Soil fertility increases rapidly during the 6–10 yr following conversion of cropland to grassland in China’s Loess Plateau region

2018 ◽  
Vol 98 (3) ◽  
pp. 531-541
Author(s):  
Qingyin Zhang ◽  
Ming’an Shao
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Land Conversion ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
Plateau Region ◽  
P Content

Change in land use causes changes in soil properties and soil fertility, with long-term effects on ecosystem and crop productivity. This study determined soil fertility along sequential conversion of cropland to grassland in China’s Loess Plateau. Soil samples were collected in 2015 at two sites in the semiarid region, following the conversion of cropland to grassland. Soil particle-size distribution, bulk density, pH, organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), available potassium, and available phosphorus were measured in this study. In addition, we analysed the changes of soil OC, TN, and TP, and evaluated soil fertility after the conversion from cropland to grassland. The establishment of grassland significantly increased soil OC, N, and P content, especially in the 0–10 cm soil layer. The highest change in soil OC, N, and P content occurred 6–10 yr after land conversion. The measured soil variables did not change significantly after 10 yr of land conversion. The overall increase in soil fertility after the land conversion was 13% at one site and 26% at the other site. The results suggested that establishing grassland could enhance soil fertility in the semiarid Loess Plateau region of China, and this enhancement is optimal 6–10 yr after the establishment of grassland.

scholarly journals Valuing Waste – A Multi-method Analysis of the Use of Household Refuse from Cooking and Sanitation for Soil Fertility Management in Tanzanian Smallholdings

2020 ◽  
pp. 91-122
Author(s):  
Ariane Krause
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Agricultural Activity ◽  
Biogas Slurry ◽  
Soil Fertility Management ◽  
Soil P ◽  
Fertility Management ◽  
Human Excreta ◽  
Sub Saharan

AbstractThe starting point of this work is the intention of two farmers’ initiatives to disseminate locally developed and adapted cooking and sanitation technologies to smallholder households in Karagwe District, in northwest Tanzania. These technologies include improved cooking stoves (ICSs), such as microgasifiers, and a system combining biogas digesters and burners for cooking, as well as urine-diverting dry toilets, and thermal sterilisation/pasteurisation for ecological sanitation (EcoSan). Switching to the new alternatives could lead to a higher availability of domestic residues for soil fertility management. These residues include biogas slurry from anaerobic digestion, powdery biochar from microgasifiers and sanitised human excreta from EcoSan facilities. Such recycling-driven approaches address an existing problem for many smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa, namely, the lack of soil amenders to sufficiently replenish soil nutrients and soil organic matter (SOM) in soils used for agricultural activity. This example from Tanzania systematically examines the nexus of ‘energy-sanitation-agriculture’ in smallholder farming systems. The short-term experiments demonstrated that all soil amenders that were analysed could significantly enhance crop productivity. CaSa-compost – the product of co-composting biochar with sanitised human excreta – quadrupled grain yields. The observed stimulation of crop yield and also plant nutrition is attributed to improved nutrient availability caused by a direct increase of soil pH and of plant-available phosphorus (P) in the soil. The assessment of the lasting soil implications revealed that CaSa-compost and biogas slurry both show the long-term potential to roughly double yields of maize. Corresponding nutrient requirements can be adequately compensated through residue capturing and subsistence production of soil amenders. The potential of CaSa-compost for sustainable soil fertility management is superior to that of standard compost, especially with respect to liming, replenishing soil P and restoring SOM. Biogas slurry, however, yields inferior results in all aspects when compared to compost amendments.

scholarly journals Integrated soil fertility and yield trend in response to long-term fertilisation under the Chinese double rice-cropping systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (No. 1) ◽  
pp. 22-32
Author(s):  
Qingyin Shang ◽  
Xiuxia Yang ◽  
Hui Yan ◽  
Xiaohui Wang
Keyword(s):  
Soil Fertility ◽  
Grain Yield ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Farmyard Manure ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Double Rice ◽  
Rice Cropping Systems

Soil fertility is fundamental in determining crop productivity and sustainability in farming systems. A long-term fertiliser experiment in Chinese double rice-cropping systems initiated in 2011 was used in this study to gain an insight into a complete estimating of soil fertility. The six fertiliser treatments included mineral fertiliser (NP, NK, and NPK), combined NPK with farmyard manure (NPKM) or crop straw (NPKS), and no fertiliser application as a control. Results showed that grain yield averaged 5.5–13.0 t/ha/year, and significant increasing trends were observed in the phosphorus-applied plots (NP, NPK, NPKM, and NPKS), but the treatments without phosphorus applied (control and NK) resulted in declining trends in both early- and late-rice yields. After long-term rice cultivation, the contents of total and available phosphorus significantly declined in phosphorus-deficient plots compared to other treatments. Regression analysis showed that the improvement in grain yields was positively correlated with the increased soil fertility over treatments. Relative to the NPK treatment, the NPKM treatment greatly enhanced soil fertility from 0.50 to 0.78, and particularly dramatically increased the content of available soil phosphorus. Therefore, the high grain yield and soil fertility can be simultaneously achieved by long-term balanced fertiliser applications in Chinese double rice-cropping systems.  

