Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Short-term effects of biological and physical forces on aggregate formation in soils with different clay mineralogy

  • Published:
Plant and Soil Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The mechanisms resulting in the binding of primary soil particles into stable aggregates vary with soil parent material, climate, vegetation, and management practices. In this study, we investigated short-term effects of: (i) nutrient addition (Hoagland's solution), (ii) organic carbon (OC) input (wheat residue), (iii) drying and wetting action, and (iv) root growth, with or without dry–wet cycles, on aggregate formation and stabilization in three soils differing in weathering status and clay mineralogy. These soils included a young, slightly weathered temperate soil dominated by 2:1 (illite and chlorite) clay minerals; a moderately weathered soil with mixed [2:1 (vermiculite) and 1:1 (kaolinite)] clay mineralogy and oxides; and a highly weathered tropical soil dominated by 1:1 (kaolinite) clay minerals and oxides. Air-dried soil was dry sieved through a 250 μm sieve to break up all macroaggregates and 100 g-subsamples were brought to field capacity and incubated for 42 days. After 14 and 42 days, aggregate stability was measured on field moist and air-dried soil, to determine unstable and stable aggregation respectively. In control treatments (i.e., without nutrient or organic matter addition, without roots and at constant moisture), the formation of unstable and stable macroaggregates (> 250 μm) increased in the order: 2:1 clay soil < mixed clay soil < 1:1 clay soil. After 42 days of incubation, nutrient addition significantly increased both unstable and stable macroaggregates in the 2:1 and 1:1 clay soils. In all soils, additional OC input increased both unstable and stable macroaggregate formation. The increase in macroaggregation with OC input was highest for the mixed clay soil and lowest for the 1:1 clay soil. In general, drying and wetting cycles had a positive effect on the formation of macroaggregates. Root growth caused a decrease in unstable macroaggregates in all soils. Larger amounts of macroaggregates were found in the mixed clay and oxides soil when plants were grown under 50% compared to 100% field capacity conditions. We concluded that soils dominated by variable charge clay minerals (1:1 clays and oxides) have higher potential to form stable aggregates when OC concentrations are low. With additional OC inputs, the greatest response in stable macroaggregate formation occurred in soils with mixed mineralogy, which is probably a result of different binding mechanisms occurring: i.e., electrostatic bindings between 2:1 clays, 1:1 clays and oxides (i.e. mineral-mineral bindings), in addition to OM functioning as a binding agent between 2:1 and 1:1 clays.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alexiades C A and Jackson M L 1965 Quantitative determination of vermiculite in soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. Proc. 29, 522-527.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blakemore L C, Searle R L and Daly B K 1987 Methods for chemical analysis of soils. N.Z. Soil Bureau of Sci. Rep. 80. New Zealand Soil Bureau, Lower Hutt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caron J, Kay B D and Stone J A 1992 Improvement of structural stability of a clay loam with drying. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 56, 1583-1590.

    Google Scholar 

  • Czarnes S, Hallett P D, Bengough A G and Young I M 2000 Root-and microbial-derived mucilages affect soil structure and water transport. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 51, 435-443.

    Google Scholar 

  • Degens B P 1997 Macroaggregation of soils by biological bonding and binding mechanisms and the factors affecting these: a review. Aust. J. Soil Res. 35, 431-459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denef K, Six J, Bossuyt H, Frey S D, Elliott E T, Merckx R and Paustian K 2001 Influence of dry-wet cycles on the interrelationship between aggregate, particulate organic matter, andmicrobial community dynamics. Soil Biol. Biochem. 33, 1599-1611.

    Google Scholar 

  • Edwards A P and Bremner J M 1967 Microaggregates in soils. J. Soil Sci. 18, 64-73.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott E T 1986 Aggregate structure and carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in native and cultivated soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 50, 627-633.

    Google Scholar 

  • Elliott E T, Palm C A, Reuss D E, Monz C A 1991 Organic matter contained in soil aggregates from a tropical chronosequence: correction for sand and light fraction. Agric. Ecosys. Environ. 34, 443-451.

