Cover crop effects on corn plant water uptake and soil health
Abstract
[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Cover crops (CC), close growing crops that provide soil and seeding protection between periods of normal cash crop production or between trees in orchards or vines in vineyards, are used for soil quality improvement. However, the effects of CC on water use of the following corn (Zea mays L.) crop is not yet studied. Also, CC effects on soil water availability is yet inconclusive. Although CC are believed to play a major role in soil quality improvement, the effects of CC on microbial populations and community structure and their enzyme activity is not well understood. Soil porosity and pore distribution characteristics might play a major role in controlling soil water and microbial characteristics and thereby plant growth. The objectives of this study were to identify the CC effects on corn plant water use and yield responses, soil water dynamics, microbial population, community structure and enzyme activities and geometrical pore distributional characteristics of the surface soil layer. The study was conducted at Bradford Research Center, University of Missouri, Columbia and the Chariton County, Cover Crop Soil Health Research and Demonstration Farm (CCSH), Missouri in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Plant sap flow measurement techniques are among the most reliable methods to evaluate water stress and water consumption by measuring the whole plant transpiration.
Degree
Ph. D.
Thesis Department
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