Influence of terrain attributes and soil properties on soil aggregate stability

Abstract

Abstract:The study on the relationship between the soil aggregates stability assessed using water stable aggregate (WSA) index and the selected terrain and soil properties was performed on a morphologically diverse study site in Chernozem soil region of Southern Moravia. Soil analyses and detailed digital elevation model processing were the main methods adopted in the study. The soil structure stability is negatively influenced by the soil material removal from the steep parts of the back-slope and re-deposition of the mineral loess material at the base of the slope. The highest aggregates stability was identified in the upper flat parts of the study plot, undisturbed by erosion processes, and at the concave parts of the back-slope with intensive accumulation of organic matter. Statistical analysis showed a significant dependence of aggregates stability on organic carbon content and plan curvature index.

Using magnetic susceptibility mapping for assessing soil degradation due to water erosion

“…Nowadays the original soil unit is preserved only on the top of relatively flat parts, and is gradually transformed by water erosion up to Regosols on the steepest slopes, while colluvial soils are formed in terrain depressions and at toe slopes due to sedimentation of previously eroded material. Soils within this area have been intensively investigated during the last several years (Zádorová et al 2011a(Zádorová et al , b, 2013(Zádorová et al , 2015Brodský et al 2013;Vašát et al 2014Vašát et al , 2015aJakšík et al 2015). Studies concentrated on soil type mapping (with particular interest to delineate colluvial soils) (Zádorová et al 2011b(Zádorová et al , 2015, determining relationships between terrain attributes and soil properties (Zádorová et al 2011a, b;Jakšík et al 2015), and using VNIR reflectance spectroscopy for estimating soil organic carbon content (Brodský et al 2013;Vašát et al 2015a, b) or extractable nutrients in soils (Vašát et al 2014).…”

Direct and indirect effects of glomalin, mycorrhizal hyphae and roots on aggregate stability in rhizosphere of trifoliate orange

“…Meanwhile, water-stable aggregates (WSAs) in macroaggregates, which are stable to the action of repeated soil wetting and drying cycles, are widely used to evaluate aggregate stability by means of the wet-sieving analysis6. As an indicator of soil structure related to soil water regime, erodibility, and nutrient availability, aggregate stability is affected by soil physical, chemical, and/or microbial community properties, root systems, plant species and/or communities78910.…”

Water stability of soil aggregates in different systems of tillage

“…In order to measure this susceptibility, we can make use of assessment of soil aggregate stability (Hillel 1980). Soil aggregate stability depends on soil type and sort, on the content of organic matter (Tisdall & Oades 1982;Haynes & Swift 1990;Šimanský et al 2013), on the biological activity of the soil (Oades 2005), fertilization (Annabi et al 2007), and also on the form of soil disturbance, frequency of passage of machinery (Safadoust et al 2006), vegetation cover (Gajici et al 2010;Peregrina et al 2010), and soil mass redistribution in the steep parts of slopes (Zádorová et al 2011). In the soil profile, there is also a varying dependence on the existence of various forms of CaCO 3 , on the presence of ferric oxide, clay, and pH KCl (Kodešová et al 2009).…”