Abstract
Changes to land management over the last 150 years, primarily the conversion of perennial grasslands to agricultural production dominated by annual row crops, have greatly changed soil properties and reduced the soil's ability to infiltrate and store water in the soil profile. Direct near-term response at the time of conversion of an uncultivated remnant prairie to row crops is rare, especially responses that include repeated measurements on the same parcel of land and resampling of soils to a depth of 1 m to document rapid changes in soil organic carbon, nitrogen, and selected soil physical properties related to hydraulic properties. The objective of this research was to measure changes in soil chemical and physical properties after the conversion of perennial grassland to annual row-crop production. A before-and-after approach was used to compare soil properties from a 0.31-ha field in southwest Minnesota. Cultivation resulted in a negative shift in soil properties. Two years postcultivation, there was an overall reduction in soil organic carbon of 18.6 Mg ha−1 for the 0–1.0 m soil profile. Infiltration rates and soil sorptivity exhibited significant decreases following cultivation. The average decrease in the mean postcultivation infiltration and sorptivity rates were 0.30 mm s−1 and 0.12 mm s−0.5, respectively. Bulk density increased on average by 0.10 Mg m−3 between 0–0.2 m and 0.14 Mg m−3 between 0.2–1.0 m. This work provided a rare glimpse of the vast shift in soil properties, which occurred when the plow ripped through virgin prairie decades ago during the massive expansion of agriculture.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1642-1654 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | Agronomy Journal |
| Volume | 114 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - May 1 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We gratefully acknowledge Mr. B. Hicks for graciously allowing us to conduct research on his farm; M. Coulter and E. Evans for their assistance and analytical support collecting, processing, and analyzing soil and infiltration measurements; and the reviewers and Associate Editor for their careful, thoughtful, and courteous review. The use of trade, firm, or corporation names in this publication is for the information and convenience of the reader. Such use does not constitute an official endorsement or approval by the University of Minnesota, United States Department of Agriculture, or the Agricultural Research Service of any product or service to the exclusion of others that may be suitable. The University of Minnesota and USDA are equal opportunity providers and employers. This project was conducted in cooperation with the State of Minnesota and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region 5. Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, through Section 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Program: 319 Demonstration, Education and Research funds.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Agronomy Journal published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Society of Agronomy.