Soil Pore Network Complexity Changes Induced by Wetting and Drying Cycles-A Study Using X-ray Microtomography and 3D...

Area of Science:

• Soil Science
• Agronomy
• Earth Science

Background:

• Soils are dynamic systems altered by management and environmental factors.
• Wetting and drying (W-D) cycles are common in agricultural soils and impact pore structure complexity.
• Understanding these impacts is crucial for soil health and sustainable agriculture.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of successive wetting and drying cycles on Oxisol pore network architecture.
• To compare these effects across different soil management systems: conventional tillage (CT), minimum tillage (MT), no tillage (NT), and secondary forest (F).

Main Methods:

• Utilized a 3D multifractal approach to analyze soil pore architecture.
• Incorporated lacunarity, Shannon's entropy, and pore geometric parameters for quantitative assessment.
• Evaluated soil samples from Oxisols under four contrasting management systems.

Main Results:

• The 3D multifractal analysis effectively quantified W-D cycle-induced changes in soil pore architecture.
• Lacunarity curves highlighted significant modifications, particularly in F, NT, and MT systems.
• Pore connectivity and tortuosity were notably affected in F and NT soils.
• 3D geometric parameters and normalized Shannon's entropy proved complementary for analysis.

Conclusions:

• W-D cycles significantly alter soil pore complexity, with management practices influencing the extent of these changes.
• Soil management systems could be broadly categorized into two groups based on pore architecture similarity: (F and NT) and (CT and MT).
• The study provides a comprehensive understanding of how soil management and W-D cycles interact to shape soil pore structure.