Variations in soil fungal communities after continuous fertiliser treatment under the ridge and furrow rainfall harvesting system in a semiarid region of China

Soil Research ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Qian Ma ◽  
Yingxin Wang ◽  
Zhilin Hu ◽  
Donghua Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Composition ◽  
Fungal Community ◽  
Maize Yield ◽  
Wiener Index ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Western China ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Fungal Community Composition ◽  
Fertiliser Application

The ridge and furrow rainfall harvesting (RFRH) system enhances the rainfall use efficiency and crop yield in rain-fed areas of north-western China. In this study, we determined the effects of RFRH on the soil fungal community composition and diversity in a 5-year fertilisation experiment (N:P fertiliser rates of 0:0, 150:75, 300:150, and 450:225 kg ha–1 year–1) in the dryland farming area of the Loess Plateau. Excessive fertiliser application reduced the crop productivity and a moderate rate of 300:150 kg ha–1 year–1) produced the highest maize yield. The available phosphorus (AP), organic carbon, nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) and total nitrogen contents increased with the fertiliser rate, whereas soil water content decreased. The relative abundances of Ascomycota, Fusarium and Zygomycota increased (P < 0.05) with the fertiliser application rate, whereas those of Basidiomycota and Glomeromycota decreased (P < 0.05). The fungal diversity (Shannon–Wiener index: P = 0.016) and composition (unweighted UniFrac: P = 0.024) were significantly affected by fertilisation. The NO3-N and AP were the main factors that affected fungal composition and diversity. Thus, fertilisation changed the fungal community composition and diversity, and a higher fertiliser rate negatively affected nutrient cycling and the stability of the soil ecosystem under RFRH.

scholarly journals Sustainability of Abandoned Slopes in the Hill and Gully Loess Plateau Region Considering Deep Soil Water

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 2287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weijie Yu ◽  
Juying Jiao
Keyword(s):  
Water Content ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Soil Water Content ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Deep Soil ◽  
Plateau Region ◽  
Soil Desiccation ◽  
Deep Soil Layer ◽  
The Hill

Soil desiccation of the deep soil layer is considered one of the main limiting factors to achieving sustainable development of ecosystems in the hill and gully Loess Plateau region. In this study, slope croplands were selected as the control, and deep soil water was studied on abandoned slopes, including natural abandoned slopes, Robinia pseudoacacia plantations, and Caragana korshinskii plantations. Then, we explored deep soil water characteristics of different vegetation types and slope aspects and the variation tendencies of deep soil water at different recovery stages. The results showed that there were no significant differences in deep soil water content between sunny and shady slopes, and thus, slope aspect was not the key impact factor affecting deep soil water. Deep soil water content on R. pseudoacacia plantations and C. korshinskii plantations was lower than that on natural abandoned slopes; there were no significant differences in soil water content between the natural abandoned slopes and slope croplands. Soil desiccation did not exist on natural abandoned slopes; thus, natural vegetation restoration is an appropriate way to achieve a sustainable ecosystem with respect to deep soil water. In contrast, soil desiccation intensified until it was difficult for vegetation to obtain available water in the deep soil layer on the plantations; soil desiccation began to appear at the 11–20-year stage, and it became increasingly severe until the deep soil water was close to the wilting coefficient at the ≥30-year stage on R. pseudoacacia plantations. Deep soil water was rapidly consumed, and soil desiccation began to appear at the 1–10-year stage and then was close to the wilting coefficient in the later stages on C. korshinskii plantations. According to the results, the plantations needed to be managed in a timely manner to prevent or reduce soil desiccation.

Corrigendum to: Conservation agriculture effects on soil properties and crop productivity in a semiarid region of India

Soil Research ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
pp. 200 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Somasundaram ◽  
M. Salikram ◽  
N. K. Sinha ◽  
M. Mohanty ◽  
R. S. Chaudhary ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Cropping Systems ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
Reduced Tillage ◽  
Organic C ◽  
Residue Retention

Conservation agriculture (CA) including reduced or no-tillage and crop residue retention, is known to be a self–sustainable system as well as an alternative to residue burning. The present study evaluated the effect of reduced tillage coupled with residue retention under different cropping systems on soil properties and crop yields in a Vertisol of a semiarid region of central India. Two tillage systems – conventional tillage (CT) with residue removed, and reduced tillage (RT) with residue retained – and six major cropping systems of this region were examined after 3 years of experimentation. Results demonstrated that soil moisture content, mean weight diameter, percent water stable aggregates (>0.25mm) for the 0–15cm soil layer were significantly (Pmoderately labile>less labile. At the 0–15cm depth, the contributions of moderately labile, less labile and non-labile C fractions to total organic C were 39.3%, 10.3% and 50.4% respectively in RT and corresponding values for CT were 38.9%, 11.7% and 49.4%. Significant differences in different C fractions were observed between RT and CT. Soil microbial biomass C concentration was significantly higher in RT than CT at 0–15cm depth. The maize–chickpea cropping system had significantly (P–1 followed by soybean+pigeon pea (2:1) intercropping (3.50 t ha–1) and soybean–wheat cropping systems (2.97 t ha–1). Thus, CA practices could be sustainable management practices for improving soil health and crop yields of rainfed Vertisols in these semiarid regions.

