How does soil disturbance affect soil structure?
Almost all types of disturbance degrade soil structure. One ofthe most serious problems is compaction caused by vehicles, tiredynamics, equipment operations, pedestrians, animals andbicycles. Grading and filling are the most destructive, but evenminimal activity can have significant adverse effects on soilstructure. Loamy soils are more sensitive to compaction thansandy soil, and wet soils are much more vulnerable than drysoils.
Disturbances can affect structure at a much greater depth thanmight be expected. In one test, significant adverse changes wereobserved at 10 inches depth from as little as three passes with afour wheel drive vehicle over moist soil. In some cases, soilstrength can be significantly increased by one pass, but morecommonly, the soil strength increases with repeated passes. Thesoil strength after 10 passes of a 4 wheel drive vehicle on onetest day exceeded three times the minimum amount causing seriousreduction in root growth.
Almost all types of disturbance degrade soil structure. One ofthe most serious problems is compaction caused by vehicles, tiredynamics, equipment operations, pedestrians, animals andbicycles. Grading and filling are the most destructive, but evenminimal activity can have significant adverse effects on soilstructure. Loamy soils are more sensitive to compaction thansandy soil, and wet soils are much more vulnerable than drysoils.
Disturbances can affect structure at a much greater depth thanmight be expected. In one test, significant adverse changes wereobserved at 10 inches depth from as little as three passes with afour wheel drive vehicle over moist soil. In some cases, soilstrength can be significantly increased by one pass, but morecommonly, the soil strength increases with repeated passes. Thesoil strength after 10 passes of a 4 wheel drive vehicle on onetest day exceeded three times the minimum amount causing seriousreduction in root growth.
