scholarly journals Nest refuse of Acromyrmex balzani (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) increases the plant vigor in Turnera subulata (Turneraceae)

2023 ◽  
Vol 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Santos ◽  
L. Sousa-Souto

Abstract Some studies report the positive effect of organic residues from ant nests on soil properties and on the structure of the adjacent plant community in field experiments, but there is a gap about the effect on individual species. The purpose of the present study was to compare the soil nutrient content and the development of Turnera subulata Smith, an ornamental species, in the presence of the nest refuse (basically composed of fragments of grass leaves and the symbiotic fungus) produced by the leaf-cutting ant Acromyrmex balzani (Emery, 1890) or in control soil through a greenhouse pot experiment. The experiment was carried out with two treatments: control soil and soil with 25% of nest refuse. The plants were kept in 1L pots for 90 days. We evaluated the parameters: plant height, stem diameter, root length, number of leaves, dry weight of the root, dry and fresh aboveground biomass. Additionally, the relative chlorophyll content and leaf nutrients were used as nutritional parameters. As a result, plants that grew in the soil with nest refuse showed significant higher values of all parameters evaluated when compared to the control treatment (p < 0.001). We conclude that this biofertilizer contributed to the production of more vigorous plants, being able to act on the local dynamics of nutrients in the ecosystems where A. balzani occurs. As it is relatively abundant and easy to collect, the refuse of A. balzani has the potential to be used as an alternative substrate in the production of shortlife cycle plants.

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 440
Author(s):  
Margarita Ros ◽  
María Hurtado-Navarro ◽  
Almudena Giménez ◽  
Juan Antonio Fernández ◽  
Catalina Egea-Gilabert ◽  
...  

Compost tea is a liquid fraction extracted from composts, and it is of great interest in sustainable agriculture because it reduces the unsustainable use of chemical-based pesticides and fertilizers. In this study, during two spinach field cycles, we evaluated the potential beneficial effect of the foliar application of a compost tea made from onion and vineyard composts either by itself (CT) or implemented with the beneficial microorganism Trichoderma harzianum T78 (CT + Th) on the “healthy quality” and yield of baby spinach. Results showed that both the CT and CT + Th treatments produced a higher spinach yield than the control, but these treatments did not result in an increase in soil dehydrogenase activity (DHA) or soil nutrient content. Furthermore, CT + Th treatment showed the highest yield, phenolic content, antioxidant capacity and flavonoid levels. Nitrate levels were below legal amounts, and they were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) lower in the CT and CT + Th treatments than in the control. Data suggest that compost tea extracts from onion waste and vineyard compost and/or enriched with T. harzianum can be used in a sustainable agriculture to increase yield and quality of baby spinach.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1129
Author(s):  
Yiping Peng ◽  
Lu Wang ◽  
Li Zhao ◽  
Zhenhua Liu ◽  
Chenjie Lin ◽  
...  

Soil nutrients play a vital role in plant growth and thus the rapid acquisition of soil nutrient content is of great significance for agricultural sustainable development. Hyperspectral remote-sensing techniques allow for the quick monitoring of soil nutrients. However, at present, obtaining accurate estimates proves to be difficult due to the weak spectral features of soil nutrients and the low accuracy of soil nutrient estimation models. This study proposed a new method to improve soil nutrient estimation. Firstly, for obtaining characteristic variables, we employed partial least squares regression (PLSR) fit degree to select an optimal screening algorithm from three algorithms (Pearson correlation coefficient, PCC; least absolute shrinkage and selection operator, LASSO; and gradient boosting decision tree, GBDT). Secondly, linear (multi-linear regression, MLR; ridge regression, RR) and nonlinear (support vector machine, SVM; and back propagation neural network with genetic algorithm optimization, GABP) algorithms with 10-fold cross-validation were implemented to determine the most accurate model for estimating soil total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), and total potassium (TK) contents. Finally, the new method was used to map the soil TK content at a regional scale using the soil component spectral variables retrieved by the fully constrained least squares (FCLS) method based on an image from the HuanJing-1A Hyperspectral Imager (HJ-1A HSI) of the Conghua District of Guangzhou, China. The results identified the GBDT-GABP was observed as the most accurate estimation method of soil TN ( of 0.69, the root mean square error of cross-validation (RMSECV) of 0.35 g kg−1 and ratio of performance to interquartile range (RPIQ) of 2.03) and TP ( of 0.73, RMSECV of 0.30 g kg−1 and RPIQ = 2.10), and the LASSO-GABP proved to be optimal for soil TK estimations ( of 0.82, RMSECV of 3.39 g kg−1 and RPIQ = 3.57). Additionally, the highly accurate LASSO-GABP-estimated soil TK (R2 = 0.79) reveals the feasibility of the LASSO-GABP method to retrieve soil TK content at the regional scale.


