Soil & Tillage Research最新文献

{"title":"Identifying the critical potassium inputs for optimum yield, potassium use efficiency and soil fertility through potassium balance in a winter wheat-summer maize rotation system in North China","authors":"Mengze Xu,&nbsp;Lei Wang,&nbsp;Yanli Lu,&nbsp;Youlu Bai","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106743","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106743","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Potassium (K) is a primary limiting macronutrient for plant growth. Inappropriate K application decisions can lead to reduced yield and potassium use efficiency (KUE). Given the scarcity and non-renewable nature of K resources, developing an indicator for critical K input is essential. The apparent K balance is a simplified method calculated from fertilizer inputs and crop K uptake, enabling straightforward agronomic evaluation. Here, we hypothesize that the apparent K balance serves as a valuable indicator for determining critical K input. A twelve-year field trial with six K treatments (0, 30, 60, 90, 120, and 150 kg K ha^–1 per year) was conducted to assess grain yield response to apparent K balance, establish a K input-output framework, and determine critical K input in a winter wheat-summer maize rotation system in North China. The crop yield, K uptake, and K fertilizer recovery efficiency initially increased but then declined with increasing K fertilizer rates, likely due to excessive K-induced nutrient imbalance and salt stress. The K balance threshold can be determined based on the target yield to be pursued. A K balance of 0 –9.77 kg K ha^–1 per year achieved optimal yield and maintained soil fertility. The K input-output framework provided a clear visualization of the K balance and KUE relationships. The critical K input range of 56.6 –62.5 kg K ha^–1 achieved high yields with KUE improving to 85 –100 %, while sustaining high levels of soil available K and organic matter. Overall, optimizing K input within appropriate K balance thresholds enhances crop yield, KUE and soil quality simultaneously. This study provides new insights for determining critical K balance and K input, offering guidance for field-scale K management.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 106743"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144572548","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative evaluation of the effect of conventional and robotic mechanical weeding on topsoil physical attributes","authors":"Indrė Bručienė,&nbsp;Sidona Buragienė,&nbsp;Egidijus Šarauskis","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106739","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106739","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Sustainable organic agriculture is based on maintaining not only healthy plants, but also healthy soil. Weed control methods with different intensities have different effects on soil physical attributes that are important for organic crop growth. The aim of this work was to evaluate the short-term effects of conventional (CMM) and robotic (AAR) weed control methods on soil physical attributes in organic sugar beet production. An experimental study was carried out for three years (2021–2023) to determine the effects of two different weed control technologies on soil penetration resistance, moisture content, bulk density and porosity (total and aeration). The results showed that the CMM increased soil compaction by a greater amount than the AAR. The penetration resistance increased by up to 3.5 times in the 0–10 cm layer and by up to 2.6 times in the 10–20 cm layer. This resulted in a decrease in soil porosity and aeration, which are essential for plant root development and water infiltration. In addition, soil moisture levels remained more stable with the AAR method. These results highlight the potential of robotic weed control technologies for sustainable soil management in organic farming systems. By reducing soil compaction and preserving favourable soil physical properties, the AAR weed control method can help achieve sustainable agriculture goals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 106739"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144570269","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mitigation performance and mechanism of the EICP for the erosion resistance of purple soil to concentrated flow in the Three Gorges Reservoir area","authors":"Deyu Liu ,&nbsp;Ruidong Yang ,&nbsp;Lun Zhang ,&nbsp;Zhenyao Xia ,&nbsp;Zhiyong Zhang ,&nbsp;Rui Xiang ,&nbsp;Feng Gao ,&nbsp;Wenqi Zhang ,&nbsp;Yu Ding ,&nbsp;Hongqiang Shi ,&nbsp;Hai Xiao","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106744","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106744","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Concentrated flow induced soil erosion seriously influences sustainable soil development. Enzyme-induced carbonate precipitation (EICP) is a useful approach for soil reinforcement, but its mitigation performance and mechanism on soil