    Google Scholar 

  • El-Swaify S A 1980 Physical and mechanical properties of oxisols. In Soils with Variable Charge. Ed. B K G Theng. pp. 303-324. Offset Publications, Plamerston North, New Zealand.

    Google Scholar 

  • Franzluebbers A J and Arshad M A 1996 Water-stable aggregation and organic matter in four soils under conventional and zero tillage. Can. J. Soil Sci. 76, 387-393.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frye W W and Blevins R L 1997 Soil organic matter under long-term no-tillage and conventional tillage corn production in Kentucky. In Soil Organic Matter in Temperate Agroecosystems: Long-term Experiments in North America. Ed. E A Paul et al. pp. 343-351. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gale W J, Cambardella C A and Bailey T B 2000 Root-derived carbon and the formation and stabilization of aggregates. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 64, 201-207.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hassink J 1997 The capacity of soils to physically protect organic C and N. Plant Soil 191, 77-87.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haynes R J and Swift R S 1990 Stability of soil aggregates in relation to organic constituents and soil water content. J. Soil Sci. 41, 73-83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jager G and Bruins E H 1975 Effect of repeated drying at different temperatures on soil organic matter decomposition and characteristics, and on the soil microflora. Soil Biol. Biochem. 7, 153-159.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jastrow J D 1996 Soil aggregate formation and the accrual of particulate and mineral-associated organic matter. Soil Biol. Biochem. 28, 665-676.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jastrow J D, Miller R M and Lussenhop J 1998. Contributions of interacting biological mechanisms to soil aggregate stabilization in restored prairie. Soil Biol. Biochem. 30, 905-916.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemper W D and Koch E J 1966. Aggregate stability of soils from western United States and Canada pp. 1-52. Colorado Agricultural Experimental Station. Bulletin 1355.

  • Kemper W D and Rosenau R C 1984 Soil cohesion as affected by time and water content. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 48, 1001-1006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kemper W D, Rosenau R C and Dexter A R 1987 Cohesion development in disrupted soils as affected by clay and organic matter and temperature. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 51, 860-867.

    Google Scholar 

  • Merckx R, Den Hartog A and Van Veen J A 1985 Turnover of rootderived material and related microbial biomass formation in soils of different texture. Soil Biol. Biochem. 17, 565-569. Lynch J M and Bragg E 1985 Microorganisms and soil aggregate stability. Adv. Soil Sci. 2, 134-170.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyon D J, Monz C A, Brown R E and Metherell A K 1997 Soil organic matter changes over two decades of winter wheatfallow cropping in Western Nebraska. In Soil Organic Matter in Temperate Agroecosystems: Long-term Experiments in North America. Ed. E A Paul et al. pp. 343-351. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Materechera S A, Kirby J M, Alston A M and Dexter A R 1994 Modification of soil aggregation by watering regime and roots growing through beds of large aggregates. Plant Soil 160, 57-66.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller R M and Jastrow J 1990 Hierarchy of root and mycorrhizal fungal interactions with soil aggregation. Soil Biol. Biochem. 22, 579-584.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moore D M and Reynolds R C 1997 X-ray Diffraction and the Identification and Analysis of Clay Minerals. 2nd edn. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oades J M and Waters A G, 1991 Aggregate hierarchy in soils. Aust. J. Soil Res. 29, 815-828.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parks G A 1965 The isoelectric points of solid oxides, solid hydroxides, and aqueous hydroxo complex systems. Chem. Rev. 65, 177-198.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perfect E, Kay B D, van Loon W K P, Sheard R W and Pojasok T 1990 Factors influencing soil structural stability within a growing season. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 54, 173-179.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinheiro-Dick D and Schwertmann U 1996 Microaggregates from oxisols and inceptisols: dispersion through selective dissolutions and physicochemical treatments. Geoderma 74, 49-63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pleysier J L and Juo A S R 1980 A single-extraction method using silver-thiourea for measuring exchangeable cations and effective CEC in soils with variable charges. Soil Sci. 129, 205-211.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puget P and Drinkwater L E 2001 Short-term dynamics of root-and shoot-derived carbon from a leguminous green manure. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 65 (2001) 771-779.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puget P, Chenu C and Balesdent J 1995 Total and young organic matter distributions in aggregates of silty cultivated soils. Eur. J. Soil Sci. 46, 449-459.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reid J B and Goss M J 1981 Effect of living roots of different plant species on the aggregate stability of two arable soils. J. Soil Sci. 32, 521-541.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reid J B, Goss M J and Robertson P D 1982 Relationship between the decreases in soil stability affected by the growth of maize roots and changes in organically bound iron and aluminum. J. Soil Sci. 33, 397-410.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyes I and Torrent J 1998 Citrate-Ascorbate as a highly selective extractant of poorly crystalline iron oxides. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 61, 1647-1654.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santos H P dos, Ignaczak J C and Lhamby J C B 1995 Produtividade cultural de sistemas de rotacao para trigo durante dez anos, em Passo Fundo, RS. Pesq. Agropec. Bras., Brasilia 30 (12), 1397-1402.

    Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute, 1990. SAS STAT user's guide. Vol. 2. Version 6 ed. SAS inst., Cary, NC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schahabi S and Schwertmann U 1970 Der einfluss von synthetischen eisenoxides auf die aggregation zweier lussbodenhorizonte. Z. Pflanzenernahr. Bodenk. 125, 193-204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schofield R K and Samson H R 1954 Flocculation of kaolinite due to the attraction of oppositely charged crystal faces. Faraday Discussions 18, 659-673.

    Google Scholar 

  • Six J, Elliott E T, Paustian K and Doran J W 1998 Aggregation and soil organic matter accumulation in cultivated and native grassland soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 65, 1367-1377.

    Google Scholar 

  • Six J, Elliott E T, Paustian K and Combrink C 2000a Soil structure and organic matter. I. Distribution of aggregate size classes and aggregate-associated carbon. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 64, 681-689.

    Google Scholar 

  • Six J, Elliott E T and Paustian K 2000b Soil structure and soil organic matter: II. A normalized stability index and effects of mineralogy. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 64, 1042-1049.

    Google Scholar 

  • Six J, Feller C, Denef K, Ogle S, de Moreaes Sa J C and Albrecht A Soil organic matter dynamics, biota and aggregation in temperate and tropical soils: effect of no-tillage. Agronomy: Agriculture and Environment. In press (MS 01.120 SP 05).

  • Soil Survey Laboratory Staff 1992 Soil survey laboratory methods manual. Soil Surv. Invest. Reps. 42, USDA-SCS, Washington, DC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sposito G 1989 The Chemistry of Soils. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tisdall J M and Oades J M 1979 Stabilization of soil aggregates by the root systems of ryegrass. Aust. J. Soil Res. 17, 429-441.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tisdall J M and Oades J M 1982 Organic matter and water-stable aggregates in soils. J. Soil Sci. 33, 141-163.

    Google Scholar 

  • Utomo W H and Dexter A R 1982 Changes in soil aggregate water stability induced by wetting and drying cycles in non-saturated soil. J. Soil Sci. 33, 623-637.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wander M M and Yang X 2000 Influence of tillage on the dynamics of loose-and occluded particulate and humified organic matter fractions. Soil Biol. Biochem. 32, 1151-1160.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Natural Resource Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA

    Karolien Denef, Johan Six & Keith Paustian

  2. Laboratory of Soil Fertility and Soil Biology, K.U.Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 20, 3001, Heverlee, Belgium

    Karolien Denef & Roel Merckx

  3. Department of Agronomy and Range Science, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA

    Johan Six

Authors
  1. Karolien Denef
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Johan Six
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Roel Merckx
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Keith Paustian
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karolien Denef.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Denef, K., Six, J., Merckx, R. et al. Short-term effects of biological and physical forces on aggregate formation in soils with different clay mineralogy. Plant and Soil 246, 185–200 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020668013524

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020668013524

Search

Navigation