Soil Science Commons^™

Shallow Relief Drains In Western Australia, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

Shallow relief drains are easy to construct and a cost-effective way to:

• remove accumulated surface water from depressions and low-lying land
• divert run-off from land that is prone to inundation or flooding
• remove surface water to a safe disposal area, to reduce the length of time the land is inundated or flooded
• reduce the potential for localised recharge and the development of secondary salinity
• improve the continuity of flow within the catchment along the valley floor.

Measuring Soil Salinity, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

To make sound decisions on managing saline sites, you need to know the source of salt, how salinisation is occurring, the landscape context, and most importantly, the actual salt concentration of the soil.

The most common 'measures' of salt concentration are actually estimates based on electrical conductivity of a soil and water solution. Soil salt content can be measured in a laboratory by measuring the total dissolved solids in a sample. In the field, salt concentration can also be estimated using electromagnetic induction-based soil sensors.

Excavated Tanks (Farm Dams), Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

Guidelines and information for planning, legal requirements, design, construction and management of excavated tanks for water storage on farm.

Excavated tanks (farm dams) provide effective water storage wherever surface water run-off can be harvested for livestock, crop spraying, irrigation and domestic use on rural properties.

Excavated tanks for rainfall storage are common in the southern agricultural areas of WA.

Well-designed and constructed dams are farm assets, safe and require little maintenance.

Poor design and construction can lead to poor water harvesting and storage, excessive costs, downstream erosion and risks to property and people.

DPIRD recommends that excavated tanks should be …

Roaded Catchments In Wa, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

Roaded catchments are earthwork structures designed to increase the amount of run-off from the catchment above a receiving farm dam.

Roaded catchments are lined with clay and compacted to make a smooth surface that reduces infiltration and increases run-off. Roaded catchments should discharge into a silt trap and then into a dam (excavated earth tank). This combined structure should be fenced to exclude livestock.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recommends that roaded catchments are part of an integrated water and salinity management program.

The information in this page is only a guide – seek expert advice before …

Natural Revegetation And No Grazing, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

The department recommends that any dryland salinity management is part of a whole farm, and preferably a whole catchment, water management plan.

Natural revegetation and no grazing are only recommended for sites that are too saline, waterlogged and/or inundated for other treatments to succeed in the south-west of Western Australia. It is also the preferred option for the lowest possible cost.

Saltland Pastures In Western Australia, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

Saltland pastures are associations of salt and waterlogging-tolerant plants that produce fodder for grazing animals from saline and waterlogged soils. Saltland pastures can improve production from saltland sites, reduce salt movement from the site, and improve soil structure.

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development recommends that saltland management is part of a whole-farm, and preferably whole-catchment, plan.

Managing Subsurface Water In Wa, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) recommends that subsurface water management is part of an integrated water and salinity program. An integrated program can help to lower water tables and alleviate problems with waterlogging, rising salinity, and infrastructure damage.

Rabbit Control: Warren And Harbourage Destruction, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity factsheets

If correctly and appropriately undertaken, the destruction of rabbit warrens, or modification of the habitat so it becomes less favourable to rabbits, can be an important and effective part of reducing the impacts of rabbits.

Destruction of warrens can improve the overall effectiveness of rabbit control programs, even though many rabbits live and shelter above-ground under bushes, and in scrub). If undertaken properly, the ripping of rabbit warrens can often provide a relatively permanent and long-term benefit. Similarly, removing or modifying other forms of rabbit-harbourage (for example, removing rock piles) can help, particularly in semi-urban areas or on smallholdings.

Argentine Ants, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity factsheets

Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) are small, brown, and notorious worldwide for being one of the most difficult and costly ants to control, as it can involve ongoing and repetitive use of residual, contact insecticides. The ants are established in Western Australia (WA).

Electric Ant (Little Fire Ant), Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity factsheets

The electric ant (Wasmannia auropunctata), also known as little fire ant, is a tiny, gold-brown coloured ant, and one of the world's most invasive pests. Electric ants prey on and compete with other insects and can displace large numbers of native animals, ants, and other insects.

They affect human health and lifestyle, can inflict painful stings on humans and wild and domestic animals, can blind pets, damage the environment, and have the potential to severely affect agricultural industries.

The electric ant is native to Central and South America and was first detected in Australia in 2006 in Queensland, where there …

Rabbit Fencing To Protect Crops And Pastures, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity factsheets

This factsheet outlines the use of fencing to protect crops and pasture from rabbits.

