Construction of a combined soil quality indicator to assess the effect of glyphosate application

Although the use of agrochemicals allowed increasing the crops productivity, in many cases led to soil deterioration. In this study, eight composite samples from different soils of two locations (San Martín and Anta) in Salta, Argentina, were collected and analyzed. All the samples were from loamy E...

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Main Authors: Romano-Armada, Neli, Amoroso, María J., Rajal, Verónica Beatriz
Other Authors: School of Biological Sciences
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/152732
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1527322021-09-20T02:41:49Z Construction of a combined soil quality indicator to assess the effect of glyphosate application Romano-Armada, Neli Amoroso, María J. Rajal, Verónica Beatriz School of Biological Sciences Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences and Engineering (SCELSE) Science::Biological sciences AMPA Concentration Microbial Biomass Carbon Although the use of agrochemicals allowed increasing the crops productivity, in many cases led to soil deterioration. In this study, eight composite samples from different soils of two locations (San Martín and Anta) in Salta, Argentina, were collected and analyzed. All the samples were from loamy Entisols (0-20 cm depth) under reduced tillage without and with direct spray application of glyphosate. Twenty six variables were determined (physical, chemical, and biological soil quality indicators). From them, those of higher specificity and sensitivity to changes following glyphosate application were identified by a stepwise reduction of variables aided by statistical analysis. Samples were grouped regarding location and application of glyphosate, to identify differential effects upon variables, and glyphosate sensitive variables were selected by discarding those influenced by other factors. Thence, they were used to compose a first approximation to a combined soil quality indicator (CSQI) to assess the effect of glyphosate use in agriculture upon the soil. Overall, the set of physical variables showed the same discriminating structure as the biological set. Finally, two biological, two chemical, and two physical indicators resulted as the most specific to quality variations by the application of the herbicide, being the most sensitive the microbial biomass carbon and the (Aminomethyl)phosphonic acid concentration in soil. When these two were considered into a CSQI, it was possible to discriminate samples with the application of glyphosate (lower quality) from those without application (higher quality). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to propose a CSQI that could play an important role to prevent degradation in soils subjected to glyphosate application, as it could aid in the early detection of soil quality loss. This would provide to land managers a decision tool to let the land rest from glyphosate application, to ensure sustainable practices in agriculture. This research was partially funded by research project 2070/4 from the Consejo de Investigación, Universidad Nacional de Salta (CIUNSa), Argentina. It was also partially supported by NIH Grant # D43 TW005718 funded by the Fogarty International Center from the University of California at Davis (National Institute of Health). 2021-09-20T02:41:49Z 2021-09-20T02:41:49Z 2019 Journal Article Romano-Armada, N., Amoroso, M. J. & Rajal, V. B. (2019). Construction of a combined soil quality indicator to assess the effect of glyphosate application. Science of the Total Environment, 682, 639-649. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.079 0048-9697 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/152732 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.05.079 31129546 2-s2.0-85065902797 682 639 649 en Science of the Total Environment © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Science::Biological sciences
AMPA Concentration
Microbial Biomass Carbon
spellingShingle Science::Biological sciences
AMPA Concentration
Microbial Biomass Carbon
Romano-Armada, Neli
Amoroso, María J.
Rajal, Verónica Beatriz
Construction of a combined soil quality indicator to assess the effect of glyphosate application
description Although the use of agrochemicals allowed increasing the crops productivity, in many cases led to soil deterioration. In this study, eight composite samples from different soils of two locations (San Martín and Anta) in Salta, Argentina, were collected and analyzed. All the samples were from loamy Entisols (0-20 cm depth) under reduced tillage without and with direct spray application of glyphosate. Twenty six variables were determined (physical, chemical, and biological soil quality indicators). From them, those of higher specificity and sensitivity to changes following glyphosate application were identified by a stepwise reduction of variables aided by statistical analysis. Samples were grouped regarding location and application of glyphosate, to identify differential effects upon variables, and glyphosate sensitive variables were selected by discarding those influenced by other factors. Thence, they were used to compose a first approximation to a combined soil quality indicator (CSQI) to assess the effect of glyphosate use in agriculture upon the soil. Overall, the set of physical variables showed the same discriminating structure as the biological set. Finally, two biological, two chemical, and two physical indicators resulted as the most specific to quality variations by the application of the herbicide, being the most sensitive the microbial biomass carbon and the (Aminomethyl)phosphonic acid concentration in soil. When these two were considered into a CSQI, it was possible to discriminate samples with the application of glyphosate (lower quality) from those without application (higher quality). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to propose a CSQI that could play an important role to prevent degradation in soils subjected to glyphosate application, as it could aid in the early detection of soil quality loss. This would provide to land managers a decision tool to let the land rest from glyphosate application, to ensure sustainable practices in agriculture.
author2 School of Biological Sciences
author_facet School of Biological Sciences
Romano-Armada, Neli
Amoroso, María J.
Rajal, Verónica Beatriz
format Article
author Romano-Armada, Neli
Amoroso, María J.
Rajal, Verónica Beatriz
author_sort Romano-Armada, Neli
title Construction of a combined soil quality indicator to assess the effect of glyphosate application
title_short Construction of a combined soil quality indicator to assess the effect of glyphosate application
title_full Construction of a combined soil quality indicator to assess the effect of glyphosate application
title_fullStr Construction of a combined soil quality indicator to assess the effect of glyphosate application
title_full_unstemmed Construction of a combined soil quality indicator to assess the effect of glyphosate application
title_sort construction of a combined soil quality indicator to assess the effect of glyphosate application
publishDate 2021
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/152732
_version_ 1712300649307176960