Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Igor PELÍŠEK Title: Investigation of soil water infiltration at a scale of individual earthworm channels Abstract: This study focused on the hydraulic efficiency of vertical earthworm channels (henceforth referred to as macropores or channels). The parameters selected for investigation were the rate of change in hydraulic soil conductivity in the channel walls due to compaction, the rate of this compaction, and the wall stability against running and stagnant water. We preferentially tested the variants for infiltration of water flowing from the soil horizons against gravity (e.g. from the level of installation of tile and controlled drainage). The details of influx and infiltration processes were examined both in the field and more thoroughly in the laboratory using an accurate continuous infiltrometer constructed at the Research Institute for Soil and Water Conservation (RISWC), Czech Republic. Both direct measurements and indirect evidence consisted of tests of individual natural macropores directly in the field, as well as tests of intact collected samples and artificial samples with variants of natural, artificially extruded, and cut out tubular macropores. We studied the processes occurring in macropores with diameters of ca. 5 mm and larger. In these particular conditions, we identified the apparent saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks') of the soil horizons (including macropore-mediated vertical surface infiltration and preferential flow to soil followed by radial infiltration) most frequent as Ki (apparent saturated hydraulic conductivity affected by preferential flow or influx of water) from 50 to 200 cm/h. In some cases, saturated hydraulic conductivity of earthworm channel walls (Ksw) was reduced in the order of tens of percent compared with matrix Ks. The increase of bulk density of soil (ρd) in the macropore vicinity reached the maximum of 25%. The intensity of macropore wall erosion (ier) ranged from 0 to 70 mg/min/dm2. Keywords: effect of radial compaction, efficiency of earthworm channels, macropore infiltration, preferential flow, soil macropore vicinity Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 1-10 Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/283/2014-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/283/2014-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-201801-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:13:y:2018:i:1:id:283-2014-SWR Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Marzieh MOKARRAM Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Range and Watershed Management, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Darab, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran Author-Name: Mahdi NAJAFI-GHIRI Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Range and Watershed Management, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources of Darab, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran Author-Name: Abdol Rassoul ZAREI Title: Using self-organizing maps for determination of soil fertility (case study: Shiraz plain) Abstract: Soil fertility refers to the ability of a soil to supply plant nutrients. Naturally, micro and macro elements are made available to plants by breakdown of the mineral and organic materials in the soil. Artificial neural network (ANN) provides deeper understanding of human cognitive capabilities. Among various methods of ANN and learning an algorithm, self-organizing maps (SOM) are one of the most popular neural network models. The aim of this study was to classify the factors influencing soil fertility in Shiraz plain, southern Iran. The relationships among soil features were studied using the SOM in which, according to qualitative data, the clustering tendency of soil fertility was investigated using seven parameters (N, P, K, Fe, Zn, Mn, and Cu). The results showed that for soil fertility there is a close relationship between P and N, and also between P and Zn. The other parameters, such as K, Fe, Mn, and Cu, are not mutually related. The results showed that there are six clusters for soil fertility and also that group 1 soils are more fertile than the other. Keywords: artificial neural network (ANN), component layers, power function, self-organizing maps (SOM), learning an algorithm Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 11-17 Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/139/2016-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/139/2016-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-201801-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:13:y:2018:i:1:id:139-2016-SWR Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ghazal MORADI Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Water Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj, Iran Author-Name: Behrouz MEHDINEJADIANI Title: Modelling solute transport in homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media using spatial fractional advection-dispersion equation Abstract: This paper compared the abilities of advection-dispersion equation (ADE) and spatial fractional advection-dispersion equation (sFADE) to describe the migration of a non-reactive contaminant in homogeneous and heterogeneous soils. To this end, laboratory tests were conducted in a sandbox sizing 2.5 × 0.1 × 0.6 m (length × width × height). After performing a parametric sensitivity analysis, parameters of sFADE and ADE were individually estimated using the inverse problem method at each distance. The dependency of estimated parameters on distance was examined. The estimated parameters at 30 cm were used to predict breakthrough curves (BTCs) at subsequent distances. The results of sensitivity analysis indicated that average pore-water velocity and dispersion coefficient were, respectively, the most and least sensitive parameters in both mathematical models. The values of fractional differentiation orders (α) for sFADE were smaller than 2 in both soils. The scale-dependency of the dispersion coefficients of ADE and sFADE was observed in both