The effect of crop rotation on aggregation in a red-brown earth

Abstract

Fifty years of crop rotations have decreased the stability of macroaggregates (> 250µm diameter) of Urrbrae fine sandy loam and simultaneously decreased the lengths of roots and hyphae and the percentage total organic matter in the soil. Regardless of the rotation, particles 50-250 µm diameter were very stable and were stabilized by organic matter. Practical implications of the results are discussed