Abstract
Agricultural land management greatly affects soil properties. Microbial soil communities are the most sensitive and rapid indicators of perturbations in land use and soil enzyme activities are sensitive biological indicators of the effects of soil management practices. Citrus orchards frequently have degraded soils and this paper evaluates how land management in citrus orchards can improve soil quality. A field experiment was performed in an orchard of orange trees (<em>Citrus Sinensis</em>) in the Alcoleja Experimental Station (Eastern Spain) with clay-loam agricultural soils to assess the long-term effects of herbicides with inorganic fertilizers (H), intensive ploughing and inorganic fertilizers (P) and organic farming (O) on the soil microbial properties, and to study the relationship between them. Nine soil samples were taken from each agricultural management plot. In all the samples physicochemical parameters, basal soil respiration, soil microbial biomass carbon, microbial indexes (BSR/C, Cmic/C and BSR/Cmic) and enzymatic activities (urease, dehydrogenase, ß-glucosidase and acid phosphatase) were determined. The results showed significant differences between the different agricultural management practices for the microbial properties and soil microbial indexes, since these were strongly associated with the soil organic matter content. Unlike herbicide use and intensive ploughing - management practices that both showed similar microbial soil properties - the organic management practices contributed to an increase in the soil biology quality, aggregate stability and organic matter content.
Highlights
Land management in agricultural areas has an important influence on microbial soil properties (García-Orenes et al 2013)
Unsuitable land management can lead to a loss of soil fertility and a reduction in the abundance and diversity of soil microorganisms, for example intensive arable farming causes a progressive decline of soil organic matter (Caravaca et al 2002) affecting physical, chemical biochemical and microbiological properties
The ploughed soil (P) had the highest clay content, and the highest values of Water holding capacity (WHC) and CaCO3 in comparison to the herbicide (H) and organic farming (O) land managements, CaCO3 was statistically higher for both, P and O treatments (Table 1)
Summary
Land management in agricultural areas has an important influence on microbial soil properties (García-Orenes et al 2013). Different agricultural management practices influence soil microorganism and soil microbial processes through changes in the quantity and quality of organic residues in the soil, their spatial distribution, changes in nutrient input and physical changes. Some organic amendments can promote the activities of soil microbial communities and increase biodiversity (García-Orenes et al 2010). The application of soil conservation management systems - keeping cover crops on the soil surface and minimizing soil tillage - is becoming usual because of the increasing interest in sustainable agriculture (Roldán et al 2003). The application of different types of cover on the soil surface can decrease soil temperature changes, keeping the soil cool and moist during the dry season and promoting microbial activity and crop development
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