Dynamics of Hydraulic Properties and Soil Water in Till, No-till, and Natural Prairie Soils
Collaborators: J.-P. Fuentes, D. E. Bezdicek, Q. J. Wu, D. O. Stockle, W. Schillinger (Washington State University), D. Huggins, J. Smith (USDA, Pullman)
Soil erosion and water are limiting agricultural crop production in the dryland Pacific Northwest. Soils in this area have been under natural Prairie before agricultural usage. Tillage has drastically changed the hydraulic properties of these soils. Soil erosion as well as water loss due to evaporation can be minimized by no-till practices, where the soil is less disturbed and plant residues remain at the soil surface. In collaborative research, we investigate the efefcts of tillage management practices on hydraulic properties and soil water dynamics.
We use soil physical techniques and tools to investigate the dynamics of hydraulic properties and soil water in no-till, till, and natural Prairie soils. The work is based on extensive field measurements and laboratory experimentation.
Publications
- Fuentes, J.-P., D. Bezdicek, M. Flury, S. Albrecht, and J. L. Smith, Microbial activity affected by lime in a long term no-till soil, Soil Till.
Res., (in press), 2005.
- Fuentes, J.-P., and M. Flury, Hydraulic conductivity of a silt loam soil as
affected by sample length, Trans. ASAE, 48, 191-196, 2005.
- Fuentes, J.-P., M. Flury, and D. F. Bezdicek, Hydraulic
properties in a silt loam soil under natural prairie, conventional till, and
no till, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., 68, 1679-1688, 2004.
- Fuentes, J.-P., M. Flury, D. R. Huggins, and D. F. Bezdicek, Soil water and
nitrogen dynamics in dryland cropping systems of Washington state,
Soil Till. Res., 71, 33-47, 2003.
Markus Flury 
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