Soil最新文献

{"title":"Pooled error variance and covariance estimation of sparse in situ soil moisture sensor measurements in agricultural fields in Flanders","authors":"Marit G. A. Hendrickx, Jan Vanderborght, Pieter Janssens, Sander Bombeke, Evi Matthyssen, Anne Waverijn, Jan Diels","doi":"10.5194/soil-11-435-2025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-435-2025","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Accurately quantifying errors in soil moisture measurements from in situ sensors at fixed locations is essential for reliable state and parameter estimation in probabilistic soil hydrological modeling. This quantification becomes particularly challenging when the number of sensors per field or measurement zone (MZ) is limited. When direct calculation of errors from sensor data in a certain MZ is not feasible, we propose to pool systematic and random errors of soil moisture measurements for a specific measurement setup and derive a pooled error covariance matrix that applies to this setup across different fields and soil types. In this study, a pooled error covariance matrix was derived using soil moisture sensor measurements from three TEROS 10 (Meter Group, Inc., USA) sensors per MZ and soil moisture sampling campaigns conducted over three growing seasons, covering 93 cropping cycles in agricultural fields with diverse soil textures in Belgium. The MZ soil moisture estimated from a composite of nine soil samples with a small standard error (0.0038 m3 m−3) was considered the “true” MZ soil moisture. Based on these measurement data, we established a pooled linear recalibration of the TEROS 10 manufacturer's sensor calibration function. Then, for each individual sensor as well as for each MZ, we identified systematic offsets and temporally varying residual deviations between the calibrated sensor data and sampling data. Sensor deviations from the “true” MZ soil moisture were defined as observational errors and lump both measurement errors and representational errors. Since a systematic offset persists over time, it contributes to the temporal covariance of sensor observational errors. Therefore, we estimated the temporal covariance of observational errors of the individual and the MZ-averaged sensor measurements from the variance of the systematic offsets across all sensors and MZ averages, while the random error variance was derived from the variance of the pooled residual deviations. The total error variance was then obtained as the sum of these two components. Due to spatial soil moisture correlation, the variance and temporal covariance of MZ-averaged sensor observational errors could not be derived accurately from the individual sensor error variances and temporal covariances, assuming that the individual observational errors of the three sensors in a MZ were not correlated with each other. The pooled error covariance matrix of the MZ-averaged soil moisture measurements indicated a significant autocorrelation of sensor observational errors of 0.518, as the systematic error standard deviation (σα‾= 0.033 m3 m−3) was similar to the random error standard deviation (σϵ‾= 0.032 m3 m−3). To illustrate the impact of error covariance in probabilistic soil hydrological modeling, a case study was presented incorporating the pooled error covariance matrix in a Bayesian inverse modeling framework. These results demonstrate that the common assump","PeriodicalId":48610,"journal":{"name":"Soil","volume":"173 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144278268","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Using 3D observations with high spatio-temporal resolution to calibrate and evaluate a process-focused cellular automaton model of soil erosion by water","authors":"Anette Eltner, David Favis-Mortlock, Oliver Grothum, Martin Neumann, Tomáš Laburda, Petr Kavka","doi":"10.5194/soil-11-413-2025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-413-2025","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Future global change is likely to give rise to novel combinations of the factors which enhance or inhibit soil erosion by water. Thus, there is a need for erosion models, necessarily process-focused ones, which are able to reliably represent the rates and extents of soil erosion under unprecedented circumstances. The process-focused cellular automaton erosion model RillGrow is, given initial soil surface microtopography for a plot-sized area, able to predict the emergent patterns produced by runoff and erosion. This study explores the use of structure-from-motion photogrammetry as a means to calibrate and evaluate this model by capturing detailed, time-lapsed data for soil surface height changes during erosion events. Temporally high-resolution monitoring capabilities (i.e. 3D models of elevation change at 0.1 Hz frequency) permit the evaluation of erosion models in terms of the sequence of the formation of erosional features. Here, multiple objective functions using three different spatio-temporal averaging approaches are assessed for their suitability in calibrating and evaluating the model's output. We used two sets of data from