Soil & Tillage Research最新文献

{"title":"Integrating genetic algorithm with AnnAGNPS for optimizing BMPs placement to reduce sheet/rill and ephemeral gully erosion","authors":"Hamid Mohebzadeh ,&nbsp;Asim Biswas ,&nbsp;Ben DeVries ,&nbsp;Ramesh Rudra ,&nbsp;Wanhong Yang ,&nbsp;Prasad Daggupati","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106598","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106598","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In order to effectively reduce nonpoint source pollutants in agricultural areas within a watershed, a combination of Best Management Practices (BMPs) is selected based on their economic and environmental effectiveness. However, determining the optimal combination can be challenging due to the implementation costs and the consideration of decision makers' preferences. This research presents a methodology for integrating a genetic algorithm with the Annualized Agricultural Non-Point Source Pollution model (AnnAGNPS) to effectively select the most efficient BMPs placement for a given watershed. By optimizing BMPs placement, the model can minimize sediment loads from different types of erosion, including sheet/rill, ephemeral gully, and total erosion at the minimal cost. Results demonstrated that BMP placement by the optimization model reduced sediment load caused by sheet/rill by 84.6 %, ephemeral gully by 85.4 %, and total erosion by 86.3 % in the study watershed. Additionally, the model achieved these results at a minimal cost, making it a cost-effective solution for sediment load reduction in the watershed. Also, the results showed the effective implementation of the developed optimization approach for strategically locating BMPs in specific areas, rather than implementing them throughout the entire watershed. By targeting these areas and implementing suitable BMPs, the model was able to reduce the amount of sediment load and remain cost-effective. The proposed weighted overlay technique helped to place BMPs within agricultural fields instead of AnnAGNPS cells, making it easier for farmers to adopt and effectively reduce sediment load in each field. The developed model in the current study can be applied by decision makers in other watersheds with limited resources for implementing BMPs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 106598"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143855034","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":"Long-term straw return with nitrogen fertilization enhances soil pore structure, POM accumulation, and their positive feedback in a Vertisol","authors":"Tianyu Ding ,&nbsp;Zichun Guo ,&nbsp;Wei Li ,&nbsp;Xinhua Peng","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106602","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106602","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soil pore structure determines particulate organic matter (POM) decomposition by influencing water and gas transport. The accumulation of POM due to nitrogen (N) fertilization has been reported in many studies. However, the effects of N fertilization and straw management on POM and pores as well as the relationship between these two factors remain inconclusive. Therefore, a 15-year (2008–2023) N fertilization field experiment was conducted on a Vertisol, covering three N application rates (0, 360, and 540 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, designated as N0, N360, and N540) and straw management (straw return and straw removal) in a wheat-maize cropping system. X-ray computed tomography (CT) was utilized to quantify the pore structure, and POM was classified into fresh POM and decomposed POM based on their morphological characteristics. The findings revealed that straw return treatment increased fresh POM by 3.08–3.77-fold at N0, N360 and N540 rates, along with enhancements in image-based porosity (&gt;50 μm in diameter, Ø), connected porosity, connection probability at the N540 rate compared to straw removal (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). Under straw return conditions, the N360 treatment notably increased fresh POM by 2.3-fold compared to the N0 treatment; the N540 treatment led to a 2.94-fold increase in fresh POM and a 1.16-fold increase in decomposed POM (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). The N540 treatment also increased image-based porosity, connected porosity, surface area density, mean compactness, and decreased mean pore distance (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). Furthermore, with straw return conditions, connected pores were identified as the primary site for fresh POM distribution, accounting for a distribution proportion of 26.9 %-77.9 %. Notably, POM exhibited a positive correlation with &gt; 200 μm Ø porosity under straw return treatment (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05), whereas no significant relationship was observed between POM and pore structure under straw removal (<em>P</em> &gt; 0.05). Overall, our findings indicate that long-term N fertilization (N360 and N540) coupled with straw return facilitates POM accumulation, particularly fresh POM, and enhances soil pore structure in Vertisol.