erosion remain unclear. Therefore, using purple soil in the Three Gorges Reservoir area (TGRA) as the research material, EICP solutions at 4 different concentrations (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 mol·L⁻¹) and an untreated soil control (CK) were employed. Variations in apparent cohesion (AC), aggregate stability (MWD and GMD) and calcium carbonate content (CaCO₃) were evaluated over 6 different maintenance durations (1, 7, 15, 30, 60, and 120 d). The soil detachment capacity (<em>D</em>_<em>c</em>) was recorded under 6 different shear stresses (4.07, 6.05, 8.04, 10.12, 12.08, and 14.04 Pa), soil erosion resistance (rill erodibility <em>K</em>_<em>r</em> and critical shear stress <em>τ</em>_<em>c</em>) was estimated, and the influencing factors were revealed. Moreover, the micromechanism of EICP affects soil erosion resistance was elucidated. The results showed that EICP significantly increased AC, MWD, GMD and CaCO₃ but significantly decreased <em>D</em>_<em>c</em>. Compared to CK, <em>K</em>_<em>r</em> decreased by 24.74∼77.91 % whereas <em>τ</em>_<em>c</em> increased by 29.73∼171.20 % in the EICP treatments, with the most pronounced effect occurring at 1.5 mol·L⁻¹. Moreover, the variations in <em>K</em>_<em>r</em> and <em>τ</em>_<em>c</em> under EICP treatments within initial 7 d accounted for 75.44∼91.28 % and 43.29∼89.05 %, respectively, of total variations. In addition, <em>K</em>_<em>r</em> and <em>τ</em>_<em>c</em> had significantly negative and positive relationships with AC, MWD, GMD and CaCO₃. Moreover, EICP indirectly influenced <em>K</em>_<em>r</em> and <em>τ</em>_<em>c</em> by directly affecting AC, MWD, GMD and CaCO₃. Furthermore, CaCO₃ was attached to the surface of the samples in a spherical crystal form under EICP treatment. These results clarify that EICP significantly increased the erosion resistance of purple soil and can serve as a rapid, eco-friendly approach for controlling soil erosion and ensuring sustainable soil development in the TGRA.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 106744"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144572544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Manufactured zeolite application to soil can rapidly increase pH and enhance inorganic carbon sequestration","authors":"Chris Pratt ,&nbsp;Zainab Mahdi ,&nbsp;Chengrong Chen ,&nbsp;Ali El Hanandeh ,&nbsp;John Vogrin ,&nbsp;Peter Zardo","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106736","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106736","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soils host enormous carbon stocks. Whilst considerable research has been dedicated towards soil organic carbon (C) dynamics, less attention has been paid to soil inorganic carbon (SIC). Here we investigated zeolite amendments for their potential to sequester SIC. The rationale underpinning the investigation is that zeolites – i.e., high-pH, alkaline-rich aluminosilicate minerals – could promote stabilisation of soil carbonate compounds. A four-month study was undertaken via an 80-container factorial laboratory incubation experiment comprising two soil types (a loamy Planosol and a clayey Vertisol), four manufactured zeolites, and a control (soil only), with four replicates for each treatment. An additional series of containers, containing crushed mafic (high magnesium) rock combined with the above treatments, was included as a benchmark inorganic carbon sequestration method. The zeolites increased soil pH by an average of 1.5 units (p &lt; 0.05) at the trial’s conclusion, whereas the crushed mafics had much less impact on soil pH. Zeolite addition resulted in a 70 % increase (p &lt; 0.05) in SIC concentrations compared with controls when averaged across all treatments. They were particularly effective in the Planosol, with each zeolite yielding significantly (p &lt; 0.05) and substantially higher (up to 230 %) SIC concentrations relative to the controls. Mass balance calculations confirmed these increases cannot have been caused by the relatively minor IC contents of the zeolites. X-ray diffraction analysis confirmed the presence of sparingly-soluble carbonate species in some of the zeolite soil treatments. Mafic rock alone did not cause appreciably higher SIC concentrations than the controls. Moreover, no synergistic effects were observed when combining zeolites with mafics. It is likely that mafics require a longer timeframe to be effective. Overall, our study revealed that zeolites can potentially increase SIC stocks and buffer against soil acidification, although confirmation of the method at field scale is needed. Given previous research has reported that zeolites can achieve other benefits, including enhanced soil organic C sequestration and improved soil water and nutrient retention, these minerals could be developed into high-value and multi-benefit amendments to support agriculture, landscape restoration and climate change mitigation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 