Soil wetting effects on fallow and cropland in three different soil types of the Czech Republic

Abstract

This paper brings the comparison of characteristic changes of cropland and of land that has been left fallow for ten years. The disruption of soil structure (MWD) was tested and correlated with basic soil parameters (soil texture, soil hydraulic properties (Ksat), soil organic matter content (Cox), gentle acidification (pHKCl)). Sub-wetting processes of MWDs for three soil types (Chernozems, Cambisols, Luvisols) were tested and confronted with the results of a small-rainfall simulator in laboratory conditions. Statistically provable changes occurred on the plots of fallow land, i.e.: (i) decreased risk of water erosion and crustability (MWD), improvement of Ksat, a slight increase in Cox and the outset of pHKCl. The MWDs were poorly correlated (0.23-0.37%) with soil texture and highly (59%) with saturated hydraulic conductivity. The results of this paper confirmed that fallow lands/grass cover lands better infiltrated rainfall and almost eliminated water erosion risk. The results of the detailed evaluation of MWDs and rain simulator for specific soil types presented an extremely high water erosion risk (and high slaking effect) for cropland Luvisol. We have estimated that the soil loss of cropland Luvisol can reach up to 9 t/ha when there is 8-min torrential rain (on dry lands).

Keywords

• land use
• soil aggregate stability
• mean weight diameter
• soil crustability
• small rainfall simulator