NJF Seminar (483)

SOIL DEGRADATION: THEORY, EVIDENCE AND PROTECTION ACTIVITIES Book of abstracts 22–25 September 2015, Vėžaičiai, Lithuania

Vėžaičiai, 2015

SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE: •

Zenonas Dabkevičius, LRCAF, Lithuania;

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Kristiina Regina, MTT, Finland;

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Svein Skøien, County Covernor Østfold, Norway;

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Algirdas Radzevičius, ASU, Lithuania;

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Sigitas Lazauskas, LRCAF, Lithuania;

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Jonas Volungevičius, Lithuanian Soil Science Society, Lithuania;

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Lars J. Munkholm, AU, Denmark;

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Algirdas Juozas Motuzas, ASU, Lithuanian Soil Science Society, Lithuania;

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Jakub Hofman, RECETOX, Check Republic;

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Aldis Karklins, LUA, Latvia;

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Samson Bjarnar Hardarson, AU, Iceland.

ORGANIZING GROUP: •

Danutė Karčauskienė, LRCAF, Lithuania;

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Linas Stabingis, ASU, Lithuania;

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Žydrė Kadžiulienė, LRCAF, Lithuania;

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Dalia Ambrazaitienė, KU, Lithuania;

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Rimantas Vaisvalavičius, ASU, Lithuania;

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Kęstutis Armolaitis, LRCAF, Lithuania;

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Regina Repšienė, LRCAF, Lithuania;

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Virginijus Feiza, LRCAF, Lithuania.

© LRCAF Vėžaičiai branch, Lithuania, 2015

ISBN 978-9955-18-864-3

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CONTENTS S. Skøien. IMPLEMENTATION OF PRACTICAL MEASURES TO PREVENT SOIL EROSION AND NUTRIENT RUNOFF FROM AGRICULTURAL AREAS .............................................. 5 K. Regina. CONSTRAINTS OF SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN NORTHERN EUROPEAN CROPLANDS ........................................................................................................ 6 J. Volungevičius, R. Vaisvalavičius, M. Eidukevičienė, K. Amalevičiūtė. THE PROBLEM OF SOIL DEGRADATION CONCEPT ............................................................................... 7 A. Gałązka, K. Gawryjołek, M. Król, J. Księżak. CHANGES OF ENZYMATIC ACTIVITIES AND MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IN SOIL UNDER LONG-TERM MAIZE MONOCULTURE AND CROP ROTATION ........................................................................................... 9 V. Feiza, A. Putramentaitė, D. Feizienė, I. Deveikytė, V. Seibutis, S. Pranaitienė. LONGTERM CONTRASTING TILLAGE AND RESIDUES MANAGEMENT ON CAMBISOL .............. 10 M. Muraškienė, A. Gudauskienė, P. Garbaravičius, V. Žekaitė, K. Armolaitis. STABILITY OF SOIL OC AND N IN AGRO AND FOREST ECOSYSTEMS IN LITHUANIA..................... 11 D. Feizienė, V. Feiza, A. Putramentaitė, I. Deveikytė, V. Seibutis, D. Janušauskaitė. CUMULATIVE EFFECTS OF SOIL TEXTURE AND LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT ON SOIL C ACCUMULATION AND CO2 EXCHANGE RATE ........................................................... 12 P. Lazauskas. THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT OF SOIL TILLAGE FOR DECREASING SOIL DEGRADATION........................................................................ 13 E. Sieverding, N. Maršalkienė, J. Aleinikovienė. FUNCTIONAL IMPORTANCE OF SOIL MICROORGANISMS AND MYCORRHIZAS IN AGROECOSYSTEMS ............................... 14 I. Jokubauskaitė, D. Karčauskienė, R. Repšienė, A. Šlepetienė, K. Amalevičiūtė. EFFECT OF DIFFERENT FERTILIZATION MODES ON SOIL ORGANIC CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN ACID SOILS ...................................................................................................... 15 M. Okmanis, I. Skranda. NUTRITION STATUS OF DRAINED PEAT SOIL AFTER WOOD ASH TREATMENT....................................................................................................... 16 E. Reintam, K. Vennik, L. Kukk, S. Kade, K. Krebstein, M. Are, A. Astover. MEASURING AND PREDICTING SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS FOR TRAFFICABILITY ...................... 17 A. Łachacz, J. Tyburski. THE IMPACT OF SOIL CONDITIONERS ON PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF HEAVY SILOS IN ORGANIC FARMS .................................................................. 18 M. Vilkienė, D. Ambrazaitienė, D. Karčauskienė, Z. Dabkevičius. ASSESSMENT OF THE INTENSITY OF THE SOIL ORGANIC MATTER MINERALIZATION UNDER VARIOUS MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ................................................................................... 19 B. Ulén, S. Pietrzak. AGRICULTURAL SOIL ACIDITY, PHOSPHORUS LEACHING RISK AND EROSION RISK IN TWO FOCUS AREAS IN NORTHERN POLAND – EVALUATION FROM SOIL MAPS, FARM WALKS AND GATE BALANCES AT FARM LEVEL .............................. 20 L. Zarina, L. Zarina. DYNAMICS OF SOIL PH IN 40-YEARS PERIOD DEPENDING CROPPING SYSTEM ............................................................................................ 21 J. Aleinikovienė, G. Šiaudinis, D. Ambrazaitienė, M. Vilkienė, R. Skuodienė, D. Tomchuk. SOIL ORGANIC CARBON AND MICROBIAL BIOMASS UNDER DIFFERENT MANAGEMENT AND TILLAGE SYSTEMS IN EUTRI-HYPOSTAGNIC RETISOLS ..................................... 22

