• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.41 no.5
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• pp.293-302
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• 2008

The limiting factors to determine available soil depth were studied with 390 soil series in soil profile description and physicochemical data in Korean soils. The limiting factors were coarse sandy layer, gravel and skeletal layer, hardpan layer, cat clay layer, poorly drained layer, salt accumulated layer and bed rock layer so on. The soils of having limiting factors were 332 soil series, but soils without limiting factors were 58 soil series. Soils with limiting factors were, hardpan 5, slopeness 93, immature soil 29, cinder 5, sandy 42, gravel or skeletal 47, bedrock 19, high salt content 8, poorly drained soil 22, heavy clay 32, sulfate soil 3 and ash soil 27 etc. And the orders of available soil depth were immature > slopeness > ash > heavy clay > sandy > gravel or skeletal > hardpan > cindery > poorly drained > bedrock > acid sulfate soil > salt accumulated soil etc.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.63 no.5
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• pp.1-11
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• 2021

Soil moisture plays a critical role in hydrological processes, land-atmosphere interactions and climate variability. It can limit vegetation growth as well as infiltration of rainfall and therefore very important for agriculture sector and food protection. Recently, due to the increased damage from drought caused by climate change, there is a frequent occurrence of shortage of agricultural water, making it difficult to supply and manage stable agricultural water. Efficient water management is necessary to reduce drought damage, and soil moisture management is important in case of upland crops. In this study, soil moisture was calculated based on the water balance model, and the suitability of soil moisture data was verified through the application. The regional soil moisture was calculated based on the meteorological data collected by the meteorological station, and applied the Runs theory. We analyzed the spatiotemporal variability of soil moisture and drought impacts, and analyzed the correlation between actual drought impacts and drought damage through correlation analysis of Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI). The soil moisture steadily decreased and increased until the rainy season, while the drought size steadily increased and decreased until the rainy season. The regional magnitude of the drought was large in Gyeonggi-do and Gyeongsang-do, and in winter, severe drought occurred in areas of Gangwon-do. As a result of comparative analysis with actual drought events, it was confirmed that there is a high correlation with SPI by each time scale drought events with a correlation coefficient.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.185-196
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• 2019

BACKGROUND: This study investigated the effects of rice genetically modified to be resistant against rice blast and rice bacterial blight on the soil microbial community. A comparative analysis of the effects of rice genetically modified rice choline kinase (OsCK1) gene for disease resistance (GM rice) and the Nakdong parental cultivar (non-GM rice) on the soil microbial community at each stage was conducted using rhizosphere soil of the OsCK1 and Nakdong rice. METHODS AND RESULTS: The soil chemistry at each growth stage and the bacterial and fungal population densities were analyzed. Soil DNA was extracted from the samples, and the microbial community structures of the two soils were analyzed by pyrosequencing. No significant differences were observed in the soil chemistry and microbial population density between the two soils. The taxonomic analysis showed that Chloroflexi, Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Acidobacteria were present in all soils as the major phyla. Although the source tracking analysis per phylogenetic rank revealed that there were differences in the bacteria between the GM and non-GM soil as well as among the cultivation stages, the GM and non-GM soil were grouped according to the growth stages in the UPGMA dendrogram analysis. CONCLUSION: The difference in bacterial distributions between Nakdong and OsCK1 rice soils at each phylogenetic level detected in microbial community analysis by pyrosequencing may be due to the genetic modification done on GM rice or due to heterogeneity of the soil environment. In order to clarify this, it is necessary to analyze changes in root exudates along with the expression of transgene. A more detailed study involving additional multilateral soil analyses is required.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.314-320
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• 2008

During the summer season, more than half of the annual precipitation in Korea occurs during the summer season due to the geographical location in the Asian monsoon belt. So, this causes severe soil erosion from croplands, which is directly linked to the deterioration of crop/land productivity and surface water quality. Therefore, much attention has been given to develop accurate estimation tools of soil erosion. The aim of this study is to assess the performance of using the empirical Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) and the physical-based model of the Water Erosion Prediction Project (WEPP) to quantify eroded amount of soil from agricultural fields. Input data files, including climate, soil, slope, and cropping management, were modified to fit into Korean conditions. Chuncheon (forest) and Jeonju (level-plain) were selected as two Korean cities with different topographic characteristics for model analysis. The results of this current study indicated that better soil erosion prediction can be achieved using the WEPP model since it has better power to illustrate a higher degree of spatial variability than USLE in topography, precipitation, soils, and crop management practices. These present findings are expected to contribute to the development of the environmental assessment program as well as the conservation of the agricultural environment in Korea.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.42
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• pp.212-237
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• 2009

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2012

This study was performed to produce basic data for silty reclaimed tidal lands and to develop techniques of environmentally-friendly utilization in agricultural system. We chose the two sites in Saemangeum reclaimed tidal lands, one (Site I) has been treated with cultivating green manure and conducting the desalinization process through submergence since April, 2007 and the other (Site II) has been under natural condition without artificial treatment. In situ and ex situ physic-chemical properties were determined and comparisons were made for soil profiles examined at these two sites in April 2009. Surface soil of Site I had lower EC and higher field saturated hydraulic conductivity than those of Site II, uncultivated land. Especially, exchangeable sodium content was lowest in Site I Ap1 layer than in other layers. This is probably due to flooding desalination and green manure cultivation. Besides, Ap1 and A2 layers of soil profile in Site I showed brighter soil color and more root observation than those of Site II. This is probably due to green manure cultivation. By the large, for high cash upland crops and intensive agricultural use of silty reclaimed tidal land, site-specific soil ripening such as flooding desalination and green manure cultivation could be useful.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.1097-1107
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• 2020

