Short Term Effects of Soil Tillage and Animal Manure Application on Soil Fauna under Corn Cultivation

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Graduated student of Tarbiat Modares Univ;

2 Assistant Professor, of Tarbiat Modares Univ

3 Member of Scientific Staff of Kurdistan Agricultural and Natural Resource Research Center

4 Assistant Professor, of Soil and Water Research Institute

Abstract

One of the important components of soil management systems for sustainable agriculture is soil tillage. Tillage affects soil organisms through changes in soil properties. Hence, knowledge of short and long term effects of tillage on soil organisms is important in choosing better management systems for a sustainable agriculture. In order to investigate the short term effects of soil tillage and cow manure application on soil fauna under corn cultivation, an experiment was carried out from April until September 2008, in Grizeh Research Station of Kurdistan Province in Iran. The soil is classified as the Grizeh soil series (Fine, Mixed, Thermic, Fluventic, Xerochrepts). Treatments consisted of three tillage systems including Conventional Tillage (CT) (moldboard plow + disking), Minimum Tillage (MT) (disking), and No Tillage (NT) as the main plots and three levels of cow manure (0, 20 and 40 ton/ha) as subplots, with three replications. Experimental design was Complete Block Design (RCB) as split plot arrangement. Soil samples were collected three times during the experiment. Corn cultivar SC704 was planted as a fodder crop. Soil bulk density (BD) was measured where earthworms, springtails, mites, and nematodes populations were counted as indicators of soil macro, meso, and micro-fauna, respectively. Results showed that in short term, the effect of different tillage systems on BD was not significant and had no pronounced effects on nematodes, mites, and springtails in a loamy-sandy loam soil. However, tillage system had significant effect on earthworm population. Cow manure had positive effects on soil nematode population and corn biomass.. As a general conclusion, using MT treatment and application of 40 ton/ha cow manure were found useful management practices from agronomic and biological viewpoints.

