The indigenous colour-based soil quality classification was successfully integrated into the Trenbath FALLOW soil module.
Cropping significantly increased exchangeable Mn in soil and the highest increase was 185.7% in the continuous wheat cropping system at 0 20 cm depth, compared with the fallow soil.
To do so, clay fractions recovered from (1) soil adhering to maize roots ("rhizosphere" soil), (2) soil sampled in the vicinity of maize roots but not adhering to the roots ("non rhizosphere" soil) and (3) soil sampled in adjacent un-planted fallow soil ("fallow" soil) were investigated using X-ray diffraction.
Results showed that the crop-legume rotation and continuous alfalfa cropping systems significantly increased available Mn compared with the fallow soil.
In comparison with bare fallow soil, specific EEA of microaggregates in rooted soil was higher by up to 73%, 31%, 26%, and 92% for BG, NAG, acP and LAP, respectively.
After 79 years of bare fallow soil organic carbon stocks in the bulk soil were about 25% higher in the CaCO3 plots than in the KCl and reference plots.
The USLE-M also predicted deposition to occur in a segment containing corn when an area with tilled bare fallow soil existed immediately upslope of it because the USLE-M models erosion on runoff and soil loss plots as a transport limited system.
Plants did not affect the porosity of clay soil at the mm scale, but at the μm scale, annual and perennial plant cover resulted in significantly increased porosity, a wider range of pore sizes and greater connectivity compared to bare fallow soil.
Nitrate loss from drainage tiles across the cornbelt of the upper midwestern US is a result of intensive agriculture with limited crop diversity, extensive periods of fallow soil, and the need for high fertilizer applications to corn, all located on a hydrologically modified landscape.
Our results show S. enterica can survive for up to six weeks in fallow soil with the ability to contaminate tomato plants.
