Daniel Uteau

Universität Kassel · Department of Soil Science

Purpose The production of apple fruits in orchards or plants in tree nurseries is negatively affected by apple replant disease (ARD), worldwide. Our objective was to develop a method to counteract ARD without applying chemical soil disinfection. We tested if an addition of clays with high release of plant available silicon reduces ARD symptoms and...

The understanding of the impact of nitrogen (N) fertilization on the field water cycle and corresponding water use efficiency (WUE) is very important for optimizing fertilization rates and conserving stressed water resources. We modeled soil moisture dynamics of maize (Zea mays L.), finger millet (Eleusine coracana Gaertn.), and lablab [Lablab purp...

The active layer thickness (ALT) refers to the seasonal thaw depth of a permafrost body and is an essential parameter for natural hazard analysis, construction, land-use planning and the estimation of greenhouse gas emissions in periglacial regions. The aim of this study is to model the annual maximum thaw depth for determining ALT based on tempera...

Background Soil stability is often evaluated using either mechanical or hydraulic stress. The few studies that use both approaches suggest that these two types of stability behave differently. Aims Our aim was to explore the mechanisms of aggregate stability regarding mechanical and water stability at the macro‐ and microscale, among other things,...

Aims The production of apple fruits in orchards or plants in tree nurseries is negatively affected by apple replant disease (ARD), worldwide. Our objective was to develop a method to counteract ARD without applying chemical soil disinfection. We tested if (i) an addition of clays with high release of plant available silicon reduces ARD symptoms and...

Spatiotemporal characterisation of the soil redox status within the capillary fringe (CF) is a challenging task. Air‐filled porosities (ε), oxygen concentration (O 2 ) and soil redox potential (E H ) are interrelated soil variables within active biogeochemical domains such as the CF. We investigated the impact of water table (WT) rise and drainage...

In conservation agriculture, conservation tillage potentially influences the physical, chemical, and biological quality of the soil. Although the effects of conservation agriculture on the soil’s physical properties have been studied in conventional management systems, studies on organic farming systems, especially concerning long-term changes, are...

Soil structure controls soil hydraulic properties and is linked to soil aggregation processes. The aggregation processes of Oxisols are controlled mainly by clay mineralogy and biological activity. Computed microtomography (µCT) may be a tool for improving the knowledge of the hydraulic properties of these soils. Thus, this study brings an advance...

Presentation was based on the one at EGU in 2021, complemented by measurements done since then.

Prevention of soil compaction requires examining soil mechanical stability. This is usually done by applying the basic concept of the pre-compression stress σp, assuming a fully elastic behavior for soils being loaded by stresses lower than σp and a mixture of elastic-plastic behavior being loaded by higher stresses. However, a small cumulative pla...

Purpose Soil structure evolving from physical and biological processes is closely related to soil mechanical characteristics and texture. We studied the influence of substrate and genotype on the initial development of mechanical traits, differences between depths, and changes over the course of two years in the field. Methods Plots were homogeneo...

Soil aeration is a critical factor for oxygen limited subsoil processes, as transport by diffusion and advection is restricted by the long distance to the free atmosphere. Oxygen transport into the soil matrix is highly dependent on its connectivity to larger pore channels like earthworm and root colonised biopores. Here we hypothesize that the soi...

The covering of potash tailings piles with technosols (artificial soils) is a modern and promising method for decreasing the saline drainage of these piles. In this context, it is important to determine whether technosols have appropriate physical properties for crop growth. In evapotranspiration covers, physical properties, such as bulk density, p...

Several studies on soil physical quality have related soil structural properties to bulk density, proposing values for critical limits in relation to the soil compaction status. However, these values are not applicable to Andosols due to their very low bulk density (< 0.9 Mg m−3). This work aimed to evaluate the short-term effects of soil compactio...

Structure and porous geometry are dynamic soil parameters that control several soil processes and functions. This study details the differences in the structure of typical Oxisols regarding the clay amount, biological activity, and mineralogy. Combining 2D and 3D image analysis can provide detailed information about the soil structure and porous sy...

Recycling of straw in novel forms, e.g., slow release mediums, has increasingly gained attention. This study aimed to use rice straw for pellet fabrication and demonstrate the ability of pellets for slow delivery of phosphorus (P) and potassium (K). To increase the cohesiveness of the medium and to modify release properties, additions of diatomite...