Rabbits cause an estimated loss of $217 million each year to Australian agricultural production and cause significant environmental damage. In Western Australia (WA), areas of native vegetation, particularly on sandy ridges that would otherwise be subject to wind erosion, have been retained on farms. Bush remnants are a major refuge habitat for rabbits, which can cause considerable damage to nearby pastures and crops. A measure of rabbit control can be achieved by poisoning around bush remnants in late summer or autumn, prior to seeding. To be …

Evaluation Of Dual Purpose Canola And Cereals Grazed With Cattle, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Animal production and livestock factsheets

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development conducted research to investigate and demonstrate the importance of dual-purpose crops (canola, wheat and barley) to improve the feed availability for cattle (in late autumn to early winter) in mixed farming systems of the high rainfall environment of Western Australia (WA).

The grain yield of a wide range of canola and cereal varieties sown in mid-April were unaffected by the grazing of cattle at a stocking rate of 20 to 22 dry sheep equivalent (DSE) per hectare (ha) for up to 4 weeks at Esperance in 2011.

The grazed crops yielded the …

Liming Acidic Soils Creates Profits, Land Use Options But Often More Emissions, Sud Kharel, Christophe D'Abbadie, Amir Abadi Ghadim, Chris Gazey, Ross Kingwell

Natural Resources Research Articles

Context

Soil acidity constrains crop production in Australia. The practice of liming can reduce soil acidity but produces greenhouse gas emissions.

Aims

By examining land use sequences over three decades at a range of locations in Western Australia, this study aims to identify firstly where and when liming might boost farm profits and secondly, what emissions and land use management flexibilities are generated by liming.

Methods

Bioeconomic simulation modelling is used to identify the gross margins and emissions associated with liming in land use sequences at 14 locations in Western Australia. Three intensities of cropping and three different rotational sequences …

Feral Goat, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Biosecurity factsheets

The goat (Capra hircus) was one of the first animals to be domesticated, 8 to 10 thousand years ago. Archaeological work indicates the earliest attempts at domestication were in dry hills surrounding the Mediterranean basin. The ability of goats to utilise the coarse browse of mountainous areas made them suitable for domestication, in preference to sheep. With large-scale domestication of goats throughout the world, goats escaped and established feral goat herds on most continents. Overgrazing by goats has caused severe environmental damage, worldwide.

Goats arrived in Australia with the first fleet. They were introduced to many areas by early settlers …

An Automated Machine Learning Approach To The Retrieval Of Daily Soil Moisture In South Korea Using Satellite Images, Meteorological Data, And Digital Elevation Model, Nari Kim, Soo-Jin Lee, Eunha Sohn, Mija Kim, Seonkyeong Seong, Seung Hee Kim, Yangwon Lee

Institute for ECHO Articles and Research

Soil moisture is a critical parameter that significantly impacts the global energy balance, including the hydrologic cycle, land–atmosphere interactions, soil evaporation, and plant growth. Currently, soil moisture is typically measured by installing sensors in the ground or through satellite remote sensing, with data retrieval facilitated by reanalysis models such as the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis 5 (ERA5) and the Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS). However, the suitability of these methods for capturing local-scale variabilities is insufficiently validated, particularly in regions like South Korea, where land surfaces are highly complex and heterogeneous. In contrast, artificial intelligence …

Root Lesion And Burrowing Nematodes And Their Management, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Grains and other field crops factsheets

Nematodes are common soil pests that feed on the roots of a wide range of crops in all agricultural areas of Western Australia, resulting in significant crop yield loss. Root lesion nematode can be managed but not eradicated.

This factsheet summarises the biology of the root lesion nematode (RLN, Pratylenchus spp.) and burrowing nematode (Radopholus spp.) species that damage Western Australian (WA) crops, and their diagnosis and management.

Roly Poly And Its Management, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Grains and other field crops factsheets

Roly poly, also known as prickly saltwort or tumbleweed (Salsola australis), is a native species found throughout Australia. The dead plants can break off at ground level, forming the ‘tumbleweeds’ seen in movies.

Like most summer weeds, roly poly uses soil moisture and nutrients that would otherwise be available to the following crop. The time taken to clear uncontrolled plants can delay seeding.

Livestock will graze the young plants; however, they will not eat the mature plants and are injured by the prickly leaves.

Open Groundwater Drains In Wa, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

Open groundwater drains are excavated channels with sloping floors and sides and open levees, designed to intercept and drain surface (usually fresh) and groundwater (usually saline in WA) from agricultural land. These drains are most effective where the channel is dug below a water table in soils that allow good lateral drainage.

