scholarly journals Assessing Alternative Organic Amendments as Horticultural Substrates for Growing Trees in Containers1

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miles Schwartz Sax ◽  
Bryant C. Scharenbroch
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Acer Saccharum ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Water Holding Capacity ◽  
Wood Chips ◽  
Plant Production ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Compost Tea ◽  
Aronia Melanocarpa ◽  
Water Holding

Abstract Conventional substrates for nursery plant production typically are soilless media that are comprised of low bulk density material with either organic or synthetic components. These mixes aim to provide a lightweight medium that provides acceptable water holding capacity and nutrient retention and create a suitable environment for root proliferation and biomass growth. In an effort to identify alternatives to traditional container substrates, a comparative amendment study was conducted to observe changes in media qualities and plant growth response of Aronia melanocarpa ‘Viking' and Acer saccharum over a period of 16 months. Materials used to amend traditional medium included composted green waste, biosolids and wood chips, biochar, aerated compost tea and vermicompost. The results of this study found that all amendments performed equally as well as control (NULL) treatments for root, shoot and total biomass production for both Aronia melanocarpa ‘Viking' and Acer saccharum. After a period of 16 months, significant changes in biochemical properties had occurred in mediums amended with biochar, wood chips, composts and biosolids. This study provides data on a variety of alternative materials that can be used as substitutes for traditional greenhouse medium in production of nursery tree stock. Index words: aerated compost tea, biochar, biosolids, carbon to nitrogen ratio, compost, dissolved organic carbon, electrical conductivity, fertilizer, microbial biomass carbon, control, active carbon, microbial respiration, leaf fluorescence, soil water tension, total nitrogen, total organic carbon, volumetric water content, wood chips, water holding capacity. Species used in this study: ‘Viking' black chokeberry [Aronia melanocarpa (Michx.) Elliott]; sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marshall).

Biochar increased water holding capacity but accelerated organic carbon leaching from a sloping farmland soil in China

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 995-1006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Liu ◽  
Honglan Wang ◽  
Xiangyu Tang ◽  
Zhuo Guan ◽  
Brian J. Reid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Water Holding Capacity ◽  
Farmland Soil ◽  
Water Holding ◽  
Sloping Farmland

Differences in the damage caused by glaze ice on codominant Acer saccharum and Fagus grandifolia

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (6) ◽  
pp. 1157-1159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serge Melancon ◽  
Martin J. Lechowicz
Keyword(s):  
Acer Saccharum ◽  
Sugar Maple ◽  
Fagus Grandifolia ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Ice Storm ◽  
Ice Storms ◽  
Canopy Composition ◽  
Northern Forests ◽  
Reciprocal Replacement

A severe glaze ice storm had greater destructive impact on Fagus grandifolia than on codominant Acer saccharum trees in a mature southern Quebec forest. Both the numbers and total biomass of major branches lost by beech were significantly greater than by sugar maple compared with the contribution of each species to the canopy composition. This greater ice damage to beech suggests that reciprocal replacement processes involving beech and maple seedlings cannot completely account for the maintenance of beech–maple codominance in northern forests subject to relatively frequent ice storms. We hypothesize that the ability of beech to root sprout is important in compensating for its greater susceptibility to ice damage and contributes to the maintenance of beech–maple codominance in northern forests.

scholarly journals Organic carbon content in arable soil – aeration matters

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tino Colombi ◽  
Florian Walder ◽  
Lucie Büchi ◽  
Marlies Sommer ◽  
Kexing Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Carbon Content ◽  
Soil Structure ◽  
Gas Transport ◽  
Water Holding Capacity ◽  
Organic Carbon Content ◽  
Soil Aeration ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon Content ◽  
Water Holding

