A new measure to mitigate soil compaction: Stabilisation effects of greening headlands

A new measure to mitigate soil compaction: Stabilisation effects of greening headlands

Authors: C. Körbs¹, M. Kuhwald¹, M. Lorenz², R. Duttmann¹,

¹Working group of Landscape Ecology and Geoinformation, Institut of Geography, Kiel University, Christian-Albrechts-Platz 4, 24118 Kiel, Germany

²Johann Heinrich von Thünen-Institut (TI), Thünen Institute of Agricultural Technology, Bundesallee 47, 38116 Braunschweig, Germany

 

Submitted 10. January 2024 to the EGU24

Session: SSS9.1- Soil degradation by soil compaction on arable land, grassland and in forests

 

The greening of fields is a common measure in agriculture to prevent soil erosion and often serves as an intercrop. Grass buffer stripes can stabilise the topsoil and thus reduce runoff and promote sediment retention and water infiltration. The existing literature lacks emphasis on examining the stabilising effects specifically related to the greening of headlands. Moreover, there is a need to explore how the implementation of greening practices can mitigate the adverse effects of field traffic and to what extent it can contribute to reducing soil compaction.

As part of the SOILAssist project investigations were carried out on a selected field at the experimental farm in Adenstedt (Lower Saxony, Germany) to study soil structure and functionality. One part of the headland was used to establish a greening with a width of 18m.

To analyse the effects of the greened headland, soil samples were taken in the core field, the greened headland, and the non-greened headland directly after the greening in 2019 and after 4 years in 2023. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples were taken at 20, 35 and 50cm depth. Afterwards, the soil samples were analysed in the laboratory to provide information on physical soil properties e.g. dry bulk density, air conductivity, air capacity and aggregate stability. In addition, the yield was measured every year in each of the variants.

The results show that the dry bulk density in 2023 was predominantly lower in the core field in 2023 compared to 2019. In contrast, the dry bulk density in the greened headland was generally constant and in the non-greened headland it was slightly lower in 2023 than in 2019 at the depth of 20cm. The lower dry bulk density in the non-greened headland can be explained by the used primary tillage, which lowered the dry bulk density in the topsoil. Since there was no tillage on the greened headland, the effects despite the similar intensity of field traffic remained constant at this part of the field. However, the dry bulk density did not increase in the greened headland which indicates a stabilisation by the vegetation and thus lower the negative impacts of field traffic. At the depth of 35 and 50cm no significant changes were measured, neither for greened nor for non-greened headland.

Whether these effects become more apparent considering the correlation between various soil properties and to which extent a change in soil type plays a role in the stabilisation of headlands through greening will be investigated in the following studies.