Which quality indicators reflect the most sensitive changes in the soil properties of the surface horizons affected by the erosion processes?

Petra Bílá, Bořivoj Šarapatka, Ondřej Horňák, Jaroslava Novotná and Martin Brtnický
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Petra Bílá: Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Bořivoj Šarapatka: Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Ondřej Horňák: Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Palacký University, Olomouc, Czech Republic
Jaroslava Novotná: Agricultural Research, Ltd., Troubsko, Czech Republic
Martin Brtnický: Department of Agrochemistry, Soil Science, Microbiology and Plan Nutrition, Mendel University in Brno, Brno, Czech Republic

Soil and Water Research, 2020, vol. 15, issue 2, 116-124

Abstract: Soil erosion, especially water erosion, is one of the most widespread types of soil degradation, not only worldwide, but also within the Czech Republic, where it endangers more than a half of the agricultural land. In addition to farming, the landscape structure has a significant impact on soil erosion in the conditions under study, where, especially in the post-war period, the collectivisation of large-scale arable land was accompanied by the abolition of the associated landscape elements. The agricultural production area of South Moravia is one of the most endangered areas in the Czech Republic, therefore, it was selected for our research, whose main objective was to verify the sensitivity of the selected physical, chemical and biochemical characteristics to identify the changes in the soil properties in the erosion processes at the identified erosion areas. The testing was carried out within a period of 5 years in 60 locations with Chernozems with cultivated corn. To assess the quality of the soil properties, indicators of soil quality from the physical, chemical and biological - biochemical groups were selected. The results of the analyses and the subsequent statistical evaluation showed that the chemical characteristics, especially those related to the quantity and quality of the organic matter, were the most sensitive to the changes in the soil properties. From the biochemical indicators, some enzymes, particularly dehydrogenase and acid phosphatase, reacted sensitively. The physical characteristics were not significantly affected by the erosion processes.

Keywords: physical; chemical and biochemical characteristics; soil; soil quality indicators; water erosion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:15:y:2020:i:2:id:71-2019-swr

DOI: 10.17221/71/2019-SWR

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