Date of Graduation

8-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences (MS)

Degree Level

Graduate

Department

Crop, Soil & Environmental Sciences

Advisor/Mentor

Brye, Kristofor R.

Committee Member

Wood, Lisa S.

Second Committee Member

Roberts, Trenton L.

Third Committee Member

Daniels, Mike B.

Fourth Committee Member

Fernandes, Samuel B.

Keywords

Cover crops; Soil management; Soil science

Abstract

Human population growth and climate change are present stressors that continue to put pressure on current agricultural production systems, where typical row-crop agricultural practices can negatively impact soil health. Extensive use of cover crops (CC) to increase soil health remains widely unrealized. Soil health in Arkansas is a major concern for sustaining agricultural output, therefore research into CC implementation across Arkansas to maintain or improve soil health is needed. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of CC (i.e., with and without CC) across various physical, hydraulic, biological, and chemical soil indicators in the Lower Mississippi River Valley over time. Averaged across depth, bulk density did not change over time under a no-cover-crop (NCC) treatment, but increased approximately 0.03 g cm-3 over time under CC. Averaged across CC treatment and aggregate size-class, water-stable aggregate (WSA) concentration differed by depth, with an increase over time of 0.012 g g-1 within the 0-5 cm depth interval. Total WSA (TWSA) concentrations differed between CC treatments over time, with TWSA concentrations increasing more under CC (0.054 g g-1) and did not change under NCC. Total WSA concentrations increased over time in the 0-5 cm soil depth (0.061 g g-1). Between Spring 2019 and 2020, reniform (Rotylenchulus spp.) and spiral (Helicotylenchus spp.) nematodes abundances differed between CC treatments, with an increase in population counts under CC (872 and 116, respectively), while populations did not change over time under NCC. Soil pH decreased over time under both CC (-0.3) and NCC (-0.2) treatments. Soil N content decreased over time under NCC (-22.6 kg ha-1), but did not change over time under CC. Results of this study emphasized the importance of the temporal nature of soil health as affected by CC and their potential to improve soil health in Arkansas.

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