scholarly journals An Acceptance Analysis of Subsoil Amelioration Amongst Agricultural Actors in Two Regions in Germany

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandy Hinzmann ◽  
Sophie Ittner ◽  
Zoritza Kiresiewa ◽  
Holger Gerdes
Keyword(s):  
Policy Framework ◽  
Root Penetration ◽  
Drought Risk ◽  
Deep Soil ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Water Storage Capacity ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Willingness To Adopt

The subsoil, commonly defined as horizons below the working depth of 30 cm, often receives little attention in farming practice. Yet plants extract between 10 and 80% of their nutrient and water requirements from the subsoil. Recent research indicates that subsoil amelioration measures, which enhance water storage capacity, root penetration and microbial activity, could contribute to stabilizing yields in times of drought. Therefore, we investigated farmers' and other soil experts' perceptions of subsoil amelioration as an approach to adapt to climate change as well as the factors that influence their willingness to adopt specific measures to improve the subsoil. We applied the Q-method combined with focus groups in two case study regions in Germany. Two subsoil amelioration techniques were considered: (1) Deep loosening combined with the incorporation of compost into deep soil layers (30–60 cm) and (2) the cultivation of alfalfa as deep-rooting pre-crop. Our results show three distinct views on subsoil amelioration, which we termed as the “pioneers,” the “skeptics,” and the “ecologists.” While the pioneers were open toward applying deep loosening combined with incorporation of compost into the subsoil, the skeptics had concerns about the method and perceived it as hardly feasible in practice, and the ecologists clearly preferred biological approaches such as alfalfa cultivation. Despite the different views, all three perspectives view subsoil amelioration as a useful approach to adapt to changing climate conditions. In conclusion, we identified a number of factors that influence the willingness to implement specific techniques to improve the subsoil: economic and farm-level considerations, awareness of subsoil functions, environmental awareness, individual norms and beliefs as well as risk perception. We recommend considering these factors in the design of a policy framework that promotes subsoil amelioration in Germany. Our findings could be of relevance for agricultural systems around the world, which are prone to drought risk.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DEEP SOIL LAYERS TO SUPPLY WATER TO AGRO-FORESTRY SYSTEMS: A CASE STUDY OF A MATURE CHESTNUT ORCHARD IN NORTHERN PORTUGAL

2005 ◽  
pp. 663-670 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Martins ◽  
I. Linhares ◽  
F. Raimundo ◽  
J.P. Coutinho ◽  
J. Gomes-Laranjo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Deep Soil ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
Northern Portugal ◽  
Agro Forestry ◽  
Supply Water

Root penetration in deep soil layers stimulates mineralization of millennia-old organic carbon

2018 ◽  
Vol 124 ◽  
pp. 150-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tanvir Shahzad ◽  
Muhammad Imtiaz Rashid ◽  
Vincent Maire ◽  
Sébastien Barot ◽  
Nazia Perveen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Root Penetration ◽  
Deep Soil ◽  
Soil Layers

PERSIAN GARDENS IN COLD AND DRY CLIMATE: A CASE STUDY OF TABRIZ’S HISTORICAL GARDENS

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 193
Author(s):  
Ahad Nejad Ebrahimi ◽  
Farnaz Nazarzadeh ◽  
Elnaz Nazarzadeh
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Water Supply ◽  
Field Study ◽  
Cold Climate ◽  
Natural Substrate ◽  
Garden Design ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
North West ◽  
Special Expertise

Throughout history, gardens and garden designing has been in the attention of Persian architects who had special expertise in the construction of gardens. The appearance of Islam and allegories of paradise taken from that in Koran and Saints’ sayings gave spirituality to garden construction. Climate conditions have also had an important role in this respect but little research has been done about it and most of the investigations have referred to spiritual aspects and forms of garden. The cold and dry climate that has enveloped parts of West and North West of Iran has many gardens with different forms and functions, which have not been paid much attention to by studies done so far. The aim of this paper is to identify the features and specifications of cold and dry climate gardens with an emphasis on Tabriz’s Gardens.  Due to its natural and strategic situation, Tabriz has always been in the attention of governments throughout history; travellers and tourists have mentioned Tabriz as a city that has beautiful gardens. But, the earthquakes and wars have left no remains of those beautiful gardens. This investigation, by a comparative study of the climates in Iran and the effect of those climates on the formation of gardens and garden design, tries to identify the features and characteristics of gardens in cold and dry climate. The method of study is interpretive-historical on the basis of written documents and historic features and field study of existing gardens in this climate. The results show that, with respect to natural substrate, vegetation, the form of water supply, and the general form of the garden; gardens in dry and cold climate are different from gardens in other climates.

