The Assessment of Soil Quality in Contrasting Land-Use and Tillage Systems on Farm Fields with Stagnic Luvisol Soil in Estonia

Abstract

Soil quality indicates the soil’s ability to provide ecosystem services. Reducing the tillage intensity has been suggested as an alternative to conventional tillage for sustaining soil quality. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of soil tillage systems on individual soil quality indicators in comparison to those on grassland with Stagnic Luvisol soil in Estonia. Four soil management systems were compared: no-tillage (NT), minimum tillage (MT), conventional tillage (CT) and grassland (G) as a reference. Soil quality indicators included physical (bulk density, water-stable aggregates, porosity, air-filled pores, moisture content, water-holding capacity, penetration resistance and water permeability), chemical (total N, total soil organic C, permanganate oxidisable C, pH, P, K, Ca and Mg) and biological (earthworm abundance) parameters. CT soils had a significantly lower aggregate stability compared to MT and G soils. The higher penetration resistance of CT under an arable layer suggested the presence of a plough pan. NT improved the soil’s physical quality at 5–10 cm, which was indicated by higher moisture content, water-holding capacity and porosity and a lower bulk density, whereas penetration resistance exceeded 2 MPa in the lower part of the topsoil. NT also had significantly lower total soil organic C and total N compared to MT and G. The absence of tillage in the NT and G systems may have improved the soil’s resistance to moisture loss under dry conditions, which, in turn, improved the soil habitability for earthworms a despite higher density. In general, NT or MT stabilised or increased the soil quality compared to CT.

Factors Influencing the Spatial Distribution of Regulating Agro-Ecosystem Services in Agriculture Soils: A Case Study of Slovakia

“…Agroecosystems perform climate regulation ecosystem service only in the case that they increase the amount of captured carbon in organic matter from year to year. Grasslands keep the soil under permanent plant cover, which has been considered as the optimal condition for soil quality as it prevents the disturbance of the soil structure, causing less organic carbon mineralization [82].…”

Peculiarities of tillage in the conditions of dry farming in the cultivation of soybeans

“…In this regard, it is very important to study the dynamics of density and hardness of soils with various methods of tillage. The significance of these studies increases due to the trend of mass transition to resource-saving technologies, the basis of which is the minimization of tillage in order to preserve soil moisture and optimal soil structure [12].…”