scholarly journals Effects of pumice mining on soil quality

Solid Earth ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Cruz-Ruíz ◽  
E. Cruz-Ruíz ◽  
R. Vaca ◽  
P. Del Aguila ◽  
J. Lugo

Abstract. Mexico is the world's fourth most important maize producer; hence, there is a need to maintain soil quality for sustainable production in the upcoming years. Pumice mining is a superficial operation that modifies large areas in central Mexico. The main aim was to assess the present state of agricultural soils differing in elapsed time since pumice mining (0–15 years) in a representative area of the Calimaya region in the State of Mexico. The study sites in 0, 1, 4, 10, and 15 year old reclaimed soils were compared with an adjacent undisturbed site. Our results indicate that gravimetric moisture content, water hold capacity, bulk density, available phosphorus, total nitrogen, soil organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon and phosphatase and urease activity were greatly impacted by disturbance. A general trend of recovery towards the undisturbed condition with reclamation age was found after disturbance, the recovery of soil total N being faster than soil organic C. The soil quality indicators were selected using principal component analysis (PCA), correlations and multiple linear regressions. The first three components gathered explain 76.4 % of the total variability. The obtained results revealed that the most appropriate indicators to diagnose the quality of the soils were urease, available phosphorus and bulk density and minor total nitrogen. According to linear score analysis and the additive index, the soils showed a recuperation starting from 4 years of pumice extraction.

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1375-1398 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Cruz-Ruíz ◽  
E. Cruz-Ruíz ◽  
R. Vaca ◽  
P. Del Aguila ◽  
J. Lugo

Abstract. México is the worl's fourth most important maize producer; hence, there is a need to maintain soil quality for a sustainable production in the upcoming years. Pumice mining, a superficial operation, modifies large areas in Central Mexico. The main aim was to assess the present state of agricultural soils differing in elapsed-time since pumice mining (0–15 years), in a representative area of the Calimaya region in the State of Mexico. The study sites in 0, 1, 4, 10 and 15 year-old reclaimed soils were compared with adjacent undisturbed site. Our results indicate that soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, microbial biomass carbon and microbial quotients were greatly impacted by disturbance. A general trend of recovery towards the undisturbed condition with reclamation age was found after disturbance. Recovery of soil total nitrogen was faster than soil organic carbon. Principal components analysis was applied. The first three components together explain 71.72 % of the total variability. First factor reveals strong associations between total nitrogen, microbial biomass carbon and pH. The second factor reveals high loading of urease and catalase. The obtained results revealed that the most appropriate indicators to diagnose the quality of the soils were: total nitrogen, microbial biomass carbon and soil organic carbon.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucas Tabaud ◽  
Christian Walter ◽  
Clotilde Blancfene ◽  
Chantal Gascuel ◽  
Blandine Lemercier ◽  
...  

<p>Soils are crossroads of carbon and nitrogen geochemical cycles and were consequently identified as a potential sink for carbon (C) and a compartment storage for nitrogen (N). Monitoring the joint evolution over time of organic C and total N stocks in soils appears interesting because of the C/N ratio is an indicator of changes in the organic matter quality. Nevertheless, the temporal evolutions detected in most of the existing studies are in the order of a few gC.m<sup>-2</sup>.yr<sup>-1</sup> (C) and mgN.m<sup>-2</sup>.yr<sup>-1 </sup>(N). This study aims to assess uncertainties of soil organic carbon (SSOC) and soil total nitrogen (SSTN) stocks in the topsoil layer (0-25 cm) using three different methods (stochastic, deterministic and experimental), in order to identify the main sources of uncertainty and to evaluate the significance of SSOC and SSTN evolutions over the time. This study was based on a 1200 ha agricultural catchment area in Brittany (France) where systematic soil sampling was repeated at 108 sites in 2013 and 2018. Moreover, soil sampling was repeated three times in 2020 at the same sites by 3 different teams of experienced samplers. Comparing the three methods of uncertainty assessment, we found they provided equivalent results with a SSOC standard deviation of 0.85, 0.74 and 0.68 kgC.m<sup>-2</sup> respectively for stochastic, deterministic and experimental approaches and 0.08, 0.07 and 0.06 kgN.m<sup>-2</sup> for SSTN. Variance decomposition identified variations of fine earth mass as the main source of uncertainty (77 % of total variance) and attributed at least 16% of the uncertainties due to the operator procedure and were therefore reducible. Using the stochastic approach, the width of the 90 % confidence interval was estimated at each sampling site for C, N and C/N temporal changes. Changes were considered significant at respectively 59, 77 et 99 sites for SSOC, SSTN and C/N: a majority of sites lost organic carbon (-0.03 ± 0.07 kgC.m<sup>-2</sup>.yr<sup>-1</sup>), gained total nitrogen (0.006 ± 0.005 kgN.m<sup>-2</sup>.yr<sup>-1</sup>) and the C.N<sup>-1</sup> (-0.17 ± 0.09 yr<sup>-1</sup>) ratio decreased. Finally, stock measurements uncertainty was mainly explained by soil natural variability but may still be reduced by a better control of the measurement procedure. In the agricultural context of the study area, the accuracy of the direct measurement appeared sufficient to detect SSOC and SSTN evolution over a time span of 5 years.</p>


