Sward lifting in compacted grassland: effects on soil structure, grass rooting and productivity

Bôer, H.; Deru, J.G.C.; Eekeren, N.J.M. van

doi:10.1016/j.still.2018.07.013

Cited by 20 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…When the introduction of high yielding grassland varieties is necessary, the focus should be on oversowing (i.e., non-destructively adding grass seeds to the existing sward) rather than renewing the grassland [64]. Moreover, farm management should focus on minimizing the need for renewal by good grassland management, e.g., maintaining desirable grasses by grazing, ample fertilization, irrigation and preventing and ameliorating soil compaction [65,66].…”

Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Productivity and Topsoil Quality of Young and Old Permanent Grassland: An On-Farm Comparison

et al. 2020

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Renewing agricultural grasslands for improved yields and forage quality generally involves eliminating standing vegetation with herbicides, ploughing and reseeding. However, grassland renewal may negatively affect soil quality and related ecosystem services. On clay soil in the north of the Netherlands, we measured grass productivity and soil chemical parameters of ‘young’ (5–15 years since last grassland renewal) and ‘old’ (>20 years since last grassland renewal) permanent grasslands, located as pairs at 10 different dairy farms. We found no significant difference with old permanent grassland in herbage dry matter yield and fertilizer nitrogen (N) response, whereas herbage N yield was lower in young permanent grassland. Moreover, the young grassland soil contained less soil organic matter (SOM), soil organic carbon (C) and soil organic N compared to the old grassland soil. Grass productivity was positively correlated with SOM and related parameters such as soil organic C, soil organic N and potentially mineralizable N. We conclude that on clay soils with 70% desirable grasses (i.e., Lolium perenne and Phleum pratense) or more, the presumed yield benefit of grassland renewal is offset by a loss of soil quality (SOM and N-total). The current practice of renewing grassland after 10 years without considering the botanical composition, is counter-productive and not sustainable.

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Section: Practical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Productivity and Topsoil Quality of Young and Old Permanent Grassland: An On-Farm Comparison

et al. 2020

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“…Indringingsweerstand bij zes demovelden die in 2020 werden gecontinueerd voor de blend en Groene Weide Meststof, voorjaar 2020. Zie voor schadedrempel en woeldrempel De Boer et al (2018;2020).…”

Section: Figuurunclassified

Toetsing van de Groene Weide Meststof in de praktijk : Demovelden van de gebiedsgerichte pilot Kunstmestvrije Achterhoek, 2020

Ehlert

Boer²,

Lippe

et al. 2021

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“…In these grasslands, the sandy soils are characterized by low waterand nutrient-holding capacities, limiting primary production (Knapp, Briggs, & Koelliker, 2001). Furthermore, the high sand contents of the soils result in them being particularly susceptible to severe wind and water erosion (De Boer, Deru, & Van Eekeren, 2018), and the amount and quality of new dust inputs is very important for replacing eroded material and maintaining soil microbial diversity and ecosystem productivity (Gupta & Germida, 2015;Hao et al, 2017;Wang, Brewer, et al, 2018). Critically, because the loss of productivity in sandy grasslands has been shown to be mainly caused by soil degradation (Schoenholtz, Van Miegroet, & Burger, 2000), improvement of soil structure may be key for restoring and enhancing the productivity of these ecosystems.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment addition and legume cultivation result in sustainable, long‐term increases in ecosystem functions of sandy grasslands

Lü²,

Zhang

et al. 2019

Land Degrad Dev

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Desertification of sandy grasslands is an increasing problem, with serious negative impacts on ecosystem functions. Sandy grasslands are fragile with low ecosystem productivity mainly because of the sandy soil structure with low water and nutrient holding capacities and especially low levels of nitrogen. Here, we evaluate the long‐term impacts of sediment addition from a local reservoir, and grass and legume cultivation (artificial grasslands) on a sandy grassland in eastern Inner Mongolia, China. The results showed that even after 32 years, sediment addition had improved soil structure significantly, that is, increasing of silt and clay contents, soil bulk density, and water holding capacity. As the result of improved soil structure, ecosystem functions, including aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and soil carbon, nitrogen (N), and phosphorus storage, increased significantly. Net C, N, and P sequestration increased even after accounting for the sediment addition, due, at least partially, to the greater plant biomass trapping large quantities of wind‐blown dust. Plant cultivation, especially the addition of a legume, further increased ANPP significantly, that is, the cultivation of Leymus chinensis and the legume Medicago sativa increased ANPP 6.99 and 44.62 times, respectively. Our study highlights that improvements in soil structure and cultivation with legume species can increased substantially the productivity of sandy grasslands and that the initial increases in grass biomass promoted the sequestration of wind‐blown dust, which helped sustain the increases in productivity.

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Sward lifting in compacted grassland: effects on soil structure, grass rooting and productivity

Cited by 20 publications

References 31 publications

Productivity and Topsoil Quality of Young and Old Permanent Grassland: An On-Farm Comparison

Productivity and Topsoil Quality of Young and Old Permanent Grassland: An On-Farm Comparison

Toetsing van de Groene Weide Meststof in de praktijk : Demovelden van de gebiedsgerichte pilot Kunstmestvrije Achterhoek, 2020

Sediment addition and legume cultivation result in sustainable, long‐term increases in ecosystem functions of sandy grasslands

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