Non-inversion conservation tillage as an underestimated driver of tillage erosion

  • Tillage erosion is a widely underestimated process initiating soil degradation especially in case of large agricultural fields located in rolling topography. It is often assumed that, conservation, non-inversion tillage causes less tillage erosion than conventional inversion tillage. In this study, tillage erosion was determined on three paired plots comparing non-inversion chisel versus inversion mouldboard tillage. The experiments were performed at three sites in Northeast Germany with gentle, moderate, and steep slope, while tillage depth (0.25 m) and speed (≈ 6 km h−1) were kept constant during all experiments. The results indicate that non-inversion tillage produces significantly more soil movement compared to inversion tillage. The soil translocation distance was by a factor of 1.3–2.1 larger in case of chisel tillage. The largest difference in translocation distance and tillage transport coefficient (ktil) was found on the gentle slope exhibiting the lowest soil cohesion. OurTillage erosion is a widely underestimated process initiating soil degradation especially in case of large agricultural fields located in rolling topography. It is often assumed that, conservation, non-inversion tillage causes less tillage erosion than conventional inversion tillage. In this study, tillage erosion was determined on three paired plots comparing non-inversion chisel versus inversion mouldboard tillage. The experiments were performed at three sites in Northeast Germany with gentle, moderate, and steep slope, while tillage depth (0.25 m) and speed (≈ 6 km h−1) were kept constant during all experiments. The results indicate that non-inversion tillage produces significantly more soil movement compared to inversion tillage. The soil translocation distance was by a factor of 1.3–2.1 larger in case of chisel tillage. The largest difference in translocation distance and tillage transport coefficient (ktil) was found on the gentle slope exhibiting the lowest soil cohesion. Our results together with an evaluation of ktil values derived from literature and standardised for 0.25 m tillage depth contradict the general assumption that non-inversion tillage reduces tillage erosion. In tillage erosion dominated areas, non-inversion tillage applied with high tillage speed and depth potentially increases tillage erosion and fails its purpose to serve as soil conservation measure.show moreshow less

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Metadaten
Author:Lena K. ÖttlGND, Florian WilkenORCiDGND, A. Hupfer, M. Sommer, Peter FienerGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:bvb:384-opus4-999405
Frontdoor URLhttps://opus.bibliothek.uni-augsburg.de/opus4/99940
ISSN:2045-2322OPAC
Parent Title (English):Scientific Reports
Publisher:Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Type:Article
Language:English
Year of first Publication:2022
Publishing Institution:Universität Augsburg
Release Date:2022/12/02
Volume:12
Issue:1
First Page:20704
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-24749-7
Institutes:Fakultät für Angewandte Informatik
Fakultät für Angewandte Informatik / Institut für Geographie
Fakultät für Angewandte Informatik / Institut für Geographie / Professur für Wasser- und Bodenressourcenforschung
Dewey Decimal Classification:5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 55 Geowissenschaften, Geologie / 550 Geowissenschaften
Licence (German):CC-BY 4.0: Creative Commons: Namensnennung (mit Print on Demand)