Topographic Indices and Yield Variability in a Rolling Landscape of Western Canada

doi:10.1016/S1002-0160(09)60127-2

Pedosphere

Volume 19, Issue 3, June 2009, Pages 362-370

https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(09)60127-2 Get rights and content

ABSTRACT

Understanding the relationships between topographic indices and crop yield variability is important for soil management and crop production in rolling landscape. Two agricultural fields at Alvena and Hepburn, Saskatchewan, Canada were selected to examine how topographic indices were related to wheat yield under two topographic and weather conditions in the Canadian prairies. The landscapes of the two sites are classified as hummocky and the dominant soil type is an Aridic Ustoll. The relationships among yield, topography, soil, and weather were analyzed using wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) grain yield from Alvena in 2001 (dry year) and 2004 (wet year) and from Hepburn in 1998 (dry year). Topographic/soil indices included relative elevation, wetness index, upslope length, curvature, soil organic matter, and soil moisture storage before seeding. The results indicated that, in the dry years, the correlation coefficients between upslope length and grain yield were 0.79 for the typical rolling landscape (Alvena) in 2001 and 0.73 for shallow gentle rolling landscape (Hepburn) in 1998. In the wet year (2004), the relationships between yield and topographic/soil attributes were not as strong as in dry years. Therefore, upslope length was the best yield indicator for the two landscapes in dry years, whereas no topographic indices were highly correlated to crop yield in wet years. Those topographic indices seemed useful in identifying the yield variability and delineating the proper management zone.

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A multiple flow direction algorithm was employed to obtain the catchment area (Freeman, 1991). The topographic wetness index was derived from the slope and catchment area parameters (Moore et al., 1991), which is related to the soil moisture redistribution in the landscape or soil erosion and accumulation (Chi et al., 2009). where Im and Re denote the imaginary and real part of WiXY(s) respectively.
Efficient scale- and location-specific soil micronutrients management is important for crop yield and environmental quality. This usually requires knowledge on scale- and location-specific control of soil micronutrients, which is not readily available from the traditional correlation analysis. The objective of this study was to analyze the scale- and location-specific relationships between surface (0–20 cm) soil available micronutrients (Cu, Fe, Mn, and Zn) and environmental factors by wavelet coherency analysis. For this purpose, soil available micronutrients, soil pH, soil organic matter (SOM), and topographic factors were obtained at 1 km interval along a 117 km-transect in the arable land of Fen River basin, China. The results showed that Cu, Mn, and Zn were positively correlated with SOM at scales 32–40 km at all locations, while Fe was positively correlated with SOM at scales 7–16 km at locations 75–117 km. Soil pH had negative influences on Cu and Zn at scales 25–40 km at all locations and on Fe at scales 12–21 km at locations 1–64 km. Both Cu and Zn had significantly negative relationships with aspect at scales 15–32 km at all locations, which cannot be detected at the sampling scale by the traditional correlation analysis. Wetness index had a significant impact on the distribution of Zn at scales 24–38 km at all locations and at scales 14–24 km at locations 1–60 km. Although elevation and slope showed significant correlations with Cu, Mn, and Zn at the sampling scale, wavelet coherence did not show any significant correlations in the scale-location domain. Therefore, the relationships of soil available micronutrients and influencing factors were scale- and location-dependent, which implies that different management practices are needed at different scales and locations to improve the global level of soil available micronutrients in the arable land of Fen River basin.
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Citation Excerpt :
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The use of cover crops is reported to enhance ecosystem services, however their adoption by farmers has remained limited. A challenge to farmer uptake is high spatial and temporal variability in cover crop growth and performance. Since topography plays an important role in spatial processes that ultimately affect plant performance, it could be used to quantify cover crop spatial variability and cover crop contribution to a subsequent cash crop. We assessed the effects of topography and cover crop (red clover) biomass on corn yields. Hierarchical path analysis was used to identify direct and indirect relationships among topography, red clover biomass, and corn yield, while taking into account the effects of agricultural management practices, multiple years, and multiple experimental fields. We observed that topography contribute significantly to explaining the variability in both red clover biomass and corn yields. Higher red clover biomass was produced in flat areas, whereas higher corn yield was produced in areas with high curvature. Red clover biomass positively influenced corn yield, however, the magnitude of that effect varied both temporally and spatially. The effect of red clover on corn yields was significant only in the years with lowest precipitation; and its magnitude was more pronounced at summit and slope topographical positions. Therefore, a good cover crop stand will be most beneficial to subsequent corn crop at summit and slope positions. Accounting for variability in fields and years using a hierarchical model significantly improved analysis of the interactive relationships between topography, red clover, and corn; therefore we encouraged its use in agroecological research.

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: Project supported by the National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada.

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Topographic Indices and Yield Variability in a Rolling Landscape of Western Canada

ABSTRACT

A physically-based, variable contributing area model of basin hydrology

Hydrol. Sci. Bull.

Slope position and grain yield of soft white winter wheat

Agron. J.

Selected soil properties' variability and their relationships with yield in three Mississippi fields

Soil Sci.

Particle size analysis by hydrometer: A simplified method for routine textural analysis and a sensitivity test of measurement parameters

Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.

Performance of a variable tillage system based on interactions with landscape and soil

Precis. Agr.

Measurement, scaling, and topographic analyses of spatial crop yield and soil water content

Hydrol. Process.

Topographic effects on spring wheat yield and water use

Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J.

Relationships of corn and soybean yield to soil and terrain properties

Agron. J.

Correlation of corn and soybean grain yield with topography and soil properties

Agron. J.

Tillage translocation and tillage erosion in the complex upland landscapes of southwestern Ontario, Canada

Soil Till. Res.

Wheat yield and grain protein variation within an undulating soil landscape

Can. J. Soil Sci.

Evaluation of maize yield spatial variability based on field flow density

Biosyst. Eng.

Identifying important factors influencing corn yield and grain quality variability using artificial neural networks

Precis. Agr.