Sunday, 9 July 2006 - 11:05 AM
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Soil Organic Carbon in Small Watersheds Under Long-Term Agricultural Management Systems.

Jerry Ritchie, ARS-BARC-HRSL, 10300 Baltimore Ave, Beltsville, MD 20705, Lloyd Owens, USDA-Agricultural Research Service, P.O. Box 488, Coshocton, OH 43812, Gregory McCarty, HRSL, ANRI, ARS, USDA, BLDG 007, BARC WEST, Beltsville, MD 20705-2325, and Erik Venteris, OH Division of Geological Survey, 2045 Morse Road, Bldg. C, Columbus, OH 43229.

Patterns of soil organic carbon vary in agricultural landscapes where different management systems are used to minimize the redistribution of soils. This study measured the soil organic carbon content in 20 small (<3 ha) first order research watersheds at the USDA ARS North Appalachian Experimental Watershed (NAEW) near Coshocton, Ohio USA. These small watersheds have had single management regimes since 1935. These long-term management regimes include conventional tillage with and without manure added, no-tillage with manure added, pasture (high and medium fertility), and meadows (good and poor condition). Soil organic carbon differed significantly between management practices and was related to soil redistribution rates as measured using radioactive fallout Cesium-137. This study shows the impacts of soil redistribution on soil organic carbon within small watersheds between different management practices and aids in understanding soil organic carbon and soil redistribution patterns related management system.

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Back to The 18th World Congress of Soil Science (July 9-15, 2006)