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Soil Research Soil Research Society
Soil, land care and environmental research
Soil Research

Soil Research

Volume 54 Number 7 2016


Soil inorganic carbon (SIC) in landscape positions and related edaphic properties under agronomic uses in Pampean agroecosystems were examined. The following were determined: SIC relations with soil taxa, soil organic carbon effects on SIC content, and SIC distribution in soil horizons at great group level. SIC as a predictor of landscape use changes in agroecosystems.


Coastal acid sulfate soils (CASS) were identified on the Anglesea River estuarine floodplain in southern Australia. On the lower estuarine floodplain, potential acidity can be neutralised by shell materials and seawater, resulting in negative net acidity. Conversely, net acidity was positive on the upper estuarine floodplain owing to the diminishing influence of seawater and shell materials. High concentrations of organic matter and trace metals can further contribute to acidity in these sites.

SR15277Effects of permanent grass versus tillage on aggregation and organic matter dynamics in a poorly developed vineyard soil

Sergio A. Belmonte, Luisella Celi, Silvia Stanchi, Daniel Said-Pullicino, Ermanno Zanini and Eleonora Bonifacio
pp. 797-808

The study evaluates the effects of permanent grass versus single autumn tillage on soil structure and organic matter dynamics in a hilly vineyard. Grass cover had positive effects on soil organic matter and aggregate stability but the improvement was slow. Conversely, tillage induced an immediate negative effect, especially on aggregate resistance. Tillage altered organic matter dynamics by preventing the addition of new material into the mineral-associated organic fractions and limiting the stabilisation of aggregates.

SR15210Knowledge-based soil type classification using terrain segmentation

Andrei Dornik, Lucian Drăguţ and Petru Urdea
pp. 809-823

The present study aims to evaluate the extent to which geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) and expert-knowledge, using digital maps of climate, topography, vegetation, and geology as soil covariates, could model and reproduce a conventional soil map at a scale 1 : 1 000 000 in the south-west of Romania. The results showed that the similarity with the conventional soil map was higher when modelling was conducted through GEOBIA approach (general similarity of 65% and fuzzy kappa index of 0.58) than that obtained using the pixel-based approach and SoilGrids.


To reduce net greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, we hypothesised that grazing systems with historically high stocking rates would require higher net primary production by pasture plants, hence the possibility of sequestering more soil carbon, than systems with average stocking rates. We compared two such systems, 18 vs 9 dry sheep equivalents (dse) ha–1, on the New England Tableland and found no differences in soil carbon despite an inferred approximately 30% greater net primary production at the higher stocking rate. Together with other reports, this suggests that changes in grazing management will not produce increases in soil carbon in most Australian environments.

SR15274Influence of the wetting process on estimation of the water-retention curve of tilled soils

D. Moret-Fernández, C. Peña-Sancho and M. V. López
pp. 840-846

The influence of soil wetting processes (waterlogging (WP) and capillary rise to saturation (CRP)) on the soil-water retention curve estimation was studied. Conventional tillage, reduced tillage, and no tillage treatments under different soil conditions were analyzed. CPR minimized the effect of the wetting process on the soil-water retention curve estimation, and only the freshly tilled soil under reduced tillage treatment was significantly affected by the wetting process.

SR15199Soil properties and carbon stocks in a grey Vertosol irrigated with treated sewage effluent

N. R. Hulugalle, T. B. Weaver, L. A. Finlay and V. Heimoana
pp. 847-856

Changes in soil salinity, sodicity and carbon C storage in a grey Vertosol under conservation farming and irrigated with tertiary-treated sewage effluent were assessed over a 14-year period. Salinity and exchangeable Mg concentration were strongly influenced by interactions between seasonal rainfall (i.e. floods and drought) and the quality of the effluent, whereas exchangeable sodium percentage and exchangeable K concentration changes were not affected by variations in seasonal rainfall. Soil organic content declined until the flooding events but increased thereafter.


Irrigation with potassium-rich wastewater may lead to mineralogical changes in the soil, which can affect the physicochemical properties of soil. The dynamic of these changes can be monitored by X-ray diffraction analysis both qualitatively and quantitatively. Peak decomposition method showed trends towards the formation of interstratifications of illite with smectite at the expense of smectite and an alteration of poorly crystallised illite into its more well-ordered forms.


Traditional detailed field experiments on soil textures and salt content were combined with the SWAGMAN Destiny model for providing reliable estimates on long-term salt change dynamics. The desalinization rate in sand, which appears to be steady in the whole profile, is generally higher than that in loam and clay. Soil salinity decreases in the upper layers and increases in the bottom layers of the investigated soil profile.


Few studies have evaluated the risks and benefits of non-ionic surfactant applications in wettable soil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of a surfactant in modifying the wetting pattern in soils of different textures and organic matter contents. The results demonstrated the superiority of surfactant application on increasing water distribution in the soil profile for all soil textural classes.

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