Pedosphere 15(2): 255--, 2005
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2005 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Effect of cultivation on soil organic matter and aggregate stability |
A. WILLIAMS1 , XING Bao-Shan1,2 and P. VENEMAN1 |
1 Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003 (USA). E-mail: andrew.wzllzams@fl.usda.gov
2 Northeast Institute of Geography and Agro-Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin 150040 (China) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Agricultural sustainability relates directly to maintaining or enhancing soil quality. Soil quality studies in Canada during the 1980's showed that loss of soil organic matter (SOM) and soil aggregate stability was standard features of non-sustainable land management in agroecosystems. In this study total soil organic carbon (SOC), particulate organic matter (POM), POM-C as a percentage of total SOC, and aggregate stability were determined for three cultivated fields and three adjacent grassland fields to assess the impact of conventional agricultural management on soil quality. POM was investigated using solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to determine any qualitative differences that may be attributed to cultivation. Results show a highly significant loss in total SOC, POM and aggregate stability in the cultivated fields as compared to the grassland fields and a significant loss of POM-C as a percentage of total SOC. Integrated results of the NMR spectra of the POM show a loss in carbohydrate-C and an increase in aromatic-C in the cultivated fields, which translates to a loss of biological lability in the organic matter. Conventional cultivation decreased the quantity and quality of SOM and caused a loss in aggregate stability resulting in an overall decline in soil quality. |
| Key Words: aggregate stability, cultivation, NMR, particulate organic matter, soil organic matter |
| Citation: Williams, A., Xing, B. S. and Veneman, P. 2005. Effect of cultivation on soil organic matter and aggregate stability. Pedosphere. 15(2): 255-. |
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