Impact of land-use on soil structure and soil ecological properties in a long-term field experiment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Schlüter ◽  
Tim Roussety ◽  
Lena Rohe ◽  
Vusal Guliyev ◽  
Evgenia Blagodatskaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Field Experiment ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Microbial Activity ◽  
Structural Properties ◽  
Soil Structure ◽  
Basal Respiration ◽  
Soil Functions ◽  
Substrate Induced Respiration ◽  
The Impact

<p>Land use is known to exert a dominant impact on a range of essential soil functions like water retention, carbon sequestration, matter cycling and plant growth. In addition, land use management is known to have a strong influence on soil structure, e.g. through tillage and compaction. While the difference in topsoil structure between grassland and agricultural soil is huge, differences among different farming or grassland management practices can be more subtle. At the same time, soil structure is known to be a suitable indicator for many soil functions. That is, differences in carbon content or plant-available field capacity between different land uses can often be explained by different structural properties.</p><p>This impact of land use on the relationship between soil structure and biological indicators for soil processes was explored in the Global Change Exploratory Facility, a well-established (>5 years) field experiment in Bad Lauchstädt, Germany, comprising five land use types (conventional farming, organic farming, intensive meadow, extensive meadow, extensive pasture). 15 intact topsoil cores were sampled from each land use type in spring 2020 and soil structure and microbial activity were measured using X-ray CT and respirometry, respectively. Microbial activity was estimated by basal respiration at field moisture and by substrate-induced respiration with glucose solution under wet conditions. The aims of this study were to (1) quantify the impact of land use on these structural and biological soil properties and (2) to assess in how far microbial activity can be predicted by the structural properties.</p><p>Surprisingly, image-derived macroporosity did not differ between farming and grassland plots mainly due to the huge variability among compacted and non-compacted samples in the farming plots. Other pore metrics like pore distance and pore connectivity followed the same trend, whereas mean pore size was larger in the grassland plots due to more large biopores. Basal respiration increased in the order farming < meadow < pasture, whereas the order was reversed for substrate-induced respiration. The predictability of basal respiration (R<sup>2</sup>=0.29) and substrate-induced respiration (R<sup>2</sup>=0.5) with explanatory variables based on pore metrics and bulk soil properties was rather low, with root mass and bulk density being the best predictors.</p>

scholarly journals Land use impact on carbon mineralization is mainly caused by variation of particulate organic matter content rather than of soil structure

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steffen Schlüter ◽  
Tim Roussety ◽  
Lena Rohe ◽  
Vusal Guliyev ◽  
Evgenia Blagodatskaya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Particulate Organic Matter ◽  
Soil Structure ◽  
Predictive Power ◽  
Carbon Mineralization ◽  
Basal Respiration ◽  
Microstructural Properties ◽  
Soil Functions ◽  
Microbial Hotspots

Abstract. Land use is known to exert a dominant impact on a range of essential soil functions like water retention, carbon sequestration, matter cycling and plant growth. At the same time, land use management is known to have a strong influence on soil structure, e.g. through bioturbation, tillage and compaction. However, it is often unclear whether differences in soil structure are the actual cause for differences in soil functions or just co-occurring. This impact of land use (conventional and organic farming, intensive and extensive meadow, extensive pasture) on the relationship between soil structure and short-term carbon mineralization was investigated at the Global Change Exploratory Facility, in Bad Lauchstädt, Germany. Intact topsoil cores (n = 75) were sampled from each land use type at the early growing season. Soil structure and microbial activity were measured using X-ray computed tomography and respirometry, respectively. Grasslands had a greater microbial activity than croplands, both in terms of basal respiration and rate of carbon mineralization during growth. This was caused by a larger amount of particulate organic matter (POM) in the topsoil of grasslands. The frequently postulated dependency of basal respiration on soil moisture was absent even though some cores were apparently water limited. This finding was related to microenvironments shaping microbial hotspots where the decomposition of plant residues was obviously decoupled from water limitation in bulk soil. Differences in microstructural properties between land uses were surprisingly small, mainly due huge variability induced by patterns of compacted clods and loose areas caused by tillage in cropland soils. The most striking difference was larger macropore diameters in grasslands soil due to the presence of large biopores that are periodically destroyed in croplands. Variability of basal respiration among all soil cores amounted to more than one order of magnitude (0.08–1.42 µg CO2-C h−1 g−1 soil) and was best described by POM mass (R2 = 0.53, p < 0.001). Predictive power was hardly improved by considering all bulk, microstructure and microbial properties jointly. The predictive power of image-derived microstructural properties was low, because aeration was not limiting carbon mineralization and was sustained by pores smaller than the image resolution limit (< 30 µm). The rate of glucose mineralization during growth was explained well by substrate-induced respiration (R2 = 0.84) prior to growth, which was in turn correlated with total microbial biomass, basal respiration and POM mass and again not affected by pore metrics. These findings stress that soil structure had little relevance in predicting carbon mineralization in well-aerated soil, as this predominantly took place in microbial hotspots around degrading POM that was detached from the pore structure and moisture of the bulk soil. Land use therefore affects carbon mineralization in well-aerated soil mainly by the amount and quality of labile carbon.

