Soil material and management
The investigation was conducted on arable
soils in a slightly undulating area in Northern
Germany. The soil is described as Stagnic
Luvisol (FAO, 1998) derived from Loess
with two tillage treatments: Conservation
(Mulch-M) and Conventional (Plough-P).
Mulch defines the treatment when the soil
is loosened with a field cultivator to a depth
of 8-10 cm, while Plough means ploughing
and complete converting down to 30 cm
depth. Before 1992 the whole field was
uniformly ploughed to 30 cm depth. At the
sampling time the soil was cultivated with
sugar beet (Beta vulgaris). Some physical
properties of the studied soils are shown in
Table 1.
Site Sand
[%]
Silt
[%]
Clay
[%]
dB
[Mg m- ]
TP
[%]