Abstract
Sampled soil volume is a main experimental factor which must be properly considered to obtain a reliable estimation of soil physical quality (SPQ) and, thus, to obtain credible evaluation of the impact of a conservative-conventional soil management system on the soil air–water relationship. In this investigation, two ring sizes were used to sample two fine textured soils and soil management for durum wheat cultivation, namely, conventional tillage (CT) and no-tillage (NT). The soil water retention was determined; soil bulk density (BD), macroporosity (MACpor), air capacity (AC), and relative field capacity (RFC) were estimated to assess the soil physical quality indicators, in agreement with the guidelines suggested in the literature. The main results showed that the sampling volume of the soil affected the soil water retention estimation (θ) and, consequently, affected the SPQ estimation, given that (i) higher θ values (by a factor 1.11 as mean) were generally obtained with a large diameter than a small one; these differences decreased (by a factor 1.20, 1.10 and 1.03) as the imposed pressure head value decreased (respectively, at h = 0, −10 and −100 cm); (ii) among SPQ indicators considered, soil volume samples seemed to impact the BD–RFC estimation more than AC–MACpor, as statistical differences were identified only in the former case; iii) NT soil was significantly more compact, and had lower macroporosity or air capacity, when compared with CT; at the time of sampling, the mean SPQ was always poor for AC–RFC, or optimal for BD, regardless of soil management, and it was intermediate or poor when the MACpor was evaluated under CT or NT. This study contributes toward understanding the impact of soil management on soil physical properties in Mediterranean agro-environments.
Highlights
Soil physical quality (SPQ) determination is a topic of great interest in agro-environmental studies.For instance, some reference works, due to Dexter [1] or Reynolds et al [2], have collected about 643 and 201 citations, with reference to the Scopus platform
SPQ indicators considered, soil volume samples seemed to impact the bulk density (BD)–RFC estimation more than AC–MACpor, as statistical differences were identified only in the former case; iii) NT soil was significantly more compact, and had lower macroporosity or air capacity, when compared with conventional tillage (CT); at the time of sampling, the mean SPQ was always poor for AC–RFC, or optimal for BD, regardless of soil management, and it was intermediate or poor when the MACpor was evaluated under CT or NT
The effect of sampled soil volume on measured soil water content corresponding to selected soil
Summary
Soil physical quality (SPQ) determination is a topic of great interest in agro-environmental studies.For instance, some reference works, due to Dexter [1] or Reynolds et al [2], have collected about 643 and 201 citations (in average, about 40 and 18 by year, respectively), with reference to the Scopus platform (reference valid until the end of September 2020). Some soil indicators that give an account for the optimal proportion between water and air into the soil A relatively robust comparison, is possible because some investigations have coded optimal and/or reference values, to make possible a plausible estimation of the optimal proportions between water and air into the soil [1,2]. Among those suggested, some SPQ indicators seem to provide more robust information than others in defining the physical quality of the soil. The principal component analysis (PCA) and the stepwise discriminant analysis (SDA)
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