Sustainability

Bodenverdichtung

How does compacted soil recover?

It takes mere seconds to compact a soil, but years or even decades for it to recover. Biological activities by plant roots and soil organisms (earthworms) as well as physical effects like drying out and rewetting phases, and freezing-thawing cycles are vital for natural regeneration. Exactly how recovery happens is being investigated in a long-term field trial. For this, an observational infrastructure with hundreds of soil probes – the Soil Structure Observatory (SSO) – was set up in 2014 together with ETH Zurich. After the initial compaction event, a fallow, a permanent grassland and a crop rotation with and without tillage were set up. This allows to analyse e.g. the influence of plants and tillage on recovery.

Bodenfruchtbarkeit und Bodenschutz
SoilStructureObservatory

Regeneration verdichteter Böden


Publikation Arbeitshaltung Melken

Ergonomics in the milking parlour

Milkers frequently suffer from musculoskeletal disorders, especially in the area of the shoulders and arms.  Agroscope therefore investigated whether appropriate working heights can reduce workload in the milking parlour. For this, the angle of flexion of various joints during milking was recorded in one experiment, whilst a second experiment recorded muscle contractions at three different heights. The study showed that although a lower working height in the milking parlour has no effect on forearms or upper arms, it significantly reduces strain on the shoulders. 

Numéro du projet: 22.15.19.03.01

Structure et fonctions du sol

Bodenstruktur bezeichnet die räumliche Anordnung von Bodenfestsubstanz und Porensystem. Der Aufbau des Porensystems bestimmt viele Bodenfunktionen, z.B. Wasser- und Nährstoffversorgung, landwirtschaftliche Produktivität. Der Mensch beeinflusst den Bodenstrukturzustand durch Bodenbewirtschaftung massiv. Dies hat neben günstigen auch einige problematische Folgen. Die FG BQBN widmet sich seit Jahren der Erforschung der Bodenstruktur und ihrem Stellenwert im System Boden. Trotz zahlreicher Studien sind die Auswirkungen aktueller Bodennutzungssysteme auf den Bodenstrukturzustand meist nur qualitativ verstanden. Moderne Messmethoden (z.B. Röntgentomographie) bieten hier Chancen, die funktionell-physiologischen Verknüpfungen zwischen physikalischen, chemischen und biologischen Prozessen besser zu verstehen und deren Bedeutung für das Angebot an Bodenfunktionen richtig einzuschätzen.

Nom, Prénom Site
Heller Olivier Reckenholz
Hiltebrand Charlotte Reckenholz
Johannes Alice Reckenholz
Keller Thomas Reckenholz
Köstel Johannes Klaus Reckenholz
Kreuzer Amelie Reckenholz
Sommer Marlies Reckenholz
Volpe Valerio Reckenholz
Vorkauf Maria Reckenholz
Weiss Lena Reckenholz

Arrázola-Vásquez E., Larsbo M., Capowiez Y., Taylor A., Herrmann A., Keller T.
Estimating energy costs of earthworm burrowing using calorimetry.
European Journal of Soil Biology, 121, 2024, 1-9.

Casali E., Larsbo M., Köstel J. K., Jarvis N.
Macropore flow in relation to the geometry and topology of soil macropore networks: Re-visiting the kinematic wave equation.
Journal of Hydrology, 630, 2024, 1-9.

Garland G., Köstel J. K., Johannes A., Heller O., Doetterl S., Or D., Keller T.
Perspectives on the misconception of levitating soil aggregates.
Soil, 10, 2024, 23-31.

Schlüter S., Köstel J. K.
Soil Structure.
Dans: Encyclopedia of soils in the environment, Volume 5. Second Edition, Ed. Academic Press 2023, Elsevier. 2023, 1-7.

Larsbo M., Köstel J. K., Krab E., Klaminder J.
Quantifying earthworm soil ingestion from changes in vertical bulk density profiles.
European Journal of Soil Biology, 120, 2023, 1-9.

Schwenk A., Larsbo M., Jarvis N., Köstel J. K.
Three-dimensional X-ray imaging of macropore flow.
Geoderma, 440, 2023, 1-18.

de Lima R. P., Rolim M. M., Torres L. C., Cavalieri-Polizeli K. V. M., Keller T.
Modelagem da compactação do solo induzida pelo tráfego agrícola.
Dans: Tópicos em Ciência do Solo. Band 12, Ed. Sociedade Brasileira de Ciência do Solo, 2023.

Romero Ruiz A., Rivero M. J., Milne A., Morgan S., Meo Filho P., Pulley S., Segura C., Harris P., Lee M. R. F., Coleman K., Cardenas L., Whitmore A. P.
Grazing livestock move by Lévy walks: Implications for soil health and environment.
Journal of Environmental Management, 345, 2023, 1-13.

Blanchy G., Albrecht L., Bragato G., Garré S., Jarvis N., Köstel J. K.
Impacts of soil management and climate on saturated and near-saturated hydraulic conductivity: Analyses of the Open Tension-disk Infiltrometer Meta-database (OTIM).
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 27, (14), 2023, 2703-2724.

Schjønning P., Lamandé M., De Pue J., Cornelis W. M., Labouriau R., Keller T.
The challenge in estimating soil compressive strength for use in risk assessment of soil compaction in field traffic.
Advances in Agronomy, 178, 2023, 61-105.

