TY - JOUR A1 - Baroni, Gabriele A1 - Ortuani, B. A1 - Facchi, A. A1 - Gandolfi, C. T1 - The role of vegetation and soil properties on the spatio-temporal variability of the surface soil moisture in a maize-cropped field JF - Journal of hydrology N2 - Soil moisture dynamics are affected by complex interactions among several factors. Understanding the relative importance of these factors is still an important challenge in the study of water fluxes and solute transport in unsaturated media. In this study, the spatio-temporal variability of surface soil moisture was investigated in a 10 ha flat cropped field located in northern Italy. Soil moisture was measured on a regular 50 x 50 m grid on seven dates during the growing season. For each measurement campaign, the spatial variability of the soil moisture was compared with the spatial variability of the soil texture and crop properties. In particular, to better understand the role of the vegetation, the spatio-temporal variability of two different parameters - leaf area index and crop height - was monitored on eight dates at different crop development stages. Statistical and geostatistical analysis was then applied to explore the interactions between these variables. In agreement with other studies, the results show that the soil moisture variability changes according to the average value within the field, with the standard deviation reaching a maximum value under intermediate mean soil moisture conditions and the coefficient of variation decreasing exponentially with increasing mean soil moisture. The controls of soil moisture variability change according to the average soil moisture within the field. Under wet conditions, the spatial distribution of the soil moisture reflects the variability of the soil texture. Under dry conditions, the spatial distribution of the soil moisture is affected mostly by the spatial variability of the vegetation. The interaction between these two factors is more important under intermediate soil moisture conditions. These results confirm the importance of considering the average soil moisture conditions within a field when investigating the controls affecting the spatial variability of soil moisture. This study highlights the importance of considering the spatio-temporal variability of the vegetation in investigating soil moisture dynamics, especially under intermediate and dry soil moisture conditions. The results of this study have important implications in different hydrological applications, such as for sampling design, ranking stability application, indirect measurements of soil properties and model parameterisation. KW - Soil moisture KW - Spatio-temporal variability KW - Controlling factors KW - Principal component analysis KW - Geostatistics KW - Agricultural field Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2013.03.007 SN - 0022-1694 SN - 1879-2707 VL - 489 IS - 7 SP - 148 EP - 159 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wiesmeier, Martin A1 - Hübner, Rico A1 - Barthold, Frauke Katrin A1 - Spörlein, Peter A1 - Geuss, Uwe A1 - Hangen, Edzard A1 - Reischl, Arthur A1 - Schilling, Bernd A1 - von Lützow, Margit A1 - Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid T1 - Amount, distribution and driving factors of soil organic carbon and nitrogen in cropland and grassland soils of southeast Germany (Bavaria) JF - Agriculture, ecosystems & environment : an international journal for scientific research on the relationship of agriculture and food production to the biosphere N2 - Agricultural soils have a high potential for sequestration of atmospheric carbon due to their volume and several promising management options. However, there is a remarkable lack of information about the status quo of organic carbon in agricultural soils. In this study a comprehensive data set of 384 cropland soils and 333 grassland soils within the state of Bavaria in southeast Germany was analyzed in order to provide representative information on total amount, regional distribution and driving parameters of soil organic carbon (SOC) and nitrogen (N) in agricultural soils of central Europe. The results showed that grassland soils stored higher amounts of SOC (11.8 kg m(-2)) and N (0.92 kg m(-2)) than cropland soils (9.0 and 0.66 kg m(-2), respectively) due to moisture-induced accumulation of soil organic matter (SOM) in B horizons. Surprisingly, no distinct differences were found for the A horizons since tillage led to a relocation of SOM with depth in cropland soils. Statistical analyses of driving factors for SOM storage revealed soil moisture, represented by the topographic wetness index (TWI), as the most important parameter for both cropland and grassland soils. Climate effects (mean annual temperature and precipitation) were of minor importance in agricultural soils because management options counteracted them to a certain extent, particularly in cropland soils. The distribution of SOC and N stocks within Bavaria based on agricultural regions confirmed the importance of soil moisture since the highest cropland SOC and N stocks were found for tertiary hills and loess regions, which exhibited large areas with potentially high soil moisture content in extant floodplains. Grassland soils showed the highest accumulation of SOC and N in the Alps and Pre-Alps as a result of low temperatures, high amounts of precipitation and high soil moisture content in areas of glacial denudation. Soil class was identified as a further driving parameter for SOC and N storage in cropland soils. In total, cropland and grassland soils in Bavaria store 242 and 134 Mt SOC as well as 19 and 12 Mt N down to a soil depth of 1 m or the parent material, respectively. KW - Soil organic carbon stocks KW - Topographic Wetness Index (TWI) KW - Soil moisture KW - Carbon sequestration KW - Agricultural soils Y1 - 2013 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2013.05.012 SN - 0167-8809 VL - 176 IS - 32 SP - 39 EP - 52 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -