Soil aggregation estimates in CZO-Fuchsenbigl

The study presents results on the informativity and spatial variation of soil aggregation characteristics in one of the Critical Zone Observatories (CZO) in Europe – Fuchsenbigl, Austria. Water stable aggregates of different size were measured, and strong relationships between soil aggregation estimates were found. The horizontal variation of water stable aggregates at particular depths can be explained by certain vertical heterogeneity of the soil profiles in space. The water stable aggregates in 1–3 mm size dry aggregates in the upper layer vary from 44% to 76% under native vegetation, drop to 1% under intensive cultivation, and comprise 19% in land not tilled for 5 years. The results allow linking the characteristics of soil structure with other biotic and chemical properties for better estimation of the driving forces for soil aggregate formation.