Vegetation Effects on Soil Properties in the Monteagle Sandy Loam Series: Implications for Land‐use Change

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison Neil
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Deciduous Forest ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
The Impact

Soil properties are strongly influenced by the composition of the surrounding vegetation. We investigated soil properties of three ecosystems; a coniferous forest, a deciduous forest and an agricultural grassland, to determine the impact of land use change on soil properties. Disturbances such as deforestation followed by cultivation can severely alter soil properties, including losses of soil carbon. We collected nine 40 cm cores from three ecosystem types on the Roebuck Farm, north of Perth Village, Ontario, Canada. Dominant species in each ecosystem included hemlock and white pine in the coniferous forest; sugar maple, birch and beech in the deciduous forest; grasses, legumes and herbs in the grassland. Soil pH varied little between the three ecosystems and over depth. Soils under grassland vegetation had the highest bulk density, especially near the surface. The forest sites showed higher cation exchange capacity and soil moisture than the grassland; these differences largely resulted from higher organic matter levels in the surface forest soils. Vertical distribution of organic matter varied greatly amongst the three ecosystems. In the forest, more of the organic matter was located near the surface, while in the grassland organic matter concentrations varied little with depth. The results suggest that changes in land cover and land use alters litter inputs and nutrient cycling rates, modifying soil physical and chemical properties. Our results further suggest that conversion of forest into agricultural land in this area can lead to a decline in soil carbon storage.

Biological processes in modelling soil functions – a balancing act between too complex and too simple

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara König ◽  
Ulrich Weller ◽  
Thomas Reitz ◽  
Bibiana Betancur-Corredor ◽  
Birgit Lang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Cycling ◽  
Microbial Activity ◽  
Community Dynamics ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Microbial Processes ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Soil Functions ◽  
Management Options ◽  
The Impact

&lt;p&gt;Mechanistic simulation models are an essential tool for predicting soil functions such as nutrient cycling, water filtering and storage, productivity and carbon storage as well as the complex interactions between these functions. Most soil functions are driven or affected by soil organisms. Yet, biological processes are often neglected in soil function models or implicitly described by rate parameters. This can be explained by the high complexity of the soil ecosystem with its dynamic and heterogeneous environment, and by the range of temporal and spatial scales these processes are taking place at. On the other hand, the technical capabilities to explore microbial activity and communities in soil has greatly improved, resulting in new possibilities to understand soil microbial processes on various scales.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, to integrate such biological processes in soil modelling, we need to find the right level of detail. Here, we present a systemic soil model approach to simulate the impact of different management options and changing climate on soil functions integrating biological activity on the profile scale. We use stoichiometric considerations to simulate microbial processes involved in different soil functions without explicitly describing community dynamics or functional groups. With this approach we are able to mechanistically describe microbial activity and its impact on the turnover of organic matter and nutrient cycling as driven by agricultural soil management.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Further, we discuss general challenges and ongoing developments to additionally consider, e.g., microbe-fauna-interactions or microbial feedback with soil structure dynamics.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Changes in Soil Hydro-Physical Properties and SOM Due to Pine Afforestation and Grazing in Andean Environments Cannot Be Generalized