Keller T., Karlen D. L., Hallett P. D.
Soil tilth.
Dans: Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment. 2nd edition, Elsevier. 2023, 48-56.

Johannes A., Kellermann L. A., Weisskopf P.
Evolution des méthodes de tests à la bêche SolDoc, VESS2020 et SpadeSubVESS en Suisse.
Agrarforschung Schweiz, 14, 2023, 197-206.
autres langues: allemand

Nazari M., Arthur E., Lamandé M., Keller T., Bilyera N., Bickel S.
A meta-analysis of soil susceptibility to machinery-induced compaction in forest ecosystems across global climatic zones.
Current Forestry Reports, 9, 2023, 370-381.

Tschanz P., Köstel J. K., Volpe V., Albrecht M., Keller T.
Morphology and temporal evolution of ground-nesting bee burrows created by solitary and social species quantified through X-ray imaging.
Geoderma, 438, 2023, 1-13.

Bahrami M., Naderi-Boldaji M., Ghanbarian D., Keller T.
Discrete element modelling of stress propagation in soil under a rigid wheel in a soil bin: A simulation of probe inducing stress deviation and wheel speed.
Biosystems Engineering, 230, 2023, 159-170.

van den Akker J.J.H., ten Damme L., Lamandé M., Keller T.
Compaction.
Dans: Encyclopedia of Soils in the Environment. 2nd Edition, Elsevier. 2023, 85-99.

Johannes A., Weisskop P., Boivin P., Boizard H.
Spade-SubVESS Evaluation visuelle de la structure du sous-sol avec bêche.
Ed. Agroscope, 2023, 2 pp.
autres langues: allemand | anglais

Blanchy G., Albrecht L., Köstel J. K., Garré S.
Potential of natural language processing for metadata extraction from environmental scientific publications.
Soil, 9, (1), 2023, 155-168.

Klaminder J., Krab E., Larsbo M., Jonsson H., Fransson J., Köstel J. K.
Holes in the tundra: Invasive earthworms alter soil structure and moisture in tundra soils.
Science of the Total Environment, 859, (Part 2), 2023, 1-8.

Keller T., Lamandé M., Naderi-Boldaij M., de Lima R.P.
Soil compaction due to agricultural field traffic: An overview of current knowledge and techniques for compaction quantification and mapping.
Dans: Advances in Understanding Soil Degradation. Springer. 2022, 287-312.

Colombi T., Keller T.
Effects of high soil density on soil functions and crop growth.
Dans: Soil Constraints to Crop Production. Cambridge Scholar Publishing. 2022, 38-61.

Arrázola-Vásquez E.M., Larsbo M., Capowiez Y., Taylor A., Sandin M., Iseskog D., Keller T.
Earthworm burrowing modes and rates depend on earthworm species and soil mechanical resistance.
Applied Soil Ecology, (178), 2022, 1-9.

Hosseinpour-Ashenaabad R., Keller T., Larsbo M., Hallett P.D.
Dual-platform micromechanical characterization of soils: Oscillation shear rheometry and spherical indentation.
Soil & Tillage Research, (223), 2022, 1-12.

Bahrami M., Naderi-Boldaji M., Ghanbrian D., Keller T.
Simulation of soil stress under plate sinkage loading: A comparison of finite element and discrete element methods.
Soil & Tillage Research, (223), 2022, 1-10.

Köstel J. K., Fukumasu J., Larsbo M., Herrmann A., Ariyathilaka P., Magdysyuk O., Burca G.
Potential of combined neutron and X-ray imaging to quantify local carbon contents in soil.
European Journal of Soil Science, 73, (1), 2022, 1-19.

Fukumasu J., Jarvis N., Köstel J. K., Kätterer T., Larsbo M.
Relations between soil organic carbon content and the pore size distribution for an arable topsoil with large variations in soil properties.
European Journal of Soil Science, 73, (1), 2022, 1-15.

Keller T., Or D.
Farm vehicles approaching weights of sauropods exceed safe mechanical limits for soil functioning.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 119, (21), 2022, 1-6.

Barbosa L.A.P., Gerke K.M., Munkholm L.J., Keller T., Gerke H.H.
Discrete element modelling of aggregate shape and internal structure effects on Weibull distribution of tensile strength.
Soil & Tillage Research, 219, 2022, 105341.

Parvin N., Coucheney E., Gren I.-M., Andersson H., Elofsson K., Jarvis N., Keller T.
On the relationships between the size of agricultural machinery, soil quality and net revenues for farmers and society.
Soil Security, 6, 2022, 100044.

Romero-Ruiz A., Linde N., Baron L., Breitenstein D., Keller T., Or D.
Lasting effects of soil compaction on soil water regime confirmed by geoelectrical monitoring.
Water Resources Research, 58, 2022, e2021WR030696.

Weiss L., Lutz S. , Keller T., Weisskopf P.
Physikalische Bodeneigenschaften: Recherche zum Stand der Technik zu Bestimmungsmethoden und zu Geräten.
Ed. Kompetenzzentrum Boden, KOBO-Bericht Nr. 1, 2021, 87 pp.

Rinder Fuetterung

Optimised feed reduces environmental impacts

On behalf of Micarna SA, Agroscope analysed the environmental impacts of beef, pork and poultry production. With beef production, feed intensity was crucial. In the case of pork and poultry production, the quantity of feed used per kg of meat had the greatest influence on environmental impacts. The use of European soya with its shorter transport distances had a positive effect.