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Robinia pseudoacacia leaves improve soil physical and chemical properties |
Babar KHAN, Abdukadir Ablimit, Rashed MAHMOOD, Muhammad QASIM |
1 World Wide Fund for Nature, Lahore 54600, Pakistan; 2 Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Urumqi 830011, China; 3 COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad 44000, Pakistan |
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Abstract The role of the leaves of Robinia pseudoacacia L., which is widely distributed in the arid lands, on improving soil physical and chemical properties was analyzed at various incubation periods. The incubated soils added with 0, 25, 50 and 75 g Robinia pseudoacacia leaves were tested after consecutive incubation intervals of 6, 8 and 10 months and the different soil parameters were measured. The results showed the increases in organic matter (OM), extractable K, cation exchange capacity (CEC), aggregate stability and water holding capacity, but the decreases in pH value and bulk density after 6 months' incubation. The gradual decrease in change rates of soil properties indicated less microbial population and organic residual mineralization under acidic conditions, which were resulted from fast decomposition of leaves after the first 6 months incubation. The increases in soil organic matter content, extractable K, CEC, aggregate stability and water holding capacity and the decreases in soil pH and bulk density provide favorable conditions for crop’s growth.
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Received: 22 July 2010
Published: 07 December 2010
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