Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-j824f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T07:14:18.877Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The effects of the rainy season and irrigation on soil water and oxygen in a seasonal forest in Panama

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2009

Thomas A. Kursar ,
S. Joseph Wright  and
Ricardo Radulovich
Thomas A. Kursar
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112, USA
S. Joseph Wright
Affiliation:
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 2072, Balboa, Republic of Panama
Ricardo Radulovich
Affiliation:
CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The effects of irrigation and the rainy season on soil gases, water and physical properties were studied in a lowland moist forest in Panama. Two control plots experienced a normal four-month dry season and two experimental plots were irrigated during the dry season.

The forest soils were well aerated. The average soil oxygen content at 20 cm never dropped below 15%. Irrigation in the dry season resulted in treatment effects on soil oxygen and water that persisted throughout the rainy season. The late rainy season soil oxygen content at 20 cm was 18.2% in the control plots and 16.8% in the irrigated plots. The late rainy season soil water content at 0–10 cm was 0.34 m3 m-3 in the control plots and 0.36–0.37 m3 m-3 in the irrigated plots. In the control plots, in the absence of any experimental manipulation, the soil physical properties changed within a single rainy season. Specifically, soil oxygen dropped and soil water increased during the eight-month rainy season.

The observed alterations in soil physical properties probably resulted from changes in soil structure and the abundance of large pores. The rainy season or irrigation may decrease soil porosity by dispersing aggregates of soil particles, whereas soil desiccation during the dry season may enhance the formation of aggregates and large pores. As a result, the irrigated soils held more water and were less permeable to gas and water than soils experiencing a normal dry season. We conclude that the dry season may play an important role in maintaining soil structure.

Keywords

dry seasonrainforestsoil atmospheresoil infiltration ratesoil oxygensoil structuresoil water content
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 11 , Issue 4 , November 1995 , pp. 497 - 515
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

