Vegetative Cover in a Fallow Field: Responses to Season of Soil Disturbance

1978 ◽  
Vol 105 (2) ◽  
pp. 143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol A. Rolph Kay ◽  
Andre F. Clewell ◽  
Elizabeth Winstead Ashler
Weed Science ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 442-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda F. Shearin ◽  
S. Chris Reberg-Horton ◽  
Eric R. Gallandt

Cover crop systems were investigated in 2004 and 2005 for their effects on the activity-density (a function of movement and density) of a promising group of weed biocontrol organisms, the ground beetles collectively known as carabids, with particular emphasis on a beneficial carabid speciesHarpalus rufipesDeGeer. MarkedH. rufipesreleased into pea/oat–rye/vetch cover crop plots were more than twice as likely to be recaptured within the same plots as beetles released in nonvegetated fallow plots (18 and 8%, respectively). Marked beetles released into fallow plots were more than twice as likely to leave their plots and be recaptured in pea/oat–rye/vetch plots as vice versa (13 vs. 5%), indicating a clear preference for habitat with vegetative cover. Overall recapture rates were not different between treatments. UnmarkedH. rufipesactivity-density was also higher in pea/oat–rye/vetch compared to fallow plots. Additionally, five cover crop systems, including the fallow and pea/oat–rye/vetch treatments, and two residue management methods (conventional and zone tillage) were investigated from June to August in 2005 for their effects onH. rufipesactivity-density. Corn was planted in 2005 into residues of the five cover crop systems grown in 2004.H. rufipesactivity-density was higher in zone and conventionally tilled corn planted in pea/oat–rye/vetch residues and conventionally tilled corn planted in red clover/oat residues than in any other cover crop and residue management combination. Pea/oat–rye/vetch cover crop systems are apparently beneficial forH. rufipesduring the cover crop year as well as in subsequent crops planted into this cover crop's residues. This system was not the least disturbed system but, based on the number of tillage events, represented a medium level of disturbance among the various systems. Thus, some level of disturbance might be beneficial forH. rufipes, but how and when that soil disturbance occurs requires further research to determine the best means of conserving this species.


2010 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Tóth ◽  
Cs. Farkas

Soil biological properties and CO2emission were compared in undisturbed grass and regularly disked rows of a peach plantation. Higher nutrient content and biological activity were found in the undisturbed, grass-covered rows. Significantly higher CO2fluxes were measured in this treatment at almost all the measurement times, in all the soil water content ranges, except the one in which the volumetric soil water content was higher than 45%. The obtained results indicated that in addition to the favourable effect of soil tillage on soil aeration, regular soil disturbance reduces soil microbial activity and soil CO2emission.


Author(s):  
T. V. Galanina ◽  
M. I. Baumgarten ◽  
T. G. Koroleva

Large-scale mining disturbs wide areas of land. The development program for the mining industry, with an expected considerable increase in production output, aggravates the problem with even vaster territories exposed to the adverse anthropogenic impact. Recovery of mining-induced ecosystems in the mineral-extracting regions becomes the top priority objective. There are many restoration mechanisms, and they should be used in integration and be highly technologically intensive as the environmental impact is many-sided. This involves pollution of water, generation of much waste and soil disturbance which is the most typical of open pit mining. Scale disturbance of land, withdrawal of farming land, land pollution and littering are critical problems to the solved in the first place. One of the way outs is highquality reclamation. This article reviews the effective rules and regulations on reclamation. The mechanism is proposed for the legal control of disturbed land reclamation on a regional and federal level. Highly technologically intensive recovery of mining-induced landscape will be backed up by the natural environment restoration strategy proposed in the Disturbed Land Reclamation Concept.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
John M. Gier ◽  
Kenneth M. Kindel ◽  
Deborah S. Page-Dumroese ◽  
Louis J. Kuennen

HortScience ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 905D-905
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Clarke ◽  
M. Susan Moran

Water application efficiency can be improved by directly monitoring plant water status rather than depending on soil moisture measurements or modeled ET estimates. Plants receiving sufficient water through their roots have cooler leaves than those that are water-stressed, leading to the development of the Crop Water Stress Index based on hand-held infrared thermometry. Substantial error can occur in partial canopies, however, as exposed hot soil contributes to deceptively warm temperature readings. Mathematically comparing red and near-infrared reflectances provides a measure of vegetative cover, and this information was combined with thermal radiance to give a two-dimensional index capable of detecting water stress even with a low percentage of canopy cover. Thermal, red, and near-infrared images acquired over subsurface drip-irrigated cantaloupe fields demonstrated the method's ability to detect areas with clogged emitters, insufficient irrigation rate, and system water leaks.


Agronomy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 974
Author(s):  
Rafael Blanco-Sepúlveda ◽  
Amilcar Aguilar-Carrillo ◽  
Francisco Lima

In conservation agriculture, the no-tillage cultivation system and the retention of permanent vegetal cover are crucial to the control of soil erosion by water. This paper analyses the cultivation of maize under no-tillage, with particular reference to the effect produced on soil erosion when weed control is performed by a hand tool (machete), which disturbs the surface of the soil, and to the behavior of the soil cover in these circumstances. The study area is located in the humid tropical mountains of northern Nicaragua (Peñas Blancas Massif Nature Reserve). The results obtained show that 59.2% of the soil surface was affected by appreciable levels of sheet and splash erosion, although the vegetal cover of the soil was relatively high (with average weed and litter cover of 33.9% and 33.8%, respectively). The use of machetes for weed control provoked considerable soil disturbance, which explained the high rates of erosion observed. Moreover, this form of soil management disturbs the litter layer, making it less effective in preventing erosion. The litter remains loose on the soil surface, and so an increase in soil cover does not achieve a proportionate reduction in the area affected by erosion; thus, even with 80–100% weed and litter cover, 42% of the cultivated area continued to present soil erosion.


2021 ◽  
Vol 253 ◽  
pp. 108930
Author(s):  
Laurel E.K. Serieys ◽  
Matthew S. Rogan ◽  
Stephani S. Matsushima ◽  
Christopher C. Wilmers
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  

2021 ◽  
Vol 482 ◽  
pp. 118849
Author(s):  
Edward W. Bork ◽  
Terrance J. Osko ◽  
Laurie Frerichs ◽  
M. Anne Naeth

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