scholarly journals Land Uses, Altitude and Texture Effects on Soil Parameters. A Comparative Study in Two Districts of Nagaland, Northeast India

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 171
Author(s):  
Gaurav Mishra ◽  
Rosa Francaviglia
Keyword(s):  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Texture ◽  
Soil Parameters ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Land Uses ◽  
Management Options ◽  
Available N ◽  
P Content ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Soc Stocks

Northeast (NE) India is a typical tropical ecosystem with a luxuriant forest vegetation cover, but nowadays forests are under stress due to exploitation and land use changes, which are known to affect soil health and productivity. However, due to a scarcity of data, the influence of land uses and altitude on soil properties of this peculiar ecosystem is poorly quantified. This study presents the changes in soil properties in two districts of Nagaland (Mon and Zunheboto) in relation to land uses (forest, plantation, jhum and fallow jhum), altitude (<500 m, 500–1000 m, >1000 m) and soil texture (coarse, medium, fine). For this, a random soil sampling was performed in both the districts. Results indicated that soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and available potassium (K) were significantly influenced by land uses in the Mon district, while in Zunheboto a significant difference was observed in available phosphorus (P) content. SOC stocks showed an increasing trend with elevation in both districts. The influence of altitude on P was significant and the maximum concentration was at lower elevations (<500 m). In Mon, soil texture significantly affected SOC stocks and the available N and P content. The variability in soil properties due to land uses, altitudinal gradients and textural classes can be better managed with the help of management options, which are still needed for this ecosystem.

scholarly journals Changes in soil water holding capacity and water availability following vegetation restoration on the Chinese Loess Plateau

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yong-wang Zhang ◽  
Kai-bo Wang ◽  
Jun Wang ◽  
Changhai Liu ◽  
Zhou-ping Shangguan
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Chinese Loess Plateau ◽  
Land Use Type ◽  
Chinese Loess ◽  
Water Holding ◽  
The Chinese Loess Plateau

AbstractChanges in land use type can lead to variations in soil water characteristics. The objective of this study was to identify the responses of soil water holding capacity (SWHC) and soil water availability (SWA) to land use type (grassland, shrubland and forestland). The soil water characteristic curve describes the relationship between gravimetric water content and soil suction. We measured the soil water characteristic parameters representing SWHC and SWA, which we derived from soil water characteristic curves, in the 0–50 cm soil layer at sites representing three land use types in the Ziwuling forest region, located in the central part of the Loess Plateau, China. Our results showed that the SWHC was higher at the woodland site than the grassland and shrubland, and there was no significant difference between the latter two sites, the trend of SWA was similar to the SWHC. From grassland to woodland, the soil physical properties in the 0–50 cm soil layer partially improved, BD was significantly higher at the grassland site than at the shrubland and woodland sites, the clay and silt contents decreased significantly from grassland to shrubland to woodland and sand content showed the opposite pattern, the soil porosity was higher in the shrubland and woodland than that in the grassland, the soil physical properties across the 0–50 cm soil layer improved. Soil texture, porosity and bulk density were the key factors affecting SWHC and SWA. The results of this study provide insight into the effects of vegetation restoration on local hydrological resources and can inform soil water management and land use planning on the Chinese Loess Plateau.

scholarly journals Vertical distribution of soil available phosphorus and soil available potassium in the critical zone on the Loess Plateau, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanyang Tian ◽  
Jiangbo Qiao ◽  
Yuanjun Zhu ◽  
Xiaoxu Jia ◽  
Ming’an Shao
Keyword(s):  
Vertical Distribution ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Clay Content ◽  
Exponential Model ◽  
Critical Zone ◽  
Available Phosphorus ◽  
Soil Core ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Deep Soil ◽  
Soil Available Phosphorus

AbstractSoil available phosphorus (SAP) and soil available potassium (SAK) are important elements in the growth of plants. However, limited data are available regarding the vertical distribution of SAP and SAK in deep soil profiles. In this study, we investigated the vertical variations in SAP and SAK in the critical zone on the Loess Plateau (50–200 m), China, by using classical statistical and geostatistical methods. The soil samples were collected from the top of the soil profile down to the bedrock by soil core drilling at five typical sites. SAP decreased throughout the profile. Whereas the SAK exhibited an increasing trend at all sites. The mean SAP concentration ranged from 0.94 to 32.56 mg kg–1 at the sampling sites and the SAK concentration ranged from 44.51 to 229.31 mg kg–1. At all of the sampling sites, SAK was significantly positively correlated with the depth and clay content, but there was a significantly negative correlation between the SAK and the sand content. The exponential model could fit most variograms of SAP and SAK at all sampling sites. The results obtained in this study to improve our comprehension of the SAP or SAK distribution conditions on the Loess Plateau, which is important for reasonable fertilizer application and vegetation planting practices.

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