scholarly journals Forage plant mixture type interacts with soil moisture to affect soil nutrient availability in the short term

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Shepperd ◽  
A. Thomson ◽  
D. Beaumont ◽  
T. Misselbrook ◽  
H. Jones ◽  
...  

AbstractAgricultural intensification within forage systems has reduced grassland floral diversity by promoting ryegrass (Lolium spp.), damaging soil functionality which underpins critical ecosystem services. Diverse forage mixtures may enhance environmental benefits of pastures by decreasing nutrient leaching, increasing soil carbon storage, and with legume inclusion, reduce nitrogen fertilizer input. This UK study reports on how species-rich forage mixtures affect soil carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen at dry, medium and wet soil moisture sites, compared to ryegrass monoculture. Increasing forage mixture diversity (from 1 to 17 species) affected soil carbon at the dry site. No effect of forage mixture on soil phosphorus was found, while forage mixture and site did interact to affect soil nitrate/nitrite availability. Results suggest that forage mixtures could be used to improve soil function, but longer-term studies are needed to conclusively demonstrate environmental and production benefits of high-diversity forages.

2013 ◽  
Vol 726-731 ◽  
pp. 3803-3806
Author(s):  
Bing Ru Liu ◽  
Jun Long Yang

In order to revel aboveground biomass of R. soongorica shrub effect on soil moisture and nutrients spatial distribution, and explore mechanism of the changes of soil moisture and nutrients, soil moisture content, pH, soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) at three soil layers (0-10cm,10-20cm, and 20-40cm) along five plant biomass gradients of R. soongorica were investigated. The results showed that soil moisture content increased with depth under the same plant biomass, and increased with plant biomass. Soil nutrient properties were evidently influenced with plant biomass, while decreased with depth. SOC and TN were highest in the top soil layer (0-10 cm), but TN of 10-20cm layer has no significant differences (P < 0.05). Moreover, soil nutrient contents were accumulated very slowly. These suggests that the requirement to soil organic matter is not so high and could be adapted well to the desert and barren soil, and the desert plant R. soongorica could be acted as an important species to restore vegetation and ameliorate the eco-environment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 622-623 ◽  
pp. 192-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liming Tian ◽  
Lin Zhao ◽  
Xiaodong Wu ◽  
Hongbing Fang ◽  
Yonghua Zhao ◽  
...  

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 7999-8012 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. L. Phillips ◽  
K. J. McFarlane ◽  
D. Risk ◽  
A. R. Desai

Abstract. While radiocarbon (14C) abundances in standing stocks of soil carbon have been used to evaluate rates of soil carbon turnover on timescales of several years to centuries, soil-respired 14CO2 measurements are an important tool for identifying more immediate responses to disturbance and climate change. Soil Δ14CO2 data, however, are often temporally sparse and could be interpreted better with more context for typical seasonal ranges and trends. We report on a semi-high-frequency sampling campaign to distinguish physical and biological drivers of soil Δ14CO2 at a temperate forest site in northern Wisconsin, USA. We sampled 14CO2 profiles every three weeks during snow-free months through 2012 in three intact plots and one trenched plot that excluded roots. Respired Δ14CO2 declined through the summer in intact plots, shifting from an older C composition that contained more bomb 14C to a younger composition more closely resembling present 14C levels in the atmosphere. In the trenched plot, respired Δ14CO2 was variable but remained comparatively higher than in intact plots, reflecting older bomb-enriched 14C sources. Although respired Δ14CO2 from intact plots correlated with soil moisture, related analyses did not support a clear cause-and-effect relationship with moisture. The initial decrease in Δ14CO2 from spring to midsummer could be explained by increases in 14C-deplete root respiration; however, Δ14CO2 continued to decline in late summer after root activity decreased. We also investigated whether soil moisture impacted vertical partitioning of CO2 production, but found this had little effect on respired Δ14CO2 because CO2 contained modern bomb C at depth, even in the trenched plot. This surprising result contrasted with decades to centuries-old pre-bomb CO2 produced in lab incubations of the same soils. Our results suggest that root-derived C and other recent C sources had dominant impacts on respired Δ14CO2 in situ, even at depth. We propose that Δ14CO2 may have declined through late summer in intact plots because of continued microbial turnover of root-derived C, following declines in root respiration. Our results agree with other studies showing declines in the 14C content of soil respiration over the growing season, and suggest inputs of new photosynthates through roots are an important driver.