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J. Vigovskis, A. Jermuss, A. Svarta, D. Sarkanbarde. THE CHANGES OF SOIL ACIDITY IN SOIL IN LONG-TERM FERTILIZER EXPERIMENTS ..................................................... 23 E. Nugis, A. Velykis, A. Satkus. COMPARABLE RESULTS OF SOIL STRUCTURE IN THE SEEDBED RELATED FIELD EXPERIMENTS IN ESTONIA AND LITHUANIA ...................... 24 A. Lupikis, A. Lazdins, A. Bardule, A. Butlers. CARBON BALANCE AND SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES IN DRAINED AND AFFORESTED TRANSITIONAL BOG IN LATVIA.............. 25 V. Bogužas, R. Mikučionienė, J. Aleinikovienė, V. Steponavičienė. LONG-TERM EFFECT OF TILLAGE SYSTEMS, STRAW AND GREEN MANURE COMBINATIONS ON SOIL ORGANIC MATTER AND MICROORGANISMS ......................................................................... 26 V. Žėkaitė, J. Arbačiauskas, J. Aleinikovienė. INFLUENCE OF METEOROLOGY CONDITIONS AND OF ORGANIC FERTILIZATION ON THE YIELD OF EARLY POTATOES IN SANDY LOAM SOILS ........................................................................................... 27 V. Tilvikienė, Ž. Kadžiulienė, R. Žydelis. THE EFFECT OF DIGESTATE FERTILIZATION ON THE SOIL CHEMICAL COMPOSITION...................................................................... 28 I. Narutytė, G. Staugaitis, J. Arbačauskas. EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF BIODEGRADABLE WASTE COMPOST ON WINTER WHEAT AND SPRING BARLEY YIELD AND QUALITY .................................................................................................... 29 K. Barčauskaitė, R. Mažeika, G. Staugaitis, Z. Dabkevičius. QUANTITATIVE PCB’S ANALYSIS IN LITHUANIA PRODUCE COMPOSTS ...................................................... 30 I. Liaudanskienė, A. Šlepetienė, J. Šlepetys, I. Jokubauskaitė. EFFECT OF LAND USE ON SOIL ORGANIC CARBON POOLS IN GRASSLANDS OF PROTECTED AREAS AND ARABLE LANDS IN CENTRAL LITHUANIA............................................................................ 31 R. Mockevičienė, R.Velička, A. Marcinkevičienė, R. Pupalienė, Z. Kriaučiūnienė, L. M. Butkevičienė. SOIL BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY IN SPRING OILSEED RAPE CROP IN ORGANIC FARMING SYSTEM .............................................................................................. 32 N. Maršalkienė. INVESTIGATION OF HAIRY VETCH (VICIA VILLOSA ROTH.) ADAPTATION TO SOIL ACIDITY ............................................................................................... 33 D. Karčauskienė, V. Jakubauskaitė, Ž. Kryževičius, A. Žukauskaitė, D. Ambrazaitienė. BIOREMEDIATION OF PETROLEUM OIL PRODUCTS CONTAMINATED SOIL USING SEWAGE SLUDGE ............................................................................................... 34 G. Kadžienė, O. Auškalnienė, S. Pranaitienė, A. Putramentaitė, D. Janušauskaitė, V. Feiza, S. Supronienė, B. Ramanauskienė. TILLAGE AND WHITE MUSTARD EFFECT ON SOIL COMPACTION AND WEED PRESSURE ............................................................. 35 D. Karčauskienė, I. Kinderienė. ASSESMENT OF EROSION – RESISTING AGROTECHNOLOGIES ON HILLY RELIEF IN LITHUANIA ............................................ 36 D. Karčauskienė, R. Repšienė, I. Jokubauskaitė. CHANGES OF MORAINE LOAM RETISOL CHEMICAL INDICES IN WHOLE PROFILE UNDER LONG TERM MANAGEMENT HISTORY 37 J. Aleinikovienė, D. Tomchuk, R. Skuodienė. RESEARCH ON RHIZOSPHERE PH CHANGES IN AGROCENOSES WITH PERENNIAL GRASSES ...................................................... 38 D. Karčauskienė, S. Čiuberkis, S. Raudonius. CHANGES OF WEED INFESTATION UNDER LONG–TERM EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SOIL pH LEVELS AND AMOUNT OF PHOSPHORUS: POTASSIUM....................................................................................................... 39

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IMPLEMENTATION OF PRACTICAL MEASURES TO PREVENT SOIL EROSION AND NUTRIENT RUNOFF FROM AGRICULTURAL AREAS Svein Skøien County Governor Østfold, Department of Agriculture, Vogtsgate 17, Moss, Norway E-mail: [email protected]

In Norway, the natural geological erosion can be substantial. The sediment transport in rivers is especially high in rivers from glaciers in the mountain areas, but also in rivers running through areas with marine sediments in the lower part of the country. Soil erosion on agricultural field was not considered a large problem until about 1970, even though the phenomenon was described in the agricultural literature. From about 1950, strongly driven by agricultural policy, there was a large scale shift from mixed dairy farming to specialized crop production in southern Norway. Favorable subsidies were granted for land leveling and land clearing. Meadows and pastures were ploughed and the tillage became more intensive. This very likely resulted in a significant increase in the soil erosion rate. In 1971 the first plot experiment on soil erosion in Norway on cultivated land was started at the Agricultural University. The main purpose of this experiment was to study nutrient losses, but soil losses were also measured. Several plot experiments were established after 1979. The experiments were designed to compare soil treatments and tillage methods and to obtain data for use of the Universal Soil Loss Equation in Norway. These results provided the basis for a Norwegian soil erosion map which has been widely used by the advisory service and for state regulations and subsidies to reduced tillage systems. Soil erosion is now considered a serious environmental problem in parts of Norway. The effect on water quality is the most important concern and the improvement of water quality is the major aim for mitigation techniques and regulations on tillage. Documentation of effects of tillage practices therefore has a high priority. The effect of tillage is pronounced on erodible soils. The effects are less pronounced on soils with a lower erodibility, but reduced autumn tillage is still the most effective way to mitigate soil erosion, as well as total phosphorus losses. The study also showed that the total phosphorus losses are closely correlated with soil losses. In addition to tillage many other measures are implemented, either by regulation or stimulated with subsidies from the state. The common measures are: Buffer zones, grassed waterways, crop rotation with grass on soils with a high erosion risk. Hydro technical installations to control overland flow. Drainage to improve soil conditions. Reinforcement of river banks to avoid bank erosion. From 2007 these agricultural measures have been taken into the River Basin Management Plans according to the Norwegian Water Regulation which corresponds to the EU Water Framework Directive.

