UMD Theses and Dissertations

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3

New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.

More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.

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Author: search.filters.author.Bilek, Meredith

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    Winter annual rye cover crops in no-till grain crop rotations: impacts on soil physical properties and organic matter
    (2007-07-31) Bilek, Meredith; Coale, Frank J; Plant Science and Landscape Architecture (PSLA); Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Winter annual cover cropping (WCC) is a common management practice subsidized by Maryland to protect water and soil quality. The affect of long-term incorporation of WCC on soil physical properties (SPP) is not well established. We hypothesized by increasing organic inputs WCC would improve SPP. To evaluate the effect of WCC and wheel traffic (WT) on SPP, we studied two long term rotations (corn/rye and corn/fallow) at two locations on the Coastal Plain (CP) and one on the Piedmont. WCC improved SPP, but only during the winter at the CP. High levels of WT compacted soil in both rotations. WCC and wheel traffic had no effect on SPP or organic matter at the Piedmont. We conclude, only during the winter did WCC improve SPP; however, due to the drastic annual changes, we hypothesize this improvement is due to soil disturbance caused by the grain drill planting the rye.