RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Surface soil quality in five midwestern cropland Conservation Effects Assessment Project watersheds
JF Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
FD Soil and Water Conservation Society
SP 393
OP 401
DO 10.2489/jswc.69.5.393
VO 69
IS 5
A1 D.L. Karlen
A1 D.E. Stott
A1 C.A. Cambardella
A1 R.J. Kremer
A1 K.W. King
A1 G.W. McCarty
YR 2014
UL http://www.jswconline.org/content/69/5/393.abstract
AB Soil quality (SQ) assessment is a proactive process for evaluating soil and crop management effects on biological, chemical, and physical indicators of soil health. Our objectives were to evaluate several SQ indicators within five Agricultural Research Service (ARS) experimental watersheds (WS) and determine if those indicators were affected by manure, tillage, or crop rotation histories. Ten soil quality indicators were measured within each of 600 0 to 5 cm (0 to 2 in) depth and 398 5 to 15 cm (2 to 6 in) depth increment samples, evaluated statistically, and then scored using the Soil Management Assessment Framework. Except for soil organic carbon (C) at both depth increments or microbial biomass C and β-glucosidase within the 5 to 15 cm increment, the indicators showed significant WS differences. Except for surface soil-test phosphorous (P), Soil Management Assessment Framework indicator scores and overall soil quality index values also showed significant (p ≤ 0.05) WS differences. Microbial biomass C was significantly affected by crop rotation at both sampling depths and by WS within the surface 5 cm. β-glucosidase was significantly affected by all four factors (WS, manure, tillage, and crop rotation) and their interactions within the 0 to 5 cm increment. The water-stable macroaggregate indictor within the 0 to 5 cm increment and within the 5 to 15 cm increment, however, were not significantly different for the tillage and manure application treatments, respectively. Our study showed that the ARS Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) watersheds provided a moderately controlled example that watershed-scale monitoring of soil quality is feasible and should be used to monitor soil health and/or conservation program effectiveness.