# Soil Compaction Studies



## tneicna (May 6, 2019)

Compacted soil reduces turfgrass quality, inhibits nutrient/air/water uptake, causes heat stress, fungus problems, and more.

This has been described in the 1960s (Soil strength-root penetration relations for medium- to coarse-textured soil materials." Soil Science 102:18-22. ) as limited root growth with highly compacted soils.

Another unknown issue with compacted soils is that certain nutrients lose their efficiency, ie: N, P, etc.

Nitrogen is affected in numerous ways by compacted topsoil:

Nitrate losses 
Less metabolizing of organic nitrogen 
Diffusion rates of Ammonium and Nitrates drop 
Organic Matter drops because soil bacteria lose their equilibrium 
And more..

Some more interesting research:

Carrow (1980) showed that under testing with 3 Cool Season Grasses, Shoot density, verdure, and root growth were affected by compaction, with response differing by species. Increased compaction reduced verdure, shoot density, and root growth of Kentucky bluegrass; decreased verdure for tall fescue; but perennial ryegrass exhibited no adverse effects except some reduction in root weight at the 12× treatment.

Lipiec and Stepniewski (1995) describe loamy sand in a humid temperate climate, nitrogen mineralization was reduced 33 percent and the denitrification rate increased 20 percent in a wet year.

Douglas and Crawford (1993) noted that the Nitrogen rate had to be doubled on compacted soil to obtain the same Ryegrass dry matter yield(!!) as an uncompacted soil.

Radford et al. (2001) noted that Earthworm populations were reduced in compacted soils. Earthworms are a clear indicator of soil health, as they contribute to the homeostasis of the soil and help aerate the lawn due to vertical pores.

Low Organic Matter in compacted soils has drastic effects on Turf Quality, and more. Schmid, Murphy, and Murphy (2017) noted that Control plots in compacted were /worse/ for quality, etc compared to ones that were treated with high Organic Matter, as OM, which relieves /some/ compaction.

The best thing anyone can do to their turf is to reduced compaction, which will save you money in the long run.

Sources:

Carrow, R. N. 1980. Influence of Soil Compaction on Three Turfgrass Species1. Agron. J. 72:1038-1042. doi:10.2134/agronj1980.00021962007200060041x

Phosphorus uptake and concentration in grain and straw are decreased due to soil compaction. Lipiec, J., and W. Stepniewski. 1995. "Effects of soil compaction and tillage systems on uptake and losses of nutrients." Soil Tillage Research 35:37-52.

Nitrogen response curve of ryegrass on a clay loam soil in Scotland in compacted and uncompacted soil. To achieve the same yield of 2 tons/acre more than twice the amount of nitrogen had to be applied. Douglas, J.T., and C. E. Crawford. 1993. "The responses of a ryegrass sward to wheel traffic and applied nitrogen." Grass Forage Science 48:91-100.

Radford, B. J., A. C.Wilson-Rummenie, G. B. Simpson, K. L. Bell, and M. A. Ferguson. 2001. "Compacted soil affects soil macrofauna populations in a semi-arid environment in central Queensland." Soil Biology & Biochemistry 33:1, 869-1, 872.

Schmid, Charles & Murphy, J.A. & Murphy, Stephanie. (2017). Effect of tillage and compost amendment on turfgrass establishment on a compacted sandy loam. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 72. 55-64. 10.2489/jswc.72.1.55

" The soil food web." USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Table data / Images are from PSU's 'Soil compaction is the reduction of soil volume due to external factors; this reduction lowers soil productivity and environmental quality.'


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## Buffalolawny (Nov 24, 2018)

People should be aware of the region Central QLD Australia is before the realize what type of climate this table 2 is regarding.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Qld-regions-map.gif

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Queensland_roads.svg


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