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CONSTRAINTS OF SOIL CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN NORTHERN EUROPEAN CROPLANDS Kristiina Regina Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke), Tietotie 4, Jokioinen, Finland E-mail: [email protected] A declining trend of soil carbon (C) has been observed in agricultural soils of many European countries. However, there is high interest in turning this development and increasing the soil C sequestration rate. All EU member states are obliged to report the effects of cropland management on soil C in 2015-2020 which urges to finding solutions to improve the C balance of agricultural soils. As sequestration is the sum of C input from crop residue and decomposition of the same material, suitable methods to affect soil C content are related to residue management and soil management like reduced tillage intensity. Aboveground residue management tends to have a surprisingly small effect on soil C stocks which can be related e.g. to the relatively small significance of the aboveground residue compared to roots. Based on results from Canada and Finland, reducing tillage intensity seems to have a negligible effect on soil C sequestration in humid northern climate compared to arid regions. Increase in decomposition easily overrides possible benefits of increased input of organic matter especially in conditions of adequate soil moisture making it difficult to see significant sequestration as a result of increased amount of residue. However, it seems that long-term grass cultivation (high organic matter input together with infrequent renewal) as favoured by the current agro-environmental policy often has a positive effect on soil C but there is naturally limited need for grass crops. The benefits of no-till are clearly controlled by the annual precipitation rate predicting poor C sequestration potential in Northern European conditions. Moreover, frost breaks down soil aggregates in winter thus releasing C that was probably protected in the aggregates during summer. As a conclusion, it is not foreseen that the C stock of mineral agricultural soils can be remarkably increased by changing agricultural practices. In conditions of cool boreal countries it would be more effective to concentrate efforts on reducing peat degradation on cultivated organic soils to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of agricultural production and land use.

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THE PROBLEM OF SOIL DEGRADATION CONCEPT Jonas Volungevičius1, Amalevičiūtė4 1

Vaisvalavičius2,

Marija

Eidukevičienė3,

Kristina

Vilnius university, M.K. Ciurlionio 21, Vilnius, Lithuania;

2 3

Rimantas

Aleksandras Stulginskis university, Studentu 11, Akademija, Kaunas distr., Lithuania;

Klaipeda university, Minijos 153, Klaipeda, Lithuania;

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Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al. 1, Akademija, Kedainiai distr., Lithuania E-mail: [email protected] Soil degradation remains one of the most important issues in the context of modern land use and therefore it should be solved together with increasing problems caused by human population growth and environment anthropogenic transformation. Despite a high relevance of soil degradation problem there is no single unified conception on this issue and thus a variety of different concepts exists. The current prevailing conception is determined by utilitarian public outlook to the environment and the world-wide dominance of post-productivistic approach to soil use and management. The modern soil degradation conception includes negative aspects of soil physical and chemical changes resulting from the wind, water and human activity impact. However, the changes in soil structure are reflected only partially and the adversely affect is mainly addressed to formation of strongly compacted (anthraquic) horizon due to the use of heavy machinery and inappropriate soil management. The analysis of literature sources of over the two recent decades allows us to highlight the prevailing soil degradation concepts: Agronomical conception – declining of soil fertility or even it’s completely loss due to the environmental changes caused by human activities and natural processes. However, this approach takes into account only the agricultural land with the emphasis on the negative changes of soil fertility functions. Ecological conception – weakening of one or more soil functions important for soil ecological potential due to the natural processes and human activities. This conception highlights changes of soil ecological potential that leads to the change of a whole ecosystem. Thus, this approach is directed to the actualization of soil formation and development changes as a natural body. Agro-ecological conception – the negative changes of soil properties and structure in different soil typological units due to the natural processes and/or human activities. This conception in some cases takes into account natural formation and development of individual soil type as related to some pedogenetic degradation processes occurring in soil such as: mineralization of formerly drained peat soils, formation of acid soils due to the parent material and acid rain impact, formation of podzols, Albeluvisols and Luvisols due to illuviation and podsolization processes. The degradative impact of anthropogenic factor in this conception is expressed by the formation of strongly compacted soil layer due to use of heavy machinery and inappropriate soil management or, in case of Lixisols, by organic matter decline due to their intensive use in agriculture. Thus, this concept selectively reflect degradation both the agricultural lands and those soils that are of relatively natural background. Overview of agronomical, ecological and agro-ecological concepts allows us to understand different aspects of soil degradation. Nevertheless, the anthropogenic transformation of natural soils is analysed very little in these concepts which, from the geological point of view, should be treated as degradation of soil natural properties despite of their erosive and accumulative character. Likewise, too little attention is paid to analyse changes of soil structure as related to different pedogenetic effects such us:

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transformation of tonguing properties due to long-term liming; formation of new horizons due to drifting sand and delluvial processes; mineralization, organic matter decline, soil texture lightening that are ongoing in naturally formed soil horizons due to intensive farming practice. From the perspective of further discourse, the application of geo-ecological conception might be a beneficial approach in order to extend and clarify the current understanding of soil degradation. According to authors of this idea, the proposal of geo-ecological soil degradation conception could be identified as follows: the negative changes of natural background soil properties, functions and soil profile structure due to direct or indirect effects of human activities. Thus, this approach is targeted to embrace those part of soil cover wherein direct or indirect anthropogenic impact occurs and therefore it allows us to separate natural soil formation from the human-induced soil changes. Furthermore, this concept would enable to highlight both the negative and positive (erosion and accumulation) aspects of soil degradation with more emphasis on changes in soil profile structure.

