Contributions of solid agents and pore structure to aggregate water and mechanical stability across a wide range of soil types

IF 8.4 1区农林科学 Q1 SOIL SCIENCE

Soil & Tillage Research Pub Date : 2026-05-01 Epub Date: 2025-12-06 DOI:10.1016/j.still.2025.107001

Xinliang Wu , Chenyu Wang , Zichun Lu , Hassan Ali

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Aggregate stability is crucial for soil processes and functions, and it is influenced by a wide range of intrinsic soil properties, which can be categorized into two groups: solid agents and pores. Due to the complexity of soil system, the relative importance of these two phases as well as their interactions in aggregate stability remains insufficiently understood, especially across different soil types. This study compiled data on aggregate water and mechanical stability, pore structure characteristics measured by X-ray micro-computed tomography and mercury intrusion porosimetry, and aggregating agents (including clay mineralogy, metal oxides, exchangeable cations, and organic matter) from a series of soil types. Redundancy analysis, variance partitioning analysis, and pathway analysis were applied to evaluate the contributions of pore structure and solid agents to both aggregate water and mechanical stability. Among the pore and agent parameters, fraction of regular pores and vermiculite separately possessed the largest explanatory power in aggregate water stability (R²=56.3 % and 48.0 %, p < 0.01), so did for textural porosity and exchangeable magnesium in aggregate mechanical stability (R²=40.2 % and 38.7 %, p < 0.01). These results suggested the stronger effects of pore structure than agents on aggregate stability. Variance partitioning analysis and pathway analysis results further revealed that clay minerals, exchangeable cations and organic matter regulated aggregate water and mechanical stability through distinct mechanisms, primarily via pore structure. Water stability relied largely on the morphology of structural pores, and mechanical stability relied on the volume of textural pores and the size of macropores. These findings facilitate an in-depth understanding of the different mechanisms of aggregate water and mechanical stability from the perspectives of pores and solid agents.

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固体介质和孔隙结构对各种土壤类型的水聚集和机械稳定性的贡献

团聚体稳定性对土壤的过程和功能至关重要，它受到广泛的土壤固有性质的影响，这些固有性质可分为两类：固体介质和孔隙。由于土壤系统的复杂性，这两个阶段及其相互作用在团聚体稳定性中的相对重要性仍然没有得到充分的认识，特别是在不同的土壤类型中。本研究收集了来自一系列土壤类型的团聚体水分和机械稳定性、x射线显微计算机断层扫描和汞侵入孔隙度测量的孔隙结构特征以及团聚剂（包括粘土矿物学、金属氧化物、交换阳离子和有机质）的数据。采用冗余分析、方差划分分析和通径分析等方法评价了孔隙结构和固体介质对团聚体水分和力学稳定性的影响。在孔隙和药剂参数中，规则孔隙和蛭石的分数分别对骨料水稳定性具有最大的解释力（R2=56.3 %和48.0 %,p <； 0.01），结构孔隙度和交换性镁对骨料机械稳定性具有最大的解释力（R2=40.2 %和38.7 %,p <； 0.01）。这些结果表明，孔隙结构对骨料稳定性的影响强于药剂。方差划分分析和途径分析结果进一步揭示了粘土矿物、交换阳离子和有机质通过不同的机制调节团聚体水分和力学稳定性，主要是通过孔隙结构。水稳定性主要取决于结构孔隙的形态，而机械稳定性主要取决于结构孔隙的体积和大孔隙的大小。这些发现有助于从孔隙和固体介质的角度深入了解聚集体水和机械稳定性的不同机制。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Soil & Tillage Research 农林科学-土壤科学

CiteScore

13.00

自引率

6.20%

发文量

266

审稿时长

5 months

期刊介绍： Soil & Tillage Research examines the physical, chemical and biological changes in the soil caused by tillage and field traffic. Manuscripts will be considered on aspects of soil science, physics, technology, mechanization and applied engineering for a sustainable balance among productivity, environmental quality and profitability. The following are examples of suitable topics within the scope of the journal of Soil and Tillage Research: The agricultural and biosystems engineering associated with tillage (including no-tillage, reduced-tillage and direct drilling), irrigation and drainage, crops and crop rotations, fertilization, rehabilitation of mine spoils and processes used to modify soils. Soil change effects on establishment and yield of crops, growth of plants and roots, structure and erosion of soil, cycling of carbon and nutrients, greenhouse gas emissions, leaching, runoff and other processes that affect environmental quality. Characterization or modeling of tillage and field traffic responses, soil, climate, or topographic effects, soil deformation processes, tillage tools, traction devices, energy requirements, economics, surface and subsurface water quality effects, tillage effects on weed, pest and disease control, and their interactions.