Epsilon Open Archive

Abstract

Soil compaction constitutes a major threat to the fertility of arable soils and food security. The aim of this paperis to highlight the need and opportunities for plant eco-physiological approaches to identify strategies to recovercrop yields after soil compaction. Reduced productivity on compacted soil primarily results from decreased rootelongation rates and thus limited accessibility to water and nutrients. Hence, strategies to recover productivityafter compaction must address plant eco-physiological phenomena that underlie low root system expansionrates. In compacted soil, root growth is decreased due to high soil penetration resistance and due to low oxygenconcentration in soil air caused by reducedfluid transport capability. Thus, plant roots are exposed to a multi-stress environment, which needs to be addressed directly when aiming to recover productivity after compactionin the long-term. Here, we discuss possibilities to increase root growth in order to enhance resource accessibilityand recover crop productivity on compacted soil. Yield recovery can be achieved through breeding of novelcultivars and targeted soil management approaches. On the one hand, the tolerance of plants to the different soilphysical stresses can be enhanced by selecting for specific root traits that facilitate root growth in compactedsoil. Soil management approaches that improve specific physical properties of compacted soil on the other handcan facilitate root growth in compacted soil. Since plant roots are major drivers of soil structure dynamics,increasing root growth in compacted soil may not only mitigate crop productivity losses but also recover soilstructure.