Soil and Water Research, 2020 (vol. 15), issue 2
Glomalin - an interesting protein part of the soil organic matterReview
Vítězslav Vlček, Miroslav Pohanka
Soil & Water Res., 2020, 15(2):67-74 | DOI: 10.17221/29/2019-SWR 
The negative effects of the current agricultural practices include erosion, acidification, loss of soil organic matter (dehumification), loss of soil structure, soil contamination by risky elements, reduction of biological diversity and land use for non-agricultural purposes. All these effects are a huge risk to the further development of soil quality from an agronomic point of view and its resilience to projected climate change. Organic matter has a crucial role in it. Relatively significant correlations with the quality or the health of soil parameters and the soil organic matter or some fraction of the soil organic matter have been found. In particular,...
The laboratory calibration of a soil moisture capacitance probe in sandy soilsOriginal Paper
Marina Campora, Anna Palla, Ilaria Gnecco, Rossella Bovolenta, Roberto Passalacqua
Soil & Water Res., 2020, 15(2):75-84 | DOI: 10.17221/227/2018-SWR
Determining and mitigating landslide risk is a technical-scientific objective, particularly for the protection and proper territorial management and planning. The slope stability depends on the pore pressure distribution, which is influenced by the saturation front propagation through the unsaturated zone, whose monitoring is useful to understand any possible instabilities. Such monitoring may be undertaken by sensors based on the measurement of the relative dielectric permittivity. Reliable relationships between the measurement and the soil moisture are necessary. The main objective of this study is to assess a laboratory calibration protocol for...
The impacts of a biochar application on selected soil properties and bacterial communities in an Albic Clayic LuvisolOriginal Paper
Chengsen Zhao, Qingqing Xu, Lin Chen, Xiaoqing Li, Yutian Meng, Xiaowei Ma, Yuepei Zhang, Xibo Liu, Hongyan Wang
Soil & Water Res., 2020, 15(2):85-92 | DOI: 10.17221/19/2019-SWR
In this four-year study, we focused on the impacts of a biochar application on physicochemical soil properties (soil total carbon, total nitrogen, total potassium, total phosphorus, available nitrogen, available potassium, available phosphorus, pH, bulk density and moisture) and bacterial communities in an Albic Clayic Luvisol. The biochar was applied to plots only once with rates of 0, 10, 20 and 30 t/ha at the beginning of the experiment. The soil samples were collected from the surface (0-10 cm) and second depth (10-20 cm) soil layers after four years. The results showed that that the soil total carbon (TC) and pH increased, but the soil bulk density...
Improvement of the chemical properties and buffering capacity of coastal sandy soil as affected by clays and organic by-product applicationOriginal Paper
Fibrianty Minhal, Azwar Ma'as, Eko Hanudin, Putu Sudira
Soil & Water Res., 2020, 15(2):93-100 | DOI: 10.17221/55/2019-SWR
The main problem with coastal sandy soil is its low water and nutrient retention due to its low clay and organic matter content. This study was aimed at improving the chemical properties and buffering capacity of these soils by using ameliorants of clay and organic polymers. The leaching experiment was conducted with two factors and three replications. The first factor was a clay ameliorant (5% clay, whether from the soil type Inceptisol (I) and the soil type Vertisol (V)). The second factor was a natural or synthetic organic polymer (tapioca 1% and 2% (T1 and T2), tapioca dregs 1% and 2% (TD1 and TD2), polyvinyl alcohol 0.1% and 0.2% (P1 and P2))....
Harmonisation of a large-scale historical database with the actual Czech soil classification systemOriginal Paper
Tereza Zádorová, Daniel Žížala, Vít Penížek, Aleš Vaněk
Soil & Water Res., 2020, 15(2):101-115 | DOI: 10.17221/41/2019-SWR
The possibility of the adequate use of data and maps from historical soil surveys depends, to a large measure, on their harmonisation. Legacy data originating from a large-scale national mapping campaign, "Systematic soil survey of agricultural soils in Czechoslovakia (SSS, 1961-1971)", were harmonised and converted according to the actual system of soil classification and descriptions used in Czechia - the Czech taxonomic soil classification system (CTSCS). Applying the methods of taxonomic distance and quantitative analysis and reclassification of the selected soil properties, the conversion of two types of mapping soil units with different detailed...
Which quality indicators reflect the most sensitive changes in the soil properties of the surface horizons affected by the erosion processes?Original Paper
Petra Bílá, Bořivoj Šarapatka, Ondřej Horňák, Jaroslava Novotná, Martin Brtnický
Soil & Water Res., 2020, 15(2):116-124 | DOI: 10.17221/71/2019-SWR
Soil erosion, especially water erosion, is one of the most widespread types of soil degradation, not only worldwide, but also within the Czech Republic, where it endangers more than a half of the agricultural land. In addition to farming, the landscape structure has a significant impact on soil erosion in the conditions under study, where, especially in the post-war period, the collectivisation of large-scale arable land was accompanied by the abolition of the associated landscape elements. The agricultural production area of South Moravia is one of the most endangered areas in the Czech Republic, therefore, it was selected for our research, whose...
Responses of soil microorganisms to land use in different soil types along the soil profilesOriginal Paper
Erika Gömöryová, Gabriela Barančíková, Erika Tobiašová, Ján Halás, Rastislav Skalský, Štefan Koco, Dušan Gömöry
Soil & Water Res., 2020, 15(2):125-134 | DOI: 10.17221/20/2019-SWR
The objective of this study was to find out how land use affects the soil microbial attributes in different soil types and to which depth. The study was performed in Slovakia (Europe) in three areas differing in soil type (Chernozem, Stagnosol, Cambisol). Within each area, three localities with different land use (forest, grassland, cropland), representing a gradient with different intensity of management, were chosen. The soil samples were taken along a single soil profile up to a depth of 1 m with 10 cm increments at each locality. In the soil samples, the basic soil chemical properties and microbial attributes were determined. The effect of the...