soils. However, the application of sFADE to describe solute transport reduced the scale effect on the dispersion coefficient, especially in the heterogeneous soil. For the homogeneous soil, the predicting results of ADE and sFADE were nearly similar, while for the heterogeneous soil, the predicting results of sFADE were more satisfactory in comparison with those of ADE, especially when the transport distance increased. Compared to ADE, the sFADE simulated somewhat better the tailing parts of BTCs and showed the earlier arrival of tracer. Overall, the solute transport, especially in the heterogeneous soil, was non-Fickian and the sFADE somewhat better described non-Fickian transport. Keywords: fractional differentiation order, fractional dispersion coefficient, non-Fickian transport, scale effect Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 18-28 Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/245/2016-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/245/2016-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-201801-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:13:y:2018:i:1:id:245-2016-SWR Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Lenka PAVLŮ Author-Name: Marcela MÜHLHANSELOVÁ Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Soil Science and Soil Protection, Faculty of Agrobiology, Food and Natural Resources, Czech University of Life Sciences Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Title: Differences in humic acids structure of various soil types studied by DRIFT spectroscopy Abstract: The method of diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy (DRIFT) proved to be useful for studying the soil organic matter structure. The aim of this study was to compare DRIFT spectra of humic acids (HAs) separated from various soils and to identify their specific nature. Samples of agricultural soils (Dystric Cambisol, Haplic Chernozem, Greyic Phaeozem, and Haplic Luvisol) were collected from humic (A) horizons. Soil samples of reclaimed dumpsites (Haplic Technosol (molic) and (calcic)) were taken from the upper part of the soil profile. Samples of forest soils were collected from surface organic (H) horizons of Cambisols in spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) and beech (Fagus silvatica L.) forests. The selected soil types differ in pH, carbon content, texture, and humus quality. An extraction of HAs was performed using a mixture of 0.5 M NaOH and 0.1 M Na4P2O7. The separated HAs were freeze-dried and analyzed using a DRIFT spectrometer (Thermo Nicolet Nexus) without KBr dilution. There were found differences in relative aromaticity among the agricultural soils HAs. The most aromatic character was observed in HAs from Chernozems and the least in Cambisols. Preservation of the natural structure of Chernozem HAs during the reclamation process was documented on the HAs spectra from Haplic Technosols (molic). By using the DRIFT spectra of HAs of forest H horizons, it is possible to identify the fragments of decomposed material (gymnosperms or angiosperms). HAs isolated from these horizons represent a certain interstage between lignin and the matured soil humic acids. Keywords: infrared techniques, soil organic matter Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 29-35 Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/76/2017-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/76/2017-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-201801-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:13:y:2018:i:1:id:76-2017-SWR Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ivica KISIC Author-Workplace-Name: Department of General Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Author-Name: Igor BOGUNOVIC Author-Name: Zeljka ZGORELEC Author-Workplace-Name: Department of General Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Author-Name: Darija BILANDZIJA Author-Workplace-Name: Department of General Agronomy, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia Title: Effects of soil erosion by water under different tillage treatments on distribution of soil chemical parameters Abstract: Soil losses by water erosion were studied under six different tillage treatments, which differ in depth and direction of tillage and planting during a twenty-year period (1995-2014) on Stagnosols in central lowland Croatia. Studied tillage treatments were: control plot (bare fallow-BF), ploughing up and down the slope to 30 cm (PUDS), no-tillage (NT), ploughing across the slope to 30 cm (PAS), very deep ploughing across the slope to 50 cm (VDPAS), and subsoiling to 50 cm + ploughing to 30 cm across the slope (SSPAS). The paper presents the following chemical parameters: soil pH, soil organic matter (OM), plant available phosphorus (P-P2O5), plant available potassium (K-K2O), total carbon content (Ctot), total nitrogen content (Ntot) and CN ratio of non-eroded soil and soil loss from studied treatments. All soil sediments had significantly higher content of the studied parameters compared to non-eroded soil. The overall respective levels of OM, Ctot, Ntot, P-P2O5 and K-K2O loss by eroded soil were as follows: 0.86 (NT) - 10.86 (BF) t/ha, 0.10 (SSPAS) - 2.60 (BF) t/ha, 0.015 (SSPAS) - 0.392 (BF) t/ha, 0.012 (NT) - 0.173 (BF) t/ha and 0.017 (SSPAS) - 0.158 (BF) t/ha. No-tillage and treatments with tillage across the slope (PAS, VDPAS, SSPAS) proved to be much more efficient in storing investigated soil nutrients. Keywords: non-eroded soil, soil loss, soil management, soil nutrients Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 36-43 Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/25/2017-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/25/2017-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-201801-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:13:y:2018:i:1:id:25-2017-SWR Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Erika TOBIAŠOVÁ Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Soil Science, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra, Nitra, Slovakia Author-Name: Gabriela BARANČÍKOVÁ Author-Workplace-Name: Soil Science and Conservation Research Institute - National Agriculture and Food Centre, Lužianky, Slovakia Author-Name: Erika GÖMÖRYOVÁ Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Forestry, Technical University in Zvolen, Zvolen, Slovakia; Author-Name: Božena DĘBSKA Author-Workplace-Name: University of Technology and Life Sciences, Bydgoszcz, Poland Author-Name: Magdalena BANACH-SZOTT Author-Workplace-Name: University of Technology and Life Sciences, Bydgoszcz, Poland Title: Humus substances and soil aggregates in the soils with different texture Abstract: Humus substances (HS) influence the incorporation of carbon into soil aggregates in many ways. In this study the influence of HS and their fractions in the soil on the proportions of carbon (total organic, labile, non-labile) in water-resistant macro-aggregates (WSA) and differences between the amount of carbon in WSA in coarse-grained (CGS) and fine-grained (FGS) soils with dependence on the proportions of HS in the soil were determined. The experiment included three soils (Haplic Chernozem, Haplic Luvisol, Eutric Cambisol), each of them with two different soil textures (CGS, FGS) from four ecosystems (forest, meadow, urban, and agro-ecosystem). In CGS, higher proportions (52 and 50%) of smaller (< 1 mm) dry-sieved macro-aggregates (DSA) and also WSA were determined, while in FGS, higher proportions (51 and 53%) of larger DSA (> 7 mm) and WSA (> 2 mm) were detected. A negative correlation was recorded between the content of organic carbon in the fractions of WSA and the amount of extracted humic acids (HA) in CGS, and fulvic acids (FA) in FGS. In CGS, the correlation between the carbon content in WSA and HA bound with Ca2+ and Mg2+, which forms humates (HA2), was negative. In FGS, a negative correlation was recorded between the carbon content in WSA and free aggressive FA (FA1a) and free FA and those, which are bound with monovalent cations and mobile R2O3 (FA1) in the soil. In the case of FA1a, a negative correlation was recorded in FGS and also in CGS, however this influence was more marked in CGS than in FGS (by about 21% higher correlation). In CGS, the influence of HA and FA in soil on the content of labile carbon in aggregates was stronger than in FGS. In CGS, a higher proportion of carbon in aggregates was detected in the case of lower stability of HS and HA and, on the contrary, in FGS, a higher content of carbon in aggregates was detected in the case of their higher stability. Keywords: fulvic acids, humic acids, macro-aggregates, organic carbon, soil texture Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 44-50 Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/31/2017-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/31/2017-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-201801-0006.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:13:y:2018:i:1:id:31-2017-SWR Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Nikolaos GOUGOULIAS Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Agricultural Technology and Author-Name: Georgios PAPAPOLYMEROU Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Civil Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece Author-Name: Vayos KARAYANNIS Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Environmental Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Western Macedonia, Kozani, Greece$2 Author-Name: Xenofon SPILIOTIS Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Civil Engineering, Technological Educational Institute of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece Author-Name: Nikolaos CHOULIARAS Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Agricultural Technology and Title: Effects of manure enriched with algae Chlorella vulgaris on soil chemical properties Abstract: The effect of the algal species Chlorella vulgaris at six different ratios (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 g) of air dried algae biomass, mixed with 10.18 g of sheep manure, added to 50 g of soil, and incubated for a period of 15 weeks was studied in a laboratory in order to detect the role of adding small amounts of admixed algal biomass to soil in biodegradation of soil organic carbon. The obtained data showed that mineralization of soil organic carbon increased by 16.2-35.9% at all rates of algae addition compared to the control, while the highest increase was observed at the highest rates of algae addition. There was a 40-50% increase in the available form of potassium, while the highest increase was also observed at the highest rates of algae addition. The four times higher rates of added algae increased the corresponding content of nitrate nitrogen by 20-30%, while ammonium nitrogen contents decreased by 9.5-35.7% for all amounts of added algae in comparison with the control. The available forms of copper, manganese, and zinc were also increased for all amounts of added algae by 56.8-61.9%, 55.8-67.3%, and 34.1-40.6%, respectively. On the contrary, the addition of algae did not indicate significant differences among treatments as concerns organic or available phosphorus contents. The results proved the effect of the algae Chlorella vulgaris as an accelerator agent in biodegradation of soil organic matter, without any significant negative impact on soil chemical properties. Keywords: algae, manure, soil chemical properties, soil organic carbon biodegradation Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: 51-59 Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/260/2016-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/260/2016-SWR.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/swr-201801-0007.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:13:y:2018:i:1:id:260-2016-SWR Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: editors Title: LIST OF REVIEWERS - 2017 Journal: Soil and Water Research Pages: X1 Volume: 13 Issue: 1 Year: 2018 DOI: 10.17221/10748-SWR File-URL: http://swr.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/10748-SWR.html File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlswr:v:13:y:2018:i:1:id:10748-SWR