Agricultural Management Impacts on Soil Health: Methods for Large Spatial Scales

Agriculture in the Southern Great Plains of the United States depends on precipitation and temperature thresholds for productivity. The region’s climate and weather are variable, presenting farming challenges that are predicted to increase. Building and conserving healthy, resilient soil is one way...

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Main Authors: Caitlin M. Rottler, David P. Brown, Jean L. Steiner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2017-11-01
Series:Agricultural & Environmental Letters
Online Access:https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/ael/articles/2/1/170034
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author Caitlin M. Rottler
David P. Brown
Jean L. Steiner
author_facet Caitlin M. Rottler
David P. Brown
Jean L. Steiner
author_sort Caitlin M. Rottler
collection DOAJ
description Agriculture in the Southern Great Plains of the United States depends on precipitation and temperature thresholds for productivity. The region’s climate and weather are variable, presenting farming challenges that are predicted to increase. Building and conserving healthy, resilient soil is one way farmers manage for future uncertainty. Few studies have compared soil health–managed and conventionally managed farms at the regional scale. To better understand management effects on soil health across the Southern Great Plains, we studied farms at 12 locations. We piloted the study using three of the locations, collecting soils from 10 fields per location and analyzing them for indicators of soil health. Our objective was to test the suitability of our experimental framework and identify additional indicators and analyses of interest. Our framework was generally suitable to the purpose of this study. We also noted that soil health–managed soils had organic matter stratification similar to native soils, which we plan to explore further.
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spelling doaj.art-2dd9963ab98942279e717dd19d6bcae22022-12-22T01:57:43ZengWileyAgricultural & Environmental Letters2471-96252017-11-012110.2134/ael2017.09.0034Agricultural Management Impacts on Soil Health: Methods for Large Spatial ScalesCaitlin M. RottlerDavid P. BrownJean L. SteinerAgriculture in the Southern Great Plains of the United States depends on precipitation and temperature thresholds for productivity. The region’s climate and weather are variable, presenting farming challenges that are predicted to increase. Building and conserving healthy, resilient soil is one way farmers manage for future uncertainty. Few studies have compared soil health–managed and conventionally managed farms at the regional scale. To better understand management effects on soil health across the Southern Great Plains, we studied farms at 12 locations. We piloted the study using three of the locations, collecting soils from 10 fields per location and analyzing them for indicators of soil health. Our objective was to test the suitability of our experimental framework and identify additional indicators and analyses of interest. Our framework was generally suitable to the purpose of this study. We also noted that soil health–managed soils had organic matter stratification similar to native soils, which we plan to explore further.https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/ael/articles/2/1/170034
spellingShingle Caitlin M. Rottler
David P. Brown
Jean L. Steiner
Agricultural Management Impacts on Soil Health: Methods for Large Spatial Scales
Agricultural & Environmental Letters
title Agricultural Management Impacts on Soil Health: Methods for Large Spatial Scales
title_full Agricultural Management Impacts on Soil Health: Methods for Large Spatial Scales
title_fullStr Agricultural Management Impacts on Soil Health: Methods for Large Spatial Scales
title_full_unstemmed Agricultural Management Impacts on Soil Health: Methods for Large Spatial Scales
title_short Agricultural Management Impacts on Soil Health: Methods for Large Spatial Scales
title_sort agricultural management impacts on soil health methods for large spatial scales
url https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/ael/articles/2/1/170034
work_keys_str_mv AT caitlinmrottler agriculturalmanagementimpactsonsoilhealthmethodsforlargespatialscales
AT davidpbrown agriculturalmanagementimpactsonsoilhealthmethodsforlargespatialscales
AT jeanlsteiner agriculturalmanagementimpactsonsoilhealthmethodsforlargespatialscales