Author(s):  
A Taraqqi-A-Kamal ◽  
Christopher J. Atkinson ◽  
Aimal Khan ◽  
Kaikai Zhang ◽  
Peng Sun ◽  
...  

The focus of this study is on the soil physicochemical, biological, and microbiological processes altered by biochar application to heavy metal (HM) contaminated soils. The aim is to highlight agronomical and environmental issues by which the restorative capacity of biochar might be developed. Literature shows biochar can induce soil remediation, however, it is unclear how soil processes are linked mechanistically to biochar production and if these processes can be manipulated to enhance soil remediation. The literature often fails to contribute to an improved understanding of the mechanisms by which biochar alters soil function. It is clear that factors such as biochar feedstock, pyrolysis conditions, application rate, and soil type are determinants in biochar soil functionality. These factors are developed to enhance our insight into production routes and the benefits of biochar in HM soil remediation. Despite a large number of studies of biochar in soils, there is little understanding of long-term effects, this is particularly true with respect to the use and need for reapplication in soil remediation.  


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Aparicio ◽  
Rafael Pimentel ◽  
María José Polo

&lt;p&gt;In Mediterranean mountain regions, traditional irrigation systems still persist in areas where the&amp;#160; modernization approaches do not succeed in being operational. It is common that these systems alter the soil uses, vegetation distribution and hydrological natural regime.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is the case of the extensive network of irrigation ditches in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range in southeastern Spain (an UNESCO&amp;#160; Reserve of the Biosphere, with areas as Natural and National Park), which originated in Muslim times, and is still operational in some areas. These ditches have contributed to maintaining local agricultural systems and populations in basins dominated by snow conditions, and they constitute a traditional regulation of water resources in the area. The network is made up of two types of irrigation ditches: &amp;#8220;careo&amp;#8221; and irrigation ditches. The first, the &quot;careo&quot;, collects the meltwater and infiltrates it along its course, maintaining a high level of soil moisture and favouring deep percolation volumes that can be later consumed by the population through springs and natural fountains. The second, the irrigation ones, are used to transport water from the natural sources to the agricultural plots downstream the mountain area. In 2014, several irrigation ditches were restored in the Natural Park. This is a chance to further explore and quantify the role of this network in the hydrological budget on a local basis.&amp;#160;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The aim of this work is to evaluate to what extent the existence of these intermittent water networks affects the evolution of the surrounding vegetation. For this, one of the restored systems,&amp;#160; the Barjas Ditch in the village of Ca&amp;#241;ar, with a successful water circulation along its way, was selected from the increase of the soil water content in the ditch influence area and, indirectly a differential development of vegetation. Two analyses are performed using remote sensing information. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI, which is a spectral index used to estimate the quantity, quality and development of vegetation that can therefore be used indirectly as an indicator of the state of soil moisture, was used as the indicator of evolution. For this purpose, a historical set of LandSat satellite images&amp;#160; (TM, ETM+ and OLI) has been used. On the one hand, a global analysis on the whole mountainous range was carried out, comparing NDVI patterns in areas affected and non-affected by the ditches. On the other hand, the restored&amp;#160; Barjas ditch is used to assess vegetation changes before and after the restoration.&lt;/p&gt;


2016 ◽  
Vol 96 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kirsten D. Hannam ◽  
Gerry H. Neilsen ◽  
Thomas A. Forge ◽  
Denise Neilsen ◽  
Istvan Losso ◽  
...  

There is growing interest among commercial wine grape (Vitis vinifera L.) growers in reducing water and fertilizer consumption, but little information exists on how best to combine conservative irrigation and soil management practices in the vineyard. In a 3-year-old Merlot vineyard in the semi-arid Okanagan Valley, British Columbia, the interactive effects of resource-conserving micro-irrigation (drippers or microsprinkers), nutrient applications (fertigation or compost), and surface mulching (wood and bark chips) on nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) dynamics in the wetted zone of surface soils were examined throughout the growing season using ion-exchange resins. Treatment differences in soil carbon and major nutrient pools, temperature, and moisture were also measured. Higher NO3-N was adsorbed by resins buried under drippers than under microsprinklers except in mulched plots, where NO3-N was uniformly low. By enhancing soil carbon availability and moderating soil microclimate, surface mulches may have promoted microbial immobilisation of N. Compost applications increased soil ortho-P levels, especially on mulched plots, suggesting that both P inputs (from compost) and enhanced microbial biomass (from mulch) promoted soil P cycling. Future work will examine the interactive effects of these resource-efficient practices on leaching losses, greenhouse gas emissions, crop productivity, and fruit quality.


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