106736"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144557223","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Regional maize suitability based on soil water and salt content inversion by integrating machine and transfer learnings in Xinjiang","authors":"Shibin Wang ,&nbsp;Yi Li ,&nbsp;Tanyi Li ,&nbsp;Wenlong Lu ,&nbsp;Xingyun Qi ,&nbsp;Xiangwen Xie ,&nbsp;Renna Sa ,&nbsp;Tongkai Guo ,&nbsp;Alim Pulatov ,&nbsp;Ishchanov Javlonbek ,&nbsp;Darrell W.S. Tang ,&nbsp;Kadambot H.M. Siddique","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106740","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106740","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil water content (SWC) and salt content (SSC) are critical factors affecting maize growth. Remote sensing technology has become an effective tool for regional SWC and SSC estimation, but challenges remain in improving estimation accuracy and cross-scale model transfer. In this study, the feature sets were optimized using correlation clustering analysis and full subset selection, and five machine learning models, including the bat-optimized random forest (BA-RF), were compared to estimate SWC and SSC. Further, the inversion model constructed based on UAV features was transferred to satellite scale using transfer component analysis (TCA) and its accuracy was verified. The key findings were as follows: (1) Feature optimization improved estimation accuracy (SWC: R²≥0.541, RMSE≤0.021 cm³ cm^–3; SSC: R²≥0.574, RMSE≤0.816 g kg^–1). (2) The BA-RF model achieved high estimation performance for SWC (R² = 0.705–0.899, RMSE = 0.010–0.020 cm³ cm^–3) and SSC (R² = 0.700–0.897, RMSE = 0.466–0.737 g kg^–1). (3) TCA enabled effective transfer of the BARF-TCA model from UAV to satellite scale, maintaining a high estimation accuracy (SWC: R² ≥ 0.764 RMSE ≤ 0.015cm³ cm^–3, SSC: R² ≥ 0.667, RMSE≤ 0.672 g kg^–1). (4) A water-salinity suitability index was developed to generate dynamic maize suitability maps across growth stages. This study presented an integrated framework for large-scale, high-precision estimation of SWC and SSC, as well as water-salinity-based crop suitability zoning, providing valuable guidance for maize farmland SWC and SSC management in arid and saline-alkaline regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 106740"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144549610","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring the role of intercrops in enhancing soil enzyme activities and nutrient cycling in maize cultivation: A four-year field study","authors":"Vladimír Smutny ,&nbsp;Jiri Holatko ,&nbsp;Jiri Kucerik ,&nbsp;Lubomir Neudert ,&nbsp;Tamara Dryslova ,&nbsp;Oldrich Latal ,&nbsp;Lenka Porcova ,&nbsp;Antonin Kintl ,&nbsp;Tivadar Baltazar ,&nbsp;Martin Brtnicky","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106728","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106728","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Undersowing cash crops with intercrops offers significant benefits for soil health and crop production. In response to the growing interest in maize undersowing, a four-year field experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of various undersown intercrops, including grasses, cereals, and legumes, on microbial transformation and mineralization activities as well as the balance of these processes in relation to nutrient uptake and availability for plants and soil microbes.</div><div>The study demonstrated that undersowing maize in strips had a positive effect on biological soil properties. The enhancement of soil enzyme activities involved in nutrient transformation varied depending on the soil properties and climatic conditions in each of monitored years (2020–2023), and the type of intercrop used. The most significant changes in nutrient fluxes in the topsoil, as evidenced by C, N, P, S mineralizing enzymes and their microbial nutrient acquisition ratios, were observed in plots undersown with phacelia, crimson clover and perennial ryegrass. These changes were closely linked to the presence of intercropped plants and were not observed in the control interrows of the maize pure stand.</div><div>Undersowing was associated with increased nitrogen acquisition ratios (indicating higher demand for mineral nitrogen), as well as elevated activities of nitrogen-transforming (urease) and carbon-transforming (dehydrogenase, β-glucosidase) enzymes. All undersown treatments also enhanced phosphorus- and sulphur-mineralizing activities, in contrast to the maize, which pure stand exhibited reduced activity related to these nutrients.