Effects of Cover Crops on Soil Moisture and Temperature
The influence of cover crops on soil moisture and temperature varies depending on soil type, climate, and management. Cover crops are an important element of organic crop production due to their ability to maintain a beneficial amount of plant-available soil nitrogen while providing additional soil health benefits. They have potential to increase soil’s water holding capacity or take up available water in the soil depending on conditions. This project continuously monitored soil moisture and temperature under six single- or mixed-species cover crop treatments, a weedy fallow, and a weed-free fallow to assess how the growth of cover crops affects soil moisture and temperature. Data was collected from this Minnesota-based field trial on an hourly basis using Zentra Data Loggers and TEROS 11 soil probes. The frequent sampling shows a comprehensive picture of the relationship between cover crops and soil conditions for the duration of the summer, capturing fluctuations and trends that may not have been seen with longer intervals between data collection. Differences in soil conditions were observed primarily between weed-free fallow and cover crop treatments. After about one month of growth, soil moisture under cover crop treatments was significantly lower than in the weed-free fallow. Soil temperature was higher in the weed-free fallow than in the cover crop or weedy treatments. These results suggest species physiology does not significantly affect moisture depletion or temperature insulation in the short term.