THE EFFECTS OF SLOPE POSITION AND CROPPING SEQUENCE ON SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

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Abstract
Soil physical characteristics were examined at depth intervals of 0–15 and 15–30 cm over three slope positions (top-, mid-, and bottom-slope) for three cropping sequences (hay-barley, cereals-barley, and potato-barley). Hydraulic conductivity was a significant (P ≤ 0.05) 40–50% greater at top-slope than mid- or bottom-slope, and aggregate stability percentage was a significant 6–7% greater at bottom-slope than mid- or top-slope when the soil aggregates were pretreated by freezing and thawing (freeze/thaw). Under the potato-barley sequence shear strength, penetration resistance and bulk density were significantly greater than any other sequence by up to 29, 21 and 15%, respectively; while hydraulic conductivity and maximum penetration depth were, respectively, up to 65 and 28% lower than any other sequences. Under hay-barley, hydraulic conductivity and aggregate stability (freeze/thaw) were, respectively, up to a significant 82 and 10% greater than any other sequence. There was, therefore, significantly more compaction under potato-barley and more soil physical enhancement under hay-barley than other respective sequences. Disease severity was up to 55% greater at bottom-slope than at mid-slope or top-slope for Birka barley, which also showed a significant linear decrease (r2 = 0.89) in yield with increasing shear strength. Yield of Perth barley showed a significant linear increase with increasing soil depth (r2 = 0.92) and clay-silt content (r2 = 0.78). Key words: Aggregate stability (freeze/thaw), crop rotation, penetration resistance, shear strength, barley, potatoes, hay