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CHANGES OF ENZYMATIC ACTIVITIES AND MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IN SOIL UNDER LONG-TERM MAIZE MONOCULTURE AND CROP ROTATION Anna Gałązka1, Karolina Gawryjołek1, Maria Król1, Jerzy Księżak2 1

Department of Agriculture Microbiology, 2Department of Forage Crop Production; Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation – State Research Institute, Czartoryskich 8, 24-100 Pulawy, Poland E-mail: [email protected] The aim of this work was to examine effects of long-term maize monoculture and crop rotation on biological activities of soil especially soil enzymatic activities and microbial communities. The reaction of maize cultivated in perennial monoculture for the direct sowing was investigated and compared to full tillage monoculture and crop rotation full tillage cultivation in the following phases: six leaves, twelve leaves, flowering phase, before harvest and after harvest. The results of the experiment conducted from 2004 to 2012 in Experimental Station in Grabów (mazowieckie voivodship) on podzolic soil – very good rye soil, were the basis for this elaboration. Three objects were included into this research: maize cropped continuously monoculture - zero tillage, maize monoculture cropped continuously – full tillage, crop rotation (spring barley, winter wheat, maize) – full tillage. The evaluation of the biological activity of the soil was based on the determination of the number of basic groups of soil microorganisms and enzyme activities. The maize was sown with the use of seed drill. The statistically significant increase in soil enzymatic activity and total number of bacteria and actinomycetes in soil where the direct sowing in monoculture was implemented.

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SOIL STRUCTURE CHANGES IN LOAM AND SANDY LOAM AFTER LONG-TERM CONTRASTING TILLAGE AND RESIDUES MANAGEMENT ON CAMBISOL Virginijus Feiza, Agnė Putramentaitė, Dalia Feizienė, Irena Deveikytė, Vytautas Seibutis, Simona Pranaitienė Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al.1, LT-58344 Akademija, Kedainiai distr., Lithuania E-mail: [email protected] In Northern and Western Europe commercial uptake of no-till is currently very limited but has recently increased in some parts of Scandinavia. In Lithuania, reduced tillage (RT) accounts for 7% while no-till (NT) is implemented as little as 1% of arable land. Conventional tillage based on ploughing (CT) is still the most popular soil management method employed on the rest part of arable land. According to literature, the number of long-term no-till experiments (>5 years) in Europe over a range of soils, fertiliser applications and climate conditions with crops grown within rotations is still limited. The goal of this study was to evaluate the cumulative after-effect of long-term (>10 years) CT, RT and NT applications in combination with or without crop residues on soil structure status. The investigations were carried out in 2013 at the Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry. Two field trials (split-plot design) were set up in 1999-2000 on Endocalcari-Epihypogleyic Cambisol having a loam and sandy loam texture. Dry and wet soil sieving was performed to determine the amount and the size distribution of soil aggregates in the top- and sub-soil. Straw incorporation on loam soil increased the amount of mezo (0.25-3 mm in diameter) soil aggregates in CT, RT and NT, while the highest increase was registered under NT within 0-10 and 10-20 cm soil layers. On sandy loam soil, the lower values were registered for this increase. The amount of water stable aggregates (0.5-0.25 mm in diameter) within 0-20 cm soil depth under CT, RT and NT with straw application on loam soil amounted to 36, 34 and 32 %, respectively, while on sandy loam this amount was higher for all tillage treatments (39, 35 and 37 %, respectively) compared to loam soil.

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STABILITY OF SOIL OC AND N IN AGRO AND FOREST ECOSYSTEMS IN LITHUANIA Milda Muraškienė1, Aušra Gudauskienė2, Paulius Garbaravičius1, Vilma Žekaitė2, Kęstutis Armolaitis1 1

Institute of Forestry, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Liepu 1, Girionys, Kaunas distr., Lithuania

2

Perloja Experimental Station, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Perliaus 30, Perloja, Varena distr., Lithuania E-mail: [email protected]

The aim of studies was to investigate the stability of soil organic carbon (OC) and nitrogen (N) in mineral topsoil under different land use of different mineral soils (arable land, forest land including clear cuttings) according to the data on: (1) soil microbial biomass carbon (SMB-C) and nitrogen (SMB-N); (2) the contents of unprotected and physically protected soil OC; and (3) leaching of soil OC and mineral N in clear cuttings of coniferous stands. It was found that the mean concentrations and pools of SMB-C were 16-18 folds and SMB-N – by 5-7 folds higher in mineral topsoil of Cambisols than in Arenosols. If compared to the arable land these concentrations and pools were significantly higher in forest stands. If compared to the arable land the highest concentrations of unprotected water extractable soil OC were in afforested Arenosols and in forest stands on Cambisol. However, in both cases mineral topsoil of forest soils contained the highest concentrations of total OC and the concentrations of OC protected in soil organic matter of silt + clay sized (>53 µm) fraction. According to the analyses of mineral soil solution it was indicated that in forests on Luvisols the leaching of mineral N, particularly of nitrate (NO3-) and nitrite (NO2-) ions, and dissolved OC have significantly increased in clear cuttings, especially under skid trails. However, if compared to the arable land of organic farming the leaching of mineral N was similar meanwhile dissolved OC was leached about 10 folds more intensive in adjacent forest stands.

