Fig 1.
Effects of soil treatments (a) and soil treatments × irrigation regimes (b, P = 0.25) on kernel yields and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE). (*) indicate significant difference at P ≤0.05.
Fig 2.
Impact of WOR on (a) total carbon and (b) nitrogen content in aggregate fractions. (*) indicate significant differences at P ≤0.05.
Table 1.
Impact of WOR on soil physical and chemical properties (0–15 cm) in 2017.
Table 2.
Impact of WOR on microbial parameters and Soil Health Index determinants.
Fig 3.
Effect of Grind and Burn treatments on (a) Proportion of soil aggregate fractions, (b) mean weight diameter (MWD), (c) water retention curves, and (d) infiltration rate. (*) indicate significant differences at P ≤0.05.
Fig 4.
Effect of Grind and Burn treatments on (a) Cellulase (CB); (b) β -glucosidase (BG); (c) β-N-acetylglucosaminidase; (NAG), and (d) Leucine Aminopeptidase (LAP) enzyme activities. (*) indicate significant differences at P ≤0.05.
Fig 5.
Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of soil health indicators and treatment clusters.
BD, bulk density; Cmpt, compaction; Inflt, infiltration; MWD, mean weight diameter; EC, electrical conductivity; TN, total nitrogen; SOM, soil organic matter; SOC, soil organic carbon; POxC, permanganate oxidizable carbon; CB, cellulose; BG; β –glucosidase; NAG; β-N-acetylglucosaminidase.
Table 3.
Correlation coefficients among almond kernel yield, soil physicochemical, and biological properties as well as tree-water relations.
Fig 6.
Average of neutron probe readings at different soil depths during the deficit irrigation period (6/5-7/3) as affected by soil (grind and burn) and irrigation treatments.
Fig 7.
Effect of soil (Burn and Grind) and irrigation treatments on (a) average of weekly stem water potential readings (b) weekly measurements of stem water potential, and (c) stomatal conductance measurement (7/3). (*) indicate significant differences at P ≤0.05.