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 106602"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143850458","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":"Multi-spectral evaluation of total nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium content in soil using Vis-NIR spectroscopy based on a modified support vector machine with whale optimization algorithm","authors":"Liu Mochen ,&nbsp;Yang Kuankuan ,&nbsp;Yan Yinfa ,&nbsp;Song Zhanhua ,&nbsp;Tian Fuyang ,&nbsp;Li Fade ,&nbsp;Yu Zhenwei ,&nbsp;Rongyao Zhang ,&nbsp;Yang Qinglu ,&nbsp;Lu Yao","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106567","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106567","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Accurate and non-destructive detection of total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and total potassium (TK) levels in soil is crucial for precise soil testing and fertilization in modernized precision agriculture. Traditional methods for soil composition analysis are expensive, time-consuming, and destructive. This research aims to establish a low-cost, high-precision, and non-destructive method for soil nutrient detection based on visible-near-infrared (Vis-NIR) spectroscopy (350–2500 nm) combined with improved machine learning algorithms. The Vis-NIR spectra of soil samples were acquired using the RS-5400 high-resolution ground feature spectrometer. Subsequently, the Monte Carlo sampling cross-validation (MCCV) algorithm was used to eliminate abnormal samples, and then different preprocessing methods were performed on the spectral data including first-derivative (FD), Savitzky-Golay smoothing (SG) and others. The optimal preprocessing method was selected from these options. In order to remove redundant information and increase the speed of calculation, five algorithms such as competitive adaptive reweighted sampling (CARS), iteratively retains informative variables (IRIV) and the variable iterative space shrinkage approach (VISSA)-IRIV algorithm were used to select feature variables. The characteristic wavelengths closely related to TN, TP, and TK in the soil have been extracted. Then, the RBF kernel (radial basis function) and poly kernel were mixed to obtain the RBF-poly hybrid kernel function, and then the hybrid kernel function support vector machine (RBF-poly-SVM) and the radial basis kernel function support vector machine (RBF-SVM) were applied respectively. Establish prediction models and introduce the whale optimization algorithm (WOA) to optimize the &lt;em&gt;g&lt;/em&gt; (kernel function parameter), &lt;em&gt;c&lt;/em&gt; (penalty factor) and k&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;-rbf&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; (weight coefficient) parameters in the two models. The performance of the developed models was tested using the coefficient of determination (&lt;em&gt;R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;2&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;), the root mean squared error (&lt;em&gt;RMSE&lt;/em&gt;) and the ratio of performance to deviation (&lt;em&gt;RPD&lt;/em&gt;). The results demonstrated that among all models, the RBF-poly -SVM modeling methods were superior to the RBF-SVM model. The best results for estimation of TN, TP, and TK elements were achieved by the models of SG-square-FD + IRIV + RBF-poly-SVM (&lt;em&gt;R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;2&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;C&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;=0.960, &lt;em&gt;R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;2&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;V&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;=0.902, &lt;em&gt;RPD&lt;/em&gt;=3.206), square-FD + IRIV + RBF-poly-SVM (&lt;em&gt;R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;2&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;C&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;=0.999, &lt;em&gt;R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;2&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;V&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;=0.937, &lt;em&gt;RPD&lt;/em&gt;=3.939), square root + VISSA-IRIV + RBF-poly-SVM (&lt;em&gt;R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;2&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;C&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;=0.955, &lt;em&gt;R&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sup&gt;&lt;em&gt;2&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sup&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;V&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;=0.904, &lt;em&gt;RPD&lt;/em&gt;=2.608), respectively. The findings of the current approach own practical implications","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 106567"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143847834","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":"Influence of potassium salt on cracking behavior of purple soil under wetting–drying cycles","authors":"Qiyong Zhang ,&nbsp;Yuzhen Kong ,&nbsp;Qingliang Wu ,&nbsp;Man Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106599","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106599","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The cracking behavior of purple soil during wetting-drying cycles is a common natural phenomenon in subtropical monsoon regions, posing risks of soil erosion and geological hazards such as landslides. The addition of salts changes the physicochemical properties of purple soil, which has a significant influence on the crack dynamics. Traditionally, NaCl is employed as a representative salt to investigate its influence on crack development during drying. However, NaCl is not the only prevalent salt in natural environments. In the humid and rainy, Sichuan Basin, where fertile purple soil predominates, potassium-based fertilizers, unlike NaCl, are widespread. Therefore, this study explores the effect of potassium salts (i.e., KCl, K₂SO₄, and plant ash) on cracking behavior of purple soil subjected to wetting–drying cycles. To achieve this, a combination of laboratory experiments, long-term monitoring, advanced image analysis techniques, and microscopic characterization is employed. The results indicate that KCl reduces crack formation, while K₂SO₄ enhances it compared to the salt-free sample after the first wetting-drying cycle. A small amount of plant ash (0.3 %–1.0 %) promotes cracking, whereas a higher content (2.0 %–3.0 %) suppresses it. As the number of wetting-drying cycles increases from one to twelve, the total crack length in most samples initially increases, peaking at 336–476 cm, before decreasing to 262–391 cm. In contrast, in samples with 2.0 %-3.0 % KCl, it decreases directly from 125 to 292 cm to 4–223 cm, but may temporarily increase after several cycles. The type and content of potassium salts exert a significant influence on cracking behavior, primarily governed by ion exchange reactions in montmorillonite, alterations in matric suction, shifts in mineral composition, and salt weathering.