Historical increase in agricultural machinery weights enhanced soil stress levels and adversely affected soil functioning
University of Southern Queensland · Agroscope · +3 more institutions
Abstract
Soil compaction caused by vehicular traffic adversely affects key soil functions and ecosystem services that soils provide. Although compaction is a well-recognized problem, it remains challenging to quantify the economic and ecological costs of compaction. The mechanization in agriculture has resulted in a steady increase in weight of farm vehicles. It is reasonable to assume that this has exacerbated soil compaction, but there is little quantitative knowledge on the development of compaction levels in arable soils. To quantify these trends, we use historical records of harvester and tractor weights to simulate how the weight increase has changed soil stresses and bulk density of arable soil, and to predict…
Citation impact
- FWCI
- 39.21
- Percentile
- 100%
- References
- 96
Authors
5Topics & keywords
- Arable land
- Soil compaction
- Soil water
- Compaction
- Bulk density
- Hydraulic conductivity
- Environmental science
- Soil science
- Zero hunger