field- and laboratory-based rainfall simulation experiments lasting 90 and 30 min, respectively. By integrating 10 different calibration metrics, the outputs of 2000 and 2400 RillGrow runs for, respectively, the field and laboratory experiments were analysed. No single model run was able to adequately replicate all aspects of either the field or the laboratory experiments. The multiple objective function approaches highlight different aspects of model performance, indicating that no single objective function can capture the full complexity of erosion processes. They also highlight different strengths and weaknesses of the model. Depending on the focus of the evaluation, an ensemble of objective functions may not always be necessary. These results underscore the need for more nuanced evaluation of erosion models, e.g. by incorporating spatial-pattern comparison techniques to provide a deeper understanding of the model's capabilities. Such calibrations are an essential complement to the development of erosion models which are able to forecast the impacts of future global change. For the first time, we use data with a very high spatio-temporal resolution to calibrate a soil erosion model.","PeriodicalId":48610,"journal":{"name":"Soil","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144268643","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil physico-chemical indicators for ecosystem services: a focus on water regulation","authors":"Binyam Alemu Yosef, Angelo Basile, Antonio Coppola, Fabrizio Ungaro, Marialaura Bancheri","doi":"10.5194/egusphere-2025-1927","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1927","url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Abstract.</strong> This study investigates the intricate relationship between soil properties and water-related processes, with a focus on their collective impact on ecosystem service provision, particularly water regulation. Conducted in three diverse regions Marchfeld (Austria), Bologna (North Italy) and Rmel (Tunisia), the research aims to identify key soil properties that influence water infiltration (INF), groundwater recharge (GWR), and crop water stress indexes (CWSI). Key soil characteristics such as saturated hydraulic conductivity (<em>K_S</em>), available water content (AWC), bulk density (BD), saturated water content (<em>θ_s</em>)<em>,</em> organic matter (OM), clay content and soil depth were analyzed for their role in regulating water movement and the overall hydrological balance. Pairwise correlation and multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess the interactions among soil water balance processes and soil properties. The results reveal significant variations between regions in terms of the factors that control infiltration, groundwater recharge, and CWSI. For example, in Marchfeld infiltration showed a strong positive correlation with BD (r = 0.74, p &lt; 0.001), while CWSI had the most significant negative correlation with soil depth (r = -0.35, p &lt; 0.001). Futhermore, multiple linear regression models were developed to assess the relevance of the different soil properties and of their interactions on the components of the soil water balance. As an example, in Marchfeld, the model for infiltration (r = 0.79, p &lt; 0.001) was highly predictive, incorporating Clay, OM and soil depth. These results emphasize the critical role of key soil properties <em>K_S</em>, AWC, BD, OM, clay content, <em>θ_s</em> and soil depth in controlling soil water processes. The study highlights the value of using these properties in predictive models to inform water management practices to optimize crop performance and soil conservation in different agricultural settings.","PeriodicalId":48610,"journal":{"name":"Soil","volume":"22 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144268644","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Managed black truffle-producing systems have greater soil fungal network complexity and distinct functional roles compared to wild systems","authors":"Vasiliki Barou, Jorge Prieto-Rubio, Mario Zabal-Aguirre, Javier Parladé, Ana Rincón","doi":"10.5194/egusphere-2025-2078","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2078","url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Abstract.</strong> Black truffle (<em>Tuber melanosporum</em> Vittad.), a valued edible fungus, has been thoroughly studied for its ability to modify soil conditions and influence microbial communities in its environment as it dominates the space. While direct associations of black truffle with microbial guilds offer insights into its competitiveness, the role of these interactions in ecosystem functions remain unclear. This study aims to assess the patterns of soil fungal community within the black truffle brûlés across different producing systems (managed <em>vs</em> wild) and seasons (autumn <em>vs</em> spring), to determine the role <em>of T. melanosporum</em> in the structure of the fungal networks, and to identify the contribution of main fungal guilds to soil functioning in these systems. To address this, network analysis was employed to construct