Abstract. Arable soils may act as a sink in the global carbon cycle but the prediction of their potential for carbon sequestration remains challenging. The role of soil structure and related physical properties for carbon sequestration is only little explored, especially at the farm level. We hypothesized that improved soil aeration, which is strongly controlled by soil structure, leads to higher soil organic carbon content. Soil gas transport properties, water holding capacity, microbial biomass and soil organic carbon content, were quantified in the topsoil and subsoil in 30 fields of individual farms. The fields were managed either conventionally, organically or according to no-till practice. Tillage significantly increased gas transport capability and water holding capacity of the topsoil. In the same soil layer, organic farming resulted in higher soil organic carbon content and microbial biomass. Both in the topsoil and the subsoil higher gas transport capability and water holding capacity led to increased soil organic carbon content (0.53 

Impacts of land-use intensity on soil organic carbon content, soil structure and water-holding capacity

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 547-556 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Acín-Carrera ◽  
M. José Marques ◽  
P. Carral ◽  
A. M. Álvarez ◽  
C. López ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Carbon Content ◽  
Soil Structure ◽  
Water Holding Capacity ◽  
Organic Carbon Content ◽  
Land Use Intensity ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon Content ◽  
Water Holding

scholarly journals Impacts of Controlled Forest Fires on Soil Properties in Gadchiroli Forest Circle, Central India

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Kamble
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Soil Ph ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Central India ◽  
Water Holding Capacity ◽  
Water Holding

Forest is an important ecosystem service to human beings. In recent decades the forest is facing tremendous pressure from anthropogenic activities. One of the activities is the burning of forest floor for easy collection of non-timber forest produce. As a result of this number of incidences of forest fires has increased in the tribal-dominated area of the world. These forest fires have adverse impacts on soil properties which will ultimately in the long term have impacts on the forest ecosystem. Taking into consideration this fact this study was attempted to assess the impacts of controlled forest fires on the physicochemical properties of forest soil in the Gadchiroli forest circle of Central India. To assess the impacts six sampling sites from the forest where identified from the study area where no previous forest fire history was recorded in that season. Initial soil sampling before controlled forest fire was carried out in summer 2019 by quartering method in the topsoil layer (1-5 cm). A controlled forest fire was carried out in the same area. The soil was prepared for soil analysis and analysed by adopting standard methods for bulk density, water holding capacity, pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, and organic matter. Results revealed that forest fires increase the bulk density of soil, at 50% (n = 3) sampling locations water holding capacity got reduced down; whereas, at other half increased in capacity was observed. In the case of soil pH 66% (n = 4) sample reported increased in soil pH and at other reduction in soil pH was recorded. Except at one sampling location electrical conductivity was reduced. A similar trend was also noticed for organic carbon and organic matter. Bulk density and water holding capacity will have long term impacts; whereas, pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon and organic matter will have short term impacts. Furthermore, in those sampling locations where forest fire does not occur in the last 2-3 years organic carbon and organic matter content of the soil is high. Thus, measures to be taken to reduce forest fires activities by incorporating an effective forest fire management system at a place by incorporating fire load management subsystem and fire suppression subsystem.  

scholarly journals Climate regime and soil storage capacity interact to effect evapotranspiration in western United States mountain catchments

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 2277-2319 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. S. Garcia ◽  
C. L. Tague
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Soil Characteristics ◽  
Water Holding Capacity ◽  
Western United States ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Soil Water Holding Capacity ◽  
Climate Controls ◽  
Climatic Drivers ◽  
Water Holding

