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.

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Apr 15th, 9:30 AM Apr 15th, 10:30 AM

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.