Woodslee Tile Runoff Experiment: Fertilization Effects on Soil Organic Matter

Abstract

The original objective of this field experiment was to determine the effects of crop rotation and fertilization on soil and water quality by examining water flow and loss of N, P, and K through tile drains in a clay loam soil (Bolton et al., 1970). From this field study several papers have been published on nutrient and atrazine losses from tile drains (Von Stryk and Bolton, 1970), structural changes resulting from soil and crop management systems (McKeague et al., 1987), effects of distance from the tile drain on maize growth over a 10-yr period (Bolton et al., 1982), and the effects of fertilization and crop rotation on maize root disease (Stone et al., 1987). The cropping history and yield data (Drury and Tan, 1995) from this site provide a unique opportunity to evaluate the effects of fertilization on soil organic matter turnover and storage of maize-residue C (Gregorich et al., 1996).