Assessment of soil carbon stock is essential for climate change mitigation and soil fertility. The digital soil mapping (DSM) is well known as a general technique to estimate the soil carbon stocks and upgrade previous soil maps. The aim of this study is to calculate the soil carbon stock in the top soil layer (0 to 30 cm) in Jeolla Province of South Korea using the DSM technique. To predict spatial carbon stock, we used Cubist, which a data-mining algorithm model base on tree regression. Soil samples (130 in total) were collected from three depths (0 to 10 cm, 10 to 20 cm, 20 to 30 cm) considering spatial distribution in Jeolla Province. These data were randomly divided into two sets for model calibration (70%) and validation (30%). The results showed that clay content, topographic wetness index (TWI), and digital elevation model (DEM) were the most important environmental covariate predictors of soil carbon stock. The predicted average soil carbon density was 3.88 kg·m-2. The R2 value representing the model's performance was 0.6, which was relatively high compared to a previous study. The total soil carbon stocks at a depth of 0 to 30 cm in Jeolla Province were estimated to be about 81 megatons.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.399-404
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• 2014

Soil moisture is an important factor for the availability and circulation of nutrients in arable soil. The purpose of this study was to set thresholds moisture content on soil nitrate concentration in the solution for real-time diagnosis. Sandy loam, silt loam, and sandy loam was filled with $1.2g\;cm^{-3}$ at Wagner pots, 0, 100, and $200mg\;L^{-1}$ of $KNO_3$ was saturated. Nitrate in standard solution was recovered about 95% by passing the porous cup. Nitrate concentrations in sampling of soil solution were examined by using a porous cup. The soil solution was higher in accordance with sandy loam> silt loam> clay loam, limited water filled pore space for sampling soil solution was 33.7, 56.4, and 62.2%, respectively. Nitrate concentration in the soil solution was negligible at sandy loam and silt loam during sampling periods, which was decreased about 50~82% in clay loam compared to the initial $NO_3$-N concentration in the saturated $KNO_3$ solution. Over limitation of soil solution sampling, soil EC and $NO_3$-N content were increased with the saturated $NO_3$-N concentration, regardless of soil texture (p<0.05). Conclusively, soil solution by using a porous cup was possible, regardless of the soil texture, which was useful for the diagnosis in nitrate concentration of soil solution. However, because nitrate concentration of soil solution in a clay loam changes, it was necessary for careful attention in order to take advantage for the real-time diagnosis of nitrogen management in soil.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.49 no.5
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• pp.548-554
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• 2016

Optimal range of soil physical quality to enhance crop productivity or to improve environmental health is still in dispute for the upland soil. We hypothesized that the optimal range might be established by comparing soil physical parameters and their interactions inhibiting crop growth. The parameter identifying optimal range covered favorable conditions of aeration, permeability and root extension. To establish soil physical standard two experiments were conducted as follows; 1) investigating interactions of bulk density and aeration porosity in the laboratory test and 2) determining effects of soil compaction and deep & conventional tillage on physical properties and crop growth in the field test. The crops were Perilla frutescens, Zea mays L., Solanum tuberosum L. and Secale cereael. The saturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density from the root depth, root growth and stem length were obtained. Higher bulk density showed lower aeration porosity and hydraulic conductivity, and finer texture had lower threshold bulk density at 10% aeration bulk density. Reduced crop growth by subsoil compaction was higher in silt clay loam compared to other textures. Loam soil had better physical improvement in deep rotary tillage plot. Combined with results of the present studies, the soil physical quality was possibly assessed by bulk density index. Threshold subsoil bulk density as the upper value were $1.55Mg\;m^{-3}$ in sandy loam, $1.50Mg\;m^{-3}$ in loam and $1.45Mg\;m^{-3}$ in silty clay loam for optimal soil physical quality in upland.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.379-387
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• 2022

A large amount of the mineral nitrogen is necessary for crop growth. With the use of nitrogen fertilizers, agricultural yield has increased during the last few decades. However, at the same time, nitrate from the cultivated land can be a source of environmental pollution, especially in water systems. For nitrogen management, it is necessary to analyze the pattern of nitrogen movement in soil. In this study, nitrogen leaching in upland soils was evaluated using undisturbed lysimeters with different soil textures during sesame cultivation. The soil texture of the lysimeters was clay loam (Songjung series) and sandy loam (Sangju series) soils. Sesame was cultivated from May 25 to August 24 in 2020. The standard amount of NPK fertilizer (N-P₂O₅-K₂O = 2.9-3.1-3.2 kg·10 a^-1) was applied before sowing. The amount of nitrogen leaching was calculated by multiplying the nitrogen (NO₃-N + NH₄-N) concentration and the amount of water drained below 1.5 m soil depth. The water was drained through percolation into macropores in the clay loam lysimeter. In contrast, in the sandy loam lysimeter, water drained more slowly than in the clay loam lysimeter. There was a slight difference in the total amount of leachate during the cultivation period, but the amount of nitrogen leaching was high in sandy loam soil. During the sesame cultivation period, the amount of nitrogen leaching from clay soil was 5.64 kg·10 a^-1, and 10.70 kg·10 a^-1 for sandy soil. We found that there was a difference in leaching depending on the soil physical characteristics. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the characteristics of soil to evaluate the leaching of nitrogen.