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 106599"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143847832","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":"Elevational trends of root traits for alpine grassland are weakly dependent on grazing-related degradation","authors":"Chen Wei ,&nbsp;Dali Chen ,&nbsp;Cunzhi Jia ,&nbsp;Xiaohua Zhao ,&nbsp;Xiuzhen Fu ,&nbsp;Ze Huang ,&nbsp;Ying Liu ,&nbsp;Xiaowen Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106596","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106596","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Studying the variation of root traits along the elevational gradients can offer valuable insights into plant adaptations to environmental changes. However, the coupled effect of grazing-related degradation and elevation on root traits at the community level remains underexplored, especially in alpine grasslands. To investigate how increased degradation severity affects root traits along the elevational gradient in an alpine grassland, we sampled 51 sites across the Tibetan Plateau, and measured five root traits including root diameter (RD), specific root area (SRA), specific root length (SRL), root length density (RLD), root tissue density (RTD), as well as vegetation, and soil components. We found that RD, RTD, RLD increased while SRL, SRA decreased with elevation increasing. RD slightly increased while RLD decreased with increasing degradation severity. However, increased degradation severity had no effects on SRL, SRA, RTD. Moreover, the interaction of degradation severity and elevation had no effect on RD, SRL, SRA, RTD, but it significantly influenced RLD. Structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that mean annual temperature (MAT), the proportion of grass, soil nitrate nitrogen (SNN), soil bulk density (SBD), soil pH directly or indirectly influenced root traits variation. Our findings suggest that root traits tend to adopt a resource-conservative strategy, and except for RLD, increased degradation severity has no influence on other root traits variation as elevation increases. This provides novel insights into belowground strategies in response to the interactive effects of grazing-related degradation and elevation. Specifically, grazing-related degradation should be considered when comprehensively evaluating the effects of elevation on RLD.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 106596"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143844236","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":"Biochemical heterogeneity of soil components manipulating long-term organic carbon pool buildup over mineral protection in the mollisol","authors":"Jie Li ,&nbsp;Xuefeng Zhu ,&nbsp;Feng Zhou ,&nbsp;Yi Li ,&nbsp;Xuesong Ma ,&nbsp;Wei Zhang ,&nbsp;Xuelian Bao ,&nbsp;Tiantian Zheng ,&nbsp;Zhen Bai ,&nbsp;Hongbo He ,&nbsp;Xudong Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106578","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106578","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Increasing evidence shows that the interaction of heterogeneous constituents with soil minerals critically controls soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. However, the impact of long-term fertilization on the distinct allocation of microbial- and plant-derived components in physically separated fractions is still uncertain. Using amino sugars and lignin phenols, the retention of microbial necromass and plant debris in soil particle size fractions was evaluated under 30-year chemical fertilization (NPK) application and NPK combined with manure at both low and high application rates. Amino sugars were inherently enriched in the clay, whereas lignin was preferentially accumulated in fine and coarse sand fractions, regardless of the fertilization regime. Compared with unfertilized plot, long-term NPK application enhanced amino sugar accumulation in all the particle size fractions to the same extent (ca. 23 %) but did not alter SOC and lignin concentrations, implying that the improved SOC stability after NPK application was primarily attributable to the preservation of microbial necromass rather than changes in mineral protection. Comparatively, manure applications increased SOC accumulation by 51.4–89.4 %, which was mainly associated with the enhanced allocation of lignin in sand and the hierarchical migration of microbial necromass from clay to sand fraction. High manure rates caused microbial saturation in clay fraction and, simultaneously, the preferential retention of lignin in coarse sand fraction. In conclusion, mineral-associated protection of soil heterogeneous components was attenuated during the SOC pool buildup. The inherent biochemical properties of microbial- and plant-derived components, particularly the decomposability of plant debris, primarily control long-term accumulation and turnover potential of SOC.