ARS | Publication request: IMPACT OF DECAYING PLANT RESIDUES AND GUMS ON AGGREGATE STABIITY AND RILL EROSION

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: August 30, 1996
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: There exists a body of knowledge on how soil aggregates are formed and stabilized as well as on how soil factors affect the rate of plant residue decay. However, information is lacking on when during the decay process aggregates stabilize and crust formation is reduced. Two aspects of the problem were studied, flocculation and stabilizing existing aggregates. Laboratory mini-rill flumes, packed with ground soil, were used to examine the impact of the treatments on sediment detachment by flowing water. The Griffith tube was used to determine the treatment impacts on wet and dry aggregate stability. Corn residues or plant polysaccharide gums were added to soil at rates comparable to amounts left in a field after harvest. Water was added to achieve 60% water holding capacity and samples were incubated at 23 C for 0 (control), 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Changes in stability and sediment detachment rates were determined at the end of each incubation period.