Keywords

References

  1. Arshad, M. A., A. J. Franzlubbers, and R. H. Azooz. 1999. Components of surface soil structure under conventional and no tillage in northwestern Canada. Soil Till. Res. 53, 41-47.
  2. Blackshaw, R. P., S. E. Donvan, S. Hazarike, R. Bol, and E. White. 2007. Earthworm responses to long term agricultural management practices : spatial relationships with soil properties. Eur. J. Soil Biol. 43, S171-S175.
  3. Cavalieri, K. M. V., A. P. da Silva, C. A. Tormena, T. P. Leão, A. R. Dexter, and I. Håkansson. 2009. Long term effects of no tillage on dynamic soil physical properties in a Rhodic Ferrasol in Paraná, Brazil. Soil Till. Res. 103, 158-164.
  4. Chan, K. Y., and Barchia, 2007. Soil compaction controls the abundance, biomass and distribution of earthworms in a single dairy farm in south-eastern Australia. Soil Till. Res. 94, 75-82.
  5. D'Haene, K., J. Vermang, W. M. Cornelis, B. L. M. Leroy, W. Schiettecatte, S. D. Neve, D. Gabriels, and G. Hofman. 2008. Reduced tillage effects on physical properties of silt loam soils growing root crops. Soil Till. Res. 99, 279-290.
  6. Elder, J. W., and R. lal. 2008. Tillage effects on physical properties of agricultural organic soils of north central Ohio. Soil Till. Res. 98, 208-210.
  7. Emmerling, C. 2001. Response of earthworm communities to different types of soil tillage. Appl. Soil Ecol. 17, 91-96.
  8. Gómez, J. A., J. V. Giráldez, M. Pastor, and E. Fereres. 1999. Effects of tillage method on soil physical properties, infiltration and yield in an olive orchard. Soil Till. Res. 52, 167-175.
  9. Husnjak, S., Filipovic, D., and Kosutic, S. 2002. Influence of different tillage systems on soil physical properties and crop yield. Rostlinna Vyroba. 48, (6), 249–254.
  10. Kay, B. D., and A. J. VandenBygaart. 2002. Conservation tillage and depth stratification of porosity and soil organic matter. Soil Till. Res. 66, 107-118.
  11. Khodashenas, A., Koocheki, A., Rezvani Moghadam, P., Lakzian, A., 2008. Effect of Agricultural Practices on Soil Nematodes and Bacteria in the Winter Wheat Fields of Khorasan Province, Iran. Environmental sciences. Vol.5. 3, 53 -64.
  12. Kladivko, E. J. 2001. Tillage systems and soil ecology. Soil Till. Res. 61, 61-76.
  13. Klute, A. (1986). Methods of soil analysis, Part 1. 2nd edn. Wisconsin, S.A.
  14. Larsen, T., P. Shjonning, and J. Axelsen. 2004. The impact of soil compaction on euedaphic collembolan. Appl. Soil Ecol. 26, 273-281.
  15. Maynard, J. L. J, K. J. Umiker, and S. O. Guy. 2007. Earthworm dynamics and soil physical properties in the first three years of no till management. Soil Till. Res. 94, 338-345.
  16. McVay, K. A., J. A. Budde, K. Fabrizzi, M. M. Mikha, C. W. Rice, A. J. Schlegel, D. E. Peterson, D. W. Sweeney, and C. Thompson. 2006. Management effects on soil physical properties in long term tillage studies in Kansas. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 70, 434–438.
  17. Miransari mahabadi, M. R. 2005. Using Arbuscular Mycorrhiza to Reduce the Stressful Effects of Soil Compaction on the Growth and Nutrient Uptake in Wheat and Corn. PhD thesis, agriculture faculty, Tarbiat Modares University.
  18. Mosaddeghi, M. R., A. A. Mahboubi, and A. Safadoust. 2009. Short term effects of tillage and manure on some soil physical properties and maize root growth in a sandy loam soil in western Iran. Soil Till. Res. 104, 173-179.
  19. Page, A. L. (1986). Methods of soil analysis, part 2. 2nd edn. Wisconsin, S.A.
  20. Radford, B. J., A. C., Wilson-rummenie, G. B., Simpson, K. L., Bell, and M. A, Ferguso. 2001. Compacted soil affects soil macrofauna populations in a semi-arid environment in central Queensland. Soil Biol. Biochem. 33, 1869-1872.
  21. Rasmussen, K. J. 1999. Impact of ploughless soil tillage on yield and soil quality: a Scandinavian review. Soil Till. Res. 53, 3-14.
  22. Sharratt, B., M. Zhang, and S. Sparrow. 2006. Twenty years of conservation tillage research in subarctic Alaska I. Impact on soil strength, aggregation, roughness, and residue cover. Soil Till. Res. 91, 75-81.
  23. Shirani, H., M. A. Hajabbasi, M. Afyuni, and A. Hemmat. 2002. Effects of farmyard manure and tillage systems on soil physical properties and corn yield in central Iran. Soil Till. Res. 68, 101-108.
  24. Singh, B., and S.S. Malhi. 2006. Response of soil physical properties to tillage and residue management on two soils in a cool temperature environment. Soil Till. Res. 85, 143-153.
  25. So, H. B., A. Grabski, and P. Desborough. 2009. The impact of 14 years of conventional and no till cultivation on physical properties and crop yields of a loam soil at Grafton NSW, Australia. Soil Till. Res. 104, 180-184.
  26. Xu, D., and A. Mermoud. 2001. Topsoil properties as affected by tillage practices in North China. Soil Till. Res. 60, 11-19.
  27. Yahya Abadi, M., and Asadi, A., 2005. The effects of different tillage systems and plant residue on soil earthworm population. 4th conger of agricultural plant, Tabriz, Iran.
Iranian Journal of Soil Research
Volume 25, Issue 2
September 2011
Pages 149-158

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics