Waite Permanent Rotation Trial

This experiment has been added by the GLTEN Curators using existing published sources.
Objective
Original trial objectives not stated.
Description
The Waite Permanent Rotation Trials demonstrated that management which return more carbon to the soil leads to greater carbon stocks and increased carbon cycling and thus nutrient provision from SOM relative to a low carbon return management. After >40 years under consistent management, topsoil carbon stocks ranged from 14 to 34 Mg C ha-1 and were linearly related to the mean productivity of each treatment.
Data Access Statement
Freely available online
Data Access Notes
Although the trial is discontinued, Jonathan Sanderman at CSIRO collated data from various sources and also generated new data from archived samples. This data is published via the CSIRO data access portal.
Data license
CC BY
Data URL
https://doi.org/10.4225/08/55E5165EC0D29
Data policy
Don't know
Organization
University of Adelaide
research organisation
People

Site: Waite Permanent Rotation Trial

Type
research station field
Location
Urrbrae
South Australia
Australia
Geographic location
-34.96656, 138.634283
+−
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Visits permitted?
No

Design period: (1925—1993)

Design description
The experiment had 35 plots comparing a variety of different rotations. Based on published cropping the experiment rotations appears to have been fully phased. The experiment underwent a revision in 1950 with several rotations being replaced by new rotations, notably: 3 W-Pe-F and 3 W-B-F rotation plots being replaced by 6 P-P-P-P-W-W rotation plots; W-O-Pe rotation replaced by W-P-P rotation; 1 W-Pe, 1 W, and 2 W-P replaced by a W-F-P-P rotation. The second W-Pe rotation plot changed to continuous wheat.
Number of plots
35
Crops
CropYears grown
wheat
mixed pastures
peas
fallow
barley
oats
Crop Rotations
W-F  1925—1993
  • 1
    wheat
  • 2
    fallow
W-Pe  1925—1993
  • 1
    wheat
  • 2
    peas
W-P-F  1925—1993
  • 1
    wheat
  • 2
    mixed pastures
  • 3
    fallow
W-O-F  1925—1992
  • 1
    wheat
  • 2
    oats
  • 3
    fallow
W-Pe-F  1925—1948
  • 1
    wheat
  • 2
    peas
  • 3
    fallow
P-P-P-P-W-W  1950—1993
  • 1
    mixed pastures
  • 2
    mixed pastures
  • 3
    mixed pastures
  • 4
    mixed pastures
  • 5
    wheat
  • 6
    wheat
W-B-F  1925—1949
  • 1
    wheat
  • 2
    barley
  • 3
    fallow
W  1925—1993
  • 1
    wheat
    Continuous wheat
W-O-Pe  1925—1949
  • 1
    wheat
  • 2
    oats
  • 3
    peas
P-P-W  1950—1993
  • 1
    mixed pastures
  • 2
    mixed pastures
  • 3
    wheat
W-B-Pe  1925—1993
  • 1
    wheat
  • 2
    barley
  • 3
    peas
W-O-P-F  1925—1993
  • 1
    wheat
  • 2
    oats
  • 3
    mixed pastures
  • 4
    fallow
P  1925—1993
  • 1
    mixed pastures
W-P  1925—1949
  • 1
    wheat
  • 2
    mixed pastures
W-F-P-P  1950—1993
  • 1
    wheat
  • 2
    fallow
  • 3
    mixed pastures
  • 4
    mixed pastures
Measurements
VariableMaterialUnitsFrequencyScaleComment
grain yield traitAll cropskg/haannual
shoot system yield traitAll cropskg/haannualtotal dry matter
forage yieldmixed pastureskg/haannual
Pasture compositionmixed pastures%annualPercentage composition of different plant groups in pasture.
monthly precipitationNot specifiedmm
monthly temperatureNot specifieddegC
soil organic carbonSoil%Every 10 yearsMeasured at 0-10 cm and 10-22.5 cm
total soil nitrogenSoil%Every 10 yearsMeasured at 0-10 cm and 10-22.5 cm

Related publications

  • Grace PR, Oades JM, Keith H Hancock TW (1995) Trends in wheat yields and soil organic carbon in the Permanent Rotation Trial at the Waite Agricultural Research Institute, South Australia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 35, 857-864.
  • Moore A. D. Grace P. R. (1998) Effects of annual pasture composition on subsequent wheat yields in the Waite Permanent Rotation Trial, South Australia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 38, 55-59.