Dataset: Woburn Erosion Reference Experiment plot soil total C and N

Citation:  John Quinton, Margaret Glendining, Kevin Coleman, Richard Ostler (2024). Dataset: Woburn Erosion Reference Experiment plot soil total C and N Electronic Rothamsted Archive, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK DOI : https://doi.org/10.23637/wrn20-soil-01.
to RefMan to EndNote

Standardised plan of the experiment

Standardised plan of the experiment

Summary

Soil data for each plot of the Woburn Erosion Reference Experiment, 1989-1996. The soil from each plot was sampled in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1996 and analysed for total carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) concentration (%). Total N was also measured in 1989. Data is for topsoil (0-10, 0-15 or 0-20cm) plus 50-60cm in 1992 only. This is the data described by Quinton et al, 2006. Clay content was also measured in 1996, as reported by Quinton and Catt, 2007. The experiment had eight plots, in a 2x2 factorial, with two blocks. Treatments were two directions of cultivation (cultivated and drilled parallel to the contour v up and down the slope) and two types of tillage (conventional tillage, residue removed v minimal tillage, residues retained).

Crop yield and erosion and runoff data is published separately.

Methods

The experiment was situated on a sandy soil at Woburn Experimental Farm (Great Hill II/III) on a five-degree slope, which had been subject to periodic erosion since at least 1950. The eight plots were approximately 24 x 36m (0.086 ha), separated by grassed earth banks 1m wide and 30cm high which prevented runoff and eroded soil leaving the plots. Four plots were cultivated and drilled parallel to the contour, and four up and down the slope. Four plots received conventional tillage and four minimal tillage. All plots grew the same crops each year, in a rotation typical of the sandy soils of Bedfordshire. The soil was sampled on a grid with nine or 12 samples from each plot. In 1989-1991 several samples were taken from each plot and bulked together for analysis (composite samples).

Technical Information

Soil total % C was measured in sieved (2mm) air-dried soil, ground in an agate mill and analysed using a Perkin-Elmer CHN elemental analyser.

Soil total % N was measured in sieved (2mm) air-dried soil, ground in an agate mill, by Kjeldahl digestion.

Soil clay content was measured in air-dried unground soil using the particle size distribution pipette method (Avery and Bascombe, 1982). The results are the means of two determinations for each plot.

Minimal tillage: cereal straw chopped, potato haulms pulverised and retained and beet tops retained, both partially incorporated by shallow tines or discs to 10cm depth. Between crops soil was left in post-harvest condition, covered with stubble and crop residues until cultivated for the seedbed.

Conventional (standard) tillage: cereal straw baled and removed, potato haulm and beet tops raked up and removed, plots ploughed with a general purpose mouldboard plough to 25cm depth. Between crops soil was in bare fallow after ploughing.

Related Documents

Related Datasets

Contributors

  • Margaret Glendining: Data curator
  • Nathalie Castells: Data manager
  • Richard Ostler: Project leader
  • Kevin Coleman: Project member
  • John Quinton: Data collector
  • Jeanne Day: Data collector
  • Ruth Skilton: Data collector

Dataset Access and Conditions

Rights Holder

Rothamsted Research

License

Creative Commons License This dataset is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Licence (4.0).

Cite this Dataset

YOU MUST CITE AS: John Quinton, Margaret Glendining, Kevin Coleman, Richard Ostler (2024). Dataset: Woburn Erosion Reference Experiment plot soil total C and N Electronic Rothamsted Archive, Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK https://doi.org/10.23637/wrn20-soil-01

Please review our How to Credit Datasets guidance for more information.

Conditions of Use

Rothamsted relies on the integrity of users to ensure that datasets are used appropriately and Rothamsted Research receives suitable acknowledgment as being the originators of these data. Please review the Conditions of Use before downloading.

Table Of Contents

An Excel file, 01-wrn20soil.xlsx, contains the plot soil data and treatment details, for 1989-1996. Frictionless CSV files are provided for users who prefer CSV over Excel files. A README file contains extensive metadata information.

Plot soil C and N data are from data files provided by John Quinton. Background information was also taken from Quinton and al, 2006. Clay content data is from Quinton et al, 2007.

Once the data were entered into e-RA, they were independently back-checked against the original data sheets.

Summary data for heavy metals in plot soil are reported in Quinton and Catt, 2007.

  • The dataset Woburn Erosion Reference Experiment plot soil total C and N is a published dataset from the e-RA Database. e-RA is part of the Rothamsted Long-Term Experiments - National Bioscience Research Infrastructure (RLTE-NBRI), which also covers maintenance of the Long-Term Experiments, the Rothamsted Sample Archive and Rothamsted's environmental monitoring activities including the weather stations and its role in the UK Environmental Change Network
  • The RLTE-NBRI is funded by UK Research and Innovation - Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (UKRI-BBSRC) under award BBS/E/RH/23NB0007 (2023-2028). The RLTE-NBRI is also supported by the Lawes Agricultural Trust. e-RA has been part of a National Capability since 2012, previous awards from the BBSRC were Grants BBS/E/C/00005189 (2012-2017) and BBS/E/C/000J0300 (2017-2022)

Additional Funding sources

This project received specific funding from the following sources

  • Rothamsted Research receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom. We acknowledge support from the Resilient Farming Futures Institute Strategic Programme
    - BBS/E/RH/230004A (WP1), BBS/E/RH/230004C (WP3)
  • AgZero+ : Towards sustainable, climate-neutral farming is an initiative jointly supported by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)
    - BBS/E/C/RP1070414 (WP4)
  • Rothamsted Research receives strategic funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council of the United Kingdom. We acknowledge support from the Growing Health Institute Strategic Programme
    - BBS/E/RH/230003C (WP3)
We only use analytics cookies on this site. Please refer to our Privacy and cookies policy

For further information and assistance, please contact the e-RA curators, Sarah Perryman and Margaret Glendining using the e-RA email address: era@rothamsted.ac.uk