Soil Quality Characterization and Remediation in Relation to Soil Management

Open Access
- Author:
- Bucher, Ana Elisa
- Graduate Program:
- Soil Science
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- March 01, 2002
- Committee Members:
- Douglas Brian Beegle, Committee Member
Michael Donald Orzolek, Committee Member
Jon D Chorover, Committee Member
Maryann Victoria Bruns, Committee Member
Roseann C Lanyon, Committee Chair/Co-Chair - Keywords:
- Soil Quality Indicators
Biolog Plates
Soil Remediation
Soil Quality
Multifactor Analysis - Abstract:
- Concerns have developed over the long-term sustainability and environmental consequences of intensifying agricultural production and its effect on soil quality. Three studies that assess management impacts on indicators of soil quality, the potential remediation of low soil quality, and the use of indicators to monitor soil quality are described in the six chapters of the thesis. The first study evaluated the effects of soil management from a long-term soil fertility and crop rotation experiment (HRE) and Pennsylvania on-farm practices on microbial community levels physiological profiles (CLPP) with gram-negative BIOLOG plates. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster Analyses of microbial CLPP distinguished HRE treatments with manure and crop rotations more diverse than continuous corn from the other treatments and farms with routine organic amendments from no manure addition and/or wastewater irrigated farms. Although not without limitation, the CLPP can be used as an exploratory assessment of soil management. The second study evaluated soil remediation effects of compost addition on soil quality indicators and corn silage yields in three different landscape positions at a site irrigated with treated effluent from a municipal wastewater treatment plant and previously identified as having low soil quality. Soil quality indicators including soil enzyme activities, aggregate stability, and microbial biomass C increased with >90 Mg ha-1 compost treatment in all landscape positions. CLPP with <45 Mg ha-1 compost was different in the summit and backslope from the depression, and from >90 Mg ha-1 treatments in all landscape positions. Corn silage yields increased with increasing compost rates in the summit position. Soil quality remediation and site-specific management can be possible using organic amendments where soil quality is impaired. The third study evaluated a multivariate integration of soil quality indicators using principal components analysis (PCA) as a soil quality indexing process of a long-term experiment (HRE) and Pennsylvania farms with different management histories. Soil quality indicators included enzyme activities, soil microbial biomass C, total soil C, total soil N, and aggregate stability. All measured aspects of soil quality were influenced by soil management that included compost or manure additions, and forages and/or small grains in crop rotation. Through the indexing processes, unknown farms and the soil quality remediation results were assessed and successfully classified. The process of soil management classification and soil quality indexing could be a useful tool for farmers to evaluate farm management, and their farm management decisions.