Great Plains cropping system studies for soil quality assessment

Abstract

Interactions between environmental conditions and management practices can significantly affect soil function. Soil quality assessments may improve our understanding of how soils interact with the hydrosphere and atmosphere. This information can then be used to develop management practices that improve the capacity of the soil to perform its various functions and help identify physical, chemical, and biological soil attributes to quantify the present state of a soil and detect changes resulting from management. In protocols established by the Great Plains cropping system network, sampling and testing procedures were selected to identify physical, chemical, and biological soil attributes responsive to management that may serve as useful indicators in assessing the effects of management on the soil resource. Eight existing long-term studies from throughout the Great Plains in the central USA were used to make these assessments because, (1) many years are required for certain soil properties to change measurably; (2) annual weather causes variation in system performance; and (3) the soil pools of interest are spatially variable. This paper includes detailed descriptions of the treatments and sites, and both long-term and short-term (1999–2002) data on precipitation, temperature, and yields for each location.

Cropping system influences on soil chemical properties and soil quality in the Great Plains

“…Treatments selected at each site differed in management intensity as characterized by either type or frequency of tillage, cropping intensity, and/or crop rotation diversity and are termed conventional (CON) or alternative (ALT). 13 ). A total of 15-18 cores were collected to provide 500 g of oven-dry soil at each site on each sampling date.…”

Use of an integrative soil health test for evaluation of soil management impacts

“…While studies on the effects of long-term management systems on soil quality indicators have been reported in many regions of the United States 5,6,[14][15][16][17][18] , comparatively fewer studies have focused on the cooler northeastern part of the USA. Understanding how management practices affect soils in the northeast will help in developing useful indicators for assessing the current status and detecting changes resulting from management 14 .…”

“…The CSHT can assist growers to identify soil constraints that are limiting crop production and target specific management practices to address identified problem areas 10 . As shown by several soil quality studies, the selection of suitable indicator(s) cannot be universally achieved due to the diversity of management goals, soil types, climatic regions, agro-ecosystem management practices and interseasonal variations 6,[12][13][14] . In order to achieve standards for soil quality assessment, data are needed from different regions that quantify the performance of soil quality indicators in the short-and long-term across different sites, management systems and soils 14 .…”

“…As shown by several soil quality studies, the selection of suitable indicator(s) cannot be universally achieved due to the diversity of management goals, soil types, climatic regions, agro-ecosystem management practices and interseasonal variations 6,[12][13][14] . In order to achieve standards for soil quality assessment, data are needed from different regions that quantify the performance of soil quality indicators in the short-and long-term across different sites, management systems and soils 14 . Using existing short-and long-term research trials can help achieve the goal of understanding how management practices affect soil functions in different soils and at different locations [15][16][17] .…”

“…Understanding how management practices affect soils in the northeast will help in developing useful indicators for assessing the current status and detecting changes resulting from management 14 . This study seeks to fill the information gap on the performance of soil quality indicators in long-term cropping trials.…”