Effect of Plant-derived Hydrophobic Compounds on Soil Water. Repellency in Dutch Sandy Soils

Abstract

Soil water repellency or hydrophobicity is a common and important soil property, which may diminish plant growth and promotes soil erosion leading to environmentally undesired situations. Hydrophobic organic compounds in the soil are derived from vegetation (leaves, roots, mosses) or microorganisms (fungi, bacteria), and these compounds induce soil water repellency (SWR) and can be called SWR-biomarkers. As common hydrophobic constituents of organic matter, plant lipids are mainly from wax layers of leaves and roots, whereas cutins and suberins as aliphatic biopolyesters occur in leaves and roots, respectively. Their unique compositions in soil can indicate the original vegetation sources. To investigate the individual or combined effects of the hydrophobic compounds on SWR and their possible associations with each other, we conducted experiments to analyse the organic composition of Dutch coastal dune sandy soils in relation to SWR. DCM/MeOH solvent is used to remove solvent soluble lipids. BF3-methanol is utilized to depolymerize cutins and suberins from isopropanol/NH3 extractable organic matter. Total organic carbon (TOC) has a positive linear relation with SWR only for those soils containing low TOC ( Effect of Plant-derived Hydrophobic Compounds on Soil Water Repellency in Dutch Sandy Soils - ResearchGate. Available from: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/258773728_Effect_of_Plant-derived_Hydrophobic_Compounds_on_Soil_Water_Repellency_in_Dutch_Sandy_Soils [accessed Apr 2, 2015].