Soil structure dynamics: Effects of management and water content

Summary

A review is given of the last 5 years research on soil structure dynamics carried out at the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences. The studies were initiated as part of a large programme focussing on the development of organic farming in Denmark. In organic farming a healthy and living soil is highly valued. Holistic thinking is also a key element in the organic farming concept. In order to integrate a holistic thinking in our soil structure research a multidisciplinary approach was adapted that integrated soil physics, chemistry and microbiology. In addition, soil structure was studied at different levels from undisturbed “whole soil” in the field to specialized reductionistic studies using size separated or remoulded soil in the laboratory. In a recent project our aim was to study long-term effects of different management strategies on soil mechanical and pore system characteristics. Our aim was also to be able to relate these soil tilth characteristics to abiotic and biotic soil structure forming and stabilizing processes. Results regarding the long-term effect of crop rotation and manure application are presented together with results regarding the short-term effect of tillage and traffic. Lastly, hypothesis and objectives of our running project is presented.