Abstract. In the winter-wet, summer-dry forests of the western United States (US), total annual evapotranspiration (ET) is largely a function of three separate but interacting properties: (1) climate, especially magnitude of precipitation, its partitioning into rain or snow, and snowmelt timing; (2) soil characteristics, including soil water holding capacity and rates of drainage; and (3) the total biomass where larger, more abundant vegetation is directly proportional to greater ET. Understanding how these controls influence ET in Mediterranean mountain environments is complicated by shifts between water and energy limitations both within the year and between years. We use a physically based process model to evaluate the strength of climate controls and soil properties in predicting ET in three snow-dominated, mountainous catchments in the western US. As we expect, statistical analysis shows that annual precipitation is a primary control of annual ET across all catchments. However, secondary climate controls vary across catchments. Further, the sensitivity of annual ET to precipitation and other climatic controls varies with soil characteristics. In the drier, more snow-dominated catchments ET is also controlled by spring temperature through its influence on the timing of snowmelt and the synchronicity between seasonal water availability and demand. In wetter catchments that receive a large fraction of winter precipitation as rainfall, the sensitivity to ET is also strongly influenced by soil water holding capacity. We show that in all catchments, soil characteristics affect the sensitivity of annual ET to climatic drivers. Estimates of annual ET become more sensitive to climatic drivers at low soil water holding capacities in the catchments with the stronger decoupling between precipitation and growing season demands.

scholarly journals Soil Characteristics in Moist Tropical Forest of Sunsari District, Nepal

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tilak Prasad Gautam ◽  
Tej Narayan Mandal
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Microbial Biomass ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Total Nitrogen ◽  
Microbial Biomass Carbon ◽  
Deep Layer ◽  
Water Holding Capacity ◽  
Biomass Carbon ◽  
Microbial Biomass Nitrogen ◽  
Water Holding

The physico-chemical properties of soils of tropical moist forest (Charkoshe jungle) in Sunsari district of eastern Nepal were analyzed. The samples were collected during summer season from three depths: upper (0-15 cm), middle (15-30 cm) and deep (30-45 cm). They were analyzed for texture, pH, moisture, water holding capacity, organic carbon, total nitrogen, organic matter and microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen. The forest soil of upper and middle layers was loamy whereas that of deep layer was sandy loam. The pH value was lower (5.6) in upper layer than in the deep layer (6.6). The moisture content, water holding capacity, organic carbon, total nitrogen and organic matter were higher in upper layer and decreased with increasing depth. The higher level of soil nutrients in upper layer was due partly to reduction in the loss of top soil and partly to the increased supply of nutrients from the decomposed form of litter and fine roots of the forest plants. The average value of microbial biomass carbon in the soil was 676.6 μg g-¹and microbial biomass nitrogen was 59.0 μg g-¹. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 14, No. 1 (2013) 35-40 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v14i1.8876

Effect of organic carbon (peat) on moisture retention of peat:mineral mixes

2001 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
T D Moskal ◽  
L. Leskiw ◽  
M A Naeth ◽  
D S Chanasyk
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Oil Sands ◽  
Water Retention ◽  
Sandy Loam ◽  
Field Capacity ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Water Holding Capacity ◽  
Water Holding

Quantification of the effects of organic carbon (OC) addition to reclaimed soils is an important reclamation issue. Such effects on soil texture, field capacity (FC), wilting point (PWP) and water-holding capacity (WHC), all expressed both on a gravimetric and volumetric basis, were quantified using both in situ soil samples and laboratory-prepared peat:mineral mixes. Soil samples were collected from both natural and reclaimed areas within the Oil Sands region of Alberta; peat was obtained from the same area. Organic carbon was determined for laboratory-created mixtures and expressed as volume ratios; for the in situ samples it was expressed as % OC. Bulk density, an important factor in the effects of OC on water retention, was measured in situ.Water retention parameters of in situ samples on a gravimetric basis were significantly related to % OC, but those on a volume basis were not. Trends in volumetric WHC for in situ, coarse-textured samples were similar to those for gravimeteric WHC, due to similar bulk densities ranging from 1.30 to 1.40 Mg m–3. However, for in situ peaty soils, trends in volumetric water retention did not mimic those expressed on a gravimetric basis due to low and irregular bulk densities. For laboratory-constructed peat:mineral mixes, FC and WHC were significantly impacted by % OC, however, PWP was not.  The addition of peat material resulted in minor textural changes for sand and loamy sand; hence, the change in texture could not be responsible for the increases in WHC as the result of peat additions. The results for sandy loam were variable. Key words: Bulk density, field capacity, reclamation, water-holding capacity

scholarly journals Study of Bio-fertilizer Produced from Agro-waste (Sesame Straw) and Cow Dung Using Eisenia fetida and Perionyx sansibaricus in Arid Environment