Highlights Innovative stripwise irrigation directs water only to ridge crests, not furrows. Mobile strip irrigation saved 51% of the carrot water requirements. The uniformity coefficient of the irrigation above the ridges was high. No significant differences in the carrot yield were verified between the irrigation systems. The water use efficiency...

Purpose Soil structure evolving from physical and biological processes is closely related to soil mechanical characteristics and texture. A soil plot experiment in Bad Lauchstädt, Germany, allowed us to study the influence of substrate and genotype on the initial development of mechanical traits, differences between depths, and changes over the cou...

In this review, we introduce microbially-mediated soil processes, players, their functional traits, and their links to processes at biogeochemical interfaces [e.g., rhizosphere, detritusphere, (bio)-pores, and aggregate surfaces]. A conceptual view emphasizes the central role of the rhizosphere in interactions with other biogeochemical interfaces,...

Acid sulfate soils contain hypersulfidic material, e.g. pyrite (FeS2). Under oxidizing conditions, it transforms to sulfuric material (pH < 4), which is accompanied with the formation of jarosite [KFe3(SO4)2(OH)6] along root channels (designated as jarositic phyto tubules). The encapsulation of root residues with jarosite can lead to reduced spatia...

Mucilage released by plant roots affects hydrological and mechanical properties of the rhizosphere. The aim of this study was to disentangle the effects of the factors mucilage and soil moisture on a range of soil mechanical parameters in a sand and a loam. Both substrates were homogenised and filled into cylinders at bulk densities ( ρ b ) of 1.26...

In the last few decades, Bengaluru’s rapid urban expansion and associated population growth brought about profound changes in farming practices, reflected in an increase in irrigated land compared to rainfed land and a growing use of mineral fertilizers. Since it is not clear how intensification of land use due to urbanisation is affecting physical...

Platinum (Pt)‐tipped electrodes are frequently employed to measure the soil redox potential ( E H ). Thereby, the timely transition from reducing towards oxidising soil conditions is one of the most important biogeochemical changes that can occur in soil. This condition is mainly linked to the air‐filled pore volume ( ε ) and pore geometries. Howev...

In southern Chile, there are over 1.3 million ha of pastures on volcanic ash soils. The climate change scenario and the need to increase yields are forcing farmers to increase irrigated surface areas. This implies an intensified soil use that must be analyzed to prevent soil degradation. Therefore, this study analyzed the impact of initial pasture...

Presentation of the results of my Master's thesis

The expansion of dairy farming in southern Brazil, mainly under a rotational grazing system, has generated soil physical changes with loss of soil quality, which in turn must be evaluated to determine how long they persist and how the soil recovers from these changes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the natural recovery of the soil phys...

In the last 250 years the Aquands (depth-limited and waterlogged-volcanic ash soils) in southern Chile were exposed to an intensive land use change inducing physical degradation of these fragile soils. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of cyclic loading on soil structural properties and the resilience capacity after simulating one eve...

In structured soils, earthworm burrows, root channels, shrinkage cracks, and interaggregate spaces form complex macropore networks relevant for preferential transport, turnover processes, and root growth. Macropore walls are often coated with organomineral material, which determine physicochemical properties such as wettability, sorption, and the c...

Soil microaggregates contain particles of different sizes, which may affect their potential to store organic carbon (OC). A variety of methods can be used to isolate microaggregates from the larger soil structures among which wet sieving approaches are widely employed. We developed a novel dry crushing method that isolates microaggregates along fai...

Aggregation includes the formation of organo-mineral-associations, which become arranged in a heterogenic pattern and stabilized thereafter. Up to now, little is known about the role of different organic matter qualities in this process. We developed a new approach to disentangle the role of organic carbon (OC) derived from particulate organic mat...

The Ñadi soils (Aquands) are volcanic ash soils with an iron-cemented layer that are subject to different hydraulic stresses caused by high levels of exposure to weathering agents and high water-tables. Two Aquands pedons with high (ALC) and low (CHA) hydraulic stresses were evaluated to consider their capacity and intensity parameters, the effect...

Aggregate stability of soils informs about their relative strengths against erosive forces and mechanical disruption; however, the many methods of assessment are not of equal potential in discriminating management effects. Moreover, the index to mimic the actual behaviour of field soils is not readily discernable from such assessment. In this study...

Core Ideas For preferential flow modeling, different macropore types must be considered. A method was developed for separating biopores and cracks in 3D images from XRCT. The method enabled a more objective determination of structuring element sizes. The voxel‐based approach was found useful for quantification of macropore types. In structured soi...