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franklin Marín ◽  
Carlos Dahik ◽  
Giovanny Mosquera ◽  
Jan Feyen ◽  
Pedro Cisneros ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Water Retention ◽  
Soil Parameters ◽  
Water Retention Capacity ◽  
Sampling Depth ◽  
Site Specific ◽  
The Impact

Andean ecosystems provide important ecosystem services including streamflow regulation and carbon sequestration, services that are controlled by the water retention properties of the soils. Even though these soils have been historically altered by pine afforestation and grazing, little research has been dedicated to the assessment of such impacts at local or regional scales. To partially fill this knowledge gap, we present an evaluation of the impacts of pine plantations and grazing on the soil hydro-physical properties and soil organic matter (SOM) of high montane forests and páramo in southern Ecuador, at elevations varying between 2705 and 3766 m a.s.l. In total, seven study sites were selected and each one was parceled into undisturbed and altered plots with pine plantation and grazing. Soil properties were characterized at two depths, 0–10 and 10–25 cm, and differences in soil parameters between undisturbed and disturbed plots were analyzed versus factors such as ecosystem type, sampling depth, soil type, elevation, and past/present land management. The main soil properties affected by land use change are the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), the water retention capacity (pF 0 to 2.52), and SOM. The impacts of pine afforestation are dependent on sampling depth, ecosystem type, plantation characteristics, and previous land use, while the impacts of grazing are primarily dependent on sampling depth and land use management (grazing intensity and tilling activities). The site-specific nature of the found relations suggests that extension of findings in response to changes in land use in montane Andean ecosystems is risky; therefore, future evaluations of the impact of land use change on soil parameters should take into consideration that responses are or can be site specific.

Systemic modelling of soil functions under the impact of agricultural management

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara König ◽  
Ulrich Weller ◽  
Birgit Lang ◽  
Mareike Ließ ◽  
Stefanie Mayer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Structure ◽  
Water Distribution ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Crop Growth ◽  
Soil Productivity ◽  
Soil Functions ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Soil Organic Matter Turnover ◽  
The Impact

&lt;p&gt;The increasing demand for food and bio-energy gives need to optimize soil productivity, while securing other soil functions such as nutrient cycling and buffer capacity, carbon storage, biological activity, and water filter and storage. Mechanistic simulation models are an essential tool to fully understand and predict the complex interactions between physical, biological and chemical processes of soil with those functions, as well as the feedbacks between these functions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We developed a systemic soil model to simulate the impact of different management options and changing climate on the named soil functions by integrating them within a simplified system. The model operates on a 1d soil profile consisting of dynamic nodes, which may represent the different soil horizons, and integrates different processes including dynamic water distribution, soil organic matter turnover, crop growth, nitrogen cycling, and root growth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We present the main features of our model by simulating crop growth under various climatic scenarios on different soil types including management strategies affecting the soil structure. We show the relevance of soil structure for the main soil functions and discuss different model outcome variables as possible measures for these functions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Further, we discuss ongoing model extensions, especially regarding the integration of biological processes, and possible applications.&lt;/p&gt;

The Impact of Land Use on Soil Properties and Structure of Ecosystem Carbon Stocks in the Middle Taiga Subzone of Karelia

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (11) ◽  
pp. 1756-1769
Author(s):  
I. A. Dubrovina ◽  
E. V. Moshkina ◽  
V. A. Sidorova ◽  
A. V. Tuyunen ◽  
A. Yu. Karpechko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Carbon Stocks ◽  
Middle Taiga ◽  
Middle Taiga Subzone ◽  
Ecosystem Carbon ◽  
Ecosystem Carbon Stocks ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals Impact of land use on soils microbial activity

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 249-257
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Urbański ◽  
Mateusz Jakubiak
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Respiration ◽  
Microbial Activity ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Soil Parameters ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Soil Environment ◽  
Substrate Induced Respiration ◽  
Agricultural Areas

