Soil management effects on aggregate dynamics in semiarid Aragon (NE Spain)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2007.01.046Get rights and content

Abstract

During decades, in semiarid rainfed Aragon, intensive soil tillage and low crop residue input have led to the loss of soil structure and soil degradation. Conservation tillage and cropping intensification can improve soil structure in these areas. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of three different tillage systems (traditional tillage, reduced tillage and no-tillage) under two cropping systems (fallow-barley rotation and barley monoculture) on soil aggregation dynamics during a cropping season. A decrease in tillage intensity resulted in a higher mean size of dry aggregates and a greater water aggregate stability in both cropping systems particularly under no-tillage.

Introduction

A loss in soil structure implies to a decrease in soil quality and productivity. Soil structure controls a significant number of soil processes and properties such as water and nutrient availability for plant growth, crop residue decomposition dynamics, soil erosion susceptibility and, eventually, crop yield (Bronick and Lal, 2005). Recent review works on this topic (Carter, 2004, Kay and Munkholm, 2004, Bronick and Lal, 2005) summarize a wide variety of worldwide studies about factors affecting soil structure and management practices that preserve soil structural stability. Factors affecting soil structure and its temporal variation have been broadly studied by several authors worldwide (Chan et al., 1994, Yang and Wander, 1998).

Semiarid agroecosystems of Aragon (NE Spain) are characterized by a low and erratic rainfall and a low soil organic matter content due to insufficient crop residue input. In these agroecosystems, the continuous use of intensive tillage implementation (moldboard plowing) and long fallowing (from 16 to 18 months) has led to a decrease on soil aggregation and, finally, into a loss of soil structure. Therefore, in these agroecosystems, it is crucial to search for alternative management practices that improve soil aggregation.

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of three tillage systems under two small grain cropping systems on dry soil aggregate size distribution and wet aggregate soil stability during a cropping season in a long-term tillage experiment in a semiarid rainfed area of Central Aragon.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

The study was carried out after 15 years of experimentation on the long-term conservation tillage plots established in 1989 at the experimental dryland farm of the Estación Experimental de Aula Dei (CSIC) in the Zaragoza province (41°44′N, 0°46′W). The soil is a loam (fine-loamy, mixed, thermic Xerollic Calciorthid) according to the USDA soil classification (Soil Survey Staff, 1975). Selected soil chemical and physical properties are shown in Table 1. The climate is semiarid, with an average

Results and discussion

The MWD was greater in NT than in the other two tillage treatments for the two cropping systems throughout the experiment (Fig. 1). In CC, the average MWD in NT was 2.99 mm, whereas in CT and RT this was 2.44 and 2.36 mm, respectively. In the BF rotation, the average MWD was 2.94 mm in NT and 2.37 and 2.59 mm in CT and RT, respectively. The MWD dynamics during the season was similar in both cropping systems. The greatest MWD values were found in spring, particularly in May during the

Conclusions

Results from this study indicate that in semiarid rainfed areas of Aragon (NE Spain), a shift from conventional tillage to no-tillage leads to an improvement in soil structure. In these agroecosystems, a greater soil aggregate size and stability observed under no-tillage management implies the less susceptibility of the soil to degradation processes.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Sofía Alcrudo, María Josefa Salvador and Beatriz Silva for field and laboratory assistance. Financial support of the Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología of Spain (Grants AGL2001-2238-CO2-01 y AGL 2004-07763-C02-02) and the European Union (FEDER funds) is gratefully acknowledged. The first author was awarded with a FPI fellowship by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Education.

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