<p>Cover crop use, especially in no-till systems, is an evolving practice to maintain or improve soil health. There are many possible indicators of soil health, but this study focuses on the analysis of soil aggregate stability, soil active carbon, and soil organic matter. Soil aggregate stability is related to water infiltration and potential for soil erosion, while active carbon serves as an indicator of a readily-available food source for microbial activity, and soil organic matter serves as a mediator for the soil physical, chemical, and biological processes. The sites include: three Purdue Agricultural Centers, two soil and water conservation district sites, 12 farmer sites with conservation cropping systems, and seven conventional comparison sites. The treatments consisted of cover crop versus no cover crop use, or cover crop use with different tillage systems or nitrogen rates. In 2016 and 2017, soil samples were collected at a depth of 0-5 cm, air-dried, and separated into two soil size fractions: 0-2 mm and 2-8 mm. The wet sieve method was used to measure the mean weight diameter of the water stable soil aggregates from the 2-8 mm size fraction in both years. The potassium permanganate method was used to measure the soil active carbon from both size fractions in both years. The dry combustion method was used to measure the soil organic matter from both soil size fractions in 2017 only. Results showed relatively small improvements in soil active carbon and aggregate stability with the addition of three to four years of cover crops to the long-term no-till systems. However, these improvements were greater when comparing the cover crops plus no-till treatments to the conventional-till without cover crops. More work is needed to understand the dynamics of soil aggregate stability, soil active carbon, and soil organic matter in relation to soil health and cover crop use. Cover crops will likely have more impact on soil aggregate stability, active carbon, and organic matter with a longer duration of use.</p><p></p>

Since agriculture began, field management has been at the forefront of expanding food production beyond previous limitations. Agricultural productivity is closely related to the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil. Landscape position and field management are among primary factors affecting these soil properties. Delineation of topographic positions of the field surface by shape (i.e., convex, concave, and linear) characterizes areas that may accumulate or lose soil and nutrients either during a discrete event or cumulatively over several growing seasons. Increased soil compaction, degradation of soil structure, and erosion have all been attributed to declining agricultural production. In addition to the physical disturbance from cultivation, erosion and deposition of soil components in different landscape positions explain a large part of the heterogeneity of soil properties across an agriculture field. In response to this, conservation tillage techniques, precision agriculture, and other novel management strategies have been developed to reduce negative impacts conventional row crop production such as nutrient pollution and compaction while optimizing farmer inputs. The objective of this project was to evaluate effects of topographic position and conservation tillage techniques on soil physical, chemical, and biological properties on the field scale as well as correlate certain soil attributes with suspended soil runoff collected during the sprinkle infiltration test. Soil fertility sampling was completed every fall from 2011 to 2014 and additional sampling of soil physical properties was taken in the spring between 2013 and 2014. Differences between fall conservation tillage treatments, no-till (NT), AerWay® aerator (AA), and Great Plains Turbo-Till® (GP), and topographic positons, concave, convex and linear were analyzed. Sediment runoff and earthworm biomass were also collected in the fall in 2014. Results indicated a significant increase of soil organic matter (12%-24%), water stable aggregates (78%-98%), phosphorus (43%-76%), and cation exchange capacity (28%-35%) within concave over the convex landscape positions. Soil strength was significantly lower in the field managed with the GP vertical tillage disk compared with the AA field to a depth of 27.5 cm and the NT field to depth of 17.5 cm. Crop residue coverage (percent covered) was more complete in the NT field (12%) and the GP field (3%) compared with the AA field. Suspended sediment runoff was negatively correlated with water-stable aggregates, Ca, and Mg, but positively correlated with earthworm biomass. Extractable nutrients and soil physical properties were also strongly affected by air temperature and precipitation throughout the study period. Characterizing soil properties within topographic positions has potential applications in precision agriculture management, such as reducing excessive fertilization, and identifying areas of increased pollution potential. Evaluation of the tandem effects of conservation tillage tools and topographic position within central Illinois is important in order for the optimization of production and conservation of resources. Physical disturbance from tillage and the transport of sediment from eroded areas to depositional topographic positions are key factors influencing the variability of soil properties, crop productivity, and potential sediment-borne nutrient pollution within individual agricultural fields.

