Effect of Three Types of Exogenous Organic Carbon on Soil Organic Matter and Physical Properties of a Sandy Technosol

Paul Robin (1) , Camille Morel (2) , Franck Vial (2) , Brigitte Landrain (3) , Aurore Toudic (3) , Yinsheng Li (4) , Nouraya Akkal-Corfini (1)

1 SAS - Sol Agro et hydrosystème Spatialisation
2 SILEBAN - Station Expérimentale de Gatteville
3 Chambre Régionale d'Agriculture de Bretagne
4 School of Agriculture and Biology

Technosols made by covering agricultural soils with coastal sediments need additional organic matter (OM) to be suitable for agricultural use. Climate change will likely increase the frequency and intensity of droughts in several areas. The choice of the nature and quantity of OM to add depends on dose-response curves for soil quality. This study quantifies the influence of three contrasting organic materials (vermicompost (VF), green waste compost (GWC) and dairy manure (DM)) on four soil properties: soil organic carbon, evaporation rate, bulk density and structural stability. Soil was sampled in April and May 2014 in an artificial crop field of the vegetable production basin of Mont Saint-Michel (France) made with sediments from the bay of Mont Saint-Michel in 2013. Increasing the dose of OM increased soil organic carbon from 10 to 45 g C kg(-1) dry soil and increased the porosity and the structural stability, thus decreasing compaction. Increasing the dose of OM also decreased the evaporation rate. VF and DM had similar effects, while those of GWC were weaker. Compared to DM, VF had greater biological stability. Therefore, high OM inputs along with soil decompaction can increase drought resistance by increasing rooting depth and water retention.

Mots clés: soil quality; compaction; water retention; soil porosity; vermicompost; municipal compost; dairy manure

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]; Ingénierie de l'environnement; Science des sols

Paul Robin, Camille Morel, Franck Vial, Brigitte Landrain, Aurore Toudic, et al.. Effect of Three Types of Exogenous Organic Carbon on Soil Organic Matter and Physical Properties of a Sandy Technosol. Sustainability, 2018, 10 (1146), pp.14. ⟨10.3390/su10041146⟩. ⟨hal-02014942⟩