The rolling dung master: An ecosystem engineer beetle mobilizing soil nutrients to enhance plant growth across a grassland management intensity gradient in drylands

2022 ◽  
Vol 197 ◽  
pp. 104673
Author(s):  
Felipe Barragán ◽  
David Douterlungne ◽  
Alfredo Ramírez-Hernández ◽  
Sandra Milena Gelviz-Gelvez ◽  
Andrea Valeria Guzmán Miranda ◽  
...  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 13518-13529
Author(s):  
Noëlle Klein ◽  
Coralie Theux ◽  
Raphaël Arlettaz ◽  
Alain Jacot ◽  
Jean‐Nicolas Pradervand

2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alvin J. Helden ◽  
Annette Anderson ◽  
John Finn ◽  
Gordon Purvis

AbstractWe compared arthropod taxon richness, diversity and community structure of two replicated grassland husbandry experiments to investigate effects of reduced management intensity, as measured by nutrient input levels (390, 224 and 0 kg/ha per year N in one experiment, and 225 and 88 kg/ha per year N in another). Suction sampling was used to collect Araneae, Coleoptera, Hemiptera and Hymenoptera, with Araneae and Coleoptera also sampled with pitfall trapping. Univariate analyses found no significant differences in abundance and species density between treatments. However, with multivariate analysis, there were significant differences in arthropod community structure between treatments in both experiments.Reducing N input and associated stocking rates, as targeted by agri-environment schemes, can significantly alter arthropod communities but without increasing the number of species present. Other approaches that may be necessary to achieve substantial enhancement of sward arthropod biodiversity are suggested.


2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 074020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Estel ◽  
Sebastian Mader ◽  
Christian Levers ◽  
Peter H Verburg ◽  
Matthias Baumann ◽  
...  

Chemosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 128601
Author(s):  
Carolina Parelho ◽  
Armindo Rodrigues ◽  
Maria do Carmo Barreto ◽  
J. Virgílio Cruz ◽  
Frank Rasche ◽  
...  

Forests ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saiyaremu Halifu ◽  
Xun Deng ◽  
Xiaoshuang Song ◽  
Ruiqing Song

Trichoderma spp. are proposed as major plant growth-promoting fungi that widely exist in the natural environment. These strains have the abilities of rapid growth and reproduction and efficient transformation of soil nutrients. Moreover, they can change the plant rhizosphere soil environment and promote plant growth. Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica has the characteristics of strong drought resistance and fast growth and plays an important role in ecological construction and environmental restoration. The effects on the growth of annual seedlings, root structure, rhizosphere soil nutrients, enzyme activity, and fungal community structure of P. sylvestris var. mongolica were studied after inoculation with Trichoderma harzianum E15 and Trichoderma virens ZT05, separately. The results showed that after inoculation with T. harzianum E15 and T. virens ZT05, seedling biomass, root structure index, soil nutrients, and soil enzyme activity were significantly increased compared with the control (p < 0.05). There were significant differences in the effects of T. harzianum E15 and T. virens ZT05 inoculation on the growth and rhizosphere soil nutrient of P. sylvestris var. mongolica (p < 0.05). For the E15 treatment, the seedling height, ground diameter, and total biomass of seedlings were higher than that those of the ZT05 treatment, and the rhizosphere soil nutrient content and enzyme activity of the ZT05 treatment were higher than that of the E15 treatment. The results of alpha and beta diversity analyses showed that the fungi community structure of rhizosphere soil was significantly different (p < 0.05) among the three treatments (inoculated with T. harzianum E15, T. virens ZT05, and not inoculated with Trichoderma). Overall, Trichoderma inoculation was correlated with the change of rhizosphere soil nutrient content.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 3757-3776 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jinfeng Chang ◽  
Philippe Ciais ◽  
Mario Herrero ◽  
Petr Havlik ◽  
Matteo Campioli ◽  
...  

Abstract. Grassland management type (grazed or mown) and intensity (intensive or extensive) play a crucial role in the greenhouse gas balance and surface energy budget of this biome, both at field scale and at large spatial scale. However, global gridded historical information on grassland management intensity is not available. Combining modelled grass-biomass productivity with statistics of the grass-biomass demand by livestock, we reconstruct gridded maps of grassland management intensity from 1901 to 2012. These maps include the minimum area of managed vs. maximum area of unmanaged grasslands and the fraction of mown vs. grazed area at a resolution of 0.5° by 0.5°. The grass-biomass demand is derived from a livestock dataset for 2000, extended to cover the period 1901–2012. The grass-biomass supply (i.e. forage grass from mown grassland and biomass grazed) is simulated by the process-based model ORCHIDEE-GM driven by historical climate change, rising CO2 concentration, and changes in nitrogen fertilization. The global area of managed grassland obtained in this study increases from 6.1  ×  106 km2 in 1901 to 12.3  ×  106 km2 in 2000, although the expansion pathway varies between different regions. ORCHIDEE-GM also simulated augmentation in global mean productivity and herbage-use efficiency over managed grassland during the 20th century, indicating a general intensification of grassland management at global scale but with regional differences. The gridded grassland management intensity maps are model dependent because they depend on modelled productivity. Thus specific attention was given to the evaluation of modelled productivity against a series of observations from site-level net primary productivity (NPP) measurements to two global satellite products of gross primary productivity (GPP) (MODIS-GPP and SIF data). Generally, ORCHIDEE-GM captures the spatial pattern, seasonal cycle, and interannual variability of grassland productivity at global scale well and thus is appropriate for global applications presented here.