Most of our knowledge about the aggregation of soil components into larger structures is derived from analyzing wet-sieved samples, which impedes the quantification of mechanical aggregate stability. Here, we present a dry method to isolate soil microaggregates (< 250 µm) by uniaxial crushing with the goal to preserve their natural structure. To un...

Core Ideas A 3D soil–root model was used to investigate root–biopore interactions. Known effects of biopores on root growth, i.e., increased root length and depth were reproduced. Despite reducing root–soil contact, biopores led to increased water uptake in dry periods. Biopores had a larger impact on water uptake for more compact and less conducti...

We surveyed 33 symptomatic faba bean sites in central Germany towards the end of the growing season 2016 to analyse the suspected virus spectrum. All sites displayed plants with characteristic symptoms and had distinct funnel-shaped patches with a severely affected centre. The central core consisted of stunted, prematurely senescent plants. Symptom...

Soil membrane zymography enables 2D mapping of enzyme activities on the surface of soil samples. The method is based on diffusion of components of enzymatically-mediated reactions to/from membrane, and, thus, reflects the distribution of enzyme activities at the intact soil surface. Zymography has been already successfully implemented in numerous s...

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are millimeter-sized microbial communities developing on the topsoils of arid lands that cover some 12% of Earth's continental area. Biocrusts consist of an assemblage of mineral soil particles consolidated into a crust by microbial organic polymeric substances that are mainly produced by filamentous bundle-formin...

Water balance is an important tool to evaluate water deficit or excess in crop systems. However, few studies have evaluated the water balance of vegetation grown on the residues from potash mining because the high sodium chloride levels of the residues hinder agricultural development. Therefore, this study aims to measure the water balance componen...

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are considered key players in hydrological cycles of many arid environments. The phototrophic organisms in these crusts excrete extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs), which bind soil particles together, thereby stabilizing the soil surface. In a previous work, the noninvasive extraction of EPSs in biocrusts re...

Due to the mechanization of wood harvesting, the power and weight of forestry vehicles increased constantly during the last three decades resulting in a degradation of soil functions and soil mechanical stability of skid trails with the consequence of an impairment of their trafficability. Even so, to our knowledge no conceptional framework has yet...

To achieve a better quantification of the specific importance of various types of biopores for nutrient accessibility, it is neccessary to have a look on the microscale rhizo-drilosphere pore architecture and its relation to the genesis of the biopores. For example, earthworms may change pore wall morphologies and hence the connectivity of lateral...

Taprooting crop species are capable of creating soil biopores (>2 mm in diameter) in the subsoil due to their large root size and deep-rooting habit. The aim of this study was to quantify root growth dynamics of wheat in the subsoil during its complete growth season as affected by crop sequence. Temporal observation on root length (km m−2) of wheat...

Bioporen sind Makroporen, die durch Wurzelwachstum und Regenwurmaktivität entstehen und verändert werden. Als präferentielle Fließpfade für Wasser, Nährstoffe und Sauerstoff, erfüllen sie wichtige Transport- und Austauschfunktionen zwischen dem Ober- und Unterboden. Bioporen werden durch Regenwurmausscheidungen „tapeziert“, wodurch sich die Zusamme...

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) play important roles in the hydrological cycles of many different ecosystems around the world. In arid and semi-arid regions, they alter the availability and redistribution of water. Especially in early successional stage BSCs, this feature can be attributed to the presence and characteristics of extracellular polymeri...

Oxygen (O 2 ) supply and the related redox potential (E H ) are important parameters for interactions between roots and microorganisms in the rhizosphere. Rhizosphere extension in terms of the spatial distribution of O 2 concentration and E H is poorly documented under aerobic soil conditions. We investigated how far O 2 consumption of roots and mi...

The use of unmanned aerial vehicles has been recently increasing in precision agriculture as an alternative to very costly and not readily available satellites or airborne sensors. Vegetation indices based solely on visible reflectance, which can be derived from true colour images may be a simple and cheap alternative compared to near infrared indi...

A well developed macropore network is advantageous in terms of transport processes regarding gas and water, as well as nutrient acquisition and root growth of crops. X-ray computed tomography provides a non-destructive method to visualize and quantify three-dimensional pore networks. Geometrical and morphological parameters of the complex pore syst...

