The merits of the Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure method (VESS) for assessing soil physical quality in the remote, undeveloped regions of the Amazon basin

Guimarães, Rachel Muylaert Locks; Neves, Afrânio Ferreira; Silva, Wellington G.; Rogers, Craig D.; Ball, B. C.; Montes, Célia Regina; Pereira, Bruno Fernando Faria

doi:10.1016/j.still.2016.10.014

Cited by 35 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…The identification and assessment of separate layers when using VSE have been widely advocated (Giarola et al ., ; Guimarães et al ., ; Cherubin et al ., ), notably in grassland (Newell‐Price et al ., ; Ball et al ., ) because understanding the position of compacted layers aids management (Guimarães et al ., ; Ball et al ., ). A previous survey of Irish grasslands (Cui et al ., ) and this survey show that root‐mats are typical of temperate grasslands, as also reported for tropical pastures (Cherubin et al ., ; Guimarães et al ., ). Root‐mats appear only absent with severe stress, and when missing, GrassVESS treats the upper 6 cm of soil as a ‘root‐mat zone’, indicative of severe damage.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…GrassVESS addresses the typical structure of pasture soils found in many parts of the world, and because it is based on VESS, which has been used globally (e.g. Munkholm et al ., ; Pulido Moncada et al ., ; Guimarães et al ., ), GrassVESS is potentially usable for any grassland soil. Further testing of the detail of GrassVESS in other regions is a critical next step in its development.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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GrassVESS: a modification of the visual evaluation of soil structure method for grasslands

Emmet‐Booth

Bondi

Fenton

et al. 2018

Soil Use and Management

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Visual evaluation of soil structure (VESS) is used for assessing arable management impact on soil quality. When used on pastures, operators have identified limitations because VESS does not consider a surface root‐mat typical of managed grassland. The structure of the root‐mat may be indicative of nutrient use efficiency, pollution potential and subsurface compaction. The objectives of this research were to develop GrassVESS for grassland soil management, to compare it with VESS and quantitative physical indicators and to assess its utility for soil management. GrassVESS maintained the methodological strengths of VESS, but uses a flow chart, grassland images and a new root‐mat score. A focus group found GrassVESS to be quicker, dealt better with technical information and made root‐mat evaluation easier. The range of structural quality scores assigned by the focus group for a site was less for GrassVESS than VESS, suggesting the procedure is more reproducible, thus suitable for use by a range of stakeholders. GrassVESS was also deployed at 30 grassland sites across Ireland. Results indicated that GrassVESS generated the same overall diagnoses as VESS, but the GrassVESS root‐mat structural quality score was better related to bulk density, total porosity at 5–10 cm and a visual estimation of damaged sward area. It was concluded that GrassVESS has improved the VESS method for the specific assessment of grassland soil structural quality and could be used in real‐time farm management decision support.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

GrassVESS: a modification of the visual evaluation of soil structure method for grasslands

Emmet‐Booth

Bondi

Fenton

et al. 2018

Soil Use and Management

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“…in Paraná State, Brazil, no-till soybean yield decreased with VESS soil quality when sampled at intervals along a transect, with the effect being significant at <10% probability level (Giarola et al 2013 ). VESS also has benefits of easy comprehension, minimal equipment and ability to be used in remote locations such as the Amazon basin where soil limitations to crop productivity caused by grazing and ‘slash and burn’ management have been identified (Guimarães et al 2017 ).…”

Section: Direct Connectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A framework of connections between soil and people can help improve sustainability of the food system and soil functions

Ball

Hargreaves

Watson

2017

Ambio

Self Cite

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Globally soil quality and food security continue to decrease indicating that agriculture and the food system need to adapt. Improving connection to the soil by knowledge exchange can help achieve this. We propose a framework of three types of connections that allow the targeting of appropriate messages to different groups of people. Direct connection by, for example, handling soil develops soil awareness for management that can be fostered by farmers joining groups on soil-focused farming such as organic farming or no-till. Indirect connections between soil, food and ecosystem services can inform food choices and environmental awareness in the public and can be promoted by, for example, gardening, education and art. Temporal connection revealed from past usage of soil helps to bring awareness to policy workers of the need for the long-term preservation of soil quality for environmental conservation. The understanding of indirect and temporal connections can be helped by comparing them with the operations of the networks of soil organisms and porosity that sustain soil fertility and soil functions.

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“…Direct, fast, and sensitive methods to different management systems and their consequences in the long term can be used (Askari et al, 2013;Guimarães et al, 2017) to help decision making about a suitable soil management e.g., visual soil evaluation (VSA) (Shepherd et al, 2009). Direct field evaluations such as methods of visual soil evaluation are presented as complementary or alternative methods for a fast and efficient evaluation of the soil structural conditions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers from different parts of the world have tested the capacity and consistency of VESS to determine the soil structural quality, contrasts in texture conditions, land use, and soil management (Askari et al, 2013;Ball et al, 2013;Munkholm et al, 2013;Abdollahi and Munkholm, 2014;Pulido-Moncada et al, 2014a;Pulido-Moncada et al, 2014b;Askari and Holden, 2015;Cui and Holden, 2015;Guimarães et al, 2017). In Brazil, VESS has been used and validated mainly for Oxisols, in no-tillage, and other management systems, evidencing the reliability of the method as an alternative to monitor soil quality (Giarola et al, 2009;Giarola et al, 2013;Silva et al, 2014;Cherubin et al, 2017;Guimarães et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual Evaluation of the Soil Structure under Different Management Systems in Lowlands in Southern Brazil

Tuchtenhagen

Lima

Bamberg

et al. 2018

Rev. Bras. Ciênc. Solo

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The "Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure" (VESS) is a method used primarily to evaluate the soil structural quality of Oxisols in Brazil and secondly for more specific research, consultancy, and teaching purposes. Since the methodology was never applied and compared with laboratory evaluations of physical properties of hydromorphic soils of the Pampa biome in the south of Brazil, this study evaluated the use of VESS as a visual indicator of the structure quality of a typic eutrophic Albaqualf soil under native grassland, crop-livestock integration, no-tillage, and conventional management systems. Experimental areas with these different management systems were subjected to visual (VESS) and laboratory evaluation of the soil structure. The laboratory evaluation was based on traditional methods and on measurements of bulk density, porosity, aggregate mean weight diameter, aggregate tensile strength (ATS), and total organic carbon (TOC). It was concluded that VESS was efficient in differentiating the management system. The management systems based on minimum soil disturbance and mulching with crop residues improved the soil quality, as evidenced by the VESS scores, bulk density, porosity, aggregation, and organic carbon. The TOC content was inversely related with ATS. The quality of a typic eutrophic Albaqualf was benefitted by organic matter in the surface layer.

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The merits of the Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure method (VESS) for assessing soil physical quality in the remote, undeveloped regions of the Amazon basin

Cited by 35 publications

References 38 publications

GrassVESS: a modification of the visual evaluation of soil structure method for grasslands

GrassVESS: a modification of the visual evaluation of soil structure method for grasslands

A framework of connections between soil and people can help improve sustainability of the food system and soil functions

Visual Evaluation of the Soil Structure under Different Management Systems in Lowlands in Southern Brazil

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