Limited effect of organic matter on soil available water capacity

Summary Soil water‐holding capacity is an important component of the water and energy balances of the terrestrial biosphere. It controls the rate of evapotranspiration, and is a key to crop production. It is widely accepted that the available water capacity in soil can be improved by increasing organic matter content. However, the increase in amount of water that is available to plants with an increase in organic matter is still uncertain and may be overestimated. To clarify this issue, we carried out a meta‐analysis from 60 published studies and analysed large databases (more than 50 000 measurements globally) to seek relations between organic carbon (OC) and water content at saturation, field capacity,…

• AR
  Australian Research Council