Effect of land management in mountainous regions on physical quality of sandy loam Haplic Cambisol soil

In recent years, considerable changes in the management of agricultural land have been observed in the Carpathian region. The aim of this study was to quantify the effects of different land-management systems in mountainous regions on the air–water properties of soil. The field trial was established in the period 2005–2007 on the Haplic Cambisol Dystric soil in the south of Poland, Central Europe. The treatments considered were meadow without any fertilizers (MC), meadow with mineral fertilization (MM), meadow with organic fertilization (MSM), conventional mouldboard plough tillage (CT), sheep-grazed pasture (PP), and abandoned meadow (MA). The air–water properties of soil were investigated, with particular focus on the macropore characteristics. The impact of land management strategies on the various physical parameters of soil was noticed mainly in the upper 0–10 cm layer of the soil. The highest bulk density was noticed in the PP treatment, amounting to 1.20 g cm− 3, whereas the lowest values were characteristically found with the CT treatment. The opposite result was observed for soil porosity, particularly large pores. The CT treatment was characterized by the highest porosity, in the range of 50–1000 µm. The changes in soil porosity resulted in altered water retention properties. Lower values of available and productive water contents characterized the CT treatment. Nevertheless, in spite of a few changes in the differential porosity of soil in the meadow fertilization systems, there was no impact on soil water retention. The main conclusion is that conventional tilling of mountain soil plays a deleterious role in the hydraulic properties of soil with reference to grasslands exposed to different fertilization systems.