2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ryschawy ◽  
M. A. Liebig ◽  
S. L. Kronberg ◽  
D. W. Archer ◽  
J. R. Hendrickson

Integrated crop-livestock systems can have subtle effects on soil quality over time, particularly in semiarid regions where soil responses to management occur slowly. We tested if analyzing temporal trajectories of soils could detect trends in soil quality data which were not detected using traditional statistical and index approaches. Principal component and cluster analyses were used to assess the evolution in ten soil properties at three sampling times within two production systems (annually cropped, perennial grass). Principal component 1 explained 33% of the total variance of the complete dataset and corresponded to gradients in extractable N, available P, and C : N ratio. Principal component 2 explained 25.4% of the variability and corresponded to gradients of soil pH, soil organic C, and total N. While previous analyses found no differences in Soil Quality Index (SQI) scores between production systems, annually cropped treatments and perennial grasslands were clearly distinguished by cluster analysis. Cluster analysis also identified greater dispersion between plots over time, suggesting an evolution in soil condition in response to management. Accordingly, multivariate statistical techniques serve as a valuable tool for analyzing data where responses to management are subtle or anticipated to occur slowly.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 2559-2568
Author(s):  
M Mujiyo ◽  
Yosua Yoga Setyawan ◽  
Aktavia Herawati ◽  
Hery Widijanto

Determination of soil quality in Giriwoyo Sub-district, Wonogiri Regency, will generate a Soil Quality Index which can be used as a reference for soil cultivation for optimal productivity. This research was a descriptive exploratory with a survey approach. The survey area consisted of 12 land mapping units (LMU) with 3 replications for each LMU. Determination of LMU based on soil type, land use, slope and rainfall. The parameters used were BD (bulk density), porosity, organic C, pH, CEC (cation exchange capacity), BS (base saturation), available P, available K, total N, and MBC (microbial biomass carbon) that represented the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) analysis was performed to obtain the Minimum Data Set (MDS). The Soil Quality Index (SQI) at each LMU was calculated by multiplying the PCA result score (Wi) with the score for each selected indicator (Si). The result showed that the Soil Quality Index at each LMU was low. The highest Soil Quality Index was found in fields land use with an SQI of 0.34. The soil indicator that limited the soil quality was available P.


2014 ◽  
Vol 94 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura L. Van Eerd ◽  
Katelyn A. Congreves ◽  
Adam Hayes ◽  
Anne Verhallen ◽  
David C. Hooker

