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Identifying the causes of soil aggregate breakdown under intensive packet salad production
Citation
Almajmaie, AHT and Hardie, M and Acuna, T and Birch, C, Identifying the causes of soil aggregate breakdown under intensive packet salad production, Proceedings of the Soil Science Australia National Soil Science Conference 2014, 23-27 November, Melbourne, Australia, pp. 1-4. (2014) [Refereed Conference Paper]
Copyright Statement
Copyright 2014 Australian Society of Soil Science Incorporated
Official URL: http://www.soilscience2014.com/proceedings/Almajma...
Abstract
Frequent cultivation, irrigation and bed forming associated with packet salad production have led to a loss in soil carbon and aggregate stability at six farms operated by Houston’s farms, Richmond, Tasmania. Soil disaggregation has resulted in poor seedling establishment, soil crusting, reduced infiltration, poor irrigation performance, and increased runoff and erosion. This paper reports initial findings from detailed assessment of aggregate stability, and soil properties across the six farms. Aggregate stability was determined by rainfall simulation, wet sieving and ultrasonic disruption of 2.0-4.75 mm aggregates pre-treated to be at either air dry moisture content (40 Co for 24 h) or field capacity (-10 kPa). Aggregate were also analysed by CSBP laboratories for a range of chemical properties and indices of structural stability. Initial results demonstrated that aggregate stability at air dried moisture content was most susceptible to disaggregation by rainfall simulation, whilst aggregates at field capacity had similar levels of aggregate stability for all three disaggregation techniques. The stability of air dried aggregates was most highly correlated with CEC-cation exchangeable capacity (positive), EPP-exchangeable potassium percentage (negative), then reactive aluminium (positive), and organic carbon (positive). Aggregate stability was however poorly correlated with cation ratio of soil structural stability (CROSS) and exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP).
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Conference Paper |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | soil crusting, erosion, aggregate stability |
| Research Division: | Environmental Sciences |
| Research Group: | Soil Sciences |
| Research Field: | Land Capability and Soil Degradation |
| Objective Division: | Environment |
| Objective Group: | Rehabilitation of Degraded Environments |
| Objective Field: | Rehabilitation of Degraded Farmland, Arable Cropland and Permanent Cropland Environments |
| Author: | Almajmaie, AHT (Mr Abbas Almajmaie) |
| Author: | Hardie, M (Mr Marcus Hardie) |
| Author: | Acuna, T (Dr Tina Acuna) |
| Author: | Birch, C (Associate Professor Colin Birch) |
| ID Code: | 100683 |
| Year Published: | 2014 |
| Deposited By: | Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture |
| Deposited On: | 2015-05-26 |
| Last Modified: | 2015-11-12 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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