Implications of surfactant application on soil hydrology, macronutrients, and organic carbon fractions: An integrative field study

Cansu Almaz, Recep Serdar Kara, Markéta Miháliková and Svatopluk Matula
Additional contact information
Cansu Almaz: Department of Water Resources, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Recep Serdar Kara: Department of Water Resources, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Markéta Miháliková: Department of Water Resources, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic
Svatopluk Matula: Department of Water Resources, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic

Soil and Water Research, 2023, vol. 18, issue 4, 269-280

Abstract: This study investigates the effects of repeated applications of the non-ionic soil surfactant H2Flo (ICL-SF Inc., Israel) on the soil water content, hydraulic conductivity, nutrient distribution, and organic carbon fractions (OCFs) in non-hydrophobic loamy sand soils under subsurface drip irrigation. Our results indicate that H2Flo treatment reduces both saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity while promoting the uniform irrigation distribution, consistent with previous findings on surfactants' effects on sandy soils. An increase in soil pH levels, organic carbon content, and extractable magnesium, calcium, and potassium was observed in treated soils, with elevated levels of potassium permanganate oxidizable organic carbon (POXC) implying accelerated decomposition rates. Notably, a positive linear relationship was found between POXC and the increased NO3--N content of treated soils, suggesting induced conditions of nitrification. However, the carbon fractions water-soluble organic carbon (Cws) and hot water-soluble organic carbon (Chws) remained quantitatively unchanged, even though they exhibited a positive linear relationship with the soil's hydraulic conductivity. The study highlights the crucial role of monitoring changes in OCFs and nutrient dynamics after surfactant application to optimize soil organic matter utilization and chemical fertilizer management.

Keywords: extractable nutrients; nitrogen sources; hot water-soluble organic carbon; hydraulic conductivity; water-soluble organic carbon (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/88/2023-SWR.html (text/html)
http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/88/2023-SWR.pdf (application/pdf)
free of charge

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:18:y:2023:i:4:id:88-2023-swr

DOI: 10.17221/88/2023-SWR

Access Statistics for this article

Soil and Water Research is currently edited by Ing. Markéta Knížková, (Executive Editor)

More articles in Soil and Water Research from Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Ivo Andrle ().