Van Eerd, L. L., Congreves, K. A., Hayes, A., Verhallen, A. and Hooker, D. C. 2014. Long-term tillage and crop rotation effects on soil quality, organic carbon, and total nitrogen. Can. J. Soil Sci. 94: 303–315. Long-term studies allow for quantification of the effects of crop production practices, such as tillage and crop rotation, on soil quality and soil C and N stores. In two experiments at Ridgetown, ON, we evaluated the long-term (11 and 15 yr) effect of tillage system and crop rotation on soil quality via the Cornell Soil Health Assessment (CSHA) at 0–15 cm and soil organic C (SOC) and total N at 5-, 10-, and 20-cm increments to 120 cm depth. The CSHA soil quality score and SOC and total N were higher with no-till (NT) than fall moldboard plough with spring cultivation (conventional tillage, CT) and rotations with winter wheat [soybean–winter wheat (S-W) and soybean–winter wheat–corn (S-W-C)] compared with rotations without winter wheat. In both long-term trials, NT had ca. 21 Mg ha−1more or 14% higher SOC than CT in the 0- to 100-cm soil profile, a trend which contrasts previous research in eastern Canada. Thus, the two long-term trial results at Ridgetown suggest that to improve soil quality and storage of C and N, growers on clay loam soil in southwestern Ontario should consider adopting NT production practices and including winter wheat in the rotation.


Solid Earth ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 897-903 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mavinakoppa S. Nagaraja ◽  
Ajay Kumar Bhardwaj ◽  
G. V. Prabhakara Reddy ◽  
Chilakunda A. Srinivasamurthy ◽  
Sandeep Kumar

Abstract. Soil fertility and organic carbon (C) stock estimations are crucial to soil management, especially that of degraded soils, for productive agricultural use and in soil C sequestration studies. Currently, estimations based on generalized soil mass (hectare furrow basis) or bulk density are used which may be suitable for normal agricultural soils, but not for degraded soils. In this study, soil organic C, available nitrogen (N), available phosphorus (P2O5) and available potassium (K2O), and their stocks were estimated using three methods: (i) generalized soil mass (GSM, 2 million kg ha−1 furrow soil), (ii) bulk-density-based soil mass (BDSM) and (iii) the proportion of fine earth volume (FEV) method, for soils sampled from physically degraded lands in the eastern dry zone of Karnataka State in India. Comparative analyses using these methods revealed that the soil organic C, N, P2O and K2O stocks determined by using BDSM were higher than those determined by the GSM method. The soil organic C values were the lowest in the FEV method. The GSM method overestimated soil organic C, N, P2O and K2O by 9.3–72.1, 9.5–72.3, 7.1–66.6 and 9.2–72.3 %, respectively, compared to FEV-based estimations for physically degraded soils. The differences among the three methods of estimation were lower in soils with low gravel content and increased with an increase in gravel volume. There was overestimation of soil organic C and soil fertility with GSM and BDSM methods. A reassessment of methods of estimation was, therefore, attempted to provide fair estimates for land development projects in degraded lands.


CERNE ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elaine Novak ◽  
Laércio Alves Carvalho ◽  
Etenaldo Felipe Santiago ◽  
Irzo Isaac Rosa Portilho

ABSTRACT A challenge for the environmental recovery of degraded areas is the search for soil data. In this process, the microbiological parameters and soil chemicals are potential indicators of soil quality. This study aimed to evaluate soil quality based on microbiological and chemical soil attributes in different areas involving environmental recovery, sugarcane cultivation and remnants of native vegetation located in a rural private property farm in State of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil, in Hapludox Eutrophic soil. The microbiological (microbial biomass carbon, basal respiration, microbial quotient and metabolic quotient) and chemical parameters (organic matter, carbon, pH, cationic exchange capacity, sum of bases, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, saturation base and potential acidity) were assessed. Data were assessed by variance and multivariate analysis (Principal Component Analysis and cluster analysis). Overall, the results showed highest alteration in the chemical and microbiological characteristics of the soil in sugarcane cultivation area in comparison with other areas. Considering the studied recovery areas, REC1, REC5 and REC7 show chemical and microbiological conditions with most similarity to native vegetation. Despite the short period of the resilience enhancement of environmental recovery areas, the development of vegetation cover and establishment of the microbial community were determined to be important factors for improving soil quality and environmental recovery in several of the areas studied.


