Aggregate stability in organically and conventionally farmed soils

Abstract

AbstractA range of factors that influence aggregate stability and soil erodibility were analysed for soils sampled from land managed under contrasting agricultural methods. These included: an organic farm; a conventional farm that incorporated organic fertilizers; a conventional farm that only used inorganic fertilizers; and a non‐cultivated control site. The stability of aggregates that compose the bulk soil structure (macroaggregates), and aggregates that were mobilized from the soil by simulated rainfall and surface runoff (microaggregates), were evaluated in terms of the soil fragmentation fractal dimension, organic carbon content and ATP (adenosine 5′‐triphosphate; a signature of live biomass) concentration. The results were used to interpret the existing physical condition of the soils, the (microbial) processes that contribute to that physical structure, and how both pedogenic processes and existing soil quality are influenced by agricultural methods. The soils sampled for this study were demonstrated to be multi‐fractal in nature: soils with greater bulk density were composed of more stable macro‐aggregates, which, in turn, fragmented into larger, more stable micro‐aggregates, rendering the entire soil structure less erodible. Soil erodibility and sustainable soil management should therefore be approached at multiple scales. The primary control on both macro‐ and micro‐aggregate stability was determined to be the organic matter input to the soil, as represented by measurements of organic carbon and ATP. Organic content was greatest for the non‐cultivated soil, which reflects the degradation of organic reserves in cultivated soils. For cultivated soils, it was not possible to differentiate aggregate stability for soils managed under organic or conventional (i.e. using biological and inorganic fertilizers) farming practices, but aggregates of soils that only received artificial fertilizers consistently exhibited less stability.