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CUMULATIVE EFFECTS OF SOIL TEXTURE AND LONG-TERM MANAGEMENT ON SOIL C ACCUMULATION AND CO2 EXCHANGE RATE Dalia Feizienė, Virginijus Feiza, Agnė Putramentaitė, Irena Deveikytė, Vytautas Seibutis, Daiva Janušauskaitė Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al.1, LT-58344 Akademija, Kedainiai distr., Lithuania E-mail: [email protected] The sequestration of carbon by soils represents an important component in the balance of carbon within the environment. Article 3.4 of the Kyoto Protocol refers to the desirability of promoting C sequestration by soils. It is therefore important to establish the effect of no-till on C sequestration and what factors may influence this. Differences in CO2 emissions among tillage systems are likely to result from both shortterm and long-term effects. Short-term effects are due to the physical disturbance of soil and crop residues. Long-term effects include the effects of changes in soil qualities over several years. Most studies concentrate on short-term effects. The goal of this study was to evaluate combined effects of long-term soil management practices (tillage, NPK fertilization and residues handling) on soil net CO2 exchange rate (NCER) and carbon accumulation on loam and sandy loam textured Cambisol. After-effect of long-term conventional (CT), reduced (RT) and no-tillage (NT) systems, fertilization (not fertilized, moderate and enlarged rates of mineral NPK fertilizers) and residue handling on soil C accumulation and NCER was contrasting and depended on soil texture. On loam, long-term residues returning increased soil organic carbon (SOC) in all tillage systems within 0-40 cm soil depth. On sandy loam, in CT system residues returning increased soil organic carbon (SOC) within 10-20 cm and 20-40 cm depths, while in RT and NT systems, exclusively within 0-10 cm depth, compared to residues removing. On loam, the content of soil total nitrogen (Ntot) was higher on background with crop residues returned. On sandy loam, the Ntot was lower on the background with residues returning compared with that without residues. Long-term application of moderate rates of mineral NPK fertilizers caused SOC increase. Effect of enhanced rates on SOC content did not demonstrate so clear effect, compared to moderate NPK fertilizers rate. Soil NCER directly depended on Ntot and SOC in CT system on both loam and sandy loam soils and in RT system on loam soil. However, the response of soil NCER on SOC and Ntot in RT on sandy loam and in NT on both loam and sandy loam soils was very weak. Other factors, such as soil water content and soil water retention peculiarities, soil temperature, soil aeration had more significant influence on NCER than SOC and Ntot. This trait was particularly pronounced under dry environment conditions.

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THEORETICAL KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT OF SOIL TILLAGE FOR DECREASING SOIL DEGRADATION Petras Lazauskas Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Studentu 11, Akademija, Kaunas district, Lithuania E-mail: [email protected] Worldwide practice reveals that soil degradation begins only when the soil is started to be ploughed or tilled in other ways. However, there is a paradox in the fact that traditional plough soil tillage system does not have any abstract theoretical fundamentals and is based only on primitive empirical experience. Therefore, the first step to decrease soil degradation is to discover how to grow cultural plants saving the soil and decreasing soil degradation. Deep plough, used in the entire world as well as another type of deep soil hoeing, is not based on scientific-theoretical knowledge, but on primitive empirical experience of our ancestors and unmotivated postulates, quasi while ploughing and tilling soil in other ways, activity of microorganisms is activated and, thus, yield increases. However, it is silent that the increase of dry organic mass in forests and fields, that are not tilled, is never less than in the fields being tilled. Most often it is kept silent that plough promotes decay of soil organic substances, soil degradation and environmental pollution with carbon dioxide are increased. Thus, seeking to stop soil degradation, it is necessary to create theoretically grounded technologies of soil tillage and perspective implements and machines. For this purpose it is possible to apply the original crop (cultural plants and weed communities) productivity law. This law can be defined as follows: the productivity of the whole typical agricultural plant community, including the overall mass of crop plants and weeds growing under the same conditions is relatively constant. In the most general form this phenomenon can be described by the original Crop Performance Law which is expressed by the following equation: A = Y + Xb or Y = A-Xb, where A signifies the productivity of the whole community, or possible maximum of cultural plants yield; Y is the cultural plants yield in existing weed conditions, X is the weed mass, b is the yield depression rate, indicating the yield rise degree when the weed mass in the crops is decreased by one unit. The law given is proved with experiments in fields assessing NPK balance of crop communities and calculating yield dependence on the weed mass in the extent of Lithuania and the entire world, using data published by other authors for calculations, where together with the yield, weed mass is made public. Based on this it can be stated that the law discussed earlier is global, repeated and have been checked. Discussed original cultural plant productivity law will have to change former discipline of primitive empirical soil tillage "science” at an early date, it will become traditional science and will provide possibilities for soil tillage science to create new technologies, where one of the main objectives would be soil protection and decreasing its degradation. Due to this the essence of soil tillage will be perceived in a more precise way, new possibilities to develop soil tillage will appear, also, annual deep ploughing could be rejected. Precise, oriented and shallow soil tillage will come into fields. It would allow to slow decay of soil organic substance, to decrease the amount of carbon dioxide discharged into environment, to mitigate soil degradation, to save non-renewable energy costs.

