Long Term Effects of Ploughing and Conservation Tillage Methods on Earthworm Abundance and Crumb Ratio

Igor Dekemati,Barbara Simon,Katalin Kassai,Igor Bogunovic,Zoltán Kende,Ivica Kisic,Márta Birkás

doi:10.3390/agronomy10101552

Igor Dekemati, Barbara Simon + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy10101552

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Abstract

In addition to the dry (D) and rainy (R) seasons, a combination of the two i.e., rainy-dry (RD) and dry-rainy (DR), can also be observed in one year. The effects of the dry (D) and rainy (R) on soil are known, hence we hypothesized that the effects of the rainy-dry (RD) and dry-rainy (DR) periods on soil may differ from the former assessments. The aim of the study is to investigate the effect of six tillage treatments (ploughing—P, disk tillage—DT, loosening—L, tine tillage (a deeper—T and a shallower—ST) and no-till—NT) on earthworm abundance and crumb ratio during a long-term research (16 years) on Chernozems. The results related to the four year-groups (D, R, RD, and DR) with different residue cover. Seven degrees of cover ratio (between 12.5% and 62.5%) were selected on stubbles. Higher cover ratio (≥52.5%) improved water conservation, increased earthworm abundance (31 and 41 ind m–2) and crumb (78 and 82%) ratio (p < 0.01). R year came first in the rank of water content and earthworm abundance and DR proved to be more favorable for crumb formation. Considering the rank of soil tillage treatments, ST takes first place in evaluation of soil water content (SWC) and crumb ratio, and NT for earthworm abundance.

Highlights

The soil quality is a fundamental factor in sustainable land management [1]
The aim of the present study is to investigate the earthworm abundance and the ratio of crumbs in four year-groups (D, R, RD, and DR) at different soil water contents (SWC) and surface protection degrees
SWC values were significantly higher at moderated soil disturbance (ST, T, and NT) by 6% compared to the inverted soil (P)

Summary

Introduction

The soil quality is a fundamental factor in sustainable land management [1]. the environmental condition of the soil is directly or indirectly affected by soil tillage [2,3]. Present experiences reveal that at extreme weather conditions the planned depth of the loose layer may fulfil, but the size and distribution of the soil crumbs influenced by tillage induced biological activity, fall behind the optimum [9] and earthworm abundance decreases [10]. Authors referred to the quality of habitat, e.g., soil looseness or structure, temperature, water content, shading of surface, and supplying with food material [13,14]. Evaluation of the relationships among tillage, soil condition, and earthworm abundance has been widely published [4,10,11,14,15], but it is needed to highlight that year weather effects in long-term experiments on their habitat required more knowledge

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