The Mechanical Impact of Water Affected the Soil Physical Quality of a Loam Soil under Minimum Tillage and No-Tillage: An Assessment Using Beerkan Multi-Height Runs and BEST-Procedure

Mirko Castellini, Anna Maria Stellacci, Danilo Sisto and Massimo Iovino
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Mirko Castellini: Council for Agricultural Research and Economics–Research Center for Agriculture and Environment (CREA–AA) Via C. Ulpiani 5, 70125 Bari, Italy
Anna Maria Stellacci: Department of Soil Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari “Aldo Moro” Via G. Amendola 165/a, 70126 Bari, Italy
Danilo Sisto: Department of Soil Plant and Food Sciences, University of Bari “Aldo Moro” Via G. Amendola 165/a, 70126 Bari, Italy
Massimo Iovino: Department of Agricultural Food and Forest Sciences, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128 Palermo, Italy

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: The multi-height (low, L = 3 cm; intermediate, M = 100 cm; high, H = 200 cm) Beerkan run methodology was applied on both a minimum tilled (MT) (i.e., up to a depth of 30 cm) and a no-tilled (NT) bare loam soil, and the soil water retention curve was estimated by the BEST-steady algorithm. Three indicators of soil physical quality (SPQ), i.e., macroporosity ( Pmac ), air capacity ( AC ) and relative field capacity ( RFC ) were calculated to assess the impact of water pouring height under alternative soil management practices. Results showed that, compared to the reference low run, M and H runs affected both the estimated soil water retention curves and derived SPQ indicators. Generally, M–H runs significantly reduced the mean values of Pmac and AC and increased RFC for both MT and NT soil management practices. According to the guidelines for assessment of SPQ, the M and H runs: (i) worsened Pmac classification of both MT and NT soils; (ii) did not worsen AC classification, regardless of soil management parameters; (iii) worsened RFC classification of only NT soil, as a consequence of insufficient soil aeration. For both soil management techniques, a strong negative correlation was found between the Pmac and AC values and the gravitational potential energy, E p , of the water used for the infiltration runs. A positive correlation was detected between RFC and E p . The relationships were plausible from a soil physics point of view. NT soil has proven to be more resilient than MT. This study contributes toward testing simple and robust methods capable of quantifying soil degradation effects, due to intense rainfall events, under different soil management practices in the Mediterranean environment.

Keywords: BEST-steady; soil water retention; soil physical quality; soil sealing; infiltration (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 (1)

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