AbstractThe article considered the influence the various types of land use on microbial activity of soils and thus using this parameter as a universal test of soil quality. Samples for soil respiration studies were taken from agricultural areas, meadows, forests and urban areas (estate cottages). All samples were subjected to the same analytical procedure and the method of measurement was followed by a Substrate-Induced Respiration (SIR) method. Since all the samples were from neighbouring regions and were characterized by similar soil parameters, the obtained results allowed to assess the quality of the soil environment of the surveyed area and to evaluate the total rating of whole area. The obtained results allowed to observe slight divergences between soil samples taken from areas of different use. And although statistically, in this case, these differences were not significant, the characteristics of the respiration curves clearly indicate that there is a dependency between the form of use and the size and rate of soil respiration. In addition, the results have shown that single family housing does not exhibit as much anthropopression to the soil environment as it might seem.

scholarly journals Drivers of Organic Carbon Stocks in Different LULC History and Along Soil Depth for a 30 Years Image Time Series

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 2223
Author(s):  
Mahboobeh Tayebi ◽  
Jorge Tadeu Fim Rosas ◽  
Wanderson de Sousa Mendes ◽  
Raul Roberto Poppiel ◽  
Yaser Ostovari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Random Forest ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Controlling Factors ◽  
Land Use History ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Soc Stocks

Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are a remarkable property for soil and environmental monitoring. The understanding of their dynamics in crop soils must go forward. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of temporal environmental controlling factors obtained by satellite images over the SOC stocks along soil depth, using machine learning algorithms. The work was carried out in São Paulo state (Brazil) in an area of 2577 km2. We obtained a dataset of boreholes with soil analyses from topsoil to subsoil (0–100 cm). Additionally, remote sensing covariates (30 years of land use history, vegetation indexes), soil properties (i.e., clay, sand, mineralogy), soil types (classification), geology, climate and relief information were used. All covariates were confronted with SOC stocks contents, to identify their impact. Afterwards, the abilities of the predictive models were tested by splitting soil samples into two random groups (70 for training and 30% for model testing). We observed that the mean values of SOC stocks decreased by increasing the depth in all land use and land cover (LULC) historical classes. The results indicated that the random forest with recursive features elimination (RFE) was an accurate technique for predicting SOC stocks and finding controlling factors. We also found that the soil properties (especially clay and CEC), terrain attributes, geology, bioclimatic parameters and land use history were the most critical factors in controlling the SOC stocks in all LULC history and soil depths. We concluded that random forest coupled with RFE could be a functional approach to detect, map and monitor SOC stocks using environmental and remote sensing data.

scholarly journals The response of soil physicochemical properties and soil microbial respiration to different land use types: A case of areas in Central-North Hungary region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tsedekech Gebremeskel Weldmichael ◽  
Erika Michéli ◽  
Barbara Simon
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Microbial Respiration ◽  
Arable Land ◽  
Available Nitrogen ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Soil Microbial Respiration ◽  
Land Use Types ◽  
The Impact

Land use change may modify key soil attributes, influencing the capacity of soil to maintain ecological functions. Understanding the effects of land use types (LUTs) on soil properties is, therefore, crucial for the sustainable utilization of soil resources. This study aims to investigate the impact of LUT on primary soil properties. Composite soil samples from eight sampling points per LUT (forest, grassland, and arable land) were taken from the top 25 cm of the soil in October 2019. The following soil physicochemical parameters were investigated according to standard protocols: soil organic matter (SOM), pH, soil moisture, NH4+–N, NO3––N, AL-K2O, AL-P2O5, CaCO3, E4/E6, cation exchange capacity (CEC), base saturation (BS), and exchangeable bases (Ca2+, Mg2+, K+, and Na+). Furthermore, soil microbial respiration (SMR) was determined based on basal respiration method. The results indicated that most of the investigated soil properties showed significant difference across LUTs, among which NO3––N, total N, and K2O were profoundly affected by LUT (p ≤ 0.001). On the other hand, CEC, soil moisture, and Na+ did not greatly change among the LUTs (p ≥ 0.05). Arable soils showed the lowest SOM content and available nitrogen but the highest content of P2O5 and CaCO3. SMR was considerably higher in grassland compared to arable land and forest, respectively. The study found a positive correlation between soil moisture (r = 0.67; p < 0.01), Mg2+ (r = 0.61; p < 0.01), and K2O (r = 0.58; p < 0.05) with SMR. Overall, the study highlighted that agricultural practices in the study area induced SOM and available nitrogen reduction. Grassland soils were more favorable for microbial activity.

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