A Mathematical Approach to Evaluating the Influence of Various Factors on the Stability of Aggregates in Vertisols

Abstract

A mathematical approach is presented in this paper to evaluate the influence of such factors as clay content, silt content, organic matter, Ca + Mg, and soluble sodium upon the stability of soil aggregates in a group of Vertisols from the Lajas Valley, P.R. The relationships between aggregate stability and silt and clay were not significant. When the percentage of organic matter was considered as the independent variable, a highly significant correlation coefficient of 0.66 was obtained. Therefore, almost 43 percent of the variability in aggregate stability could be explained on the basis of this single factor. Attempts to increase the percentage of the variability which could be explained in terms of the content of Ca + Mg, and also of soluble sodium, yielded correlation coefficients of 0.70 and 0.74, respectively. Thus, only a slight, but significant, additional increase could be explained when these variables were included.