Integrating the effects of climate and plant available soil water holding capacity on wheat yield

Lawes, Roger; Oliver, Yvette; Robertson, Michael

doi:10.1016/j.fcr.2009.06.008

Cited by 63 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Reasonable management of the soil water content status is crucial for plant growth and crop production in arid and semi-arid regions (Lawes et al, 2009;Hosseini et al, 2016). The soil available water, AW (cm 3 cm…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting available water of soil from particle-size distribution and bulk density in an oasis–desert transect in northwestern China

Gao

Shao

et al. 2016

Journal of Hydrology

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Keywords:Soil water characteristic curve Soil available water Pedotransfer functions Oasis-desert transect s u m m a r y A detailed understanding of soil hydraulic properties, particularly the available water content of soil, (AW, cm 3 cm À3), is required for optimal water management. Direct measurement of soil hydraulic properties is impractical for large scale application, but routinely available soil particle-size distribution (PSD) and bulk density can be used as proxies to develop various prediction functions. In this study, we compared the performance of the Arya and Paris (AP) model, Mohammadi and Vanclooster (MV) model, Arya and Heitman (AH) model, and Rosetta program in predicting the soil water characteristic curve (SWCC) at 34 points with experimental SWCC data in an oasis-desert transect (20 Â 5 km) in the middle reaches of the Heihe River basin, northwestern China. The idea of the three models emerges from the similarity of the shapes of the PSD and SWCC. The AP model, MV model, and Rosetta program performed better in predicting the SWCC than the AH model. The AW determined from the SWCCs predicted by the MV model agreed better with the experimental values than those derived from the AP model and Rosetta program. The fine-textured soils were characterized by higher AW values, while the sandy soils had lower AW values. The MV model has the advantages of having robust physical basis, being independent of databaserelated parameters, and involving subclasses of texture data. These features make it promising in predicting soil water retention at regional scales, serving for the application of hydrological models and the optimization of soil water management.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting available water of soil from particle-size distribution and bulk density in an oasis–desert transect in northwestern China

Gao

Shao

et al. 2016

Journal of Hydrology

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“…Even for the Edom soil, for which the biochar had the least effect on available water content, the biochar amendment would provide approximately 0.8 additional days of full transpiration. This suggests that if water shortage occurred frequently enough, soils amended with this biochar might allow plants to have a significant advantage in terms of photosynthesis (Seneviratne et al, 2010) as well as lessening plant stress, consistent with the relationship between available water content and crop yield in arid climates (Wong & Asseng, 2006;Lawes et al, 2009). In some regions of the United States, there may be both more frequent and longer lasting periods of drought (Cook et al, 2004).…”

Section: à3mentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Thus, in situations in which water stress limits crop yield, the effect of biochar on soil water-holding capacity per se is less relevant than the effect of biochar on the amount of water that is actually available to the plant, the so-called available water content. There is frequently a positive relationship between soil available water content and plant yield, particularly in arid climates (Wong & Asseng, 2006;Lawes et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biochar amendment of soil improves resilience to climate change

et al. 2014

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Because of climate change, insufficient soil moisture may increasingly limit crop productivity in certain regions of the world. This may be particularly consequential for biofuel crops, many of which will likely be grown in drought-prone soils to avoid competition with food crops. Biochar is the byproduct of a biofuel production method called pyrolysis. If pyrolysis becomes more common as some scientists predict, biochar will become more widely available. We asked, therefore, whether the addition of biochar to soils could significantly increase the availability of water to a crop. Biochar made from switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) shoots was added at the rate of 1% of dry weight to four soils of varying texture, and available water contents were calculated as the difference between field capacity and permanent wilting point water contents. Biochar addition significantly increased the available water contents of the soils by both increasing the amount of water held at field capacity and allowing plants to draw the soil to a lower water content before wilting. Among the four soils tested, biochar amendment resulted in an additional 0.8-2.7 d of transpiration, which could increase productivity in drought-prone regions or reduce the frequency of irrigation. Biochar amendment of soils may thus be a viable means of mitigating some of the predicted decrease in water availability accompanying climate change that could limit the future productivity of biofuel crops.

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“…Reliable prediction of crop performance with crop models requires good estimates of PAWC. Aside from their use in crop modeling, estimates of PAWC can be related in simpler regression models to potential yields (Lawes et al, 2009;Rab et al, 2009). Therefore, these estimates can be used in precision farming approaches to identify management zones within a field with low and high potential yield (Hoffmann et al, 2015;Whitbread et al, 2008).…”

Section: Discussion Plant-available Soil Water Capacitymentioning

confidence: 99%