The role of mulch and its architecture in modifying soil temperature

Abstract

Both the quantity and architecture of a surface mulch affect its performance in modifying the soil microenvironment. In this paper, temperature under two simple mulch architectures is compared and contrasted with that of bare soil in a tropical environment. In mulch treatments the quantities of mulch per unit area were similar, but elements in one treatment were horizontal (forming a 5 cm layer) while in the other they were vertical (forming a 22 cm layer). Temperatures were recorded for several days as the soil dried following a storm which saturated the mulch and surface soil. The bare soil dried more rapidly than that with mulch, so that by the fourth day its hourly maximum surface temperature was 8°C higher, and that at 2 5 cm depth was 3°C higher, than soil temperatures under the mulch. Significant differences in soil temperatures under the two mulch treatments only appeared several days later, as subtle differences in the partitioning of energy by the two mulch canopies became more apparent with drier conditions. By the twelfth day, the maximum surface temperature under the vertical mulch was 7°C higher than that under the horizontal mulch. Minimum soil temperatures were never more than 2.5°C different between the bare and mulched treatments and converged with drying. In both mulch treatments, the mulch elements near the soil surface experienced greater temperature extremes than those at the top of the mulch layer. The range in element temperature was slightly greater in the horizontal mulch treatment than in the vertical mulch treatment, where the element temperatures were more closely tied to air temperatures. The first few days following rain are crucial for seedling establishment in the semi-arid tropics and it appears from this study that mulch architecture is of minor importance during this period.