Location: Soil Dynamics Research
2019 Annual Report
Accomplishments
1. Management effects on greenhouse gas emissions in horticulture. Much of the work on reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing carbon (C) sequestration has been conducted in row crop and forest systems; however, virtually no work has focused on contributions from sectors of the specialty crop industry such as ornamental horticulture. Ornamental horticulture impacts rural, suburban, and urban landscapes. Since little is known about the impact of the horticulture industry on these driving factors, ARS scientists at Auburn, Alabama, have an on-going joint effort with the Horticulture Department at Auburn University to determine baseline GHG emissions, develop strategies to reduce these emissions, and develop strategies to increase soil C storage. A study on the interaction of fertilizer placement (broadcast vs. incorporated) and irrigation method (overhead vs. drip) on growth and GHG emissions from Japanese boxwood demonstrated that both Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Methane (CH4) loss were not affected by differences in irrigation or fertilizer placement. Findings suggested that utilizing drip irrigation could decrease N2O emissions, regardless of fertilizer placement. However, when limited to overhead irrigation, dibbled fertilizer placement could decrease Nitrogen Oxide (N2O) emissions. This work continues to identify best management practices that can reduce GHG emissions from container produced ornamental crops.
2. U.S. patent method developed for measurement of soil carbon by associated particle imaging. Soil Carbon (C) is critical for farm productivity in terms of water/nutrient retention, good soil structure, and maintenance of clean water through erosion prevention. Further, carbon capture from the atmosphere by plant growth can help mitigate global change through soil C storage. All of these require accurate measurement of soil C which is often time consuming and laborious. ARS researchers at Auburn, Alabama, optimized a new in situ, rapid, non-destructive technique of measuring soil C using the inelastic neutron scattering method (vs. standard dry combustion). Further development of this technique using an associated particle imaging (API) neutron generator with nanosecond precision electronics (patent pending). This API setup can measure alpha-gamma coincidence (timing) spectra, time correlated energy gamma spectra, and energy correlated timing spectra. Test experiments demonstrated that the minimal detectible level (MDL) of carbon is 2.5 times lower with this innovation.
3. U.S. patent method developed for creating soil carbon content maps was developed. Soil carbon (C) mapping is extremely useful in assessing the effect of land management practices on soil carbon storage. ARS researchers at Auburn, Alabama, developed a method of using neutron-gamma analysis in scanning mode for mapping of soil carbon (patent pending). A Global Positioning System (GPS) device and software required to simultaneously acquire gamma signals and geographical positions during scanning operations were added to an existing measurement system. Soil C assessments by the inelastic neutron scattering (INS) method produced reliable soil C maps of agricultural fields using a mobile scanning mode. This method has also been demonstrated to provide reliable C analysis of soil cores using a stationary scanning mode. Findings indicated that the INS method can reliably and rapidly quantify carbon storage in agricultural soils. This critical rapid assessment can be used by scientists to identify best management practices that maintain soil productivity and help mitigate climate change.
4. Poultry litter nutrient content influenced by poultry house management. Poultry litter (PL) has historically been used as a fertilizer for forage and crop production. ARS researchers at Auburn, Alabama, determined that nutrient composition of poultry litter is influenced by management of the poultry houses. Specifically, it was determined that the frequency of clean-out, depth of removal, size of birds reared, and number of flocks raised on the bedding influenced macro and micro nutrient concentrations of the litter. Averaging across all samples collected, PL had a fertilizer grade of 3-3-2 for Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P2O5) and Potassium (K2O), respectively. PL collected from broiler production facilities had the highest overall macro- and micro-nutrient concentrations, while PL from compost had slightly higher N, P and Calium (Ca) and lower Carbon (C) than PL taken directly from houses or drystack barns. Nutrients tended to be higher in caked PL than PL from the entire six-inch depth. PL nutrients tended to increase with flocks and decrease with frequency of clean-out.
5. Fertilizer management using poultry litter studied in double cropping systems. Poultry litter (PL) application and double cropping are management practices that could be used with conservation tillage to increase yields compared with conventional mono-cropping systems. ARS researchers at Auburn, Alabama, evaluated winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] yield response to PL alone and combinations of PL and inorganic Nitrogen (N) versus inorganic N alone when applied to the winter wheat in a double-cropping system. Fertility treatments for winter wheat included an unfertilized control, 120 lb/acre inorganic N fertilizer, PL at the rate of 40 lb/N acre plus 80 lb/acre inorganic N, PL at the rate of 80 lb N/acre plus 40 lb/acre inorganic N, and PL at the rate of 120 lb N/acre. An unfertilized winter fallow treatment was also included to enable a comparison of yield between the mono- and double-cropped soybean. A combination of PL and inorganic N resulted in wheat yields comparable to those with inorganic N alone while PL alone yielded less. Double-cropping soybeans with winter wheat tended to improve soybean yield when compared with mono-cropped soybeans planted on the same date; however soybean yield was not consistently enhanced by the residual PL nutrients applied to wheat when compared with N fertilizer only treatment.