the fungal co-occurrence networks in the brûlés of black truffle plantations and wild production areas in forests. Black truffle plantations showed greater fungal homogeneity, network complexity and links compared to forests, indicating enhanced stability, possibly due to reduced plant diversity and uniform conditions, while seasonality did not affect the fungal network structure. Despite its dominance in the brûlés, <em>T. melanosporum</em> was not a hub species in neither truffle-producing systems and exhibited few interactions, mainly with saprotrophs and plant pathogens. Saprotrophic fungi, with partial contributions from ectomycorrhizal and plant pathogen guilds, were the key contributors to carbon and nutrient cycling in both systems. These results improve our understanding of the ecology, biodiversity and functioning of black truffle-dominated soils that could enable more effective management strategies in black truffle plantations.","PeriodicalId":48610,"journal":{"name":"Soil","volume":"45 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144218900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Circular economy approach in phosphorus fertilization based on vivianite must be tailored to soil properties","authors":"Tolulope Ayeyemi, Ramiro Recena, Ana María García-López, José Manuel Quintero, María Carmen del Campillo, Antonio Delgado","doi":"10.5194/egusphere-2025-1460","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1460","url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Abstract.</strong> Although there is relevant knowledge based on the effect of soil properties on the efficiency of common commercial fertilizers, this effect remains poorly understood for the use of vivianite from water purification as an innovative P fertilizer meeting a circular economy approach. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of soil properties on the efficiency of vivianite recovered from water purification as a P fertilizer and to provide practical recommendations for its effective use. Vivianite and a soluble mineral P fertilizer (superphosphate) were compared at two P application rates (50 and 100 mg P kg^–1) in soils ranging widely in properties in a pot experiment using wheat. Soluble P fertilizer provided the best results in terms of dry matter (DM) yield, P uptake, and Olsen P in soils, while vivianite led to the best results of DTPA extractable Fe in soils after crop harvest. The application of vivianite as a P fertilizer was more efficient in acidic soils (pH &lt; 6.6). The effect of vivianite on dry matter (DM) yield was equivalent on average to 26 or 40 %, depending on the rate, of the same amount of soluble fertilizer in these acidic soils (i.e., P fertilizer replacement value –PFRV– on DM basis), it being around 50 % in some cases. The effect on Olsen P in soil was equivalent, on average, to 49 or 61 %, depending on the rate, of the same amount applied as soluble mineral fertilizer in acidic soils. This can be explained by the increased solubility of this fertilizer product under acidic conditions, supported by the highest increase in DTPA extractable Fe in these soils. Acidic soils were those with initial Olsen P below the threshold value for fertilizer response (TV). However, PFRV on different approaches (DM, P uptake, and Olsen P) decreased more consistently with increased values of the difference between initial Olsen P and TV (46 to 87 % of the variance explained) than with increased pH. This reveals that besides soil pH, a low P availability to plants can trigger plant and microbial mobilization mechanisms, leading to increased efficiency of vivianite as a P fertilizer. Further studies are needed to assess the residual effect of vivianite and its effectiveness under field conditions, particularly in soils with low P availability status and an acidic pH.","PeriodicalId":48610,"journal":{"name":"Soil","volume":"169 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144201975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Soil contamination in arid environments and assessment of remediation applying surface evaporation capacitor model: a case study from the Judean Desert, Israel","authors":"Rotem Golan, Ittai Gavrieli, Roee Katzir, Galit Sharabi, Uri Nachshon","doi":"10.5194/soil-11-395-2025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-11-395-2025","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. Due to the presence of highly pollutant industries in arid areas, many of the globe's arid areas are exposed to severe local soil contamination events. In this work, the nature of solute and contaminant transport in the sandy terraces of an ephemeral stream that was exposed to a severe pollution event was examined. Here, the Ashalim Basin in the Judean Desert, Israel, is utilized as a case study. In order to shed new light on contaminant distribution along the soil profile and on transport mechanisms in arid environments, three complementary approaches were used: (1) periodic on-site soil profile sampling, recording the annual solute transport dynamics; (2) laboratory analyses and controlled experiments in a