Armstrong, W. & Webb, T. 1985. A critical oxygen pressure for root extension in rice. Journal of Experimental Botany 36:1573–1582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkins, C. A. & Pate, J. S. 1977. An IRGA technique to measure carbon dioxide content of small volumes of gas from the internal atmospheres of plant organs. Photosynthetica 11:214–216.Google Scholar
Becker, P., Rabenold, P. E., Idol, J. R. & Smith, A. P. 1988. Gap and slope gradients of soil and plant water potentials during the dry season in tropical moist forest. Journal of Tropical Ecology 4:173–184.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bedinger, M. S. 1978. Relation between forest species and flooding. Pp. 427–435 in Greeson, P. E., Clark, J. R. & Clark, J. E. (eds). Wetland functions and values: the state of our understanding. American Water Resources Association, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.Google Scholar
Black, C. A. 1968. Soil plant relationships (2nd edition). Wiley, New York, USA.Google Scholar
Bouwer, H. 1976. Intake rate: cylinder infiltrometer. Pp. 825–844 in Klute, A. (ed.). Methods of soil analysis, Part 1, Agronomy Monograph Series, No. 9. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.Google Scholar
Cassel, D. K. & Nielsen, D. R. 1986. Field capacity and available water capacity. Pp. 901–926 in Klute, A. (ed.). Methods of soil analysis, Part 1, Agronomy Monograph Series, No. 9. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.Google Scholar
Drew, M. C. 1990. Sensing soil oxygen. Plant Cell and Environment 13:681–693.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
El-Swaify, S. A. 1980. Physical and mechanical properties of Oxisols. Pp. 303–324 in Theng, B. K. G. (ed.). Soils with variable charge. New Zealand Society of Soil Science, Palmerston North, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Emerson, W. W. 1983. Inter-particle bonding. Pp. 477–498 in Division of Soils, CSIRO (ed.). Soils: an Australian perspective. CSIRO: Melbourne/Academic Press, London, UK.Google Scholar
Feldman, L. J. 1984. Regulation of root development. Annual Review of Plant Physiology 35:223–242.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gambrell, R. P. & Patrick, W. H. Jr. 1978. Chemïcal and microbiological properties of anaerobic soils and sediments. Pp. 375–423 in Hook, D. D. & Crawford, R. M. M. (eds). Plant life in anaerobic environments. Ann Arbor Scientific Publications, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.Google Scholar
Garay, A. F. 1966. Aireación en un suelo de café. Turrialba 16:340–351.Google Scholar
Gliński, J. & Stẹpniewski, W. 1985. Soil aeration and its role for plants. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, USA.Google Scholar
Hamblin, A. P. 1985. The influence of soil structure on water movement, crop root growth, and water uptake. Advances in Agronomy 38:95–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heinonen, R. 1986. Alleviation of soil compaction by natural forces and cultural practices. Pp. 285–297 in Lai, R., Sanchez, P. A. & Cummings, R. W. Jr. (eds). Land clearing and development in the tropics. A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.Google Scholar
Holdridge, L. R. 1967. Life zone ecology. Tropical Science Center, San Jose, Costa Rica.Google Scholar
Holdridge, L. R. & Budowski, G. 1956. Report of an ecological survey of the Republic of Panama. Caribbean Forester 17:92–110.Google Scholar
Hulbert, S. H. 1984. Pseudoreplication and the design of ecological field experiments. Ecological Monographs 54:187–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huynh, H. & Feldt, L. S. 1976. Estimation of the Box correction for degrees of freedom from sample data in randomized block and split-plot designs. Journal of Educational Statistics 1:69–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnsson, M. J. & Stallard, R. F. 1989. Physiographic controls on the composition of sediments derived from volcanic and sedimentary terrains on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 59:768–781.Google Scholar
Junk, W. J. 1989. Flood tolerance and tree distribution in central Amazonian floodplains. Pp. 47–64 in Holm-Nielsen, L. B., Nielsen, I. C. & Balslev, H. (eds). Tropical forests. Academic Press, New York, USA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kursar, T. A. 1989. Evaluation of soil respiration and soil CO2concentration in a lowland moist forest in Panama. Plant and Soil 113:21–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lal, R. 1979. Tropical ecology and physical edaphology. Wiley, New York, USA.Google Scholar
Lal, R. 1980. Physical and mechanical characteristics of Alfisols and Ultisols, with particular reference to soils in the tropics. Pp. 253–279 in Theng, B. K. G. (ed.). Soils with variable charge. New Zealand Society of Soil Science, Palmerston North, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Leigh, E. G. Jr., Windsor, D. M., Rand, A. S. & Foster, R. B. 1990. The impact of the ‘El Niño’ drought of 1982–83 on a Panamanian semideciduous forest. Pp. 473–486 in Glynn, P. W. (ed.). Global ecological consequences of the 1982–83 El Niño –Southern oscillation (1989). Elsevier, New York, USA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Letey, J. 1985. Relationship between soil physical properties and crop production. Advances in Soil Science 1:277–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, T. J. 1962. The nature, development, and significance of soil structure. Pp. 243–257 in Transactions of Joint Meeting of Commissions IV and V, International Society of Soil Science. New Zealand Society of Soil Science, Palmerston North, New Zealand.Google Scholar
Marshall, T. J. & Holmes, J. W. 1988. Soil physics (2nd edition). J. W. Arrowsmith, Bristol, UK.Google Scholar
Morison, J. I. L. & Gifford, R. M. 1984. Ethylene contamination in CO2 cylinders. Plant Physiology 75:275–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Odum, H. T. 1970. Chapter H-1. Rain forest structure and mineral-cycling homeostasis. Pp. H-3-H-52 in Odum H. T. & Pigeon, R. F. (eds). A tropical rainforest. US Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA.Google Scholar
Patrick, W. H. Jr., Delaune, R. D. & Engler, R. M. 1973. Soil oxygen content and root development of cotton in Mississippi River alluvial soils. Louisiana Agricultural Experimental Station Bulletin No. 673.Google Scholar
Patrick, W. H. Jr., Turner, F. T. & Delaune, R. D. 1969. Soil oxygen content and root development of sugar cane. Louisiana Agricultural Experimental Station Bulletin No. 641.Google Scholar
Radulovich, R., Sollins, P., Baveye, P. & Solórzano, E. 1992. Bypass water flow through unsaturated microaggregated tropical soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal 56:721–726.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rand, A. S. & Rand, W. M. 1982. Variation in rainfall in Barro Colorado Island. Pp. 47–59 in Leigh, E. G. Jr, Rand, A. S. & Windsor, D. M. (eds). The ecology of a tropical forest. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, USA.Google Scholar
Russell, E. W. 1974. Soil conditions and plant growth (10th edition). Wiley & Sons, New York, USA.Google Scholar
Sanchez, P. A. 1976. Properties and management of soils in the tropics. Wiley, New York, USA.Google Scholar
Simpson, L. A. & Gumbs, F. A. 1982. Soil physical properties and sugar-cane root and shoot growth on Louisiana banks after conversion from cambered beds field layout in Trinidad, WI. Tropical Agriculture (Trinidad) 59:38–42.Google Scholar
Sollins, P. & Radulovich, R. 1988. Effects of soil physical structure on solute transport in a weathered tropical soil. Soil Science Society of America Journal 52:1168–1173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stolzy, L. H. 1974. Soil atmosphere. Pp. 335–361 in Carson, E. W. (ed.) The plant root and its environment. University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA.Google Scholar
Tardieu, F. 1989. Root system responses to soil structural properties: micro- and macro-scale. Pp. 153–172 in Larson, W. E., Blake, G. R., Allmaras, R. R., Vorhees, W. B. & Gupta, S. C. (eds). Mechanics and related processes in structured agricultural soils. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vine, H., Thompson, H. A. & Hardy, F. 1942. Studies on aeration of cacao soils in Trinidad (II). Tropical Agriculture (Trinidad) 19:215–223.Google Scholar
Warkentin, B. P. 1982. Clay soil structure related to soil management. Tropical Agriculture (Trinidad) 59:82–91.Google Scholar
Windsor, D. M. 1990. Climate and moisture availability in a tropical forest, long term records for Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Smithsonian Contributions to the Earth Sciences 29:1–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winer, B. J. 1971. Statistical principles in experimental design (2nd edition). McGraw-Hill, New York, USA.Google Scholar
Wood, J. T. & Greenwood, D. J. 1971. Distribution of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the gas phase of aerobic soils. Journal of Soil Science 22:281–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, S. J. & Cornejo, F. H. 1990. Seasonal drought and leaf fall in a tropical forest. Ecology 71:1165–1175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yavitt, J. B., Wieder, R. K. & Wright, S. J. 1993. Soil nutrient dynamics in response to irrigation of a Panamanian tropical moist forest. Biogeochemistiy 19:1–25.Google Scholar