Abstract
Agricultural production in highly variable soils is a challenge, especially when those soils are shallow. Precision agriculture techniques were developed to improve yields and minimize spatial and interannual variability in profit. In the Central Claypan region of the Midwest United States, many of the precision agriculture techniques were based on the assumption that topsoil depth controlled plant available water, and therefore yield. But this assumption has not been empirically tested. In this study, we use measurements of sap flow installed on maize plants with a gradient in topsoil depth, caused by a claypan layer. We hypothesize that plants with higher water use have higher yield, plants in areas with thicker topsoil have higher water use, and soils in the areas with thicker topsoil have higher soil water content. Sap flow sensors were installed on 5 plants each at three locations with topsoil depths of 19.6 cm (shallow), 21.6 cm (medium), and 30.5 cm (deep) from June – September, 2022. An ANOVA analysis demonstrates that the average total season transpiration at the deep site (279 mm) was significantly larger than at the shallow site (151 mm), while the medium site was in the middle with transpiration not significantly different from either shallow or deep sites (218 mm). At the end of the season, the plants were harvested and total biomass and grain yield were measured. Increase in plant transpiration was significantly related to both increases in biomass and yield. Finally, we measured volumetric soil water content at each location and found higher soil water content at the site with thicker topsoil. Our results demonstrate the link between topsoil depth, soil water content, plant transpiration, and yield. These findings will help improve precision agriculture techniques in areas with highly variable topsoil thickness.
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Claims 4
Claim · model-written summary
Total season transpiration of maize was significantly larger at the deep-topsoil site (279 mm) than at the shallow site (151 mm)
- Treatment
- deep sitee1
- Outcome
- total season transpiratione1
- Direction
- significantly largere1
- Value
- 279 mme1
- Qualifier
- 151 mme1
- Comparator
- shallow sitee1
Zea maysOrganisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“maize”
e1“the average total season transpiration at the deep site (279 mm) was significantly larger than at the shallow site (151 mm)”
Claim · model-written summary
Maize transpiration at the medium-topsoil site did not differ significantly from the shallow or deep sites (218 mm)
- Treatment
- medium sitee2
- Outcome
- transpiratione2
- Direction
- not significantly differente2
- Value
- 218 mme2
- Comparator
- shallow or deep sitese2
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“maize”
e2“the medium site was in the middle with transpiration not significantly different from either shallow or deep sites (218 mm)”
Claim · model-written summary
Increased maize transpiration was significantly related to increased biomass and grain yield
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“maize”
e3“Increase in plant transpiration was significantly related to both increases in biomass and yield”
Claim · model-written summary
Maize sites with thicker topsoil had higher volumetric soil water content
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
t0“maize”
e4“found higher soil water content at the site with thicker topsoil”
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climate site · physiology: gas exchange · Zea mays (maize)Results agree
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Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.