An Experimental Study on Sodicity Effects on Rill Detachment Capacity

Evaluating the effects of forest tree species on rill detachment capacity in a semi-arid environment

The increase in global food demand imposes pressure on agricultural soils, leading to soil fertility decline, particularly in African countries.Organic soil conditioners have been used to improve soil fertility although they are not stable and decompose with time.Zeolite is a stable inorganic material that is gaining popularity as a soil conditioner for its ion exchange capacity and high cation exchange capacity (CEC).Zeolites are aluminosilicate minerals, having a negative charge which is balanced by cations.The nature of zeolite in soil needs to be understood as it has a bearing on soil fertility and agricultural potential.A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted at the Agricultural Research Council, Stellenbosch to assess the residual effects of zeolite on soil exchangeable cations (Ca, Na, Mg, and K) and soil CEC.The exchangeability of all soil cations and CEC was increased with zeolite application.Soil exchangeability of Na, Mg, and K in the second growing season was generally reduced (p<0.05) on the zeolite-amended treatments, compared to the first growing season.However, the CEC of all treatments was larger in the second season compared to that of the first growing season.The results of this study show that zeolite can be used to improve sandy soil fertility.However, in continuous cropping systems some of the base cations will require replenishment.

Introduction: Lack of water and deterioration in the quality of soil and water resources are considered to be the prime cause of reduced crop yield in arid and semi-arid regions ‘More crop per drop’ by trickle irrigation, deficit irrigation, and uncommon water are the best strategies for mitigating water crises. Different irrigation management strategies are needed to increase production in different areas. In areas where sufficient water is available, a full irrigation strategy could be a suitable option, while in areas where water is limited, deficit irrigation would be an appropriate method, and finally in areas where water resources are saline, management strategies for achieving sustainable production as well as economic yields would be suitable. Maize is the third most important grain crop in the world following wheat and rice and it is the main source of nutrition for humans and animals. Because of the importance of maize in the world, increasing maize production under environmental stresses is a big challenge for agricultural scientists. Different methods of irrigation and the use of saline water that had satisfactory results for increasing agricultural production have been studied by several investigators . The main objective of this study was to establish an efficient use of limited water resources as well as to explore the possibility of replacing saline water with fresh water using different management techniques. Materials and Methods: A field experiment was conducted over two maize cropping seasons (2012–2013) in northern Iran (Gorgan Agricultural Research Station) to compare different alternate irrigation scenarios using saline water on corn yield, salinity and soil moisture distribution in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Treatments were: T1 and T2 = 100 and 50 % of crop water requirement with non-saline water, respectively; T3 and T4 = variable and fixed full irrigation with saline and non-saline water in every other row, respectively; T5 and T6= fixed and variable deficit irrigation with non-saline water in every other rows, respectively and T7= full irrigation with saline water. To create the desired water salinity (8 dS/m), non-saline well water (1.5 dS/m) and drainage water (20–35 dS/m) were blended in different proportions. A T-tape drip irrigation system (20 m in length) was used in the field experiment. Results and Discussion: In general, corn yield in 2013 was about 1270 kg ha-1 higher than in 2012. From the weather records it can be seen that the second year was drier than the first year. Yield analysis showed that deficit irrigation treatments (T2, T5 & T6) and also alternate salinity treatments (T3 & T4) did not significantly difference. In other words, the deficit irrigation management had no effect on yield. Corn yield in T3 and T4 with 50% of saved fresh water was just reduced to 7 and 1 % of T1, respectively. As a result, comparing treatments T3 and T4 with full irrigation have shown that treatments T3 and T4 are the best option. Comparison of moisture distribution in deficit irrigation treatments showed the highest water content in surface and deep layers was related to the treatments T6 and T2, respectively. The distribution of salinity in the soil profile for treatments T3 and T4 showed that after two years of irrigation with saline water, there is the possibility of use saline water for corn production, but drainage and leaching of soil will need to maintain sustainability. Conclusion: Naturally, in water scarce areas that use some strategic management such as deficit irrigation or saline water use, there is available arable farmland to further develop the irrigated area, and thereby increase total production. According to the results of the two-years where there was a shortage of water to meet crop water requirement and saline water was not available, the use of deficit irrigation managements as described in this study can save fresh water resources and increase total production and farmer's income. If the region is facing a shortage of water resources and saline water is available nearby agricultural land, it is suggested to use alternate furrow irrigation with saline and non-saline water; with the crop water requirement being met by the saline water, the total output will be higher than using deficit irrigation management with non-saline water. Comparision of the distribution of moisture in deficit irrigation treatments showed that surface soil moisture was lower in the treatment of T5 because it was more lateral distribution. In the deeper layers, soil moisture of the treatment T2 was more than others, because it was the predominant infiltration. The two treatments T3 and T4 because of the combined matric and osmotic potential and the movement of water along the sides and deep percolation, resulting widely distributed in soil moisture and thus remaining lower moisture in the soil compare to full irrigation treatments. Consequently, this finding indicates that after two years of corn irrigation using saline (8 dS/m) and non-saline water in every other row (treatments T3 and T4) production can be increased, and in case of proper leaching and drainage management, agricultural sustainability will also preserve.

