Seasonal distribution of runoff and soil loss under four tillage treatments in the upper St. John River valley New Brunswick, Canada

Abstract

The effect of four different tillage treatments on surface runoff and soil loss, their seasonal distribution and temporal variation in soil erodibility were examined using runoff-erosion plots (10 m wide × 30 m long), on a Holmesville gravelly loam soil, a major soil type used for potato production in New Brunswick. Fall moldboard plowing, fall chisel plowing, spring moldboard plowing and subsoiling followed by fall moldboard plowing were evaluated under barley and fallow conditions on 8 and 11% slopes between 1989 and 1993. With exception of one year, annual precipitation was lower than normal. However, due to higher rainfall during the cropping season, the calculated erosivities were higher than those typically used for conservation planning in this region. Runoff data revealed that fall moldboard plowing generated the highest runoff. Either performing subsoiling prior to fall moldboard plowing or delaying moldboard plowing until the next spring, reduced runoff by approximately 10%. Chisel plowing, which loosens the soil without inverting it and leaves a large amount of residues on the surface, provided by far the greatest benefit in reducing runoff (20% reduction over fall moldboard plowing). Soil loss from fall moldboard plowing on the 11% slope under fallow was 2.8 and 2.6 times greater than from spring moldboard plowing and fall chisel plowing, respectively. The majority of the difference in soil loss occurred during the summer months. The benefit of spring moldboard and fall chisel plowing was considerably less on the 8% slope in which soil loss from the fall moldboard plowing was only 24 and 19% higher than spring moldboard and fall chisel plowing, respectively, indicating that the benefits are slope dependent and increase with increasing slope from 8 to 11%. When the plots were planted in Chapais barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), soil losses were negligible. Tillage treatments, and particularly cropping practices, play a major role in seasonal distribution of runoff and soil loss. Under fallow, approximately 79% of runoff and 8.1% of soil loss occurred during the non-cropping season whereas 96% of runoff and 68% of soil loss were found when the plots were planted in barley. The soil erodibility factor was two to three times higher during March and April, which coincide with the winter-spring thaw period, than during the rest of the year. This seasonal variation must be considered when using event-based models to predict soil losses. Key words: Moldboard plow, chisel plow, subsoiling, erodibility, erosivity, universal soil loss equation, crop residue