Abstract

Cover crop management practices have a critical impact for long-term sustainable soil productivity due to their positive effects on soil hydro-physical properties. The aim of the study was to evaluate the changes of water retention, pore-size distributions, saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_s), and bulk density values of soil samples collected before and after tillage in response to cover crop (CC) and no-cover crop (NCC) treatments. Research was conducted on a silt loam soil in Chariton County, Missouri, United States. Hairy vetch (Vicia villosa Roth.), red clover (Trifolium pretense), turnips (Brassica rapa L.), buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum), cereal rye (Secale cereals L.), winter peas (Lathryrus hirsutus L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), triticale (Triticale hexaploide Lart.), radish (Raphanus sativus L. var. longipinnatus), and cowpeas (Vigna unguiculata) were used as the CCs. Soil sampling was performed in two different periods (spring/summer) from six replicate locations for each treatment using a grid sample design. Results showed that CC treatment had significantly greater water content in first samples for some pressures (0.0, –2.5 and –1500 kPa) and in second soil samples for all pressures. Total pores and macropores were significantly greater under CC treatment compared to no-cover crop (NCC) treatment for both sampling period. K_s and bulk density values of first and second soil samples were not significantly affected by cover crop treatment. Longer term studies are needed to compare effects of cover crop and tillage on soil hydro-physical properties.

中文翻译：

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与耕作管理相关的覆盖作物对土壤水物理性质的影响

摘要

覆盖作物管理实践对土壤水物理性质具有积极影响，因此对长期可持续的土壤生产力具有至关重要的影响。这项研究的目的是评估耕作前后土壤覆盖率（CC）和无水分胁迫下保水，孔径分布，饱和导水率（K _s）和土壤样品的容重值的变化。覆盖作物（NCC）处理。在美国密苏里州查里顿县的粉壤土上进行了研究。etch子（Vicia villosa Roth。），红三叶草（Trifolium pretense），萝卜（Brassica rapa L.），荞麦（Fagopyrum esculentum），谷物黑麦（Secale谷物L.），冬豌豆（Lathryrus毛云芝菌L.），大麦（大麦L.），黑小麦（小黑麦hexaploide LART。），萝卜（萝卜属变种longipinnatus）和豇豆（豇豆）被用作CC。使用网格样本设计在每个处理的六个重复位置的两个不同时期（春季/夏季）进行土壤采样。结果表明，在某些压力（0.0，–2.5和–1500 kPa）下，CC处理在第一样品中的水分含量明显更高，而在所有压力下，CC处理在第二土壤样品中的水分含量更高。在两个采样期间，与不覆盖作物（NCC）处理相比，CC处理下的总孔和大孔明显更大。ķ覆盖作物处理对第一和第二个土壤样品的_s和容重值没有显着影响。需要长期研究以比较覆盖作物和耕作对土壤水物理性质的影响。