Effects of antecedent soil moisture on rill erodibility and critical shear stress

This paper aims to identify the spatial distribution of exchangeable base cations in soils on an acid hillslope and to investigate possible cation release processes from slope soils to the stream. The basic assumption underlying this research is that the amount of exchangeable cations in soils reflects the nutrient stores and cation leaching processes across the slope where vegetation and parent materials are similar. The distribution of exchangeable Ca2+, Mg2+, K+ and Na+ has been investigated on a three-dimensional hillslope on the Quantock Hills, Somerset, UK. A two-way ANOVA shows that soil depth is predominant in explaining the total variance of exchangeable bases, despite the steep slope gradient and clear podzolic catena development. Major nutrient base cations, such as Ca2+, Mg2+ and K+, display homogeneous topsoil storage right across the slope. This spatial pattern may indicate that the spatial distribution of major nutrient cations is tightly controlled by the soil–vegetation system in nutrient-poor heathland environments. Na+ is an exception to this vegetation-controlled spatial distribution, because of its small involvement in the soil–vegetation and soil exchangeable systems. In subsurface soils, cations liberated from the soil–vegetation system are subject to redistribution over the slope according to the hydrological flowpaths operating on the slope, with some eventually released into the stream. The saturated wedge developed at the base of the slope plays a key role in the storage and release processes of base cations from slope soils to the stream. Ca2+, Mg2+ and Na+ carried by throughflow are stored in the saturated wedge and gradually released into the stream at times of high flow. K+, however, shows an apparently different spatial behaviour, being deficient in the saturated wedge. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Determination of rill erodibility and critical shear stress of saturated purple soil slopes

Variability of rill detachment capacity with sediment size, water depth and soil slope in forest soils: A flume experiment

Hydromulch roots reduce rill detachment capacity by overland flow in deforested hillslopes

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) cover up to 60 to 70% of the soil surface in grasslands after the ‘Grain for Green’ project was implemented in 1999 to rehabilitate the Loess Plateau. However, few studies exist that quantify the effects of BSCs on the soil detachment process by overland flow in the Loess Plateau. This study investigated the potential effects of BSCs on the soil detachment capacity (Dc), and soil resistance to flowing water erosion reflected by rill erodibility and critical shear stress. Two dominant BSC types that developed in the Loess Plateau (the later successional moss and the early successional cyanobacteria mixed with moss) were tested against natural soil samples collected from two abandoned farmland areas. The samples were subjected to flow scouring under six different shear stresses ranging from 7.15 to 24.08 Pa. The results showed that Dc decreased significantly with crust coverage under both moss and mixed crusts. The mean Dc of bare soil (0.823 kg m−2 s−1) was 2.9 to 48.4 times greater than those of moss covered soil (0.017–0.284 kg m−2 s−1), while it (3.142 kg m−2 s−1) was 4.9 to 149.6 times greater than those of mixed covered soil (0.021–0.641 kg m−2 s−1). The relative detachment rate of BSCs compared with bare soils decreased exponentially with increasing BSC coverage for both types of BSCs. The Dc value can be simulated by flow shear stress, cohesion, and BSC coverage using a power function (NSE ≥ 0.59). Rill erodibility also decreased with coverage of both crust types. Rill erodibility of bare soil was 3 to 74 times greater than those of moss covered soil and was 2 to 165 times greater than those of mixed covered soil. Rill erodibility could also be estimated by BSC coverage in the Loess Plateau (NSE ≥ 0.91). The effect of crust coverage on critical shear stress was not significant. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Comparative study of soil erodibility and critical shear stress between loess and purple soils

Sensor-based management of container nursery crops irrigated with fresh or saline water

The relative displacing power of various exchangeable cations in soils depends on the difference between the ion activity in the outside solution and the inside micellar-ion activity of the clay minerals. Theoretical calculations on the relationships between exchange capacity and distribution of ions with different valencies are shown in a graph. Evidence for the presence of Donnan systems is provided by results of chemical studies of temperate, tropical and subtropical soils. The ratio of divalent and monovalent exchangeable cations and the Ca/Mg ratio in soils depend chiefly on the degree of base saturation of the soil colloid. Highly leached acid tropical soils contain more monovalent cations relative to divalent and more Mg relative to Ca than do illuvial, base-saturated soils, indicating that both a valence effect and an effect of activity coefficients play a part in the ion-distribution problem of soils. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)

Soil resistance to flowing water erosion of seven typical plant communities on steep gully slopes on the Loess Plateau of China

Soil exchange cations are a basic indicator of soil quality and environmental clean-up potential. The accurate and efficient acquisition of information on soil cation content is of great importance for the monitoring of soil quality and pollution prevention. At present, few scholars focus on soil exchangeable cations using remote sensing technology. This study proposes a new method for estimating soil cation content using hyperspectral data. In particular, we introduce Boruta and successive projection (SPA) algorithms to screen feature variables, and we use Guangdong Province, China, as the study area. The backpropagation neural network (BPNN), genetic algorithm–based back propagation neural network (GABP) and random forest (RF) algorithms with 10-fold cross-validation are implemented to determine the most accurate model for soil cation (Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, and Na+) content estimations. The model and hyperspectral images are combined to perform the spatial mapping of soil Mg2+ and to obtain the spatial distribution information of images. The results show that Boruta was the optimal algorithm for determining the characteristic bands of soil Ca2+ and Na+, and SPA was the optimal algorithm for determining the characteristic bands of soil K+ and Mg2+. The most accurate estimation models for soil Ca2+, K+, Mg2+, and Na+ contents were Boruta-RF, SPA-GABP, SPA-RF and Boruta-RF, respectively. The estimation effect of soil Mg2+ (R2 = 0.90, ratio of performance to interquartile range (RPIQ) = 3.84) was significantly better than the other three elements (Ca2+: R2 = 0.83, RPIQ = 2.47; K+: R2 = 0.83, RPIQ = 2.58; Na+: R2 = 0.85, RPIQ = 2.63). Moreover, the SPA-RF method combined with HJ-1A HSI images was selected for the spatial mapping of soil Mg2+ content with an R2 of 0.71 and RPIQ of 2.05. This indicates the ability of the SPA-RF method to retrieve soil Mg2+ content at the regional scale.

Impacts of rainfall and inflow on rill formation and erosion processes on steep hillslopes