GI_Forum ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 194-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marijke Elisabeth Bekkema ◽  
Marieke Eleveld

Author(s):  
Aigbedion Isaac ◽  
Salufu Samuel

Electrical geophysical method was applied, to select viable area with essential soil nutrients for plant’s growth. Conventional soil test analysis was carried out for the purpose of confirmation. A case study was done at Ukpenu-Ibhiese and Iruekpen in Ekpoma. The result of the electrical resistivity geophysical method showed that southwest and northwest of the area has resistivity values that ranged between 80Ωm to 170Ωm while the remaining part of the area has values higher than  170Ωm, ranged from  580Ωm to 950Ωm. Values of organic matter, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium,  obtained from the soil test in area with 80Ωm to 170Ωm indicated good proportion of essential soil nutrients for plant growth while area with resistivity values that ranged from 580Ωm to 950Ωm was deficient in essential soil nutrients for plant growth. The results further proved that soil electrical physical properties thus detected and mapped can be used as a proxy of physical, chemical, and biological features relevant for the appropriate site selection and soils management, based on their resistivity behavior, spatial variability, and time dynamics in the area of study.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 44
Author(s):  
Mujiyo Mujiyo ◽  
Sumarno Sumarno ◽  
Suryono Suryono ◽  
Novi Rahmawati Sutopo

Micro small business (UKM: in indonesian) "Sejahtera" is a chicken farm that has problems with chicken manure that has not been utilized properly. The farmer group "Bejo Agro Farm" is a plant nursery located in Mojogedang District, Karanganyar Regency. Availability of soil nutrients is one of the determinant factors of the quality of plant seeds. Availability of nutrients for plants can be obtained by applying organic fertilizers. Applications of microbial enriched organic fertilizers can be used as an alternative to maintain plant quality. Microbial enriched organic fertilizers contain several types of microbes that can support plant growth. Organic fertilizer comes from chicken manure coupled with several bio-starter containing beneficial microbes. The organic fertilizer used has been tested for its quality, to determine the content of the nutrient. The technology in the form of microbial enriched organic fertilizer can help "Bejo Agro Farm" to maintain the quality of plant seeds and be able to solve the problems of chicken manure waste of "Sejahtera" chicken farms.


HortScience ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 1023D-1023
Author(s):  
John Sloan ◽  
Cynthia McKenney ◽  
James McAfee ◽  
Wayne Mackay

Dairy manure compost (DMC) may be an effective soil amendment when establishing new urban landscapes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the bioavailability of DMC nutrients to typical urban landscape plants. In March 2003, DMC rates of 0, 9, 18, and 27 kg/m2 (0, 1.25, 2.5, 5 cm) were incorporated into the top 10 to 15 cm of Austin silty clay soil. Half of each 6 x 6-m plot was established with bermudagrass sod and the other half with six types of ornamental plants consisting of annual, perennial, and woody species. During the third 2005 growing season, plant tissue was harvested from selected landscape plants to measure biomass production and nutrient uptake. Plant growth and nutrient contents were compared to plant available soil nutrients that were measured during fall 2004 and 2005. Plant available P in the upper 7.5 cm of soil ranged from 89 to 170 mg/kg in September 2004 and from 31.3 to 105.5 mg/kg in August 2004. Potassium and trace elements (Fe, Cu, and Zn) were also increased in the upper 7.5 cm by DMC applications. Increased concentrations of plant available soil nutrients in DMC-amended plots were correlated to overall increases in plant growth and nutrient uptake. Bermuda grass exhibited increased growth and increased tissue concentrations of N, P, K, and Zn. Penta biomass and nutrient uptake were also increased by DMC applications. Lantana stem weights significantly increased with DMC application rate up to 18 kg/m2, but no additional increases were obtained with the 27 kg/m2 rate. Results of this study show that, after three growing seasons with no additional fertilization, a 1- to 2-cm application of dairy manure compost is sufficient to provide continued fertility to landscape plants.


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