Risk assessment of soil compaction in the Walloon region in Belgium

It is well known that soil compaction affects root growth and disrupts the activity of soil microfauna and microorganisms, resulting in yield loss. With the more intensive use of heavy machines in agriculture and forestry, the risk of soil compaction is increasing. In this study, precompression stress (Pc) was chosen as an indicator of the susceptibility of soils to compaction and was calculated using pedotransfer functions (PTFs). PTFs involve eight variables related to the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of soils: organic matter content; bulk density; air capacity; available water capacity; non-plant available water capacity; saturated hydraulic conductivity; cohesion; and angle of internal friction. Combining these PTFs with geostatistics and Monte Carlo simulations, Pc maps were produced at the regional scale for Wallonia in Belgium, accompanied by uncertainty quantification maps. These maps were then used to produce compaction risk maps based on common scenarios. The results showed that the modal Pc map was coherent with the spatial distribution of the main variables, namely soil texture and organic matter content. The risk maps enabled areas with a compaction risk in both agricultural and forestry contexts to be identified. These maps could be useful in drawing up soil protection measures and policies.