Yuzuncu Yil University Journal of Agricultural Sciences, cilt.30, sa.3, ss.438-443, 2020 (Scopus, TRDizin)
Aggregate formation and stability are strongly influenced by cultivation practices related to soil management and plant type. The aim of this study was to investigate how different plant type (apple orchard and vineyard) have influenced the soil aggregation percentages. The soil samples taken from an apple orchard and a vineyard at different depths (0-10, 10-20 cm) were divided into different aggregate sizes (8-4, 4-2, 2-1, <1 mm) then the percentages of soil aggregation were determined. The magnitude of aggregation percentage was site-and depth-dependent and these changes were statistically significant (P<0.01). The highest percentage of aggregation was found (62.32 for apple orchard, 61.14 for vineyard) at 0-10 cm depth regardless of plant type. The aggregation percentage was highly aggregate size-dependent. It was related to aggregate size i.e. 59.44% for 2-1 mm and 63.78 % for 8-4 mm sized aggregates. Comparatively higher aggregation percentages were observed for apple orchard soil than the ones observed for vineyard soil. As a consequence, plant type may change soil aggregation due possibly to influence over organic matter turnover.