DPIRD recommends leveed groundwater drains in most cases. These should form part of a whole farm and whole catchment integrated water and salinity management program. Information on this page is a guide only. It is highly recommended that landholders considering the construction of open drains seek expert advice …

Investigation Of Temperature, Solution Strength, And Applied Stress Effects On Cation Exchange Processes In Different Geosynthetic Clay Liner Products, Kendra Fuller

Master's Theses

An extensive laboratory test program was conducted to analyze and compare the cation exchange processes in three different varieties of sodium bentonite (Na-B) geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs) over increased conditioning durations up to 32 days and investigate the effects of temperature, solution strength, and applied stress. The goal of this test program was to establish whether the variables of temperature, solution strength, and applied stress improved or degraded the engineering properties of GCLs in laboratory testing and municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill applications. The GCLs were conditioned in liquids of increasing ionic strength, using deionized water and 2, 50, and …

Early Season Wheat Response To Electrochemically Precipitated Struvite In Various Soils In The Greenhouse, Tatum Simms, Kristofor R. Brye, Trenton L. Roberts, Lauren F. Greenlee

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

Fertilizer-phosphorus (P) materials can be recovered from wastewater and used to supplement mined phosphate rock, where one such material is struvite [MgNH4PO4·6(H2O)]. This study aimed to compare electrochemically precipitated struvite (ECST) reclaimed from synthetic wastewater to other commercial fertilizer-P sources in cultivated soils from Arkansas [silty clay loam (AR-SiCL) and silt loam (AR-SiL)], Missouri [(silt loam; MO-SiL 1 and 2)], and Nebraska [silt loam (NE-SiL) and sandy loam (NE-SL)]. A greenhouse pot study was conducted for 60 days with unvernalized wheat (Triticum aestivum) using five fertilizer-P sources [ECST, chemically precipitated struvite (CPST), monoammonium phosphate (MAP), triple superphosphate (TSP), …

Rotary Spading To Ameliorate Soil Water Repellence, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Natural resources factsheets

One-off deep cultivation can reduce the severity of soil water repellence by mixing some of the repellent topsoil into the wettable subsoil and bringing wettable subsoil to the surface.

Rotary spading or deep cultivation increases water infiltration by providing pathways for water entry; diluting the water repellent soil with non-repellent soil; increasing the breakdown of soil organic matter causing water repellence; in some soil types, spading and other deep cultivation can lift subsoil with higher clay content to the surface.

Deep cultivation increases the risk of wind and water erosion. To minimise the risk of erosion, follow the guidelines on …

Developing A Controlled Traffic (Tramline) Farming System, Department Of Primary Industries And Regional Development, Western Australia

Grains and other field crops factsheets

Controlled traffic farming (CTF) is a farming system built on permanent wheel tracks where the crop zone and traffic lanes are permanently separated. It can improve profitability and sustainability.

Implements for seeding, spraying, spreading and harvesting have a particular span, or multiple of it, and all wheel tracks are confined to specific traffic lanes.

CTF increases profit by more yield, better grain quality, improved operation timeliness, and reduced costs. The environment can improve, with less nutrient leaching, less water erosion, better water infiltration, and less greenhouse gas emission. Implementation needs a clear, long-term plan, and prioritisation of soil health.

Another …

Integration Of Matlab And Machine Learning To Accelerate Evaluation Of Biological Activity In Agricultural Soils And Promote Soil Health Improvement Goals, Andrew Stiven Ortiz Balsero

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Traditionally, assessments of soil biological activity have been confined to laboratory settings, creating a disconnect with practical in-field methods. To bridge this gap, cotton fabric degradation has been used to illustrate soil microbial activity under different management practices. While effective, these demonstrations are subjective and labor-intensive.

Researchers have explored using image processing software like ImageJ and Adobe Photoshop to streamline this process. Although these tools accurately quantified fabric degradation under varying soil conditions, the methods remained labor-intensive and complex. Consequently, these methods were still not ideal for on-farm use by agricultural practitioners.

