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Farm vehicles approaching weights of sauropods
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<blockquote data-quote="Bogweevil" data-source="post: 8142186" data-attributes="member: 48190"><p>Interesting that no mention of soil moisture factor:</p><p></p><p>The total weight of laden combine harvesters has increased nearly 10-fold, from around 4,000 kg in 1958 to about 36,000 kg in 2020 (SI Appendix, Table S1), with wheel loads of the front axle increasing from 1,500 to 12,500 kg (SI Appendix, Table S1). </p><p></p><p>Mechanization has greatly contributed to the success of modern agriculture, with vastly expanded food production capabilities achieved by the higher capacity of farm machinery. However, the increase in capacity has been accompanied by higher vehicle weights that increase risks of subsoil compaction. We show here that while surface contact stresses remained nearly constant over the course of modern mechanization, subsoil stresses have propagated into deeper soil layers and now exceed safe mechanical limits for soil ecological functioning. We developed a global map for delineating subsoil compaction susceptibility based on estimates of mechanization level, mean tractor size, soil texture, and climatic conditions. The alarming trend of chronic subsoil compaction risk over 20% of arable land, with potential loss of productivity, calls for a more stringent design of farm machinery that considers intrinsic subsoil mechanical limits. As the total weight of modern harvesters is now approaching that of the largest animals that walked Earth, the sauropods, a paradox emerges of potential prehistoric subsoil compaction. We hypothesize that unconstrained roaming of sauropods would have had similar adverse effects on land productivity as modern farm vehicles, suggesting that ecological strategies for reducing subsoil compaction, including fixed foraging trails, must have guided these prehistoric giants.</p><p></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1036741[/ATTACH]</p><p></p><p></p><p>[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2117699119[/URL]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Bogweevil, post: 8142186, member: 48190"] Interesting that no mention of soil moisture factor: The total weight of laden combine harvesters has increased nearly 10-fold, from around 4,000 kg in 1958 to about 36,000 kg in 2020 (SI Appendix, Table S1), with wheel loads of the front axle increasing from 1,500 to 12,500 kg (SI Appendix, Table S1). Mechanization has greatly contributed to the success of modern agriculture, with vastly expanded food production capabilities achieved by the higher capacity of farm machinery. However, the increase in capacity has been accompanied by higher vehicle weights that increase risks of subsoil compaction. We show here that while surface contact stresses remained nearly constant over the course of modern mechanization, subsoil stresses have propagated into deeper soil layers and now exceed safe mechanical limits for soil ecological functioning. We developed a global map for delineating subsoil compaction susceptibility based on estimates of mechanization level, mean tractor size, soil texture, and climatic conditions. The alarming trend of chronic subsoil compaction risk over 20% of arable land, with potential loss of productivity, calls for a more stringent design of farm machinery that considers intrinsic subsoil mechanical limits. As the total weight of modern harvesters is now approaching that of the largest animals that walked Earth, the sauropods, a paradox emerges of potential prehistoric subsoil compaction. We hypothesize that unconstrained roaming of sauropods would have had similar adverse effects on land productivity as modern farm vehicles, suggesting that ecological strategies for reducing subsoil compaction, including fixed foraging trails, must have guided these prehistoric giants. [ATTACH type="full"]1036741[/ATTACH] [URL unfurl="true"]https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2117699119[/URL] [/QUOTE]
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