</div><div>Despite these improvements in soil biological properties, the enhancement did not translate into increased maize biomass for silage or grain yield. Nonetheless, the study underscores the potential of maize undersowing with intercrops in strips to improve soil fertility and nutrient cycling, thereby contributing to the long-term sustainability of agricultural systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 106728"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144534236","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatio-temporal variations of soil particle size distribution under wind erosion in a temperate grassland: A seven-year landscape scale revisited analysis","authors":"Yuxin Feng,&nbsp;Zhuodong Zhang,&nbsp;Zhuoli Zhou,&nbsp;Bo Chen,&nbsp;Ying Li,&nbsp;Xinyu Zou,&nbsp;Rui Xu,&nbsp;Shuran Gao","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106735","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106735","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The soil particle size distribution (PSD) is generally perceived as stable as its change by pedogenesis is slow, but it actually undergoes dynamic spatio-temporal changes under the influences of surface processes, especially wind erosion due to its strong sorting effect. In areas with active surface processes like the wind eroded area, PSD dynamically changes (PSDD) as a result of the aeolian erosion and deposition in complementary to the local pedogenesis. Such PSDD is of great importance for understanding soil quality and optimize soil management, however, it is neglected in existing studies. This study analyzed the spatial variability of PSDD and its main influencing factors at depths of 0–1 cm and 1–6 cm in the Xilingele grassland, a typical temperate grassland, using revisited sampling from 2014–2021. The results indicate that in 0–1 cm, the clay increased by 4.76 %, the silt decreased by 1.08 % and the sand decreased by 3.65 %. In 1–6 cm, the clay increased by 2.36 %, the silt increased by 0.18 % and the sand decreased by 1.85 %. Spatial autocorrelation of PSD was moderate in both years, but the spatial heterogeneity decreased from 2014–2021 as dedicated nugget to sill ratio and range. The spatial pattern of PSD showed little temporal variation, with clay content in the 0–1 cm of western steppe and cultivated land increasing more than in mountainous areas, and sand content decreasing more on windward slopes than on flatlands and leeward slopes. The decrease in land use intensity contributed to an increase in clay content in vegetation restoration areas. Wind erosion exhibited a weakening trend in the study area during 2014–2021, but some hot spot areas still experience severe erosion. The decrease in wind erosion is a key factor in the increase in clay content in the region, with land use management contributing to the wind erosion reduction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 106735"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144522943","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Application of activated water irrigation technology: A sustainable way to improve soil fertility and crop adaptability in the sandy area of southern Xinjiang","authors":"Xiaoxian Duan,&nbsp;Quanjiu Wang,&nbsp;Weiyi Mu,&nbsp;Changkun Ma,&nbsp;Kai Wei,&nbsp;Yan Sun,&nbsp;Xue Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106731","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106731","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Activated water treatment technology, emerging as a green irrigation strategy for arid sandy soils, demonstrates critical potential in enhancing soil fertility and crop productivity in southern Xinjiang's desert-oasis ecosystems. This study conducted a two-year field experiment to systematically evaluate the impacts of four irrigation treatments: conventional non-activated water (CK), magnetoelectric activated water (MI), micro-nano oxygenated water (IO), and magnetoelectric-oxygenated water (MO). The investigation focused on their effects on root-zone soil moisture distribution patterns, nutrient availability and transformation efficiency, physiological growth indicator, and yield-water use synergies in apple orchards. The results indicate that activated water irrigation promotes soil nutrient absorption and conversion, improving soil fertility, with the soil quality index (SQI) increasing by 10.88 %–32.59 %. Under the conditions of soil salinization and the arid, water-scarce climate of southern Xinjiang, activated water irrigation enhances soil water retention, optimizes soil moisture distribution, and increases the effectiveness of soil moisture. Additionally, activated water irrigation effectively improves the drought resistance of apple trees, with CAT, POD, and SOD activities increasing by more than 10 %, and MDA reducing by up to 10.73 %. Apple yield increased by 12.11 %–35.48 %, and water use efficiency improved by 10.48 %–30.19 %. A synergistic effect was observed between MI and IO. This work establishes an integrated water activation framework for scientific irrigation scheduling in Xinjiang's desert-oasis farmlands and sustainable crop intensification in arid regions facing soil salinization and water scarcity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 106731"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144522942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A data assimilation-based heat pulse method for monitoring soil hydraulic and thermal parameters in root zones","authors":"Xiaoting Xie ,&nbsp;Lingzao Zeng ,&nbsp;Tusheng Ren","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106738","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106738","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Continuous measurements of soil physical properties in root zones are crucial for understanding soil<img>plant interactions and sustainable agriculture. Traditional heat pulse (HP) methods are based on analytical solutions with the assumption of a homogeneous porous medium. The interpretation of HP signals obtained in soils with nonuniform soil thermal properties, such as HP measurements in root zones, is an ongoing problem. According to Bayes’ theorem, data assimilation methods can estimate model parameters and characterize their heterogeneity by integrating measurements with numerical models in a statistical manner. This paper introduces a novel data assimilation-based HP method that uses the iterative local updating ensemble smoother (ILUES) algorithm to solve this problem. The ILUES is implemented with three steps. First, generating a large volume of prior ensemble. Second, updating local ensembles of each sample with ensemble smoother to explore parameters distributions. Finally, inversion results of parameters to be estimated can be obtained by statistical analysis of these samples. It was evaluated theoretically on synthetic data and in practical applications, i.e., laboratory experiments in sandy soil with root fragments included. Then, the ILUES was further applied to infer the water content (θ) and bulk density (ρ_b) in laboratory experiments. The results demonstrate significant improvements in the estimation accuracy for soil thermal properties, θ, and ρ_b. Compared with those of the traditional method, the average values of the root mean square error (RMSE) decreased from 1.20 to 0.10 MJ m⁻³ K⁻¹ for the volumetric heat capacity (<em>C</em>) estimates and from 0.4 to 0.3 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ for the thermal conductivity (λ) estimates. Furthermore, the accuracies of the θ and ρ_b values also improved significantly, with the RMSEs decreasing from 0.20 to 0.05 m³ m^-3 and 0.60–0.10 g cm⁻³, respectively. This research provides a powerful tool for the in-situ monitoring of soil physical properties in root zones, providing deeper insights into soil<img>plant interactions and contributing to sustainable agricultural and environmental management practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 106738"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144522555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A modified curve number method for runoff prediction of different vegetation types at the slope scale in China","authors":"Jinle Yu ,&nbsp;Hongjun Chen ,&nbsp;Miaomiao Wang ,&nbsp;Jiachi Bao ,&nbsp;Wenyi Song ,&nbsp;Xitong He ,&nbsp;Wenhai Shi","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106737","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106737","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Soil Conservation Service Curve Number (SCS-CN) method is widely used to estimate surface runoff, relying on the Curve Number (<em>CN</em>) from the SCS handbook. However, its reliance on three discrete hydrologic condition (HC) categories (e.g., good, fair, poor) reduces sensitivity to land surface variability, leading to abrupt <em>CN</em> changes and inconsistent runoff estimates. To enhance <em>CN</em> estimation accuracy, this study assessed <em>CN</em> values for each HC using the median (CN <em>_</em>C) and least-squares fit (CN <em>_</em>F) methods based on rainfall-runoff observations from 65 monitoring sites across China. Although CN <em>_</em>F slightly improved CN estimation, it still resulted in unsatisfactory performance, with Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) values below 60 % under many HC conditions, highlighting the limitations of categorical HC classification and internal <em>CN</em> variability. To address this, the study developed three equations integrating <em>CN</em> values with tabulated <em>CN</em> values for bare soil and vegetation coverage, tailored to grassland, shrubland, and woodland ecosystems. This method was calibrated and validated using data from 58 sites and tested at 7 independent sites. Results showed marked improvements in runoff prediction accuracy: for calibration, <em>NSE</em> values increased from 60.55 % (original method) to 78.57 % for grassland, from 58.51 % to 82.90 % for shrubland, and from –21.20–64.39 % for woodland. Similar improvements were observed in validation, with <em>NSE</em> increasing from 61.78 % to 79.11 % for grassland, 57.46–81.28 % for shrubland, and –43.68–62.71 % for woodland. These findings demonstrate the superior performance and broader applicability of the proposed method for runoff prediction in China’s diverse vegetated landscapes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"254 ","pages":"Article 106737"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144517170","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}