A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAND MANAGEMENT AND SOIL AGGREGATE STABILITY (CASE STUDY NEAR ALBERSDORF, NORTHERN-GERMANY)

Abstract

Soil aggregate stability is an important indicator of soil physical quality. In this study we hypothesized that land use and management influence soil aggregation and aggregate stability. The comparison between instability index in different land- use systems at the time of sampling, clearly indicates that soils under agricultural land use (0-30cm) have an instability lower than forest soils. Therefore the results confirm that land use has had a significant effect (P<0.05) on aggregate stability. A positive relationship (R = 0.85) 2 was found between soil instability index (Is) and depth (0-85 cm) in investigation sites under forest. A sharp change of the instability index between depths of 10-20 cm is important. This confirms that after the removal of the surface horizon soil is highly erodible; in this case intensive soil erosion may take place. The investigation also suggests that the soil aggregate stability is important to provide a condition for the stabilization of organic matter in soils and also for chemical, physical and biological activities.