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
K. R. Panwar ◽  
G. Tripathi
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Eisenia Fetida ◽  
Organic Fertilizer ◽  
Arid Environment ◽  
Water Holding Capacity ◽  
Cow Dung ◽  
Perionyx Sansibaricus ◽  
Conductivity Water ◽  
Water Holding

In this study, an analysis of organic fertilizer of an agro-waste (Sesame straw) plus cow dung was carried out using an epigeic earthworm species Eisenia fetida and Perionyx sansibaricus. Sesame straw is abundantly produced after each harvesting of the crop in Kharif season in arid region of tropical India. The compost produced in presence and absence of earthworm exhibit significant (P<0.001) and non-significant (P>0.05) changes in physicochemical properties respectively. In control bedding, the values of water holding capacity enhanced significantly (P<0.05) by 1.28 fold, while organic carbon and C/N ratio decreased significantly (P<0.05) by 19.93% and 31.25% respectively after 60 days of composting.Working of E. fetida in the bedding material showed significant (P<0.001) difference in the level of pH, electrical conductivity, water holding capacity, organic carbon, total nitrogen, C/N ratio, available phosphorous and available potassium. After 60 days of working of P. sansibaricus, these physicochemical properties of the bedding substrate also changed significantly (P<0.001). Analysis of vermibed showed a gradual increase in electrical conductivity, water holding capacity, total nitrogen, available phosphorus and available potassium by 1.51, 1.86, 1.95, 1.78 and 1.75 fold respectively. While the values of pH, organic carbon and C/N ratio declined by 9.30%, 41.80% and 71.48% respectively within 60 days of decomposition. Thus, E. fetida and P. sansibaricus can be applied for production of organic fertilizer of sesame chaff plus cow dung to fulfill the requirement of bio-fertilizers for organic farming and agro-waste management in arid environment.

Impacts of Controlled Forest Fires on Soil Properties in Gadchiroli Forest Circle, Central India

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahul Kamble
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Organic Matter ◽  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Forest Fire ◽  
Soil Ph ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Central India ◽  
Water Holding Capacity ◽  
Water Holding

Forest is an important ecosystem service to human beings. In recent decades the forest is facing tremendous pressure from anthropogenic activities. One of the activities is the burning of forest floor for easy collection of non-timber forest produce. As a result of this number of incidences of forest fires has increased in the tribal-dominated area of the world. These forest fires have adverse impacts on soil properties which will ultimately in the long term have impacts on the forest ecosystem. Taking into consideration this fact this study was attempted to assess the impacts of controlled forest fires on the physicochemical properties of forest soil in the Gadchiroli forest circle of Central India. To assess the impacts six sampling sites from the forest where identified from the study area where no previous forest fire history was recorded in that season. Initial soil sampling before controlled forest fire was carried out in summer 2019 by quartering method in the topsoil layer (1-5 cm). A controlled forest fire was carried out in the same area. The soil was prepared for soil analysis and analysed by adopting standard methods for bulk density, water holding capacity, pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon, and organic matter. Results revealed that forest fires increase the bulk density of soil, at 50% (n = 3) sampling locations water holding capacity got reduced down; whereas, at other half increased in capacity was observed. In the case of soil pH 66% (n = 4) sample reported increased in soil pH and at other reduction in soil pH was recorded. Except at one sampling location electrical conductivity was reduced. A similar trend was also noticed for organic carbon and organic matter. Bulk density and water holding capacity will have long term impacts; whereas, pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon and organic matter will have short term impacts. Furthermore, in those sampling locations where forest fire does not occur in the last 2-3 years organic carbon and organic matter content of the soil is high. Thus, measures to be taken to reduce forest fires activities by incorporating an effective forest fire management system at a place by incorporating fire load management subsystem and fire suppression subsystem.  

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document