Soil Water Tension, a Powerful Measurement for Productivity and Stewardship

Shock, Clinton C.; Wang, Fengxin

doi:10.21273/hortsci.46.2.178

Cited by 88 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Dry spell length per site and treatment (Table ) was calculated by summing the number of consecutive days when soil water potential was ψ < −100 kPa from the beginning of summer until post‐drought rewetting. Desiccation below ψ = −100 kPa, known as the “refill point” in agricultural science, impairs plant growth (Merot, Wery, Isbérie, & Charron, ; Shock & Wang, ). Soil moisture for deeper soil layers was determined gravimetrically and samples were extracted using an Edelman auger with a diameter of 6 cm (Table ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant functional groups mediate drought resistance and recovery in a multisite grassland experiment

et al. 2018

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Climate change predictions suggest that summer droughts will become more intense and recurrent in Europe. While drought‐induced reductions in grassland primary productivity are well documented, the drivers behind drought resistance (the capacity to withstand change) and recovery (the capacity for recovery of function) of above‐ and below‐ground biomass remain poorly understood. Across eight grasslands differing in plant community productivity (CP), we investigated the effects of summer drought on plant and soil microbial variables, plant nutrient content, and soil nitrogen (N) availability. We examined the linkages between CP, soil N, drought responses of plant and microbial communities, and relative drought responses of plant and microbial biomass. Plant and microbial variables were recorded at the end of a 3‐month rainfall exclusion period. Plant variables were also assessed during a 10‐month drought recovery period. Experimental drought decreased plant biomass and increased plant C:N ratios, but had no effect on total microbial biomass across sites. Instead, drought caused shifts in plant and microbial community structures as well as an increase in arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi biomass. Overall, plant biomass drought resistance was unrelated to CP or microbial community structure but was positively related to drought resistance of forbs. In the month after rewetting, soil N availability increased in droughted plots across sites. Two months post‐rewetting, droughted plots had higher plant N concentration, but lower plant N use efficiency. The short‐term drought recovery of plant biomass was unrelated to CP or soil N availability, but positively related to the response of grass biomass, reflecting incomplete recovery at high CP. Ten months after rewetting, drought effects on plant biomass and plant N content were no longer apparent. Synthesis. Our results suggest that drought resistance and recovery are more sensitive to plant community composition than to community productivity. Short‐term recovery of plant biomass may also benefit from increased soil N availability after drought and from a high abundance of soil fungi in low productivity sites. Our findings underline the importance of plant functional groups for the stability of permanent grasslands in a changing climate with more frequent drought.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant functional groups mediate drought resistance and recovery in a multisite grassland experiment

et al. 2018

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“…This information can be used to prevent leaching under the root zone (Krüger et al, 1999). -based irrigation management has been successfully used to improve the yields of many agricultural crops and to evaluate the impacts of irrigation practices on water and fertilizer leaching (Pelletier et al, 2013;Périard et al, 2012;Shock and Wang, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Matric potential-based irrigation management of field-grown strawberry: Effects on yield and water use efficiency

Létourneau

Caron

Anderson

et al. 2015

Agricultural Water Management

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a b s t r a c tEffective and adapted criteria for irrigation scheduling are required to improve yield and water use efficiency (WUE) and reduce the environmental impacts associated with water and nutrients losses by runoff and leaching. In this study, field-scale experiments were conducted at four commercial strawberry production sites with contrasting soil and climatic conditions. Within each site, the influence of different soil matric potential-based irrigation thresholds (IT) on yield and WUE was evaluated. Matric potentialbased irrigation management was also compared with common irrigation practices used by producers in each site's respective areas. At Site 1 (silty clay loam; humid continental (Dfb) climate), an IT of −15 kPa improved yields by 6.2% without any additional use of water relative to common irrigation practices. At Site 2, with similar soil and climatic conditions, the irrigation treatments did not affect yield and the matric potential-based management decreased WUE relative to common practices. However, the results suggested that maintaining the soil matric potential lower than −9 kPa could induce stressing conditions for the plants. At Site 3 (sandy loam; Mediterranean (Cs) climate), the best yield and WUE were obtained with an IT of −8 kPa and suggested that WUE could be further improved by implementing high-frequency irrigation. At Site 4 (clay loam; Mediterranean (Cs) climate), results suggested that an IT between −10 and −15 kPa could optimize yield and WUE, and matric potential-based irrigation considerably reduced leaching under the root zone relative to common practices. Considering the results from all sites, an IT of −10 kPa appears to be adequate as a starting point for further optimizing irrigation under most field conditions.

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“…Among the various soil‐water‐based methods, the continuous monitoring of the soil water potential within the root zone is particularly useful for the establishment of adequate irrigation schedules to the extent that it is closely related to plant stress (Hegde, 1986; Marouelli and Silva, 2007; Shock et al, 2000a). Irrigation scheduling by soil water potential criteria was reported to be a powerful method for optimizing plant performance (Shock and Wang, 2011) while minimizing the effects of water stress on the plants and the leaching of nutrients below the root zone, which can have adverse environmental impacts (Fares and Alva, 2000).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…With their shallow root systems, onion, celery, and spinach are sensitive to water stress, and an insufficient water supply during the growing period or seed germination (for spinach) may reduce crop production and quality. Threshold values of soil moisture in mineral soils have been developed for several vegetable crops including onion and celery (Breschini and Hartz, 2002; Phene and Beale, 1976; Phene and Howell, 1984; Shock and Wang, 2011).…”

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confidence: 99%

Optimal Irrigation for Onion and Celery Production and Spinach Seed Germination in Histosols

et al. 2014

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Increasing water scarcity in humid regions requires that food production increase its water use e ciency. Because the hydraulic characteristics of Histosols are di erent from those of mineral soils, water management for vegetable production must be adapted accordingly. e objective of this research was to determine the optimal soil water potential for irrigating onion (Allium cepa L.), celery (Apium graveolens L.), and spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) crops in muck soils. Onion and celery were subjected to three irrigation treatments scheduled when tensiometer readings reached -10 or -20 kPa for onion and -30 or -50 kPa (2008) and -15 or -30 kPa (2009) for celery compared with drier control treatments for both crops. For spinach, two irrigation treatments (-10 and -20 kPa) and a control (drier) were tested. Optimal onion marketable yields and jumbo size were obtained from irrigation at potentials above -20 kPa at the bulbing stage. Celery had the best yields with the treatments of 2009 relative to the drier control. e highest spinach germination rate and yield were obtained at -10 kPa. Reliable estimates of the optimal thresholds were consistent with calculations performed using a simple analytical solution to Richards' equation and soil characteristics. Irrigation thresholds for matric potential in a muck soil were shown to be crop speci c and could be derived from a model and basic soil hydraulic characteristics.

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Soil Water Tension, a Powerful Measurement for Productivity and Stewardship

Cited by 88 publications

References 68 publications

Plant functional groups mediate drought resistance and recovery in a multisite grassland experiment

Plant functional groups mediate drought resistance and recovery in a multisite grassland experiment

Matric potential-based irrigation management of field-grown strawberry: Effects on yield and water use efficiency

Optimal Irrigation for Onion and Celery Production and Spinach Seed Germination in Histosols

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