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 106578"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143847833","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":"Temporal impact of treated wastewater irrigation on field hydraulic conductivity and water-conducting macroporosity","authors":"Lin Wang ,&nbsp;Tim De Cuypere ,&nbsp;Sabien Pollet ,&nbsp;Emmanuel Abatih ,&nbsp;Adeyemi Joshua Olasore ,&nbsp;Sarah Garré ,&nbsp;Wim Cornelis","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106597","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106597","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Hydraulic properties of agricultural soils fluctuate spatially and temporally due to factors like field management (e.g., tillage and irrigation) and weather change, particularly variations in precipitation and temperature. Changes in hydraulic properties may also stem from fluctuations of salinity and sodicity due to irrigation, especially when soil is exposed to rainwater, enhancing the soil’s sensitivity to swelling. One emerging irrigation strategy involves using treated wastewater (TWW), which can contain high salt and solute concentrations, potentially impacting soil hydraulic properties. Given that the temporal and spatial variabilities could overshadow the effects induced by different irrigation sources, it is crucial to discern between these influencing factors. This study compared the effects of irrigation using three alternative TWW sources (treated urban wastewater, treated wastewater from a vegetable processing company and treated wastewater from a potato processing company) with those using rainwater only, on soil variables. Minidisk infiltrometers were applied to assess field hydraulic conductivity, that is near-saturated hydraulic conductivity (&lt;em&gt;K&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;) and associated soil indicators in the top 20 cm of a Retisol. For each irrigation treatment, &lt;em&gt;K&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; was evaluated at distinct matric suctions on various dates. Per treatment and replicated plot, ten measurements were conducted in a wet (2021) year and another ten in a dry (2022) year. Findings revealed that the tillage operation was the predominant factor affecting &lt;em&gt;K&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; variability. Regardless of the irrigation type, &lt;em&gt;K&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; and macroporosity increased post-tillage, and then gradually decreased throughout the growing season. The temporal variation in &lt;em&gt;K&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; also followed the rainfall events. Rainwater alternated with TWW supplied in plots decreased &lt;em&gt;K&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;, as lower electrical conductivity in the soil solution enhances swelling pressure by widening the diffuse double layer, following a higher diffusion tendency of salts. Variability in &lt;em&gt;K&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; was also influenced by yearly weather differences, with the dry year resulting in a higher average &lt;em&gt;K&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt;. Furthermore, the variations observed between the two years could also be attributed to the cumulative impact of TWW irrigation over time. No significant differences in &lt;em&gt;K&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; were observed between irrigation treatments or between the two crops. Although TWW irrigation elevated soil salinity and sodicity, it did not detrimentally impact &lt;em&gt;K&lt;/em&gt;&lt;sub&gt;&lt;em&gt;h&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/sub&gt; or other soil attributes in this study. Our results highlight the significant impact of tillage and rainfall events, and indicated that while the effects of TWW irrigation on hydraulic properties were minimal after three years of secondary or ter","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 106597"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143844238","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":"Subsoil manuring improves the soil physical properties and crop rooting behaviour in soil profiles in dryland cropping systems over three seasons","authors":"Jian Jin ,&nbsp;Murray Hart ,&nbsp;Roger Armstrong ,&nbsp;Peter Sale ,&nbsp;Gary J. Clark ,&nbsp;Caixian Tang","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106588","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106588","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The deep-banding of nutrient-rich organic amendments has been shown to improve crop yields and to ameliorate soil physicochemical constraints present in dense clay subsoils. However, the management practice needs further validation on a range of these constrained cropping soils, with different crops grown in different climates. This study involved a series of soil measurements undertaken at a high (Tatyoon) and medium (Kiata) rainfall site in Victoria, Australia from 2018 to 2020, where these respective soils were classified as Sodosol and Vertosol. The impacts of four amendment treatments involving a control, surface manuring, subsoil manuring and deep-banded gypsum applied at a soil depth of 25 −35 cm on the condition of the subsoil were assessed through measurements of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Kc), rainfall accumulation in the soil profile, and crop root growth. Subsoil manuring had increased the Kc at 25 cm depth by 25 −110 % 3 −4 years after placement, at both sites. Water accumulation and extraction from the soil profile (0 −130 cm) were respectively 30 and 50 mm greater in response to the manure amendments at the high-rainfall site in 2019, but produced no significant effect at the medium rainfall site. Increased root lengths were observed in the subsoil layers with all three amendments, but only in barley (<em>Hordeum vulgare</em>) grown at the high-rainfall site in 2019. We attribute the relatively small changes in the condition of the subsoils at these sites to limited rainfall that occurred during the study, which stranded the deep-banded amendments in dry subsoil.