moisture than CT-IR in the top 10 cm layer during the seed emergence period. Late maize seed emergence was observed NT in than ST-IR and CT-IR and the average annual yields in ST were slightly greater than NT and CT, but the differences were not significant. Our results also showed that CT-BR had a poor soil structure and lower SOC than other treatments at 0–30 cm depth. We conclude from these long-term experimental results that ST could improve soil water-heat conditions to promote seed germination, maintain soil structure, and increase the maize yield and it should be applied in the Mollisols region of Northeast China.


1960 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 165-178
Author(s):  
H.N. Hasselo

The growth response to (NH4)2SO4, phosphate rock and KC1, given in all combinations at increasing annual rates of up to 24 oz/tree until the seventh year after planting, was measured by the girth increase of Hevea in three soils formed from the same parent material but possessing different nutrient status and depths to the root-impeding layers. Despite poor nutrient supply in the soil, lack of rooting depth had a greater effect on growth than had nutrient availability; while abundant nutrient supply reduced the unproductive period by half a year, this reduction was at least one year in shallow soils. Annual fluctuations in yield were reduced by balanced application of small amounts of fertilizers. Fertilized trees, opened up at 18-inch girth, yielded 430 lb/acre in the first year whether given balanced fertilizer or not; in the second year, trees given balanced fertilizer yielded 700 lb as compared with 580 lb without fertilizer. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)


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