Soil Health Characterization Under Different Land Uses in Southern Minnesota
Start Date
15-4-2021 9:30 AM
End Date
15-4-2021 10:30 AM
Student's Major
Biological Sciences
Student's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Mentor's Name
Mriganka De
Mentor's Department
Biological Sciences
Mentor's College
Science, Engineering and Technology
Description
Rapid population growth in the Southern Minnesota leads to the conversion of natural ecosystem such as forest and grasslands into agricultural lands. This land-use changes have resulted in significant losses of soil organic matter (SOM) in the past century and have thereby negatively affected soil health by altering physio‐chemical and biological properties of soils. Therefore, a comprehensive soil health assessment is necessary to formulate sustainable management planning of these three ecosystems. A study was thus conducted in Fall 2020 to evaluate soil health under three different land uses (agricultural, forest, and prairie) in the Southern Minnesota. Soils were collected from 0-15 cm depth of the identified land uses with nine field replications and measured for soil texture, maximum water holding capacity (MWHC), gravimetric moisture content (GMC), pH, and SOM following standard procedures. Results showed that the highest average MWHC at field capacity was found in forest soils (58±9%), followed by prairie (52±10%) and agricultural (18±10%) soils. This was probably due to the presence of 33-35% greater SOM content in forest soils as compared to the prairie and agricultural soils. Contrarily, agricultural soils had the highest average GMC (36.5±2.1%) because the average clay content in agricultural soils was significantly (P < 0.05) greater than the prairie and forest soils. Average soil pH of prairie (6.0±0.03) soils was significantly lower than that of forest (6.4±0.05) and agricultural (6.2±0.12) soils. Other soil health parameters such as microbial biomass, total organic carbon and nitrogen, and available nutrients will also be measured to identify the soil health indicators that are sensitive to these land uses. The results of this study will be beneficial in developing sustainable land use strategies within the region to reduce land degradation.
Soil Health Characterization Under Different Land Uses in Southern Minnesota
Rapid population growth in the Southern Minnesota leads to the conversion of natural ecosystem such as forest and grasslands into agricultural lands. This land-use changes have resulted in significant losses of soil organic matter (SOM) in the past century and have thereby negatively affected soil health by altering physio‐chemical and biological properties of soils. Therefore, a comprehensive soil health assessment is necessary to formulate sustainable management planning of these three ecosystems. A study was thus conducted in Fall 2020 to evaluate soil health under three different land uses (agricultural, forest, and prairie) in the Southern Minnesota. Soils were collected from 0-15 cm depth of the identified land uses with nine field replications and measured for soil texture, maximum water holding capacity (MWHC), gravimetric moisture content (GMC), pH, and SOM following standard procedures. Results showed that the highest average MWHC at field capacity was found in forest soils (58±9%), followed by prairie (52±10%) and agricultural (18±10%) soils. This was probably due to the presence of 33-35% greater SOM content in forest soils as compared to the prairie and agricultural soils. Contrarily, agricultural soils had the highest average GMC (36.5±2.1%) because the average clay content in agricultural soils was significantly (P < 0.05) greater than the prairie and forest soils. Average soil pH of prairie (6.0±0.03) soils was significantly lower than that of forest (6.4±0.05) and agricultural (6.2±0.12) soils. Other soil health parameters such as microbial biomass, total organic carbon and nitrogen, and available nutrients will also be measured to identify the soil health indicators that are sensitive to these land uses. The results of this study will be beneficial in developing sustainable land use strategies within the region to reduce land degradation.
