Highfield Bare Fallow
- Local identifier
- R/RS/1
- Years operational
- 1959—
- Objective
- The effect of continuous bare fallow.
- Description
- In 1959 an area of permanent grass (since 1838, Lawes & Gilbert, 1885) adjacent to the Highfield Ley-Arable experiment at Rothamsted was ploughed, and has not grown a crop since. This is the Highfield Bare Fallow. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is measured periodically, and this has declined substantially since the area was first ploughed out of grass. Archived soil samples are available.
- Data Access Statement
- Available to any researcher on request
- Data license
- CC BY
- Data URL
- http://www.era.rothamsted.ac.uk/Other#SEC7
- Data policy
- Yes (not online)
- Organization
- Rothamsted Researchresearch organisation
- People
- Dr Andy Gregoryprincipal investigatorRothamsted ResearchSustainable Agricultural SystemsDr Sarah Perrymandata managerRothamsted ResearchComputational and Analytical Sciences
Site: Highfield
- Type
- research station field
- Location
- HarpendenHertfordshireUnited Kingdom
- Geographic location
- 51.804108, -0.361341
- Visits permitted?
- Yes
- Visiting arrangements
- By arrangement with Dr Andy Gregory, LTE Manager
- History
- Permanent grass since 1838 (Lawes & Gilbert, 1885) adjacent to the Highfield Ley-Arable experiment at Rothamsted.
- Management
- Since 1959 the experiment is kept free of weeds by frequent cultivation, but herbicides are used occasionally, so inputs of carbon to the soil are negligible. The experiment is on a trapezoidal area of approximately 900 m2.
- Soil type
- luvisol
- Soil properties
Variable Depth Value (range) Units Ref year Estimated? Baseline? sand content 0 – 18 Centimetres 15 Percent 1945 silt content 0 – 18 Centimetres 59 Percent 1945 clay content 0 – 18 Centimetres 26 Percent 1945 soil pH 0 – 18 Centimetres 4.8 1945 - Climatic type
- temperate oceanic climate
Design period: (1959—)
- Crops
Crop Years grown
Related publications
- Gregory A.S. et al., (2016) European Joural of Soil Science. 67, 421-430 https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.12359 [In English]
- Barré, P., Eglin, T., Christensen, B. T., Ciais, P., Houot, S., Kätterer, T., van Oort, F., Peylin, P., Poulton, P. R., Romanenkov, V., and Chenu, C.: Quantifying and isolating stable soil organic carbon using long-term bare fallow experiments, Biogeosciences, 7, 3839–3850 https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-7-3839-2010 [In English]
- Johnston, A. E. , Poulton, P. R. and Coleman, K. (2009) "Soil organic matter: its importance in sustainable agriculture and carbon dioxide fluxes", Advances in Agronomy, 101, 1-57 https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2113(08)00801-8 [In English]
- Hirsch, P. R. , Gilliam, L. M. , Sohi, S. P. , Williams, J. K. , Clark, I. M. and Murray, P. J. (2009) "Starving the soil of plant inputs for 50 years reduces abundance but not diversity of soil bacterial communities", Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 41, 2021-2024 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2009.07.011 [In English]
- Avery, B. W. and Catt, J. A. 1995. The soil at Rothamsted. Lawes Agricultural Trust, (LAT) Harpenden. https://repository.rothamsted.ac.uk/item/87192 [In English]