FACTORS INFLUENCING SOIL STRUCTURAL STABILITY WITHIN A GROWING-SEASON

Temporal fluctuations in soil structural stability within cropping treatments are often as large as differences between crops during the growing season. The relative importance of soil moisture, roots, and microbial biomass as factors contributing to this variation were investigated. Research was conducted on a fine-silty, mixed, mesic Typic Eutrochrept intergrading to a fine-silty, mixed, mesic Typic Haplaquept soil near Elora, ON. Stepwise multiple-regression analyses selected soil moisture and microbial biomass (in that order) as significant predictors of structural stability within the growing season. Using both parameters, it was possible to explain up to 85% of the temporal variation in DC and WAS on a by-treatment basis. -from Authors