Cotton lint yield variability in a heterogeneous soil at a landscape scale

• Published in: Soil & tillage research Vol. 58; no. 3; pp. 245 - 258
• Main Authors: Li, Hong, Lascano, Robert J., Booker, Jill, Ted Wilson, L., Bronson, Kevin F.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.03.2001
• Subjects: Clay; Cotton lint yield; Landscape-scale; N uptake; NO 3-N; Site elevation; Soil heterogeneity; State-space analysis; Water; Water; Clay; Cotton lint yield; State-space analysis; NO 3-N; Soil heterogeneity; Landscape-scale; N uptake; Site elevation
• ISSN: 0167-1987; 1879-3444
• DOI: 10.1016/S0167-1987(00)00172-0

Landscape variability associated with topographic features affects the spatial pattern of soil water and N redistribution, and thus N uptake and crop yield. A landscape-scale study was conducted in a center pivot irrigated field on the southern High Plains of Texas in 1999 to assess soil water, soil NO 3-N, cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) lint yield, and N uptake variability in the landscape, and to determine the spatial correlation between these landscape variables using a state-space approach. The treatments were irrigation at 50 and 75% cotton potential evapotranspiration (ET). Neutron access tubes were placed at a 15-m interval along a 710 m (50% ET) and 820 m (75% ET) transect across the field. Soil NO 3-N in early spring was autocorrelated at a distance varying between 60 and 80 m. Measured soil volumetric water content (WC), total N uptake, and lint yield were generally higher on lower landscape positions. Cotton lint yield was significantly correlated to soil WC ( r=0.76), soil NO 3-N ( r=0.35), and site elevation ( r=−0.54). Differences of site elevation between local neighboring points explained the soil water, NO 3-N and lint yield variability at the micro-scale level in the landscape. Soil WC, cotton lint yield, N uptake, and clay content were crosscorrelated with site elevation across a lag distance of ±30–40 m. The state-space analysis showed that cotton lint yield was positively weighted on soil WC availability and negatively weighted on site elevation. Cotton lint yield state-space models give insights on the association of soil physical and chemical properties, lint yield, and landscape processes, and have the potential to improve water and N management at the landscape-scale.