Author(s):  
H. Haruna

Land use changes from forest into cultivated ecosystems result in negative impact on soil structure and quality. The purpose of this study was to determine effect of land use on soil quality in Afaka forest northern guinea savannah of Nigeria. Land use systems, including natural forest and cultivated land were identified. Eighteen (18) composite disturbed and undisturbed samples were collected from depth of 0-5 and 5-10 cm for analysis of pertinent soil properties in the laboratory using grid procedure. Most physical and chemical properties show relative variations in response to land use types and geomorphic positions. Results  indicate  that the soils had  high degree of weathering potentials, low  to moderate  bulk density at 0-5cm depth values between 1.42 to 1.49 Mg m-3 in  forest and  cultivated land, bulk density of  1.34 and 1.46 1.Mg m-3at 5 -1ocm depth   for forest and  cultivated land respectively. The soil water at 0-5cm depth is from 4.20 to 2.63 cm3/cm3, while at 5-10 cm depth these values vary from 4.32 to 2.13 cm3/cm3 under forest and cultivation land use. The pH (H2O) is 6.9 to 7.16 with low electrical conductivity of 0.13 dS/m(forest) and 0.12 dS/m (cultivation). The CEC of soils is recorded as 8.60 cmol kg-1 (forest) to 8.54 cmol kg-1 (cultivated)whereas  total nitrogen content of 1.21 g kg-1 and 1.11 g kg-1 and available phosphorus of 8.78 mg kg-1 (cultivated) and 5.47 mg kg-1 (forest).. Results indicate that soil fertility parameters were moderate to low for cultivated land and at all slope positions, suggesting that soil fertility management is required in order to make agriculture sustainable on Afaka area.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
NOOR FARIKHAH HANEDA ◽  
IWAN HILWAN ◽  
EWI IRFANI

Abstract. Haneda NF, Hilwan I, Irfani E. 2019. Arthropod community at different altitudes in Gunung Halimun-Salak National Park, Western Java, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 20: 1735-1742. Gunung Halimun Salak National Park (GHSNP) stores high biodiversity both from its flora and fauna. Parts of the diversity that have not been widely explored are soil arthropods at different altitudes. The aim of this study was to analyze soil arthropod community and the correlation between the attributes of soil arthropods and the environmental factors. The soil arthropods were collected using pitfall traps, placed in several altitudes, i.e., 500 m, 700 m, 900 m, 1100 m, 1300 m, 1500 m, and 1700 m . The attributes of community and environmental parameters were analyzed using Pearson correlation and principal component analysis. The result showed that family Formicidae dominated the soil arthropod community. The diversity of arthropods increased with increasing altitudes. The habitat at the altitudes of 1500 m, 1300 m and 1100 m had a dense canopy, thick litter and high total N and organic C. There was positive correlation between the attributes of soil arthropod community and environment variables.


Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheikh Adil Edrisi ◽  
Vishal Tripathi ◽  
Purushothaman Chirakkuzhyil Abhilash

The successful utilization of marginal and degraded lands for biomass and bioenergy production depends upon various factors such as climatic conditions, the adaptive traits of the tree species and their growth rate and respective belowground responses. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the growth performance of a bioenergy tree (Dalbergia sissoo Roxb.) grown in marginal and degraded land of the Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh, India and to analyze the effect of D. sissoo plantations on soil quality improvement over the study years. For this, a soil quality index (SQI) was developed based on principal component analysis (PCA) to understand the effect of D. sissoo plantations on belowground responses. PCA results showed that among the studied soil variables, bulk density (BD), moisture content (MC), microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and soil urease activity (SUA) are the key variables critically influencing the growth of D. sissoo. The SQI was found in an increasing order with the growth period of D. sissoo. (i.e., from 0.419 during the first year to 0.579 in the fourth year). A strong correlation was also observed between the growth attributes (diameter at breast height, R2 = 0.870; and plant height, R2 = 0.861) and the soil quality (p < 0.01). Therefore, the developed SQI can be used as key indicator for monitoring the restoration potential of D. sissoo growing in marginal and degraded lands and also for adopting suitable interventions to further improve soil quality for multipurpose land restoration programs, thereby attaining land degradation neutrality and United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.


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