Abstract
Soil fertility properties described by four physical indices and seven chemical indices in the 10-year long-term experiment of wheat fields in Weibei Highland were used to investigate the cumulative effect of 11 soil indices under six long-term conservation tillage treatments. The principal component analysis was performed to comprehensively evaluate the cumulative effect of soil fertility under different tillage treatments, so as to provide scientific basis for soil sustainable utilization and management in Weibei Highland. The results showed that, compared with continuous conventional tillage (CT/CT), soil bulk density by no-tillage/subsoiling rotational tillage (NT/ST), subsoiling/conventional tillage rotational tillage (ST/CT) and conventional tillage/no-tillage rotational tillage (CT/NT) decreased by 6.6%, 5.9% and 6.6%, respectively, and no significant difference was found between continuous no-tillage (NT/NT) and CT/CT. NT/NT had the highest content of >0.25 mm mechanical stable aggregate, and no-tillage/subsoiling rotational tillage (NT/ST) had the highest content of >0.25 mm water stable aggregate. Compared with CT/CT, the mechanical stable aggregate contents under other five tillage treatments increased by 1.7%-10.1%, soil organic matter increased by 0.6%-11.2%, and the contents of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium contents also increased. By principal component analysis, 11 soil indices were divided into two principal components to comprehensively characterize soil quality. The contribution rate of the first principal component was 75.5%, where the major contributors were soil organic matter, water stable aggregate, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, total potassium, alkaline hydrolysis nitrogen, available phosphorus, available potassium, bulk density and soil porosity. The contribution rate of the second principal component was 13.2%, where the major contributor was mechanical stable aggregate. Together, those two principal components accounted for 88.6% of the original variables. The soil fertility performance was in the sequence of NT/ST>ST/CT>CT/NT>NT/NT>ST/ST>CT/CT after gradually accumulating the effects of long-term conservation tillage. NT/ST was the most appropriate tillage patterns for the wheat fields in Weibei Highland, due to the resulting balanced and high-quality soil environment.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: Ying yong sheng tai xue bao = The journal of applied ecology
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
