scholarly journals Soil Health and Arthropods: From Complex System to Worthwhile Investigation

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Menta ◽  
Sara Remelli
Keyword(s):  
Soil Quality ◽  
Soil Degradation ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Soil Arthropods ◽  
Soil Monitoring ◽  
Chemical Methods ◽  
Soil Microarthropods ◽  
The Past ◽  
Soil Microarthropod

The dramatic increase in soil degradation in the last few decades has led to the need to identify methods to define not only soil quality but also, in a holistic approach, soil health. In the past twenty years, indices based on living communities have been proposed alongside the already proven physical-chemical methods. Among them, some soil invertebrates have been included in monitoring programs as bioindicators of soil quality. Being an important portion of soil fauna, soil arthropods are involved in many soil processes such as organic matter decomposition and translocation, nutrient cycling, microflora activity regulation and bioturbation. Many studies have reported the use of soil arthropods to define soil quality; among taxa, some have been explored more in depth, typically Acari and Collembola, while generally less abundant groups, such as Palpigradi or Embioptera, have not been investigated much. This paper aims to evaluate and compare the use of different soil microarthropod taxa in soil degradation/quality studies to highlight which groups are the most reported for soil monitoring and which are the most sensitive to soil degradation. We have decided not to include the two most present and abundant taxa, Acari and Collembola, in this paper in consideration of the vast amount of existing literature and focus the discussion on the other microarthropod groups. We reported some studies for each taxon highlighting the use of the group as soil quality indicator. A brief section reporting some indices based on soil microarthropods is proposed at the end of this specific discussion. This paper can be considered as a reference point in the use of soil arthropods to estimate soil quality and health.

scholarly journals Effects of Land-Use Change on Soil Functionality and Biodiversity: Toward Sustainable Planning of New Vineyards

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 358
Author(s):  
Elena Gagnarli ◽  
Giuseppe Valboa ◽  
Nadia Vignozzi ◽  
Donatella Goggioli ◽  
Silvia Guidi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Land Use Change ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Soil Microarthropods ◽  
Quick Recovery ◽  
Sustainable Planning ◽  
Soil Functionality ◽  
One Year ◽  
Soil Microarthropod

Sustainable agriculture largely depends on soil biodiversity and requires efficient methods to assess the effectiveness of agronomic planning. Knowledge of the landscape and relative pedosite is enriched by data on the soil microarthropod community, which represent useful bio-indicators for early soil-quality detection in land-use change (LUC). In the hilly Maremma region of Grosseto, Italy, two areas, a >10ys meadow converted into a vineyard and an old biodynamic vineyard (no-LUC), were selected for evaluating the LUC effect. For maintaining soil vitality and ecosystem services by meadow, the vineyard was planted and cultivated using criteria of the patented “Corino method”. The aim was to evaluate the LUC impact, within one year, by assessing parameters characterizing soil properties and soil microarthropod communities after the vineyard was planted. The adopted preservative method in the new vineyards did not show a detrimental impact on the biodiversity of soil microarthropods, and in particular, additional mulching contributed to a quick recovery from soil stress due to working the plantation. In the short term, the adopted agricultural context confirmed that the targeted objectives preserved the soil quality and functionality.

scholarly journals Refining physical aspects of soil quality and soil health when exploring the effects of soil degradation and climate change on biomass production: an Italian case study

SOIL ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonello Bonfante ◽  
Fabio Terribile ◽  
Johan Bouma
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Biomass Production ◽  
Soil Type ◽  
Soil Degradation ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Biological Indicators ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Physical Chemical

Abstract. This study focuses on soil physical aspects of soil quality and health with the objective to define procedures with worldwide rather than only regional applicability, reflecting modern developments in soil physical and agronomic research and addressing important questions regarding possible effects of soil degradation and climate change. In contrast to water and air, soils cannot, even after much research, be characterized by a universally accepted quality definition and this hampers the internal and external communication process. Soil quality expresses the capacity of the soil to function. Biomass production is a primary function, next to filtering and organic matter accumulation, and can be modeled with soil–water–atmosphere–plant (SWAP) simulation models, as used in the agronomic yield-gap program that defines potential yields (Yp) for any location on earth determined by radiation, temperature and standardized crop characteristics, assuming adequate water and nutrient supply and lack of pests and diseases. The water-limited yield (Yw) reflects, in addition, the often limited water availability at a particular location. Actual yields (Ya) can be considered in relation to Yw to indicate yield gaps, to be expressed in terms of the indicator (Ya/Yw)×100. Soil data to calculate Yw for a given soil type (the genoform) should consist of a range of soil properties as a function of past management (various phenoforms) rather than as a single representative dataset. This way a Yw-based characteristic soil quality range for every soil type is defined, based on semipermanent soil properties. In this study effects of subsoil compaction, overland flow following surface compaction and erosion were simulated for six soil series in the Destra Sele area in Italy, including effects of climate change. Recent proposals consider soil health, which appeals more to people than soil quality and is now defined by separate soil physical, chemical and biological indicators. Focusing on the soil function biomass production, physical soil health at a given time of a given type of soil can be expressed as a point (defined by a measured Ya) on the defined soil quality range for that particular type of soil, thereby defining the seriousness of the problem and the scope for improvement. The six soils showed different behavior following the three types of land degradation and projected climate change up to the year 2100. Effects are expected to be major as reductions of biomass production of up to 50 % appear likely under the scenarios. Rather than consider soil physical, chemical and biological indicators separately, as proposed now elsewhere for soil health, a sequential procedure is discussed, logically linking the separate procedures.

scholarly journals Refining physical aspects of soil quality and soil health when exploring the effects of soil degradation and climate change on biomass production: an Italian case study