6. Soil shear strain model is expected to be useful in analysis of soil-machine interactions. Soil compaction limits crop roots from reaching more soil to access water and nutrients, and reduces rates of water infiltration into soil, causing increased soil erosion. In continuum mechanics, strains are classified as either normal strains or shear strains. A normal strain occurs along a direction perpendicular to the face of an element and a shear strain is along a direction parallel to the face. Equations (models) which describe soil compaction can be developed using soil triaxial tests conducted in a lab. Using triaxial test data from a clay and a clay loam soil, equations which relate shear strain to the maximum natural shear stress, the major principal stress, and the natural volumetric strain were developed by ARS researchers at Auburn, Alabama. This model of maximum natural shear strain when coupled with a model of natural volumetric strain developed previously, should be valuable for finite element analysis of soil response to applied loads. The shear strain model is expected to be useful in numerical methods, including finite element analysis, applied to interactions of mechanical components such as tires, rubber tracks or steel tracks of vehicles, and tillage components, with soil. The model should be useful in the design and analysis of agricultural and construction equipment, through improving the application of modeling to soil-machine interactions, thereby promoting the accuracy and usefulness of simulation for development of agricultural and construction equipment.
Review Publications
Barbosa, J.P., Dos Santos Domingues, C.R., Poggere, G.C., Motta, A.C., Dos Reis, A.R., De Moraes, M.F., Prior, S.A. 2019. Elemental composition and nutritional value of Araucaria angustifolia seeds from subtropical Brazil. Journal of Food Science and Technology. 56(2):1073-1077. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-018-03555-y.
Constantino, V., Barbosa, J.Z., Motta, A.C., Dolinski, M.A., Prior, S.A., Zanette, F. 2018. Initial growth of Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze in response to fertilization with nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Floresta. 49(1):99-108. https://doi.org/10.5380/rf.v49i1.57467.
Xu, R., Tian, H., Pan, S., Prior, S.A., Feng, Y., Batchelor, W.D., Chen, J.Z., Yang, J. 2018. Global ammonia emissions from synthetic nitrogen fertilizer applications in agricultural systems: empirical and process-based estimates and uncertainty. Global Change Biology. 25(1):314-326. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.14499.
Kavetskiy, A., Yakubova, G.N., Sargsyan, N., Wikle, C., Prior, S.A., Torbert III, H.A., Chin, B.A. 2019. Scanning mode application of neutron-gamma analysis for soil carbon mapping. Pedosphere. 29(3):334-343. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(19)60806-4.
Rodrigues, A., Motta, A., Melo, V., Goularte, G., Prior, S.A. 2019. Forms and buffering potential of aluminum in tropical and subtropical acid soils cultivated with Pinus taeda L.. Journal of Soils and Sediments. 19:1355-1366. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-2144-7.
Yakubova, G.N., Kavetskiy, A., Prior, S.A., Torbert III, H.A. 2019. Tagged neutron method for carbon analysis of large soil samples. Applied Radiation And Isotopes. 150:127-134.
Bassaco, M.V., Motta, A.C., Pauletti, V., Prior, S.A., Nisgoski, S., Ferreira, C.F. 2018. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium requirements for Eucalyptus urograndis plantations in southern Brazil. New Forests. 49:681-697. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11056-018-9658-0.
Kavetskiy, A., Yakubova, G.N., Prior, S.A., Torbert III, H.A. 2018. Energy correlated timing spectra in target neutron techniques. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section B: Bean Interactions with Materials and Atoms. 433:80–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nimb.2018.07.028.
Kornecki, T.S., Prior, S.A., Runion, G.B. 2018. Innovative method for cover crop termination using engine exhaust heat. European Agrophysical Journal. 5(4):145-156.
Murphy, A., Runion, G.B., Prior, S.A., Torbert III, H.A., Sibley, J., Gilliam, C. 2018. Greenhouse gas emissions from an ornamental crop as impacted by two best management practices: Irrigation delivery and fertilizer placement. Journal of Environmental Horticulture. 36(2):58-65.
Kost, D., Ladwig, K., Chen, L., Desutter, T., Espinoza, L., Norton, D., Smeal, D., Torbert III, H.A., Watts, D.B., Wolkowski, R.P., Dick, W.A. 2018. Meta-Analysis of gypsum effects on crop yields and chemistry of soils, plant tissues, and vadose water at various research sites in the USA. Journal of Environmental Quality. 47:1284-1292.
Lin, Y., Watts, D.B., Torbert III, H.A., Howe, J.A. 2019. Double-crop wheat and soybean yield response to poultry litter application. Crop, Forage & Turfgrass Management. 5:180082. https://doi.org/10.2134/cftm2018.10.0082.
Johnson, C., Bailey, A., Way, T.R. 2019. A shearing strain model for cylindrical stress states. Transactions of the ASABE. 62(1):225-230.
Tewolde, H., Shankle, M.W., Way, T.R., Pote, D.H., Sistani, K.R. 2018. Poultry litter band placement in no-till cotton affects soil nutrient accumulation and conservation. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 82:1459-1468. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2018.04.0131.
Tewolde, H., Shankle, M.W., Way, T.R., Pote, D.H., Sistani, K.R., He, Z. 2018. Poultry litter band placement affects accessibility and conservation of nutrients and cotton yield. Agronomy Journal. 110(2):675-684. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2017.07.0387.
He, Z., Tazisong, I.A., Yin, X., Watts, D.B., Senwo, Z.N., Torbert, H.A. 2019. Long-term cropping system, tillage, and poultry litter application affect the chemical properties of an Alabama ultisol. Pedosphere. 29(2):180-194. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(19)60797-6.