Objectives: Effects of soil acidity on soil properties under winter wheat
Description: This a narrow strip of land at the northern edge of Hoosfield, Rothamsted with a soil pH ranging from 3.7 to 7.8 (at 0-23cm depth) due to uneven applications of chalk in the 19th Century. Spring barley was grown continuously for over 100 years. It is now sown to winter wheat each year, given only 100 kg N ha-1.The wheat starts to die out about half way along the plot, when the pH is below 5.5. This area has been used to study the relationship between soil pH, and microbial ecology and nutrient dynamics.
Date Start: 1850
Date End:
Ongoing
Key Contacts
Andy Gregory
Role: Principal Investigator
Organisation: Rothamsted Research
Address: West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, United Kingdom
Margaret Glendining
Role: Data Manager
Organisation: Rothamsted Research
Address: West Common, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, AL5 2JQ, United Kingdom
Funding
The e-RA
database, including the published datasets generated from it,
is part of the Rothamsted Long-Term Experiments - National Bioscience Research Infrastructure (RLTE-NBRI)
, which also includes the Long-Term
Experiments, the Sample
Archive and Rothamsted's environmental monitoring activities including the weather stations and its
role in the UK Environmental
Change Network.
The RLTE-NBRI is supported by the Lawes Agricultural Trust and the Biotechnology
and
Biological Sciences Research Council
(Grants BBS/E/C/00005189 (2012-2017); BBS/E/C/000J0300 (2017-2022); BBS/E/RH/23NB0007 (2023-2028)).
Experimental Design
Description
One strip (>200m) alongside the north end of Hoosfield Barley long-term field experiment
Design
Period: 1850 - Now
Crops
Crop
Years Grown
Winter Wheat
Factors
Factors are the interventions or treatments which vary across the experiment.
Liming Exposure
Description: Small amounts of chalk applied in 19th century
Description: The acid strip is sited at the northern end of Hoosfield, Rothamsted . It been under arable management since before the 19th century. It had uneven applications of chalk in the 19th century at which time chalk was dug from 'bell-pits' on neighboring slopes and spread by hand to improve the fertility and workability of the originally acid soils. Spring barley was grown continuously for over 100 years. It is now sown to winter wheat each year. The acid strip has not received any amendment including chemical or organic fertilizer since then. By the 1950's, reserves of CaCO3 remaining from earlier applications had become exhausted by leaching, especially at further distances from the chalk pits. Here the soil became acidic. It is now sown to winter wheat each year and the wheat starts to die out about half way along the plot, when the pH is below 5.5.
Management: 100 kg N ha-1 applied per year.
Visit Permitted?: Yes
Visiting Arrangments: By arrangement with Dr Andy Gregory, LTE Manager
Type: Fao Classification: Chromic Luvisol
Soil survey of England & Wales soil series: Batcombe-Carstens mix with sandier inclusions
Chromic luvisols soils were originally acidic, well-drained to moderately well-drained and developed in a relatively silty (loess-containing) superficial deposit overlaying, and mixed with, clay-with-flints. The topsoil is a flinty, silty clay loam (18–27% clay).
Soil Properties
Variable
Value
Reference Year
Is Estimated
Is Baseline
Soil pH
()
2008
NO
NO
Datasets available
Title (hover for a longer description)
Year of Publication
Identifier
Version
Soil data
Acid Strip soil pH and phosphorus concentration 2010
Turner, B.L. and Blackwell, M.S.A.(2013) "Isolating the influence of pH on the amounts and forms of soil organic phosphorus", European Journal of Soil Science, 64, 249-259 DOI: 10.1111/ejss.12026
2010
Rousk, J. , Baath, E. , Brookes, P.C. , Lauber, C.L. , Lozupone, C. , Caporaso, J.G. , Knight, R. and Fierer, N.(2010) "Soil bacterial and fungal communities across a pH gradient in an arable soil", ISME Journal, 4, 1340-1351 DOI: 10.1038/ismej.2010.58
Rousk, J. , Brookes, P.C. and Baath, E.(2010) "The microbial PLFA composition as affected by pH in an arable soil", Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 42, 516-520 DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2009.11.026
2009
Rousk, J. , Brookes, P.C. and Baath, E.(2009) "Contrasting Soil pH Effects on Fungal and Bacterial Growth Suggest Functional Redundancy in Carbon Mineralization", Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 75, 1589-1596 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02775-08
2008
Pietri, J.C.A. and Brookes, P.C.(2008) "Relationships between soil pH and microbial properties in a UK arable soil", Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 40, 1856-1861 DOI: 10.1016/j.soilbio.2008.03.020
For further information and assistance, please contact the e-RA
curators, Sarah Perryman and Margaret Glendining using the e-RA email
address: era@rothamsted.ac.uk