rain simulator to characterize solute release and transport; and (3) numerical simulation, used to define and understand the main associated processes. The study highlights the persistent nature of the pollutants in these natural settings, which dictates that they remain near the soil surface despite the presence of sporadic rain events. It was shown that a vertical circulation of the contaminates is occurring with soil wetting and drying cycles. The “surface evaporation capacitor” concept of Or and Lehmann (2019) was examined and compared to field measurements and numerical simulations and was found to be a useful tool for predicting the fate of the contaminants along the soil profile.","PeriodicalId":48610,"journal":{"name":"Soil","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144201974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Limited effect of organic matter addition on stabilised organic carbon in four tropical arable soils","authors":"Marijn Van de Broek, Fiona Stewart-Smith, Moritz Laub, Marc Corbeels, Monicah Wanjiku Mucheru-Muna, Daniel Mugendi, Wycliffe Waswa, Bernard Vanlauwe, Johan Six","doi":"10.5194/egusphere-2025-2287","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2287","url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Abstract.</strong> Arable soils are generally characterised by a low soil organic carbon (SOC) content, with negative consequences for soil health, crop yield and global climate. Thus, over the past decades, there has been a focus on how agricultural management practices, such as organic resource addition, can increase the amount of SOC. To sustainably increase SOC stocks, a portion of the organic amendments added to the soil has to be stabilised in persistent fractions such as mineral-associated organic carbon (MAOC). However, there is a lack of research on the magnitude of changes in MAOC in tropical agroecosystems in response to organic resource additions. Here, we show for four long-term field trials in Kenya that the addition of large amounts of organic amendments (farmyard manure or <em>Tithonia diversifolia</em> biomass at 4 t C ha^-1 yr^-1 for 16 to 19 years) to maize monocropping systems had variable effects on topsoil MAOC stocks (0–15 cm depth), and no significant effect on subsoil MAOC stocks (15–50 cm depth) compared to a control treatment. The addition of mineral N fertiliser did not affect MAOC stocks at any site. Using stable carbon isotopes δ¹³C, we found that the portion of topsoil MAOC originating from <em>Tithonia</em> biomass was larger in the sandy (25–40 %) compared to the clayey soils (0.5–12 %), while the portion of total added <em>Tithonia</em> biomass that was stabilised over a time period of 16–19 years was below 7 % across all sites, or a SOC stabilisation rate of 0.8–27 g C m^-2 yr^-1. Using these results, we conclude that while in sandy soils the stabilisation of added OC contributed substantially to limiting SOC losses upon cultivation, this was not the case for clayey soils. These differences were due to the much lower SOC stocks in the sandy soils, compared to the clayey soils. Our results underline the challenges associated with improving soil health in sub-Saharan Africa and stress the need for more research to reliably assess if and how additional SOC can be stabilised over decadal time scales in highly weathered tropical soils.","PeriodicalId":48610,"journal":{"name":"Soil","volume":"48 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144176668","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High-resolution near-surface electromagnetic mapping for the hydrological modeling of an orange orchard","authors":"Luca Peruzzo, Ulrike Werban, Marco Pohle, Mirko Pavoni, Benjamin Mary, Giorgio Cassiani, Simona Consoli, Daniela Vanella","doi":"10.5194/egusphere-2025-2117","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2117","url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Abstract.</strong> While above-ground precision agriculture technologies provide spatial and temporal datasets ever-increasing in density and precision, below-ground information lags behind and has been typically limited to time series. As recognized in agrogeophysics, geophysical methods can address the lack of subsurface spatial information. This study focuses on high-resolution Frequency-Domain ElectroMagnetic induction (FDEM) mapping as an ideal complement to above- and below-ground time series that are commonly available in precision agriculture. Focused on a Sicilian orange orchard, this study first investigates some methodological challenges behind seemingly simple FDEM survey choices and processing steps, as well as their interplay with the spatial heterogeneity of agricultural sites. Second, this study shows how the detailed FDEM-based spatial information can underpin a surface/subsurface hydrological model that integrates time series from soil moisture sensors and micro-meteorological sensors. While FDEM has long been recognized as a promising solution in agrogeophysics, this study demonstrates how the approach can be successfully applied in a orchard, whose 3D subsurface