Soil physical properties of afforested and arable land

Messing, Ingmar; Alriksson, Agnetha; Johansson, Waldemar

doi:10.1111/j.1475-2743.1997.tb00588.x

Cited by 55 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Our findings showed no indication of physical degradation of the soil. In contrast to our findings, Messing et al (1997) found that the bulk density of soil was lower in soils under forests than in soils under field crops. Also Compton et al (1998) found that increased bulk density is the persistent legacy of agriculture.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 86%

Soil fertility of afforested arable land compared to continuously

Wall¹,

Hytönen²

2005

Plant Soil

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In Finland, over 220,000 ha of arable land has been afforested in recent decades. To meet the goals of forest management on afforested fields, information on the effects of former agricultural land use on soil fertility is needed. In this study, we examine the soil fertility of 12 former arable fields afforested either 10 or 60-70 years ago with Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) and adjacent sites that have been forested continuously. Volumetric soil samples were collected from the organic soil layer and from mineral soil to a depth of 40 cm. Soil samples were analyzed for pH, bulk density, organic matter content and amounts of nutrients (Kjeldahl N, extractable P, K, Ca, Mg, Zn and B). On afforested fields, amounts of nutrients in the mineral soil, especially in 10-year-old afforestations, were higher than on continuously forested sites. In the organic layer plus the 0-40 cm soil layer, the 10-year-old afforestations had 68% more N, 41% more P, 83% more K, 252% more Ca, 6% more Mg, 61% more Zn and 33% more B than the continuously forested sites at a comparable soil depth. In the 60-70-year-old afforestations, the differences were significant only for N, Ca and Zn (20% more N, 121% more Ca and 115% more Zn than on the continuously forested sites). The effects of agriculture on amounts of nutrients were most clearly detected in the former plough layer (0-20 cm) of the 10-year-old afforestations and in the top layer (0-10 cm) of the older afforestations. Amounts of nutrients in the organic layer of the afforested sites were lower, but their concentrations were higher than in the continuously forested sites. On the 10-year-old afforestations, the bulk density of the mineral soil tended to be lower and the organic matter content higher than on the continuously forested sites. On both young and old afforestations, soil pH was higher than on the continuously forest sites. According to these results, changes in soil properties caused by agriculture have increased the soil fertility and therefore probably also the site index. The results also suggest that changes in soil properties due to agricultural land use are quite long lasting.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 86%

Soil fertility of afforested arable land compared to continuously

Wall¹,

Hytönen²

2005

Plant Soil

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“…Therefore, our hypotheses have been largely confirmed regarding the BD and TP, but not in the case of the water properties. The total porosity increase and a bulk density decrease, as a consequence of cropland converting to forest, were also reported by many authors (Brożek 1993;Maciaszek and Zwydak 1996a;Messing et al 1997;Brożek et al 1998;Bednarek and Michalska 1998;Compton et al 1998;Lemenih et al 2004;Kahle et al 2005).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 50%

“…Furthermore, a loosening impact of the tree root system on the soil's physical features could be important. Messing et al (1997) associated a more porous character of the forest soils in comparison to agricultural soils to the occurrence of lignified roots and abundance of empty root channels resulting from the decomposition of dead tree roots. Besides the above-mentioned explanations, the decrease in bulk density and the increase in total porosity at the most upper layer may be also attributed to an increase in C org content which occurred at this soil For Ap, B, C, A 0-5 , A 5-10 , A 10-20 , Ah and AhB n=5, for A avg n=15 a As hydrolytic acidity b Base saturation depth (Smal and Olszewska 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…This land use change brings about some changes in most of the soil properties: organic matter, pH, content of nitrogen and other elements, porosity, bulk density and biological activity (Brożek 1993;Messing et al 1997;Jug et al 1999;Perrin et al 2000;Post and Kwon 2000;Romanya et al 2000;Paul et al 2002;Vesterdal et al 2002;Wall and Heiskanen 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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The effect of afforestation with Scots pine (Pinus silvestris L.) of sandy post-arable soils on their selected properties. I. Physical and sorptive properties