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 106588"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143844260","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":"Enhanced clay mineral–mediated ammonium fixation–release turnover under no–tillage with straw retention: An effective buffering mechanism for nitrogen retention and supply in agroecosystems of Northeast China","authors":"Lei Yuan ,&nbsp;Yan Liu ,&nbsp;Yanyu Hu ,&nbsp;Hongbo He ,&nbsp;Xudong Zhang ,&nbsp;Xin Chen ,&nbsp;Hongtu Xie ,&nbsp;Jinbo Zhang ,&nbsp;Christoph Müller ,&nbsp;Caiyan Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106610","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106610","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The fixed ammonium (NH₄⁺–N) pool can serve as a stable transitional reservoir for nitrogen (N) retention and supply in agroecosystems. However, the dynamics of clay mineral–mediated NH₄⁺–N fixation (<em>A</em>_<em>NH4</em>) and subsequent release (<em>R</em>_{<em>NH4ads</em>}) processes during the agricultural transition from conventional intensive cultivation to conservation tillage (CT) practices, particularly no–tillage with straw retention (NTS), remain insufficiently characterized. This study integrated ¹⁵N–tracing field micro–plot experiments with laboratory incubations to quantify the dynamics of clay mineral–mediated NH₄⁺–N fixation–release turnover in response to 9 years of NTS management in Northeast China. Results revealed that 27.8 % of the applied fertilizer–N was transiently retained as newly fixed ¹⁵NH₄⁺–N in the 0–40 cm soil layer during the maize seedling stage. Compared with traditional ridge tillage (RT), NTS significantly enhanced the proportion of newly fixed ¹⁵NH₄⁺–N relative to the total applied fertilizer–N, indicating improved N retention capacity during the maize seedling stage. Notably, more than 93.9 % of newly fixed ¹⁵NH₄⁺–N was released within the current growing season, with 85.7 % exhibiting rapid release before the tasseling stage, and NTS amplified this pulse release by 6.4 % compared with the RT treatment. In addition, gross transformation rates of both <em>A</em>_<em>NH4</em> and <em>R</em>_{<em>NH4ads</em>} increased by 72.8 % and 101.8 % under the NTS treatment respectively. However, net NH₄⁺–N fixation rates remained statistically comparable among treatments, suggesting intensified clay mineral–mediated NH₄⁺–N fixation–release turnover under CT agroecosystems. Our findings highlight that enhanced clay mineral–mediated NH₄⁺–N fixation–release turnover serves as an effective buffering mechanism by simultaneously improving N retention (9.7 % increase in fertilizer–N use efficiency) and synchronizing soil N supply with crop demand (12.2 % yield enhancement), thereby providing dual benefits of productivity and sustainability in CT agroecosystems of Northeast China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 106610"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143844237","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":"Utilizing an 11-year runoff plot dataset to evaluate the regulation of six land management practices on runoff and sediment on Mollisols slopes and the applicability of the WEPP model","authors":"Zhuoxin Chen ,&nbsp;Mingming Guo ,&nbsp;Yuan Chen ,&nbsp;Qingsong Shen ,&nbsp;Qiang Chen ,&nbsp;Xin Liu ,&nbsp;Lixin Wang ,&nbsp;Xingyi Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106601","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106601","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mollisols in Northeast China have gradually shifted from a highly productive agroecosystem to a degraded landscape due to severe soil erosion. However, there is a notable lack of long-term monitoring studies on runoff and soil loss across various land management practices, as well as insufficient model calibration and validation efforts aimed at mitigating land degradation. This study conducted in situ observations of runoff and soil loss under natural rainfall from 2013 to 2023 using 12 runoff plots (20 m × 4.5 m, 8.7 % slope) in Northeast China, evaluating six land management practices: bare land (BL), natural vegetation restoration (NVR), no-tillage (NT; 3 replicates), reduced tillage (RT; 3 replicates), conventional tillage (CVT; 3 replicates), and contour tillage (CTT). The Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) model was subsequently employed to evaluate its applicability for modeling runoff and soil loss at event scale. Results indicated that (i) land management practices significantly affected runoff and soil loss, with the annual average losses ranked as follows: BL &gt; RT &gt; CVT &gt; CTT &gt; NT &gt; NVR. Implementing NT or CTT was recommended to mitigate soil erosion. (ii) The spatial flux of runoff and sediment was significantly altered by the vegetation and the ridges-furrows system. Highly erosive rainfall was the dominant type of induced soil loss, highlighting its importance in ridge-furrow design. (iii) Due to differences in soil erosion types, soil loss predictions for the BL, RT, and CVT practices were sensitive to rill erodibility, while NVR, NT, and CTT practices were sensitive to interrill erodibility. (iv) High-resolution rainfall breakpoint data were used to minimize climate-induced errors in the WEPP model. Overall, the calibrated WEPP model effectively predicted both runoff depth and soil loss (NSE &gt; 0.5), and predicted soil loss better than runoff depth. However, predictions for CTT were less satisfactory (NSE &lt; 0.5), suggesting further model internal adjustments. This study is a foundational step toward optimizing land management and extending soil erosion predictions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"252 ","pages":"Article 106601"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143844261","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}