SOIL BULK DENSITY LAB REPORT

Dana Kelly

Physical Geography Lab (ENVL 2105)

Fall 2020
Stockton University
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND GEOLOGY PROGRAM
Instructor: Dr. Emma Witt
 1. Introduction
Ecosystems are known to function as interconnected biological communities and physical
environments that rely on one another for survival. As urban land-use continues to cover more
areas across the globe, consideration of natural ecosystems have been taken into account,
especially recently due to accelerated degradation resulting from urbanization. Focus is often
placed on wildlife management and vegetation; for example, restoration projects most typically
utilize the introduction of native species to promote ecological health (Millward & Briggs, 2011).
However, emphasis on soil quality has been placed more so recently based on evidence showing
its significance in promoting plant growth in urban parks and building ecological resilience
(Millward & Briggs, 2011). Soil bulk density is a pivotal factor of soil quality that is easily
affected by impacts including but not limited to pedestrian traffic, vehicle traffic, and use of
machinery.
Past studies have found that human foot traffic has been shown to increase bulk densities,
creating decreased filtration and accelerated erosion. Whitecotton et al., (2000) hypothesized that
training activities at the United States Air Force Academy Jacks Valley Training area lead to soil
and vegetative disturbances and ran a study that found a 68% decrease in total overall
above-ground biomass and 91% decrease in total above-ground biomass at the high-end
disturbance site. Continuing, erosion at the high-use site was 30 times greater than that of the
reference site. In New Brunswick, Canada, Labelle et al. (2019) conducted a study to analyze
soil disturbance as a result of off-road forest harvesting machine traffic and know whether or not
brush could affect results. The results found that softwood brush mats placed on machine
operating trails play a considerable role in reducing forwarder-induced soil compaction and
penetration resistance, inferring that introducing vegetation to areas inflicted with off-roading
activities can potentially protect overall soil health. These results align: soil bulk density is
altered due to disturbances on various scales, from pedestrian traffic to heavy machinery and
vehicles, but can be improved when vegetation is placed or used is restricted.
Millward & Briggs (2011) set to study the hypothesis of whether or not use restriction or
vegetation placement can resolve issues with soil quality resulting from disturbance. While the
previous studies mentioned sought to determine whether or not disturbances are present,
Millward & Briggs (2011) instead chose a previously disturbed area to determine recovery time.
It was found that vegetation struggles to grow to its full potential in disturbed soil, meaning
positive impacts to the environment also don’t occur to the full potential. Nevertheless, results
aligned with what was assumed from the results of the previous studies; recovery could be made
in a timely manner when use was restricted and vegetation was placed.
Assuming soil bulk density will be more impacted in areas of higher disturbance as found
by previous studies, 36 samples of Atison series soil were taken from areas of varying
disturbance and compared statistically based on varying bulk densities. Once analyzed, the data
will be able to provide context as to how different levels of disturbance affect soil bulk density as
well as which levels of disturbance inhibit factors such as vegetation growth and porosity.
Understanding these potential effects to soil can help predict future trends as well as offer
guidance to restoration projects by allowing impacts to be more easily understood.

2. Methodology
2.1 Site Description
Stockton University’s campus in Galloway, New Jersey was chosen for the study area due
to the variety of disturbances found throughout (Figure 2.1.1). Located within the Pinelands, this
area receives about 44 inches of precipitation a year. An average of 24 inches of that evaporates
into the air or comes from vegetation and an additional 2 to 3 inches runs off the land into the
nearest water body. Around 17 to 19 inches of the 44 inches works its way into the shallow
aquifer. The average temperature ranges from a July average of 74°F to 30°F in January. Annual
snowfall averages 16 inches. The soil type in the area was determined to be atsion series soil
using the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Web Soil Survey. With a parent
material of sandy marine sediments, atsion soil works to leach iron compounds which prevents it
from entering waterbodies in excess and harming other natural processes such as the process of
forming iron bog. The disturbance levels varied from 1-8+, as determined based on the sliding
scale in Figure 2.1.2.
Figure 2.1.1

