Abstract
Mollisols of Santa Fe have different tilth and load support capacity. Despite the importance of these attributes to achieve a sustainable crop production, few information is available. The objectives of this study are i) to assess soil physical indicators related to plant growth and to soil mechanical behavior; and ii) to establish relationships to estimate the impact of soil loading on the soil quality to plant growth. The study was carried out on Argiudolls and Hapludolls of Santa Fe. Soil samples were collected to determine texture, organic matter content, bulk density, water retention curve, soil resistance to penetration, least limiting water range, critical bulk density for plant growth, compression index, pre-consolidation pressure and soil compressibility. Water retention curve and soil resistance to penetration were linearly and significantly related to clay and organic matter (R2 = 0.91 and R2 = 0.84). The pedotransfer functions of water retention curve and soil resistance to penetration allowed the estimation of the least limiting water range and critical bulk density for plant growth. A significant nonlinear relationship was found between critical bulk density for plant growth and clay content (R2 = 0.98). Compression index was significantly related to bulk density, water content, organic matter and clay plus silt content (R2 = 0.77). Pre-consolidation pressure was significantly related to organic matter, clay and water content (R2 = 0.77). Soil compressibility was significantly related to initial soil bulk density, clay and water content. A nonlinear and significantly pedotransfer function (R2 = 0.88) was developed to predict the maximum acceptable pressure to be applied during tillage operations by introducing critical bulk density for plant growth in the compression model. The developed pedotransfer function provides a useful tool to link the mechanical behavior and tilth of the soils studied.
Highlights
Soil is the basis resource of natural and agricultural ecosystems
In agreement with the majority of published pedotransfer functions (PTFs), soil texture, bulk density and organic matter content (OM) were used as predictors due to these properties are available from soil surveys or may be measured in the laboratory [6,15,27]
This study shows that the quality and the mechanical behavior of the most productive soils of the Pampas Region of Argentina can be estimated based on pedotransfer functions
Summary
The objectives of this study are i) to assess soil physical indicators related to plant growth and to soil mechanical behavior; and ii) to establish relationships to estimate the impact of soil loading on the soil quality to plant growth The objectives of this study are i) to assess soil physical indicators related to plant growth and to soil mechanical behavior; and ii) to establish relationships to estimate the impact of soil loading on the soil quality to plant growth for the most productive soils of the flat Pampas of Argentina
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