Author(s):  
Kamrun Nahar Mousomi ◽  
Mohammad Noor Hossain Miah ◽  
Md. Abul Kashem ◽  
Imtiaz Miah

A pot experiment was conducted at the experimental net house of the Department of Soil Science, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh to observe the effect of fertilizers on yield and nutrient uptake of local aromatic rice varieties during the Aman season of 2015. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Five local aromatic rice varieties (Kalizira: V1, Muktasail: V2, Nagrasail: V3, Maloti: V4 and Chinigura: V5) and four packages of fertilizers (F1:  Recommended package i.e. 45-10-20-10-0.5 kg ha-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn, F2: 2/3rd of recommended package, F3: 1/3rd of recommended package, and F4: Control) were used. Urea, TSP, MoP, gypsum and ZnSO4 were used as N, P, K, S and Zn source, respectively. According to the treatment, all fertilizers were applied as basal during final pot preparation while urea was applied in two equal splits (one half as basal and another half at 40 DAT). Nutrient content and uptake of the aromatic rice varieties were significantly affected by the application of different fertilizer packages (with few exceptions). Mostly Kalizira (1.10-0.44-2.31-0.67-13.75 g pot-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn) and/or Nagrasail (1.15-0.46-2.70-0.62-11.74 g pot-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn) varieties showed the highest nutrient uptake in grain and straw with recommended package of fertilizers. While in maximum cases Chinigura (0.41-0.16-0.76-0.197-3.17 g pot-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn) was observed to have the lowest with control treatment. In case of post harvest soil nutrient analyses, Kalizira and/or Chinigura variety associated with recommended package of fertilizers showed the highest nutrient status.


2016 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadik & et al.

This study was conducted in experimental fields, Department of Horticulture, University of Bagdad, in Abu-Graib  during season 2011-2012 for jerusalum artichoke. This study was included the effect of dipping tubers in three concentrations of GA3(2.5,5,10g/l) (G1,G2,G3),as well as to control treatment (G0), and spraying nutrient solution Agro leaf A1 (8g/l), as well as to control treatment (A0). This study was made by using Factorial experiment (4*2) within the design RCBD with three replicates. Results could be summarized as follows: G3A0 increased field emergence (12.00 day), G2A0 increased percentage of germination (99.33%) and G2A1 increased number of branches (4.60 stem.plant-1) but the treatment G1A1gave highest rate for number of leaves, leaf area, guide of leaf area, dry weight of the vegetative parts and dry weight of 100gm tubers as(4495.10 leaf.plant-1, 2246.20 dsm2, 99.84, 922.40g, 24.00g.) respectively. The treatments gave significant differences quantity yield, so treatment G3A0 gave highest weight of the tubers as(45.55g.) but the treatment G3A1 gave highest number of the tubers as(68.00 tuber.plant-1 ) and highest yield of plant as (2890g/plant).


1979 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 224-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. E. Pope

Dry weights and nutrient contents of all aboveground biomass components were estimated for four seed sources of 11-year-old loblolly pine (Pinustaeda L.) grown in plantations of the same spacing on an old-field site of high quality in the hilly region of north-central Arkansas, U.S.A. Soil nutrient content was estimated to a depth of 0.61 m. Stand data averaged over all seeds sources are in agreement with published reports for dry weight and nutrient accumulation for loblolly pine if differences associated with seasonal variation are considered. Seed source significantly affected total dry matter and nutrient accumulations. Estimated total aboveground mean annual accumulation of biomass for the four seed sources ranged from 5.99 × 103 to 11.17 × 103 kg/ha per year. Elemental accumulation (kilograms per hectare per year) ranged from 14.06 to 23.66 for N, 1.54 to 3.45 for P, and 6.96 to 18.43 for K. On the average, trees comprise 84% of the aboveground plant biomass and contain 76% of the N, 77% of the P, and 90%, of the K associated with plant tissue. The significant influence of seed source on these stand values can affect the potential impact of short rotation, total tree harvesting on long-term site productivity. The elemental content of the tree biomass ranged from 7 to 11% of the total N, 20 to 35% of the P, and 14 to 30% of the K in the soil–litter–plant system.


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.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. e91998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kadri Koorem ◽  
Antonio Gazol ◽  
Maarja Öpik ◽  
Mari Moora ◽  
Ülle Saks ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
M.R Suja Barathi

Soil nutrient is detected by the use of ISFETs and the corresponding current is obtained from it according to the variation in concentration of the nutrient in soil and their pH. The use of metal oxide coated semiconductors for gas detection is high nowadays. The Ion sensitive field effect transistor has the electrode. This on reaction with the analyst changes its resistance value and corresponding signals are generated and the transducer unit in the sensor gives the varying current output. This could be then processed that is converted to voltage, amplified and then given to a window detector where in the voltage obtained from the sensor could be tested for it be in between two reference voltage levels and these reference voltage levels represent the level of nutrients in the soil either it is deficient, in surplus or in sufficient amounts. This could be used to make the LEDs glow. It proves to be an easy way of observing the soil nutrient content even by an illiterate. The checking of soil nutrient content could be automated and made periodic by the use of microcontroller, the feedback mechanism involving the soil’s nutrient content value as the common input and the ideal or required value as the reference input.


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