variability is a complex combination of root water uptake, irrigation, evapotranspiration, and row-interrow dynamics. The resulting hydrological model reproduces the observed spatiotemporal water dynamics with parameters that agree with the results from soil laboratory analysis, supporting gamma-ray and electrical resistivity tomography datasets. The implementation of a hydrological model positively aligns with the increasing number and variety of methods in precision agriculture, as well as with the need for better predictive capability.","PeriodicalId":48610,"journal":{"name":"Soil","volume":"13 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144176666","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Near-continuous observation of soil surface changes at single slopes with high spatial resolution via an automated SfM photogrammetric mapping approach","authors":"Oliver Grothum, Lea Epple, Anne Bienert, Xabier Blanch, Anette Eltner","doi":"10.5194/egusphere-2025-2291","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2291","url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Abstract.</strong> Soil erosion represents a major global threat, necessitating a detailed understanding of its spatial and temporal dynamics. Advanced geospatial technologies such as time-lapse structure-from-motion (SfM) photogrammetry provide high-resolution monitoring of surface changes. This study presents a novel event-driven approach for near-continuous monitoring of hillslope surface dynamics over a multi-annual period. The system employed synchronized DSLR (digital single-lens reflex) cameras at three slope stations, triggered by a rain gauge and a daily timer. Ground control points (GCPs) were surveyed with millimeter accuracy to ensure precise georeferencing. An automated Python-based workflow was developed to synchronize images, detect GCPs using a convolutional neural network (CNN), generate daily digital 3D surface models via SfM, and compute 3D surface models of difference (DoDs). The absolute accuracy of SfM point clouds ranged between 8 mm and 12 mm on average, primarily due to registration errors, with lower deviations (&lt; 5 mm) in central areas after height adjustment. Relative accuracy decreased concentrically with distance from the cameras, with level of detection (LoD) values between 5 mm and 25 mm depending on distance and location. Time series analysis revealed surface changes driven by rainfall, snowmelt, and agricultural activity. The most significant changes often occurred shortly after tillage, even with minimal rainfall, indicating both erosional and non-erosional processes. A strong negative correlation between rainfall and elevation loss was especially evident within the first seven days following tillage. Seasonal surface lowering of 3–5 cm during winter and occasional positive changes due to frost or vegetation growth were also observed. The monitoring system and workflow are transferable, and the resulting high-resolution datasets are valuable for analyzing erosion dynamics and validating soil erosion models.","PeriodicalId":48610,"journal":{"name":"Soil","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144153684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assessing Long-Term Effects of Tea (Camellia sinensis) Cultivation on Soil Quality in Highland Agroecosystems: A Case Study in Lam Dong, Vietnam","authors":"Tao Anh Khoi","doi":"10.5194/egusphere-2025-2048","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2048","url":null,"abstract":"<strong>Abstract.</strong> Long-term monoculture systems such as tea (Camellia sinensis) plantations can lead to significant changes in soil quality, directly influencing crop productivity and sustainability. This study investigates the impacts of tea cultivation over a 20-year period on key soil quality indicators in Lam Dong province, Vietnam—a major highland tea-growing region. Soils were sampled from plantations of varying ages (5, 10, and 20 years) and compared with native forest soils. Chemical, physical, and biological properties were assessed, including soil organic carbon (SOC), nutrient availability (N, P, K, S), pH, bulk density, plant-available water capacity (PAWC), aggregate stability, and earthworm populations. Results show a significant decline in SOC, available P and K, and PAWC with increasing plantation age, while bulk density and mechanical resistance increased, indicating progressive soil compaction. A multiple regression analysis revealed that SOC, available P, total K, and PAWC were the most predictive indicators of long-term tea productivity. Economic analysis suggests that tea cultivation remains marginally profitable after 20 years, provided that adequate fertilization is maintained. This study proposes critical threshold levels for soil quality indicators to support sustainable tea production in tropical highland systems.","PeriodicalId":48610,"journal":{"name":"Soil","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":6.8,"publicationDate":"2025-05-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144145494","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}