Agronomijos studijų programos magistro baigiamasis darbas 40 puslapių, 10 paveikslų, 2 lentelės, lietuvių kalba. Tyrimo objektas: paprastojo miežio (Hordeum vulgare L.) vasarinės veislės ,,Simba'' agrocenozė. Tyrimo tikslas: Įvertinti ilgalaikio skirtingo intensyvumo žemės dirbimo poveikį miežių agrocenozei, taikant intensyvias technologijas. Tyrimo uždaviniai: 1. Apžvelgti mokslinę literatūrą ir atlikti sisteminę analizę tiriamuoju klausimu. 2. Aprašyti atlikto eksperimento vykdymo sąlygas ir metodus. 3. Tyrimais nustatyti ir įvertinti ilgalaikio skirtingo intensyvumo žemės dirbimo poveikį struktūros patvarumui, miežių sudygimui, pasėlių piktžolėtumui ir miežių produktyvumui. Tyrimo metodai: mokslinės literatūros apžvalga, loginė analizė ir sintezė, statistinė analizė, palyginamoji analizė, grafinio modeliavimo technikos. Tyrimo rezultatai: • Pirmoji dalis pristato Lietuvos ir užsienio autorių mokslinės literatūros analizę. Mokslinė medžiaga atrinkta, susisteminta ir analizuota. • Antroje dalyje aprašyti koncentruojamasi ties bandymo schema ir parametrais, mokslinio eksperimento variantais ir duomenų analizės stebėjimais ir metodais. • Trečioji dalis identifikuoja dirvožemio struktūros patvarumą, miežių sudygimą ir stiebų produktyvumą, miežių derlių, pasėlių piktžolėtumą bei miežių produktyvumą. Nustatyta, kad ilgalaikis skirtingo intensyvumo žemės dirbimas neturėjo esminės įtakos dirvožemio struktūros patvarumui. Nenustatyta esminės įtakos ir miežių produktyvumui... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Final work of University Undergraduate/Master Studies 47 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, the Lithuanian language. Object of the research: barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) spring variety Simba'' agrocenoses. Aim of the research: to evaluate the long-term effect of different soil tillage intensity on barley agrocenosis applying intensive technologies. Objectives of the research: 1. Review of the literature and perform a systematic analysis of the relevant issue. 2. Describe an experiment carried out with the conditions and methods. 3. Studies to identify and evaluate the long-term differences in the intensity of tillage effects on structural stability, barley germination, weed infestation and barley productivity. Research methods: review of scientific literature logical analysis and synthesis, statistical analysis, comparative analysis, graphical modelling techniques. Research results: • Part One presents Lithuanian and foreign scientific literature. Scientific material selected, structured and analysed. • Part Two describe the focus is on testing scheme and the parameters of the scientific variants of the experiment and data analysis methods and observations. • Part Three identifies the soil structure stability, barley germination and stem productivity of barley harvest, weed and barley crop productivity. It was established, that tillage intensity had no significant effect on soil aggregate stability and on barley productivity parameters except the number of germinating barley... [to full text]

Currently there is no suitable and commonly used device for volumetric quantification of snowmelt erosion in the Czech Republic (CR). The determination of erosion rate in the catchment is a essential prerequisite for the correct design of conservation measures. The thesis tries to offer the possible ways of monitoring the snowmelt erosion, compares individual methods and defines their optimal use. In the first year of the research, a runoff plot was developed to capture sheet erosion. The thesis compares also the methods using mobile devices - erosion bridge method and UAV photogrammetry - as effective instrument for snowmelt erosion monitoring. So far, no attention has been paid to snowmelt erosion in CR. Therefore, the thesis focuses mainly on the analysis of causal factors specific to this type of erosion - the erosion potential of snow cover and the possible soil erodibility changes due to freeze-thaw cycles. The thesis assesses the rate of snowmelt erosion risk in selected climatically different catchments and its changes in recent years. shows the timeliness of the problem. In the end, the thesis presents possibilities for solving the problem. The thesis claims the problem of snowmelt erosion actual and offers its possible solution.