Summary
Total porosity and pore-size distribution (p.s.d.) were determined in soil aggregates taken in plots planted with maize and treated with farmyard manure and three rates of compost. Soil aggregates were collected from the soil adherent to the maize roots (root soil aggregates) and from bulk soil (bulk soil aggregates). Mercury intrusion porosimetry was used to evaluate the total porosity and the p.s.d. Treatments did not affect the total porosity of the bulk soil aggregates. The same was observed for the root soil aggregates. However the total porosity of the root soil aggregates was always lower than that of the bulk soil aggregates. The loss of total porosity was found to be due to a decrease in the percentage of larger pores with respect to the total.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Greenland D J 1977 Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. (London), B, 281, 193–208.
Lawrence G P et al. 1979 J. Soil Sci. 30, 499–516.
Marshall T J and Homes J W 1979 Soil Physics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 345 p.
McKeague et al. 1982 Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 46, 1122–1123.
Newman A C D and Thomasson A J 1979 J. Soil Sci. 30, 415–439.
Pagliai M et al. 1981 J. Environ. Qual. 10, 556–561.
Scott Russell R 1977 Plant Root Systems. McGraw Hill, London, 298 p.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Guidi, G., Poggio, G. & Petruzzelli, G. The porosity of soil aggregates from bulk soil and from soil adhering to roots. Plant Soil 87, 311–314 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02181871
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02181871