Relating Changes in Soil Health to the Reduction of Nutrient and Soil Loss from Agricultural Fields

Session: Poster session

Natalie Feisthauer, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, [email protected]
Lori Phillips, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, [email protected]
Dan Reynolds, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, [email protected]
Patrick Handyside, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, [email protected]
Sonja Fransen, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, [email protected]
Pamela Joosse, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, [email protected]

Abstract

Healthy soil reduces the risk of soil erosion, and enhances crop yield stability and quality in the face of climatic stress.  The purported benefits of soil health also include the reduction in loss of nutrients and soil to surface and groundwater.  However, the link between soil health and improved water quality is not definitively established, especially under field conditions. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada has two established edge-of-field sites located in the Upper Thames River, Ontario, Canada, where surface runoff and/or subsurface (tile) discharge water is monitored year-round to evaluate the impacts of BMP implementation. In 2018, annual in-field sampling of soil will commence to monitor changes in soil dynamic properties following BMP implementation, and determine the relationship between changes in soil health and water quality.  Soil texture, and dynamic chemical, physical and biological soil properties responsive to management will be measured and include: TP, available (bicarbonate) P, TN, NO₃-N, NH₄-N, K, Zn, Mn, total and organic C, total C:N ratio, EC; soil horizon depth, structure, water infiltration rate; saturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density, porosity, plant-available air and water capacity, water retention relationship, and equivalent pore-size distribution; and, microbial diversity and microbial functional genes associated with nutrient cycling processes.

1. Keyword
nutrients

2. Keyword
water quality

3. Keyword
Lake Erie

4. Additional Keyword
soil health

5. Additional Keyword
monitoring