Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth.) affects soil structure differently depending on soil texture

Bacq-Labreuil, A.; Crawford, J.; Mooney, S.J.; Neal, A.L.; Ritz, K.

Abstract

© 2019, The Author(s). Aims: We studied the effects of Phacelia tanacetifolia, increasingly used as a cover-crop species in arable agricultural systems, upon soil structural properties in the context of two contrasting soil textures. We hypothesised there would be differential effects of the plants upon soil structure contingent on the texture. Methods: A sandy-loam and a clay soil were destructured by passing through 2mm sieves, and planted with Phacelia in a replicated pot experiment, with associated unplanted controls. X-ray Computed Tomography was used to visualise and quantify the soil pore networks in 3D. Results: For the sandy-loam soil, there was no impact of plants upon aggregate size distribution porosity, pore connectivity, and pore surface density decreased in the presence of plants, whereas for the clay, there was a significant increase of aggregates

Citation

Bacq-Labreuil, A., Crawford, J., Mooney, S., Neal, A., & Ritz, K. (2019). Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth.) affects soil structure differently depending on soil texture. Plant and Soil, 441(1-2), 543-554. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04144-4

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 7, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Jun 11, 2019
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: May 28, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 12, 2020
• Journal: Plant and Soil
• Print ISSN: 0032-079X
• Electronic ISSN: 1573-5036
• Publisher: Springer Verlag
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 441
• Issue: 1-2
• Pages: 543-554
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04144-4
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2098221
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11104-019-04144-4
• Contract Date: May 28, 2019