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FUNCTIONAL IMPORTANCE OF SOIL MYCORRHIZAS IN AGROECOSYSTEMS

MICROORGANISMS

AND

Ewald Sieverding1 Nijolė Maršalkienė2, Jūratė Aleinikovienė3 1

University of Hohenheim, Institute of Plant Production and Agroecology in the Tropics and Subtropics, Garbenstr. 13, Stuttgart-Hohenheim, Germany 2

Aleksandras Stulginskis University, Institute of Environment and Ecology, 3Institute of Agroecosystems and Soil Science, Studentu str. 11, Akademija, Kauno distr., Lithuania E-mail: [email protected]

Soils are rich in microorganisms that play crucial roles in soil fertility, nutrient cycling and transformation of organic matter to CO2 and humus. Biological processes in soil depend to 54% on soil bacteria, to 35% on soil fungi, to 8% on protozoa and 3% on insects, earth worms and small soil animals. Soil microorganisms can be grouped by their functions, that are mainly decomposing of organic matter, soil structure building and aggregating of soil particles, nutrient solubilization and recycling, N2-fixing, nutrient absorbing and transporting, implementing antagonism and predating, detoxification, plant growth promoting (biostimulants), inducing resistance against diseases. Naturally, in not disturbed soils and ecosystems, beneficial and pathogenic microorganisms are in equilibrium so that plants seldom suffer from root disease, there. However, in agroecosystems, some agricultural management practices can negatively affect soil microbial compositions. Known is for example that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are sensitively reacting to intensification of land use which can have negative impacts for soil structure and crop production. To identify positive practices for supporting an active and functional soil microorganisms population, methods are needed for the enumeration of functional groups of soil microorganisms on a local and global level. Changes of the microbial populations due to agricultural management practices may then be predictable on an agro-ecosystem level, and native soil microorganisms may then be managed indirectly by positive cultural practices. Active management of soil microorganisms is possible by inoculation of soils with microorganisms of known functions. There are examples of positive effects of inoculation of legumes with Rhizobia for N2-fixation, with Bacillus spp. for promotion of plant growth, with Pseudomonadas and some soil fungi for phosphate and nutrient solubilization, with Trichoderma spp. for antagonistic effects against soil and root diseases, and arbuscular mycorrhizas for nutrient uptake. In perspective, soil microorganisms and in particular arbuscular mycorrhizas have the potential to mitigate nutrient losses by soil erosion and leaching, and to increase nutrient use efficiency. Inoculations, further combined with application of biostimulants (e.g. algae extracts or amino acids, etc.), can accelerate the restoration of soil biological activities in disturbed agroecosystems. This will be even more important to sustain agricultural production in soils of limited fertility, and to avoid negative environmental impacts by high fertilizer and pesticide uses.

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EFFECT OF DIFFERENT FERTILIZATION MODES ON SOIL ORGANIC CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN ACID SOILS Ieva Jokubauskaitė1, Danutė Karčauskienė1, Regina Repšienė1, Alvyra Šlepetienė2, Kristina Amalevičiūtė2 1

Vezaiciai Branch of the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Gargzdu 29, Vezaiciai, Klaipeda distr., Lithuania 2

Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al. 1, Akademija, Kedainiai distr., Lithuania E-mail: [email protected]

Soil organic carbon (SOC) in agricultural ecosystems plays a positive role in soil fertility, sustainability and crop production. It is well known that agricultural management can increase or decrease SOC content due to variation in tillage, fertilization and other activities. Consequently, improved management practices should aim to increase SOC accumulation, as these practices affect global climate change. Quantification of changes in SOC as influenced by fertilization practices is needed for the improvement of carbon sequestration and soil quality. A meta – analysis of 297 treatment data from the Vezaiciai Branch of the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry long-term field experiment published from 2006 to 2015 was used to characterize the changes in SOC under different fertilization treatments and residue management practices in Lithuania‘s acid soil. A meta – analysis was performed to quantify the relative annual change of SOC content (RAC) and the average relative annual change rate of SOC under 4 fertilization modes (farmyard manure (40 t ha-1); alternative organic fertilizers (in the manure background (40 t ha-1); farmyard manure (60 t ha-1); alternative organic fertilizers (in the manure background (60 t ha-1)) in two soil backgrounds (naturally acid and limed soil). In this study, the average RAC under 4 fertilization modes was 1.46 g kg-1 yr-1, indicating that long – term fertilization had considerable SOC sequestration potential. Incorporation of alternative organic fertilizers in unlimed, natarally acid soil showed negative effects (0.39 and -0.66 g kg-1 yr-1) in the observed long – term experiment. This reason might be that the microbial biomass was lower in the low – nutrient treatments, and nutrient shortage stimulated SOC decomposers. The RAC in the limed soil with incorporated organic fertilizers (farmyard manure and alternative organic fertilizers, compared to the control, and varied from 0.25 g kg-1 yr-1 in the treatment with incorporated alternative organic fertilizers (in the manure background (40 t ha-1)) to 0.71 g kg-1 yr-1 in the soil with farmyard manure (60 t ha-1). An explanation would be that the addition of manure in limed soil could promote the formation of micro – aggregates in macro - aggregates, leading to more particulate organic matter fixation, determining a lower turnover rate and higher stability. SOC sequestration is not infinite but will reach saturation after decades with implementation of various agricultural management practices. In this study, the average relative annual change rate of SOC under organic fertilization treatments in limed soil (5.07 – 6.54 %) was longer than organic fertilization in unlimed soil (2.11 – 3.49 %), which might be attributed to the application of organic manure that would result in a slow release of fertilizer efficiency. Our results indicate that the application of manure (40 or 60 t ha-1) showed the greatest potential for C sequestration in agricultural soil and produced the longest SOC sequestration duration.

