Abstract
The Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) is a
straightforward and logistically simple method for characterising and
scoring soil structural and physical quality, ideally suited to evaluate
and monitor soil degradation in remote and undeveloped areas. The
research presented here tested for the first time the feasibility of
using VESS in the Amazon basin, under the specialised land uses and soils
(Yellow Oxisol and "Terra Preta de Índio") of the region, and its
relation with quantitative soil indicators. The evaluated areas, which
had never been subjected to mechanisation, fertilisation nor tillage,
were "Terra Preta de Índio"/ Anthropogenic Dark Earth; Regenerating
Forest; Slash and Burn; Pasture; and Pristine Forest. The results showed
that the quantitative indicators were less sensitive at revealing signs
of degradation than VESS and that VESS brought to light evidence of
historic land use change and limitations to crop productivity. VESS was
significantly correlated with soil resistance to penetration. However,
VESS had difficulty capturing possible low water-holding capacity and
surface sealing, but the hands on approach to VESS allowed the user to
identify these problems, despite not being listed in the reference chart.
Overall, VESS was a more integrated soil quality indicator, exposing more
aspects of soil functionality than the quantitative indicators, it was
also logistically easier to perform making it ideal for tracking soil
degradation and structural quality in similarly challenging situations.
However, more research is required to fully enable VESS to capture
structural quality in 'sandified' soils, caused by the slash and burn
method widely used in the Amazon region.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 75 - 82 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Soil and Tillage Research |
Volume | 173 |
Early online date | 13 Nov 2016 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | First published - 13 Nov 2016 |
Bibliographical note
10233211030789
Keywords
- Soil quality
- Soil structure
- Visual soil evaluation