caa a22 4500 445837934 CHVBK 20180317145335.0 cr unu---uuuuu 170323e20110301xx s 000 0 eng 10.1007/s00271-010-0227-3 doi (NATIONALLICENCE)springer-10.1007/s00271-010-0227-3 An artificial capillary barrier to improve root zone conditions for horticultural crops: physical effects on water content [Elektronische Daten] [Eviatar Ityel, Naftali Lazarovitch, Moshe Silberbush, Alon Ben-Gal] Capillary barriers (CBs) occur at the interface of two soil layers having distinct differences in textural and hydraulic characteristics. The objective of this study was to introduce an artificial CB, created by a layer of gravel below the root zone substrate, in order to optimize conditions for the cultivation of horticultural crops. Potential root zone formats were analyzed with and without the gravel CBs for variables including the following: depth of CB; barrier separating the root zone from the surrounding soil; and root zone soil texture. Field and simulated results revealed that artificial CBs increased root zone water content and changed water flow dynamics. Volumetric soil water content was increased by 20-70%, depending on the soil texture and depth of the barrier. Sandy soil texture and shallower placement resulted in relatively higher water content. For sandy soil without plants, a shallow (0.2m depth) CB increased water content of the overlaying soil by 50% compared to the control. The introduction of a gravel CB below the root zone of pepper plants (Capsicum Annum L.) lead to 34% higher matric head, 50% lower diurnal fluctuations in matric head and 40% increase in pepper fruit yield. Increasing water content by way of artificial CBs appeared to improve the water use efficiency of pepper plants. Such an improvement could lead to reduced water and fertilizer application rates and subsequent reduction in contamination below the root zone. This is especially relevant for substrates of low water-holding capacity typically used in horticulture crop production. Springer-Verlag, 2010 Ityel Eviatar Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990, Negev, Israel aut Lazarovitch Naftali Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990, Negev, Israel aut Silberbush Moshe Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990, Negev, Israel aut Ben-Gal Alon Department of Environmental Physics and Irrigation, Agricultural Research Organization, Gilat Research Center, 85280, Mobile Post Negev 2, Israel aut Irrigation Science Springer-Verlag 29/2(2011-03-01), 171-180 0342-7188 29:2<171 2011 29 271 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-010-0227-3 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-010-0227-3 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ityel Eviatar Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990, Negev, Israel aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Lazarovitch Naftali Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990, Negev, Israel aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Silberbush Moshe Wyler Department of Dryland Agriculture, French Associates Institute for Agriculture and Biotechnology of Drylands, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede Boqer Campus, 84990, Negev, Israel aut NATIONALLICENCE 700 1- Ben-Gal Alon Department of Environmental Physics and Irrigation, Agricultural Research Organization, Gilat Research Center, 85280, Mobile Post Negev 2, Israel aut NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Irrigation Science Springer-Verlag 29/2(2011-03-01), 171-180 0342-7188 29:2<171 2011 29 271 Metadata rights reserved Springer special CC-BY-NC licence nationallicence SWISSBIB 445837934 BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-springer