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NUTRITION STATUS OF DRAINED PEAT SOIL AFTER WOOD ASH TREATMENT Modris Okmanis, Ilona Skranda Latvian State Forest Research Institute „Silava”, Rigas str. 111, Salaspils, Latvia E-mail: [email protected] Peat lands are described with sufficient nitrogen and carbon concentration however potassium and phosphorus deficiency is often found. Organic soils are acidic, which interferes mineral uptake and also decay of organic matter. Wood ash contain almost all biogenic elements (mostly calcium, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus) except nitrogen and reactivity of wood ash reduces soil acidity. Experiment of wood ash application in forest stand was done to evaluate changes in soil nutrition element content. Wood ash fertilization experiment on drained peat forest land (Oxalidosa turf. mel.) was made in 2001 at Jaunkalsnava research forest (56°42'15.01" N; 25°51'43.21" E). Treatment dose for about 1 t ha-1 was applied on 9 sample plots. In 2014 samples of soil were taken from fertilized and also the same count control plots. In each plot soil samples in three replications of four different layers (0-10, 10-20, 20-40, 40-80 cm) were gathered. Concentration of nutrients calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, nitrogen (Ca, Mg, K, P, N) and acidity were determined for each sample. Significant difference (α=0.05) of soil acidity between soil upper layer (0-10 cm) samples from fertilized (5.2±0.5) and control (4.2±0.2) plots was found. Also significant differences of P concentration (α=0.05; 0.23±0.09 t ha‑1 in fertilized area and 0.11±0.02 t ha‑1 in control area) were found. Significantly higher concentration of Ca and Mg was found in soil upper layer , but K in soil layer under 40 cm. For N concentration no significant differences between wood ash treated and control soil was observed.

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MEASURING AND PREDICTING SOIL MOISTURE CONDITIONS FOR TRAFFICABILITY Endla Reintam, Kersti Vennik, Liia Kukk, Siiri Kade, Kadri Krebstein, Mihkel Are, Alar Astover Estonian University of Life Sciences, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Kreutzwaldi 1, Tartu, Estonia E-mail: [email protected] Main causes of losses of soil structural stability are due to the vehicle operations on the unpaved surfaces, mainly on soil in a field of interest in military, agriculture, exploration, construction, and recreation applications. Frequent problems accompanied with the vehicle operations on landscape are destruction of soil and plant cover, formation of tracks and entrapment of vehicles, causing damages to the nature and not allowing vehicles to perform their tasks. Dry or frozen soil can support vehicle operations as good as roads and not have serious results to the soil properties. However, conditions can change drastically during wet conditions, rain and snow events. In that reason measuring or predicting soil moisture conditions is highly important. Unfortunately there is lack of continuous soil moisture data to predict soil water balance. To measure continuously changes in soil moisture conditions Percostation (Adek) sensors were installed into the soil in different depths in end of May 2013 and left to the same location for 1.5 year. Percostation is a system for continuous monitoring of dielectric constant, electrical conductivity and temperature of materials and used so far mainly to assess critical bearing capacity of roads. For one station maximum 8 sensors can be installed. However, the same system can be used effectively in different soil conditions. The measurement frequency was set to 2 hours to fit with local weather station settings. Sensors were placed to the depths of 10, 25, 45 and 75 cm under cultivated soil and 10, 25 and 45 cm under grassland. One sensor was left to measure air temperature. To calibrate the data, from the same depths soil samples to measure bulk density, water content and water permeability were collected. Data from Percostation were sent to the user server via internet (mobile internet connection), downloaded and volumetric water content calculated. The soil of experimental area is sandy loam Stagnosol with 56.4% of sand, 34% of silt and 9.5% of clay. Maximum water holding capacity is 32% (pF0), field capacity 25% (pF1.8) and dry soil water content is 12% (pF2.3), plastic limit is 22% and liquid limit 30%. Problems with soil trafficability can be expected at plastic limit and soil can’t support vehicle operations at liquid limit in such type of soils. As there were no extreme weather events during the survey period, the results of measurements revealed that the soil water content did not reach to the liquid limit. With rainfall more than 10 mm d-1 the moisture content reached up to the plastic limit in upper 25 cm of soil. The average increase of soil moisture content after more than 10 mm of rain was 1…2.5% in time frame 2…3 hours. Rest of the water was used by the plants or evaporated. After rain previous soil moisture level was reached within 2 to 3 days in vegetation period. Measures also approved soil water balance and evapotranspiration modelling data to predict suitable soil moisture conditions for trafficability. Acknowledgements: The study was supported by Estonian Ministry of Defence and by Estonian University of Life Sciences

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THE IMPACT OF SOIL CONDITIONERS ON PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF HEAVY SILOS IN ORGANIC FARMS Andrzej Łachacz1, Józef Tyburski2 1

Departament of Soil Science and Soil Reclamation, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Michała Oczapowskiego 2, 10-719, Olsztyn, Poland

2

Department of Agroecosystems, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Michała Oczapowskiego 2, 10-719, Olsztyn, Poland E-mail: [email protected] Soils with high content of particles Ø ≤ 0.02 mm usually have unfavorable physical properties. In order to determine the impact of soil conditioners on physical properties of heavy soils in organic farming systems, in the years of 2007-2009 a field experiment was carried out in Budziszewo, Pomeranian province in Poland. The farm was organically managed for 20 years and was characterized by proper management (appropriate crop rotation and high stand of dairy cows). Nevertheless in spring there problems with soil drying, which used to delay sowing of spring cereals by ca. 2 weeks, which in tern resulted in low yielding. Therefore the following soil conditioners were applied in 3 following years and 3 times a year: -

biodynamic horn preparate (350 g per ha);

-

effective microorganism EM, (3 l per ha);

-

humobak - solid microorganic preparate (120 l per ha);

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UG Max – enriched liquid compost extract (3 l per ha);

-

control object.

