Pedosphere 20(4): 419--426, 2010
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2010 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Effect of sprinkler and border irrigation on topsoil structure in winter wheat field |
SUN Ze-Qiang1,2 , KANG Yao-Hu2 and JIANG Shu-Fang2 |
1 Soil and Fertilizer Institute, Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jinan 250100 (China);
2 Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101 (China) |
| ABSTRACT |
| A two-year experiment was carried out on the effect of sprinkler irrigation on the topsoil structure in a winter wheat field. A border-irrigated field was used as the control group. The total soil porosity, pore size distribution, pore shape distribution, soil cracks and soil compaction were measured. The sprinkler irrigation brought significant changes to the total soil porosity, capillary porosity, air-filled porosity and pore shape of topsoil layers in comparison with the border irrigation. The total porosity and air-filled porosity of the topsoil in the sprinkler irrigation were higher than those in the border irrigation. The changes in the air-filled and elongated pores were the main reasons for the changes in total porosity. The porosities of round and irregular pores in topsoil under sprinkler irrigation were lower than those under border irrigation. Sprinkler irrigation produced smaller soil cracks than border irrigation did, so sprinkler irrigation may restrain the development of macropore flow in comparison with border irrigation. The topsoil was looser under sprinkler irrigation than under border irrigation. According to the conditions of topsoil structure, it is preferable for crops to grow under sprinkler irrigation than under border irrigation. |
| Key Words: macropore flow, soil compaction, soil crack, soil pore shape, soil porosity |
| Citation: Sun, Z. Q., Kang, Y. H. and Jiang, S. F. 2010. Effect of sprinkler and border irrigation on topsoil structure in winter wheat field. Pedosphere. 20(4): 419-426. |
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