Site Map

Figure 2.1.2

Soil Disturbance Levels

2.2 Field Sampling Methodology

Within the Galloway Campus, 4 areas of varying disturbance were chosen to take the 36
samples. Area one is a wooded area adjacent to campus with a disturbance of 1, area two is a
landscaped area directly next to the forested area with a disturbance of 2, area three is a back
entrance walkway into the Arts & Sciences building with a disturbance level of 7-8, and area
four is a path with a disturbance level of 8+. Once sample areas were determined, a quadrat of
24inx24in bamboo sticks sectioned with six pieces of yarn to create nine 8inx8in intersections
was placed and surrounding vegetation and cover type was then assessed and determined to be
brush and forested in quadrants of area one, but mostly bare in all other areas.
A small hole was then dug in each sample area and the acquired soil was extracted of any
residue such as leaf litter before being placed into a container that was pre-measured to weigh 30
mg. The hole was then dammed with saran wrap and filled with water in ~59 mL and 15 mL
increments to the point edge of the soil horizon to determine volume before being refilled with
sand. Area one had a volume of 297 mL, area two had a volume of 254 mL, and area three had a
volume of 197 mL. The collected samples were then brought back to the lab and dried through
use of the microwave in one minute increments. Once each sample was determined to be dried
and allowed to be cooled, they were weighed in the 30 g container. Minus the weight of the 30 g
container, area one's sample had a weight of 489 g, area two’s sample had a weight of 393, and
area three’s sample had a weight of 293. This weight was used to calculate soil density for each
sample area with the following equation:
1 mL = 1 cm 3
2.3 Statistical Methodology
Data was analyzed for normality using the Shapiro Wilk Test. Results showed that while
bulk densities had a p number of above .05, disturbances levels had one of .05, suggesting
nonparametric statistical analyses had to be utilized to show differences in soil bulk density. The
Kruskal Wallis test was run first for which the p value was .01, followed by the Dunn test in R
studio (Table 2.3.1). A P value of .05 was used to determine significance of all values.

Table 2.3.1
Dunn Test P-Value Results
Disturbance High Low Moderate Very Low

Low 0.154523

Moderate 0.582856 0.441949

Very Low 0.008545 0.209737 0.55721

 Very High 0.422349 0.029420 0.200708 0.00089

3. Results
Based on p-values retrieved from the Dunn test, it was determined the biggest variances
in soil bulk density can be found when comparing high disturbance areas and low disturbance
areas. The difference between bulk density between high and moderate disturbance areas was
determined to be relatively small (p=0.582), as were the differences between high and very high
use soils (p=.422349). Unexpectedly, differences between moderate and very low disturbance
areas were also small (P = .55). Nevertheless, results were consistent with the hypothesis; areas
of very high disturbance had the highest soil bulk density, an indicator of low soil quality (mean
of ~1.15kg/ha and standard deviation of .23) and areas of very low disturbance had the lowest
soil bulk density (mean of ~0.30 kg/ha standard deviation of .34).

Figure 3.1

Average Soil Bulk Densities with a Standard Deviation of 0.5 at Varying Disturbance Levels
 4. Discussion
The Stockton University Galloway Campus may be causing soil degradation in various
areas throughout as observed by the high soil bulk densities found in very high, high, and
moderate disturbance areas. Atison soil is sandy, which (Table 4.1) suggests the ideal bulk
density for plant growth to be >1.80. While no averages reach that number, it’s clear that the
areas of higher use are slowly approaching it and evidence from past studies suggests that bulk
density will continue to increase with use. Should these areas continue to be in use, root
restriction may occur. Further, the areas of high disturbance create higher levels of runoff. With a
location that’s adjacent to several on campus parking lots, this can affect the amount of pollutants
able to travel to nearby water bodies as well as accelerate erosion.

Table 4.1

General Relationship of Soil Bulk Density to Root Growth Based on Soil Texture

Soil Texture Ideal bulk densities for Bulk densities that restrict
plant growth (g/cm3) root growth (g/cm3)

Sandy <1.60 >1.80

Silty <1.40 >1.65

Clayey <1.10 >1.47

Nevertheless, assuming based on averages soil bulk density isn’t extremely degraded in
the studied area on campus, remediation would be relatively easy. Introduction of native plant
species can improve quality and reduce impact. Alternatively, paths altered to avoid areas
reaching extreme degradation.

5. Conclusion
High soil bulk density is indicative of low soil porosity and soil compaction, resulting in
poor quality soil that restricts proper movement of air and water flow. This can lead to inhibited
root growth, increased runoff, accelerated erosion, and a variety of other negative ecological side
effects. To determine how soil bulk density is impacted by disturbance, four sites of varying
disturbance on Stockton University’s Galloway Campus were chosen for the acquiring of 36
samples of atison series soil. After determining soil bulk densities, nonparametric statistical
analyses were performed to determine differences. It was found that areas of very high
disturbance were of the soil poorest quality, followed closely by high and moderate use areas.
However, none of the areas had soil bulk densities that restricted root growth, suggesting
remediation of impact wouldn’t be difficult.
 Bibliography
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mitigating machine-induced soil disturbances: an assessment using absolute and relative

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September 15). Short-term effects of post-fire salvage logging on runoff and soil erosion.

Forest Ecology and Management, 400, 555-567. doi:10.1016/j.foreco.2017.06.031

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