Effects of no-tillage on soil properties affecting wind erosion during fallow in Ectone of north China

The objectives were to analyze the effects of wind erosion under plough tillage and no-tillage,evaluate changes in soil physical,chemical and biological properties due to different tillage practices,and to discuss the effects of soil properties on wind erosion.Results showed that :(1)soil loss from plough tillage(FT)was as much as 3～8 times that from no-tillage(NT);the aerodynamic roughness lengths under plough and no-tillage were 0.032,0.417,respectively.(2)No-tillage soil contained more clay and fine sand in the 0-10 cm topsoil layer than the plough tillage soil.In the 0-5 and 5-10 cm soil depth,the bulk density,soil hardness and soil moisture were more under no-tillage than plough tillage.Especially,the soil hardness in 0-5,5-10 and 10-20 cm under no-tillage were as much as 4.7,2.8 and 3.8 times,respectively.(3)Plough tillage practice decreased available K at the 0-5 cm depth by 77% compared to no-tillage.A similar trend was observed for total N,soil organic matter(SOM)and available P,although decreases were lower than that of available K.A cross depths,the concentrations of SOM were lower in the plough tillage soils than in the no-tillage soil,but differences were significant(P 0.05)only at the 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm depths.(4)Microbial biomass carbon concentration under NT was 2.1 times that of PT in the 0-10 cm soil depth.