Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Land use effects on soil aggregation and total organic carbon and polysaccharides in aggregates of a Chinese Mollisol 

Author(s):

Ya-ru Yuan ^{1, 2}, Xiao-zeng Han ¹, Lu-jun Li ¹, Na Li ¹

Recieved Date: 2012-06-28, Accepted Date: 2012-09-29

Abstract:

Soil aggregate stability is strongly affected by land use probably due to variation of organic carbon in different sized aggregates. The objectives of this study were to evaluate changes in soil aggregation under different land uses and to elucidate the role of organic C and polysaccharides on aggregate stability of Mollisols. Soil samples were obtained from a long-term trial conducted on a Mollisol in northeast China in the topsoil layer (0-20 cm) of bareland, grassland and cultivated lands under continuous maize, continuous soybean, continuous wheat and maize-soybean-wheat rotation. The grassland had the largest fraction of >2 mm aggregates, followed by aggregates in 1-0.5 mm class, while other soils had the largest fraction of 1-0.5 mm aggregates, followed by aggregates in 0.5-0.25 mm class. Aggregate stability, expressed as mean weight diameter (MWD), was largest in the grassland (1.73 mm) and smallest in the bareland (0.77 mm) and wheat cropping treatment (0.74 mm). Among the cropping systems, continuous wheat seems to be less effective at improving soil aggregation. Irrespective of land use, the highest contents of total organic C (TOC), total polysaccharides (TPS) and dilute acid-extractable polysaccharides (DAPS) were found in microaggregates and the lowest contents were observed in the silt and clay particles. Aggregate stability had a better correlation with DAPS (R² = 0.71^**) than TPS (R² = 0.65^*) and TOC (R² = 0.35^*), indicating that polysaccharides extracted by dilute acid might be a suitable indicator of soil aggregation in this region.

Keywords:

Aggregate stability, polysaccharides, cropping system, organic carbon, land use, black soil

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2012
Volume: 10
Issue: 3&4
Category: Environment
Pages: 1386-1391

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