In 2007 silage maize was grown, in 2008 winter spelt wheat and in 2009 spring common wheat. Soil samples to study physical soil properties were collected form 5 – 15 cm soil layer during vegetation period. The taken material was sieved by a set of sieves of 30,0; 10.0; 7.0; 5.0; 3.0; 1.0; 0.5; 0.25 mm mesh. The samples of soil prepared in such a way underwent a wet sieving in soil wet aggregate instrument built in the Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation in Pulawy, Poland. We concluded that the application of above mentioned soil conditioners (biodynamic horn preparate, EM, humobak, UG Max) did not affect soil physical properties. The applied soil conditioners did not affect crop yielding, with the exception of humobak which decreased yield of silage maize and spring common wheat in a range of 41, and 26% respectively. The authors think that humobak via increased microorganism growth was blocking availability of nitrogen to crops.

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ASSESSMENT OF THE INTENSITY OF THE SOIL ORGANIC MATTER MINERALIZATION UNDER VARIOUS MANAGEMENT PRACTICES Monika Vilkienė1, Dalia Ambrazaitienė1, Danutė Karčauskienė1, Zenonas Dabkevičius2 1

Vezaiciai Branch of Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Gargzdu 29, Vezaiciai, Klaipeda distr., Lithuania

2

Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al. 1, Akademija, Kedainiai distr., Lithuania E-mail: [email protected]

Mineralization – is the main organic matter conversion process, which lead not only to preserve organic matter in the soil but also sequestrate it. Soil organic matter (SOM) has equal value as mineral part if we want to improve soil quality or increase the yield. Because of intensive farming, irresponsible use of pesticides and fertilizers and natural factors, soil organic matter decreases. For this reason frequently there are applying different soil-friendly management practices techniques such as shallow tillage, no-tillage or direct seeding and applaing the additional organic matter. The objective of the study to assess the soil organic matter mineralization process intensity changes when applied the different intensity primary soil tillage in combination with organic matter incorporation. Soil sampling at the experimental fields of Lithuanian Agriculture and Forestry Science Center, Vėžaičiai Branch in 2013-2015. Test soil - typical Albeluvisol, according to WRB classification assigned Retisols, texture - moraine loam, Corg. – 1,54%, hums – 2,65 %, Nsum – 0,131%, K2O – 301,9 mg kg-1, P2O5 – 161,28 mg kg-1 , pH – 5,3. Field experiment set randomized, in three replications. In these fields tested 3 tillage methods: i) deep plowing (22-25 cm) - DP; ii) plough less tillage (7-10 cm) - PT; iii) plough less tillage (710 cm) with an additional deep scratching (up to 40cm) - PTS, which is applying every 4 years. Also analyzed the impact of the additional organic fertilizers on the intensity of the mineralization process intensity: i) stubble; ii) chopped straw + N10; iii) the first plowed grass + chopped straw + N10; iiii) chopped straw + N10 + manure 40 t ha-1. The SOM mineralization intensity has been found by weight method. Soil density set Kaczynski method, solid-phase density - Pictometry method, total and air-filled porosity - taken from the density of the solid phase density and moisture Long-term studies have shown that land management practice differentiated soil into two layers: more moisture and nutrients having an upper (0-10 cm) and less moisture and nutrients comprising lower (10-20 cm) layers. The condition of aeration in the arable soil layer was equable in the plowing soil. In this soil, the rate of mineralization was lower than the ploughless tillage. In the soil were was used the ploughless tillage method the mineralization of soil organic matter has been very active in the autumn period, which promotes the loss of nutrients from the topsoil layer under high level of rainfall. Also under these conditions was the essential higher CO2 emission into the atmosphere compared with conventional deep ploughting, as well as that shallow tillage method activates the soil microbial activities.

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AGRICULTURAL SOIL ACIDITY, PHOSPHORUS LEACHING RISK AND EROSION RISK IN TWO FOCUS AREAS IN NORTHERN POLAND – EVALUATION FROM SOIL MAPS, FARM WALKS AND GATE BALANCES AT FARM LEVEL Barbro Ulén1, Stefan Pietrzak2 1

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), SE-750 07, Uppsala, Sweden

2

Instytut Technologiczno-Przyrodniczy (ITP), Falenty, Al. Hrabska 3, Raszyn, Poland

E-mail: [email protected] Poland is one of the most important countries for agriculture in the EU and has the largest agricultural area within the Baltic Sea drainage basin. Reducing the risk of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen leaching from soil to water and erosion of Polish soils is therefore essential. Increased acidity is known to reduce soil fertility and trigger P leaching from some non-calcareous soils. As part of advisor training, 25 Pomeranian and 25 Northern-Masovian small to medium-sized (6-98 ha) farms were visited and the soil monitored (855 samples) in 2013-2014. Joint farm walks and nutrient balance calculation were other tools used in nutrient leaching risk evaluations together with farmers. The soil on the study farms was mainly loam, but 25% of the Pomeranian farms were dominated by silty or clayey soils. The topography was mainly flat, but with gentle slopes on 56% of the farms. According to the farmers, 30% of the farms had no artificial soil drainage system, while 50% had simple drainage pipes and 20% (with clay and silt soils) had full drainage systems. The tile drains were on average more than 30 years old, but functioned well. Only three farms had drainage systems younger than 20 years. There were few visible signs of surface erosion, but waterlogging, wet fields and flooding, caused by poor management of open ditches, were reported in pre-interviews with farmers. Median pH on the Pomeranian farms, based on farm averages and analysed in potassium-chloride solution [pH(KCl)], was 5.2 (corresponding to pH(H2O) 6.2) and liming was advised for fields on most (72%) of these farms. Acid soils were rarer on pig and dairy farms than on arable farms. The farmers interviewed often use only ammoniumsulphate fertiliser, which has acidifying effects, since it is too expensive to buy other fertilisers. Soil P content, measured with the double-lactate extraction (PDL), was positively and significantly correlated (Pearson coefficient 0.57; p