Format:
Online-Ressource
ISSN:
1522-2624
Content:
Abstract: Noninvasive geophysical methods have a great potential for improving soil‐biological studies at field or regional scales: they enable the rapid acquisition of soil information which may help to identify potential habitats for soil biota. A precondition for this application is the existence of close relationships between geophysical measurements and the soil organism of interest. This study was conducted to determine whether field measurements of apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) are related to abundances of earthworms in tilled soils. Relationships between ECa and earthworm populations were investigated along transects at 42 plots under reduced and conventional tillage at a 74 ha field on sandy‐loam soil in NE Germany. Relations were analyzed with linear‐regression and spatial analysis. The apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) was quantitatively related to earthworm abundances sampled 5 months after the geophysical measurements. No relationship was found, however, in plots under conventional tillage when analyzed separately. If earthworm abundances were known at every other location along the transects and if the state‐space approach was used for analysis, the analysis of ECa measurements and earthworm abundances indicated that 50% of the earthworm samples could have been substituted by ECa measurements. Further research is needed to fully evaluate the potential of ECa measurements for predicting earthworm habitats in tilled soil.
In:
volume:173
In:
number:4
In:
year:2010
In:
pages:584-590
In:
extent:7
In:
Journal of plant nutrition and soil science, Weinheim : Wiley-VCH, 1922-, 173, Heft 4 (2010), 584-590 (gesamt 7), 1522-2624
Language:
English
DOI:
10.1002/jpln.200800071
URN:
urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023041105454031241610
URL:
https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.200800071
URL:
https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:101:1-2023041105454031241610
URL:
https://d-nb.info/1285878353/34
URL:
https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.200800071