Banking on Failure

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard S Collier
Keyword(s):  
Financial Markets ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Current Position ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
Tax Systems

This book seeks to explain why and how banks ‘game the system’. More specifically, its objective is to account for why banks are so often involved in cases of misconduct and why those cases often involve the exploitation of tax systems. To do this, a case study is presented in Part I of the book. This case study concerns a highly complex transaction (often referred to as ‘cum-ex’) designed to exploit a flaw at the intersection of the tax system and the financial markets settlements system. It was entered into by a very large number of banks and other financial institutions. A number of factors make the cum-ex transaction remarkable, including the sheer scale of the financial amounts involved, the large number of banks and financial institutions involved, the comprehensive failure of the controls infrastructure in this highly regulated sector, and the fact that authorities across Europe have found it so difficult to deal with the transaction. Part II of the book draws out the wider significance of cum-ex and what it tells us about modern banks and their interactions with tax systems. The account demonstrates why the exploitation of tax systems by banks is practically inevitable due to a variety of systemic features of the financial markets and of tax systems themselves. A number of possible responses to the current position are suggested in the final chapter.

scholarly journals Global online platforms, COVID-19, and culture: The global pandemic, an accelerator towards which direction?

2021 ◽  
pp. 016344372199453
Author(s):  
Antonios Vlassis
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
Asia Pacific ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Online Platforms ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Major Development ◽  
The Us ◽  
Media Platform

The article proposes to consider the COVID-19 global pandemic as new major development for cultural industries and policies and to highlight timely and crucial trends due to the lockdown measures. Thus, it attempts to stimulate the scholarship debate regarding the consequences of the pandemic to the action of global online platforms, as well as to policy and economic aspects of cultural sectors. Taking as case study the audio-visual sector, the article explores whether the US global streaming platforms are the winning players of the lockdown measures and emphasizes the multifaceted strategies developed by US-based platforms in order to strengthen their soft power. Focusing on China and the European Union, the article also argues that the overwhelming action of US-based online platforms triggers the potential emergence of media platform regionalization in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, it highlights the regulatory challenges and how the new empirical trends are expected to shape the current audio-visual policy framework. The analysis focuses on the period between the beginning of global pandemic in Asia-Pacific in January 2020 and the progressive easing of lockdown measures in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific in July 2020.

Farmland heavy metals can migrate to deep soil at a regional scale: A case study on a wastewater-irrigated area in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 281 ◽  
pp. 116977
Author(s):  
Shushen Yang ◽  
Wenzhao Feng ◽  
Shiqin Wang ◽  
Liang Chen ◽  
Xin Zheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Deep Soil ◽  
Irrigated Area

Differential effects of wetting and drying on soil CO2 concentration and flux in near-surface vs. deep soil layers

2020 ◽  
Vol 148 (3) ◽  
pp. 255-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyungjin Min ◽  
Asmeret Asefaw Berhe ◽  
Chau Minh Khoi ◽  
Hella van Asperen ◽  
Jeroen Gillabel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Co2 Concentration ◽  
Soil Co2 ◽  
Deep Soil ◽  
Wetting And Drying ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Soil Layers ◽  
Differential Effects ◽  
Soil Co2 Concentration

scholarly journals A Weighted-Time-Lag Method to Detect Lag Vegetation Response to Climate Variation: A Case Study in Loess Plateau, China, 1982–2013

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 923
Author(s):  
Qianqian Sun ◽  
Chao Liu ◽  
Tianyang Chen ◽  
Anbing Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
New Method ◽  
Climate Factors ◽  
The Loess Plateau ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Vegetation Growth ◽  
Lag Effect

Vegetation fluctuation is sensitive to climate change, and this response exhibits a time lag. Traditionally, scholars estimated this lag effect by considering the immediate prior lag (e.g., where vegetation in the current month is impacted by the climate in a certain prior month) or the lag accumulation (e.g., where vegetation in the current month is impacted by the last several months). The essence of these two methods is that vegetation growth is impacted by climate conditions in the prior period or several consecutive previous periods, which fails to consider the different impacts coming from each of those prior periods. Therefore, this study proposed a new approach, the weighted time-lag method, in detecting the lag effect of climate conditions coming from different prior periods. Essentially, the new method is a generalized extension of the lag-accumulation method. However, the new method detects how many prior periods need to be considered and, most importantly, the differentiated climate impact on vegetation growth in each of the determined prior periods. We tested the performance of the new method in the Loess Plateau by comparing various lag detection methods by using the linear model between the climate factors and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). The case study confirmed four main findings: (1) the response of vegetation growth exhibits time lag to both precipitation and temperature; (2) there are apparent differences in the time lag effect detected by various methods, but the weighted time-lag method produced the highest determination coefficient (R2) in the linear model and provided the most specific lag pattern over the determined prior periods; (3) the vegetation growth is most sensitive to climate factors in the current month and the last month in the Loess Plateau but reflects a varied of responses to other prior months; and (4) the impact of temperature on vegetation growth is higher than that of precipitation. The new method provides a much more precise detection of the lag effect of climate change on vegetation growth and makes a smart decision about soil conservation and ecological restoration after severe climate events, such as long-lasting drought or flooding.

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