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonello Bonfante ◽  
Fabio Terribile ◽  
Johan Bouma
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Biomass Production ◽  
Soil Degradation ◽  
Overland Flow ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Biological Indicators ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Physical Chemical

Abstract. This study is restriced to soil physical aspects of soil quality and – health with the objective to define procedures with worldwide rather than only regional applicability, reflecting modern developments in soil physical research and focusing on important questions regarding possible effects of soil degradation and climate change. In contrast to water and air, soils cannot, even after much research, be characterized by a universally accepted quality definition and this hampers the internal and external communication process. Soil quality expresses the capacity of the soil to function. Biomass production is a primary function, next to filtering and organic matter accumulation, and can be modeled with soil-water-plant-atmosphere simulation models, as used in the agronomic yield-gap program that defines potential yields (Yp) for any location on earth determined by radiation, temperature and standardized crop characteristics, assuming adequate water and nutrient supply and lack of pests and diseases. The water-limited yield (Yw) reflects, in addition, the often limited water availability at a particular location. Real yields (Ya) can be considered in relation to Yw to indicate yield gaps, to be expressed in terms of the indicator: (Ya/Yw) × 100. Soil data to calculate Yw for a given soil type (the genoform) should consist of a range of soil properties as a function of past management (various phenoforms) rather than as a single representative dataset. This way a Yw-based soil-characteristic soil quality range is defined, based on semi-permanent soil properties. In this study effects of subsoil compaction, overland flow following surface compaction and erosion were simulated for six soil series in the Destre Sele area in Italy, including effects of climate change. Recent proposals consider soil health, which appeals more to people than soil quality and is now defined by seperate soil physical, -chemical and – biological indicators. Focusing on the soil function biomass production, physical soil health at a given time of a given type of soil can be expressed as a point (defined by a measured Ya) on the defined soil quality range for that particular type of soil, thereby defining the seriousness of the problem and the scope for improvement. The six soils showed different behavior following the three types of land degradation and projected climate change up to the year 2100. Effects are expected to be major as reductions of biomass production of up to 50 % appear likely. Rather than consider soil physical, chemical and biological indicators seperately, as proposed now for soil health, a sequential procedure is suggested logically linking the seperate procedures.

Agroforestry buffer, biomass crop, and grain crop effects on soil quality and soil water use

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Salah Mahdi Alagele
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Soil Water ◽  
Soil Quality ◽  
Soil Degradation ◽  
Soil Microbial Biomass ◽  
Soil Depth ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Management Systems ◽  
Soil Microbial ◽  
Row Crop

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT REQUEST OF AUTHOR.] Soil degradation, impaired water quality, and reduced soil organic carbon have become major concerns in the management of degraded claypan soils with their associated ecological and environmental challenges. Restoration of degraded soils by the adoption of recommended perennial vegetative management systems can rehabilitate watersheds and lead to enhancing soil health. Sustainable management practices such as trees, grasses, biomass crops may avoid soil degradation as well as improve soil and water quality. The objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate the effects of different perennial vegetative management systems and soil depth (10-cm depth increments from the surface to the 40-cm depth) on soil bulk density (ρb), saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), soil water retention, and pore size distributions as compared to corn (Zea mays L.) -- soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation; (ii) to assess the influence of perennial mament systems, landscape positions (summit, backslope, and footslope), soil depth, and the distance from the tree base for the agroforestry buffer (AB) (50 and 150 cm) treatment on soil quality relative to row crop management; (iii) to determine the impacts of perennial vegetation practices and soil depth on soil water dynamics as compared to row crop system; (iv) to evaluate the effects of long-term perennial management and cropping systems, landscape positions, and the distance from the base of a tree trunk on soil microbial biomass and soil organic carbon (SOC); and (v) to assess the conservation vegetative management practice effects on potential evapotranspiration (ETo). The experiment was conducted at the Greenley Memorial Research Center in northeastern Missouri, USA. Vegetation management treatments were row crop (RC), grass buffer (GB), agroforestry buffer (AB), grass waterways (GWW), and biomass/biofuel crop (BC), which were established in 1991, 1997, 1997, 1997, and 2012, respectively. ... The results of these studies imply that the establishment of perennial vegetative management systems of trees, grasses, and biomass crops on degraded soils can improve soil hydraulic properties, soil quality, soil water storage, soil microbial biomass, and soil water use. These improvements may ameliorate the productivity of degraded claypan soils as well as provide more economical and environmental benefits. Perennial management systems such as trees and grasses can play a considerable role in enhancing soil health for future sustainable production and ecosystem services.

Transmission Electron Microscopy of Protein Macromolecules

1971 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 424-425
Author(s):  
Henry S. Slayter
Keyword(s):  
Biological Systems ◽  
Metal Vapor ◽  
Resolving Power ◽  
Electron Microscopic ◽  
Chemical Methods ◽  
Molecular Weights ◽  
The Past ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Transmission Electron

Electron microscopic methods have been applied increasingly during the past fifteen years, to problems in structural molecular biology. Used in conjunction with physical chemical methods and/or Fourier methods of analysis, they constitute powerful tools for determining sizes, shapes and modes of aggregation of biopolymers with molecular weights greater than 50, 000. However, the application of the e.m. to the determination of very fine structure approaching the limit of instrumental resolving power in biological systems has not been productive, due to various difficulties such as the destructive effects of dehydration, damage to the specimen by the electron beam, and lack of adequate and specific contrast. One of the most satisfactory methods for contrasting individual macromolecules involves the deposition of heavy metal vapor upon the specimen. We have investigated this process, and present here what we believe to be the more important considerations for optimizing it. Results of the application of these methods to several biological systems including muscle proteins, fibrinogen, ribosomes and chromatin will be discussed.

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