Soil aggregate stability plays a crucial role in influencing erodibility and soil health. This study explored the integration of cover crops and poultry litter effects on soil aggregate stability and erosion resistance in a no-till rainfed agriculture system. A five-year field experiment was conducted in an Atwood silt loam soil near Pontotoc, Mississippi in which no-till soybean was grown every year following five winter cover crops and three fertilization treatments. The cover crop treatments included native vegetation (control), cereal rye, winter wheat, hairy vetch, and a mix of mustard plus cereal rye and the fertilizer treatments included no fertilizer (control), recommended inorganic fertilizers, and poultry litter in a split-plot design. Soil aggregate stability indicators were measured at the conclusion of the study. The results showed that aggregates in the 0.25–0.053 mm fraction were the most prevalent among all treatments while the 2–1 mm fraction represented the smallest proportion. The highest soil aggregate stability index of 60.2 % was observed under cereal rye and the highest mean weight diameter of 1.6 mm was observed under mustard plus cereal rye. The mustard plus cereal rye also displayed the lowest soil erodibility factor K. Among the fertilizer sources, poultry litter resulted in the highest values of soil aggregate stability index, mean weight diameter, mean weight specific surface area, and fractal dimension. Random forest modeling and path analysis identified mean weight specific surface area, fractal dimension, and mean weight diameter as the dominant predictors of soil erodibility factor K. The results overall highlight that integrating cereal rye with or without mustard along with poultry litter can enhance soil aggregate stability and this enhancement may contribute to increased soil erosion resistance in rainfed cropping systems.

中文翻译：

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免耕雨养大豆种植系统中覆盖作物和家禽垫料整合的土壤团聚体稳定性和抗侵蚀性


土壤团聚体稳定性在影响可蚀性和土壤健康方面起着至关重要的作用。本研究探讨了免耕雨养农业系统中覆盖作物和家禽垫料对土壤团聚体稳定性和耐侵蚀性的综合影响。在密西西比州庞托托克附近的阿特伍德淤泥壤土中进行了为期五年的田间试验，在五种冬季覆盖作物和三次施肥处理后，每年种植免耕大豆。覆盖作物处理包括原生植被（对照）、谷类黑麦、冬小麦、毛野豌豆以及芥末加谷类黑麦的混合物，肥料处理包括不施肥（对照）、推荐的无机肥料和分批施用的家禽垫料。情节设计。在研究结束时测量了土壤团聚体稳定性指标。结果表明，0.25-0.053 mm 部分的聚集体在所有处理中最为普遍，而 2-1 mm 部分所占比例最小。在黑麦种植下土壤团聚体稳定性指数最高，为 60.2%，在芥末加黑麦种植下土壤团聚体稳定性最高，平均重量直径为 1.6 毫米。芥菜加谷物黑麦也表现出最低的土壤侵蚀因子K。在肥料来源中，家禽垫料导致土壤团聚体稳定性指数、平均重量直径、平均重量比表面积和分形维数最高。随机森林建模和路径分析将平均重量比表面积、分形维数和平均重量直径确定为土壤可蚀性因子 K 的主要预测因子。 结果总体强调，将带有或不带有芥末的谷物黑麦与家禽垫料结合起来可以增强土壤团聚体稳定性，并且这种增强可能有助于提高雨养耕作系统的土壤侵蚀抵抗力。