Aggregate breakdown during tillage in a Mediterranean loamy soil

Long-term tillage negatively affects soil aggregation, but little is known about the short-term effects of tillage. We investigated the effects of intensive tillage (moldboard plowing) and conservation tillage (chisel plowing) on aggregate breakage during tillage in a long-term study located in the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Soil & tillage research 2008-09, Vol.101 (1), p.62-68
Main Authors: ALVAROFUENTES, J, ARRUE, J, CANTEROMARTINEZ, C, LOPEZ, M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
aggregate stability
Agronomy. Soil science and plant productions
Biological and medical sciences
Chisel plow
chiseling
Cropping systems. Cultivation. Soil tillage
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General agronomy. Plant production
loam soils
Mediterranean climate
Mediterranean conditions
Moldboard plow
particle size distribution
plowing
semiarid soils
semiarid zones
soil aggregates
Soil aggregation
Soil science
Soil tillage
Tillage. Tending. Growth control
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Summary:Long-term tillage negatively affects soil aggregation, but little is known about the short-term effects of tillage. We investigated the effects of intensive tillage (moldboard plowing) and conservation tillage (chisel plowing) on aggregate breakage during tillage in a long-term study located in the semiarid Ebro river valley (NE Spain). The type of tillage resulted in different soil aggregate distributions. In the 0–5-cm and 5–10-cm soil layers, chisel plowing decreased dry mean weight diameter (DMWD) 29% and 35%, respectively, while moldboard plowing decreased DMWD by only 2% and 16%, respectively. The decrease in DMWD was mainly due to breaking of large aggregates ranging (2–8 mm) into small aggregates (
ISSN:0167-1987
1879-3444
DOI:10.1016/j.still.2008.06.004