Olszewska¹,

Smal²

2008

Plant Soil

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Despite the extensive literature on the effect of afforestation of former arable land on soil properties, we still do not fully understand whether the changes proceed in the same direction and at the same rate or how long it takes to achieve a state of soil equilibrium typical of a natural forest ecosystem. Therefore, as part of a comparative study of post-arable sandy soils (Distric Arenosols) afforested with Scots pine (Pinus silvestris L.) with respect to arable soils and soils of continuous coniferous forests, a range and direction of the changes in some of their physical and sorptive properties were determined. The studies were carried out in SE Poland, 51°30′-51°37′N, 22°20′-22°35′E. Ten paired sites of the afforested soils (five with 14-to 17-year-old stands and five with 32-to 36-year-old stands) with adjacent cultivated fields and five sites of continuous forests with present stands of ca. 150 years were selected. For the physical properties, undisturbed soil cores were sampled from the upper part of each horizon while in the case of A horizon of the afforested soils, from two layers: 0-5 cm and 10-15 cm. For the remaining analyses, soil was taken from the whole thickness of the master horizons and in the case of A horizon of the afforested soils, from three layers: 0-5, 5-10 and 10-20 cm. The following properties were analysed: texture, bulk density (BD), total porosity (TP), water content at potential of −0.098, −9.81 and −49.03 kPa, hydrolytic acidity (Ha), base exchangeable cations: Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , K + , Na + , total exchangeable bases (TEB), cation exchange capacity (CEC) and base saturation (BS). Afforestation caused a decrease in BD, an increase in TP and had no affect on water properties when compared with the cultivated soils. The changes referred to the A horizon, particularly to its 0-5 cm layer, and were related to the stand age. The CEC gradually rose in the former plough layer, beginning from the uppermost part, but during the first two decades its increase in the 0-5 cm layer was offset by a decline in the deeper layers. No substantial increase in CEC, in the whole A horizon, was recorded until three to four decades of afforestation. Afforestation also invoked an increase in Ha, a drop in TEB, particularly Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ and K + , and reduction in BS. No differences between soils for all the studied properties for B and C horizons were observed. It was noted that more than 30 years after afforestation, the TEB and BS as well as Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ and K + content differed substantially, but in most cases not significantly, from their values in the cultivated soils and reached a level more similar to the soils of continuous coniferous forests. With respect to the water properties, Ha and CEC of the afforested soils still resembled arable soils, whereas regarding the TP and BD, they were somewhere in the middle. This implies that to Plant Soil (2008) 305:157-169 understand changes in the soil properties resulting from afforestation and to predict future trends, long-term research is needed.

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“…Although they are poor at holding water by capillarity, macropores form the main pathway for water movement in clayey and silty soils (Collis-George, 1991), and the saturated hydraulic conductivity is generally significantly correlated to macropore numbers (Yunusa et al, 2002). The creation of macropores through the death and decomposition of roots (Yunusa et al, 2002) and/or by structural cracks (Czanes et al, 2000) is a slow process (Messing et al, 1997;Yunusa and Newton, 2003), which explains the wetter subsoil in the 12-year-old grass compared to that in the 3-year-old plantation (Figure 3). Indeed, low saturated hydraulic conductivity of generally less than 10 mm day 1 has been measured in the subsoil of the woodland (Itakura et al, 2005;Macinnis-Ng et al, 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

An assessment of the water budget for contrasting vegetation covers associated with waste management

Yunusa

Zeppel

Fuentes

et al. 2010

Hydrological Processes

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Abstract:Revegetation is critical to restoring hydrological function on waste disposal sites in order to minimize runoff and drainage and safeguard the water quality of the catchment. In this study, we determined the components of soil-water balance between late 2006 and the end of 2008 for three vegetation types established over sites used for waste disposal: (i) a juvenile plantation of mixed Australian woody species; (ii) a block of mixed tree seedlings; (iii) and an ungrazed grass pasture. These were compared against a nearby natural woodland taken as an analogue of a pre-existing hydrological state. Evapotranspiration (ET) was the major component of the soil-water balance in all the four vegetation types. In the plantation and woodland, ET accounted for 60-93% of the annual rainfall compared to 44-88% in the grass and seedling blocks. While the balance of rainfall was largely lost to runoff in the plantation and the woodland, it was split almost equally between runoff and drainage in the other two vegetation covers. The plantation maintained parity in its ET with woodland due to groundcover that contributed at least 70% of the water use, while seasonal growth and periodic mowing reduced ET from the grass. Over the 2 years, the height of the deep (¾19 m above sea level) water table under the plantation and grass declined by an average of 0Ð3 m, while it rose by a similar magnitude in the woodland. The height of the shallow water table (¾8 m above sea level) showed no consistent change. We conclude that, with a good groundcover of mixed herbaceous species, a juvenile plantation can restore hydrological function and minimize deep recharge of a waste disposal site to the status of that under a pre-existing undisturbed woodland.

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Soil physical properties of afforested and arable land

Cited by 55 publications

References 11 publications

Soil fertility of afforested arable land compared to continuously

Soil fertility of afforested arable land compared to continuously

The effect of afforestation with Scots pine (Pinus silvestris L.) of sandy post-arable soils on their selected properties. I. Physical and sorptive properties

An assessment of the water budget for contrasting vegetation covers associated with waste management

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