Biological soil crusts (BSCs) can play an important role in hydrological cycles, especially in dryland ecosystems where the availability of water is limited. Many factors influence the hydrological behavior of BSCs, one of which is the microstructure. In order to describe the influence of the soil microstructure of BSCs on water redistribution, we...

Ein wichtiges Ziel für effiziente und nachhaltige Landwirtschaft ist die Erhaltung und Verbesserung der Bodenstabilität bei häufig gleichzeitig steigender Belastung durch immer größere und schwerere Landmaschinen. Je stabiler ein Boden ist, umso größer ist das Druckkompensationsvermögen, desto weniger tief reichen die Drücke in den Boden und umso s...

The recovery of soil structure following intensive crop production is essential to maintain good fertility and productivity. It is well known that some crops with specific deep rooting characteristics can improve subsoil structure, but few measurements exist on the time to recovery or direct impacts on gas transport on aeration status, thus we hypo...

Reference volume for soil physical and chemical characteristics of soil samples is often based on soil core extraction. At the aggregate level, however, volume determination is more difficult and fraught with greater uncertainty due to irregular shapes. Our objective was to identify a method that best described relevant variables in aggregates. For...

Over the last decade, the application of X-ray computed tomography (CT) in soil science showed rapid improvement in terms of image quality and acquisition time. Its noninvasive nature in combination with sophisticated image analysis tools provides excellent opportunities to study soil‒water‒root processes at various scales. In this chapter, we show...

Abstract Over the last decade, the application of X-ray computed tomography (CT) in soil science showed rapid improvement in terms of image quality and acquisition time. Its noninvasive nature in combination with sophisticated image analysis tools pro- vides excellent opportunities to study soil‒water‒root processes at various scales. In this chapt...

Soil structure is important to understand fertility and healthy interactions between pedological processes and biota. An important pedological function is soil aeration, mainly explained by air distribution and transport. In this work we analyzed the influence of three root systems for generating biopores and cracks to improve soil aeration: shallo...

The reference volume of soil physical and chemical characteristics of soil samples is often based on soil core extraction. At the aggregate level, however, volume determination is more difficult and fraught with greater uncertainty due to the irregular shape. Therefore, we compare four methods for determining the limits of accuracy for measuring ag...

The forests dominated by Nothofagus dombeyi are amongst the most abundant and productive forests in the South American temperate region. In the lowlands of Chile Nothofagus dombeyi-dominated secondary forests with their associated tree species are common. Their diameter distribution, spatial patterns and association between species have not been st...

The forests dominated by Nothofagus dombeyi are amongst the most abundant and productive forests in the South American temperate region. In the lowlands of Chile Nothofagus dombeyi-dominated secondary forests with their associated tree species are common. Their diameter distribution, spatial patterns and association between species have not been st...

D. Uteau, and P.J. Donoso. 2009. Early individual growth of Eucryphia cordifolia and Laurelia sempervirens planted under different competition conditions in south-central Chile. Cien. Inv. Agr. 36(1):85-96. Few studies have focused on forest research in plantations with Chilean native species midtolerant to shade. Such species may use resources tha...

Se analizaron los patrones de mortandad en una plantación de Nothofagus dombeyi de un año de edad a altura media en los Andes chilenos. La función univariada de Ripley fue utilizada para detectar patrones espaciales de mortalidad y daño de las plantas asumiendo cuatro categorías: sin daño en la copa, 1/3 de copa dañada, 2/3 de copa dañada y muerte....

Se analizaron los patrones de mortandad en una plantación de Nothofagus dombeyi de un año de edad a altura media en los Andes chilenos. La función univariada de Ripley fue utilizada para detectar patrones espaciales de mortalidad y daño de las plantas asumiendo cuatro categorías: sin daño en la copa, 1/3 de copa dañada, 2/3 de copa dañada y muerte....

SUMMARY Nothofagus dombeyi is one of the fastest growing Chilean native tree species, has an ample distribution range and adapts well to a great variety of site conditions. In this study the objective was to evaluate the effect of fertilization and weeds in the initial develop- ment of a N. dombeyi plantation. The plantation was established at 620...

Nothofagus dombeyi is one of the fastest growing Chilean native tree species, has an ample distribution range and adapts well to a great variety of site conditions. In this study the objective was to evaluate the effect of fertilization and weeds in the initial development of a N. dombeyi plantation. The plantation was established at 620 m in the A...