Abstract
AimsWe studied the effects of Phacelia tanacetifolia, increasingly used as a cover-crop species in arable agricultural systems, upon soil structural properties in the context of two contrasting soil textures. We hypothesised there would be differential effects of the plants upon soil structure contingent on the texture.MethodsA sandy-loam and a clay soil were destructured by passing through 2 mm sieves, and planted with Phacelia in a replicated pot experiment, with associated unplanted controls. X-ray Computed Tomography was used to visualise and quantify the soil pore networks in 3D.ResultsFor the sandy-loam soil, there was no impact of plants upon aggregate size distribution porosity, pore connectivity, and pore surface density decreased in the presence of plants, whereas for the clay, there was a significant increase of aggregates <1000 μm, the porosity was constant, the pore-connectivity decreased, and surface density increased in the presence of plants.ConclusionsPlants can impact the structural genesis of soil depending on its inherent textural characteristics, leading to a differential development of pore architecture in different contexts. These results have implications both from an ecological perspective and in terms of the prescription of plants to remediate or condition soil structure in managed systems.
Highlights
IntroductionSoil is the fundamental base which supports vegetation growth (van Breemen 1993), but plants affect the nature of their belowground habitat both directly and indirectly
In terrestrial systems, soil is the fundamental base which supports vegetation growth, but plants affect the nature of their belowground habitat both directly and indirectly
Roots and fungi increased the proportion of carbon sequestered in aggregate (Scott et al 2017), there was no measurement of the pore network, and the characterisation of the soil structure was via aggregate size
Summary
Soil is the fundamental base which supports vegetation growth (van Breemen 1993), but plants affect the nature of their belowground habitat both directly and indirectly. The use of cover crops is increasing (Storr et al 2019) in order to increase the sequestration of carbon (Reicosky and Forcella 1998; Scott et al 2017), soil macroporosity (Abdollahi et al 2014; Bodner et al 2014; Burr-Hersey et al 2017; Cercioglu et al 2018) and decrease soil erosion (Reicosky and Forcella 1998; Storr et al 2019). Roots and fungi increased the proportion of carbon sequestered in aggregate (Scott et al 2017), there was no measurement of the pore network, and the characterisation of the soil structure was via aggregate size. Cover crops and biofuel crops can improve soil pore characteristics via increasing the macro-porosity and decreasing soil bulk density (Cercioglu et al 2018)
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