Soil Water Retention as Affected by Management Induced Changes of Soil Organic Carbon: Analysis of Long-Term Experiments in Europe

Ioanna S. Panagea, Antonio Berti, Pavel Čermak, Jan Diels, Annemie Elsen, Helena Kusá, Ilaria Piccoli, Jean Poesen, Chris Stoate, Mia Tits, Zoltan Toth and Guido Wyseure
Additional contact information
Ioanna S. Panagea: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Antonio Berti: DAFNAE Department, University of Padova, 35122 Legnaro, Italy
Pavel Čermak: Crop Research Institute, Prague 6-Ruzyne, 16100 Prague, Czech Republic
Jan Diels: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Annemie Elsen: Soil Service of Belgium (BDB), 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Helena Kusá: Crop Research Institute, Prague 6-Ruzyne, 16100 Prague, Czech Republic
Ilaria Piccoli: DAFNAE Department, University of Padova, 35122 Legnaro, Italy
Jean Poesen: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
Chris Stoate: Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust, Allerton Project, Loddington, Leicester LE7 9XE, UK
Mia Tits: Soil Service of Belgium (BDB), 3001 Heverlee, Belgium
Zoltan Toth: Georgikon Campus Keszthely, Institute of Agronomy, Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2100 Gödöllő, Hungary
Guido Wyseure: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, 3001 Leuven, Belgium

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: Soil water retention (SWR) is an important soil property related to soil structure, texture, and organic matter (SOM), among other properties. Agricultural management practices affect some of these properties in an interdependent way. In this study, the impact of management-induced changes of soil organic carbon (SOC) on SWR is evaluated in five long-term experiments in Europe (running from 8 up to 54 years when samples were taken). Topsoil samples (0–15 cm) were collected and analysed to evaluate the effects of three different management categories, i.e., soil tillage, the addition of exogenous organic materials, the incorporation of crop residues affecting SOC and water content under a range of matric potentials. Changes in the total SOC up to 10 g C kg −1 soil (1%) observed for the different management practices, do not cause statistically significant differences in the SWR characteristics as expected. The direct impact of the SOC on SWR is consistent but negligible, whereas the indirect impact of SOC in the higher matric potentials, which are mainly affected by soil structure and aggregate composition, prevails. The different water content responses under the various matric potentials to SOC changes for each management group implies that one conservation measure alone has a limited effect on SWR and only a combination of several practices that lead to better soil structure, such as reduced soil disturbances combined with increased SOM inputs can lead to better water holding capacity of the soil.

Keywords: soil organic carbon; soil-water content; no-till; reduced tillage; manure; compost; soil care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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