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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Laboratory for Agriculture and The Environment » Soil, Water & Air Resources Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #319243
Title: Least limiting water range of soils

Author
item PIRES DA SILVA, ALVARO - Luiz De Queiroz College Of Agriculture (ESALQ)
item KAY, B - University Of Guelph
item TORMENA, CASSIO - University Of Maringa
item IMHOFF, S - Universidad Nacional Del Litoral
item Karlen, Douglas
item Benjamin, Joseph

Submitted to: Encyclopedia of Soil Science
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/1/2015
Publication Date: 11/1/2016
Citation: Pires Da Silva, A., Kay, B.D., Tormena, C.A., Imhoff, S., Karlen, D.L., Benjamin, J.G. 2016. Least limiting water range of soils. In: Rattan, L., editor. Encyclopedia of Soil Science. Third edition. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. p. 2530-2534.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The least limiting water range (LLWR) has been developed as an index of the soil structural quality. The LLWR was defined as the region bounded by the upper and lower soil water content over which water, oxygen, and mechanical resistance become major limitations for root growth. Thus, it combines the effects of critical soil physical properties on biological processes into a single variable. Studies showed LLWR was related to shoot and roots growth, and crop production. It also was effective to identify loss of soil quality caused by compaction due to animal trampling, tillage practices and wheel-traffic. The LLWR associated with measurements of microbiological processes rates may help predict the efficiency of different management systems to recover the quality of degraded soils.