The Effects of Long‐term Fertiliser Applications on Soil Organic Carbon and Hydraulic Properties of a Loess Soil in China

Abstract

Based on a 28‐year in situ experiment, this paper investigated the impacts of organic and inorganic fertiliser applications on soil organic carbon (SOC) content and soil hydraulic properties of the silt loam (Eumorthic Anthrosols) soils derived from loess soil in the Guanzhong Plain of China. There were two crop (winter wheat and summer maize) rotations with conventional tillage. The treatments included control without fertiliser application, organic manure application (M), chemical fertiliser application (NP), and the application of organic manure with chemical fertiliser (MNP). The results showed that the 28‐year organic manure applications (M and MNP) significantly (p < 0·05) increased SOC content at surface layer (0–10 cm), but the effect of chemical fertilisers alone on SOC was not significant. Organic manure treatments (M and MNP) apparently improved soil hydraulic properties. Compared with control, field capacity and total porosity significantly (p < 0·05) increased while soil bulk density significantly (p < 0·05) decreased for organic manure applications. The M and MNP treatments increased soil water retentions by 3·2–10·8%, which was dependent of suction tensions. However, the NP treatment had no significantly impact on soil water retention compared with control. Neither organic nor inorganic fertiliser applications significantly changed saturated hydraulic conductivity. However, a clear difference was observed for unsaturated hydraulic conductivity between the M and the control at 0–5 cm. Overall, long‐term applications of organic manuring increased SOC content and amended soil hydraulic properties. However, the effects of chemical fertilisers on these soil properties were limited. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The significance of soils and soil science towards realization of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

“…Nothing is as convincing as a successful project. The second, the DPSIR approach (Skondras and Karavitis, 2015), can be useful when performing land-related research, as it distinguishes external drivers, pressures, impacts and responses to land-use change that affect the state of the land in the past, present and future (e.g. van Camp, 2008;Bouma et al, 2008;Mol and Keesstra, 2012).…”

“…WOCAT, 2007;Schwilch et al, 2012;Cerdà et al, 2016) implementation in practice is delayed, often for social reasons. Intensive agricultural practices that are accepted by commercial farms may lead to environmental pollution by biocides and excess fertilizers (Roy and McDonald, 2013;Shi et al, 2015;Sacristàn et al, 2015). The language and perceptions of farmers and environmentalists are still quite different, even though mutual understanding has increased in many countries.…”

The impact of organic amendments on soil hydrology, structure and microbial respiration in semiarid lands

“…Soil hydraulic conductivity is mainly affected by its structural (Zhou et al, 2008;Moncada et al, 2014;Schwen et al, 2014) and chemical characteristics (Ahmad et al, 2015;Shi et al, 2015). Reduced aggregate stability and lowered hydraulic conductivity can be responsible for severe soil erosion and other forms of land degradation (Mainuri and Owino, 2013;Mahmoodabadi and Cerdà, 2013;Arjmand Sajjadi and Mahmoodabadi, 2015a,b) and is clearly dependent on vegetation cover (Cassinari et al, 2015;De Boever et al, 2014;Ola et al, 2015).…”

Impact of 47 Years of No Tillage and Stubble Retention on Soil Aggregation and Carbon Distribution in a Vertisol

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