To further address labor and complexity limitations, the …

Geotechnical Analysis Of Soil Sample Pp-7 From The Ewu Palouse Prairie Restoration Site, Cheney, Wa, Jessica M. Lawrence, Sydney Fergen, Kai L. Valentine, Annika Smith

2024 Symposium

The Eastern Washington University Palouse Prairie Restoration Project is a program set to restore 120 acres of Palouse prairie back to its native habitat. The land is currently leased as a no till annual wheat field. The soil lies atop Pleistocene loess from the Cordilleran Ice Sheet and glaciofluvial deposits from the Great Missoula Floods. There were 9 different soil samples collected from the Palouse prairie restoration project area. Group 7 analyzed soil sample PP-7 collected at 47.492747°N, -117.593442°W, on September 21st, 2023, and over 10 weeks, tested the specific gravity (ASTM D854), particle size distribution (ASTM D422, D7928), soil …

A Seasonal Decomposition Comparison Between Forest And Turf Habitats: Implications For Climate Change, Amanda Shirmer

DePaul Discoveries

Decomposition is an essential ecosystem service in which microorganisms breakdown organic matter. This process improves soil health and acts as a vital step in global carbon cycles. In this study, we examined decomposition rates and associated soil properties in turf and forest habitats across summer and fall seasons in order to determine how land management practices and climate change may be altering local decomposition regimes. Our study determined that there was a statistically significant difference between decomposition rates in turf and forest ecosystems (P=0.003) and a significant difference in decomposition rate across season (P

Exploring Producers' Willingness To Pay For Ecosystem Services: Three Essays On Soil Health, Location Preferences, And Cover Crop Adoption, Kaouter Essakkat

Dissertations and Doctoral Documents, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2023–

This dissertation comprises three essays: one assessing Midwest producers' willingness-to-pay (WTP) for soil health-enhancing ecosystem services (ES), another examining the impact of policy implementation locations on WTP, and a third identifying factors influencing producers' adoption of cover crops (CC).

The first essay pioneers the understanding of agricultural producers’ valuation of soil health-associated ES amid growing concerns of soil degradation due to agricultural intensification. Using a discrete choice experiment, this study assesses producers’ WTP for a policy that incentivizes ES provision, specifically improved water quality, carbon sequestration, and enhanced crop yield. Surveying producers across Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, our results show …

Ecological Effects On Greenhouse Gas Emissions In Vegetated Estuarine Soils Of The Lower Laguna Madre, David R. De La Garza

Theses and Dissertations

Coastal wetlands are important ecosystems that provide numerous ecosystem services including erosion control, habitat for fauna, and carbon sequestration. Notably, coastal wetlands are producers of greenhouse gases (GHGs) but are able to store significant amounts of carbon relative to their surface area. Mangrove forests are amongst the most effective ecosystems for carbon sequestration. Soil emits (GHGs) containing carbon (such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4)), which are produced by organic matter decomposition and soil organic carbon mineralization, and both are an important component of the global carbon cycle. Soil emissions may be affected by a variety of factors including …

[Discussions] Vol. 20 Iss. 1

Discussions

This issue of Discussions was published for the Spring 2024 cycle.

Rice Biomass Response To Various Phosphorus Fertilizers In A Phosphorus-Deficient Soil Under Simulated Furrow-Irrigation, Jonathan B. Brye

Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

Wastewater-recovered phosphorus (P), in the form of the mineral struvite (MgNH4PO4⋅6H2O), may provide a sustainable alternative to rapidly decreasing rock phosphate reserves. Struvite can be generated via chemical and/or electrochemical precipitation methods, potentially reducing the amount of P runoff to aquatic ecosystems. The objective of this greenhouse tub study was to evaluate the effects of chemically- and electrochemically precipitated struvite (CPST and ECST, respectively) on above- and belowground plant response in a hybrid rice cultivar (Gemini 214, RiceTec) grown using furrow-irrigation compared to other common fertilizer-P sources [i.e., triple super phosphate (TSP) and diammonium phosphate (DAP)] in a P-deficient silt …

Assessing The Spatial Variability Of Soil Physical Properties Under A Corn Field In Kentucky, Usa, Sai Neela Kesumala

Scholars Week

Analyzing soil physical properties is crucial for advancing sustainable and precision agricultural practices in today's world. Sustainable agriculture emphasizes responsible resource utilization and preservation. Precision agriculture utilizes technology, data, and targeted decision-making to optimize resource usage and minimize environmental impacts. Assessing soil property variability aids in efficient input application, irrigation adjustment, nutrient runoff reduction, and fertilizer management. This approach prioritizes soil conservation, boosts sustainability, and supports long-term agricultural productivity. This study aimed to evaluate the spatial distribution of specific soil physical properties across the four border rows, central corn field area, and sod area. Seventy-two soil samples were collected from …