A Nation-wide Mapping of Dry Soils for Plant Production—A case study from Denmark

Abstract

Madsen, Henrik Breuning & Holst, Kristian Aagaard: A nationwide mapping of dry soils for plant production—A case study from Denmark. Geografisk Tidsskrift 88: 1–8. København, 1988.

For economical or environmental reasons the arable land in Denmark will probably decrease in size in the nearby future. Therefore some areas will change into marginal land, especially wetlands, undulating areas and areas with dry soils. A nation-wide mapping of those areas has been carried out, and this paper describes the methodology used for mapping dry soils for grass and barley production.

SUMMARY

A nation-wide mapping of root zone capacity for grass and barley production has been carried out. The mapping was based on computerized soil maps and analytical data. Approximately 36,000 soil profiles have been constructed with information on texture and organic matter content. The plant available water content in the different soil layers was calculated by regression equations combining the texture and organic matter content with the water content at pF2.0 and pF4.2. An effective root depth for different crops in relation to soil type has been defined, and the root zone capacity was calculated by combining the effective root depth with the available water content in the soil layers. The mapping shows that dry soils defined as soils with a root zone capacity below 80 mm for grass and barley production cover approximately one-third of the non-wetland area in Jutland and less than 1% on the islands. The dry soils are mainly situated in dune landforms, outwash plains, and Saale glaciation landscapes in mid- and west Jutland.

Keywords:

• Marginal land
• Root zone capacity