Using of soil quality indicators to assess their production and ecological functions

The project dealt with an evaluation of the soil quality in the Central Bohemian Region in the Czech Republic. The relevant attributes and characteristics were found regarding the soils in this selected area. Based on the data from soil probes, climate characteristics, soil production function and data on the land use, the characteristics, known as soil quality indicators, were selected. Then the soils were sorted into groups which indicated their suitability for the best land use and planning. The characteristics of the soils that contributed the most to the ecosystem services provided by this part of the environment were chosen as the soil quality indicators. In order to find out how the soils are able to provide ecosystem services, two types of approaches were used – the average score and the total amount of points gained. Maps indicating the soil quality were created using the ArcGIS program. At the same time, research on the differences in the quality in two different layers of the soil was carried out. In most cases, there was a decrease in the soil quality with an increasing depth. The results of this project can be used as a basis for a new soil valuation in the Czech Republic.

Ecological Study of Aquaponics Bacterial Microbiota over the Course of a Lettuce Growth Cycle

The study of microorganisms in aquaponics is an important topic which requires more research before exploiting the full potential of beneficial microorganisms. In this experiment, we focused on the evolution over time of the bacterial communities in four compartments of an aquaponic system i.e., the sump, the biofilter, the lettuce rhizoplane and lettuce root. We studied these communities over the course of a lettuce growth cycle via regular sampling and sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene of the collected bacteria. We also followed the physicochemical parameters of the aquaponic water throughout the experiment. Results show that a different community could be found in each compartment and that all four communities were stable throughout time and resilient to naturally occurring water parameter changes which characterize functioning aquaponic systems. Furthermore, the communities of the sump and biofilter also seem stable over the years as the predominant taxa (Luteolibacter, Flavobacterium, Nitrospira) observed in our study are similar to the ones previously reported for this aquaponic system. Finally, our results provide proof for similarities between aquaponic and soil borne lettuce root communities (gammaproteobacteria, Flavobacterium, Pseudomonadaceae, Sphingomonadaceae) thus showing that aquaponics can be similar to soil production in terms of microbial life.

Evaluation of Pesticide Application Equipment Efficiency for Pests Control and Safety of the users, a Review

The technical state of the equipment used for pesticide application could guarantee effectiveness of pesticide and the safety of the users. Different types of nozzles and the portable, tractor-drawn and aerial equipment are deployed through alternative methods of application. In particular, more vital information is needed to ensure better choice of equipment, especially the nozzles, and calibration to ensure the correct dosage is applied. More concern for inherent danger has engendered health and safety legislation leading towards linking packaging of pesticides with the application equipment to provide a closed transfer system minimizing operator exposure. Synthetic pesticides are extensively deployed in the control of harmful pests and thus prevent crop yield losses or product damage in modern agriculture. Therefore pesticide of high biological activity usually exhibited long persistence in the environment and caused undesirable effects to human health. However, farmers may be exposed to the effect of pesticides even when performing activities not directly related to pesticide use. Hence, farmers can face major exposure from manual direct spray, drift from neighboring fields, or by contact with pesticide residues on the treated crop or soil. Production of cash crop is still dependent on pesticides to attain acceptable levels of high crop yield. However, poor insecticide coverage resulting from the use of inefficient application equipment, wrong timing, irregularity and wrong technique of spraying are capable of accelerating the rate at which insects develop resistance to insecticides. Hence, along with the screening of new insecticides, fungicides and herbicides, new spraying pumps are usually evaluated by the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria (CRIN), for their efficiency before they are recommended for use in the application of cocoa pesticides and spraying equipment in Nigeria.

Developmental History of Soil Concepts from a Scientific Perspective

Various soil concepts have emerged since the beginning of the twentieth century, with some shared similarities. These concepts have contributed to a rise in the awareness of protecting limited soil resources, but not every idea has equally gained widespread attention from scientists. The purpose of this study was to document the developmental history of 10 soil concepts from 1900 to 2018 and investigate their growth/decline. Articles containing words related to the selected soil concepts in titles, abstracts, or publication contents available in the Web of Science were examined. “Soil production” was the oldest concept, found in a paper published in 1910, followed chronologically in the literature by soil care, fertility, conservation, quality, health, protection, security, sustainability, and resilience. Most of the concepts were initially found in non-soil-science journals that predated publications in soil science journals, which implies slowness of the soil science community’s adoption. The statistical publication trend for each concept over time was analyzed and interpreted based on diffusion of innovation theory. The results suggest that all of the soil concepts experienced a statistically positive/upward shift (p < 0.01) over time. In particular, soil concepts cited in soil science journals tended to maintain their momentum and communal value over time in soil science research, except the soil care concept. Applications of soil concept research based on collaboration between scientists of different nationalities, affiliations, and research expertise would further increase the possibility of citation frequency and foster interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration.

Vegetation and climate effects on soil production, chemical weathering, and physical erosion rates

Weathering of bedrock to produce regolith is essential for sustaining life on Earth and global biogeochemical cycles. The rate of this process is influenced not only by tectonics, but also by climate and biota. Here we investigate these interactions with new observations of soil production, chemical weathering, and physical erosion rates from the large climate and vegetation gradient of the Chilean Coastal Cordillera (26° to 38° S). These findings are compared to a global compilation of published data from similar settings. The four Chilean study areas span (from North to South): arid (Pan de Azúcar), semi-arid (Santa Gracia), mediterranean (La Campana) and temperate humid (Nahuelbuta) climate zones. We test the hypotheses that: 1) soil production as well as chemical weathering rates increase with increasing mean annual precipitation; 2) physical erosion rates stabilize as vegetation cover increases; and 3) the contribution of chemical weathering to total denudation is constant over the climate gradient.We find observed soil production rates range from ~7 to 290 t/(km2 yr) and are lowest in the sparsely vegetated and arid North, increase southward toward the vegetated mediterranean climate, and then decrease further South in the temperate humid zone. This trend is discussed and compared with global data from similar catchments underlain by granitic lithologies. Calculated chemical weathering rates range from zero in the arid North to a high value of 211 t/(km2 yr) in the mediterranean zone. Chemical weathering rates are comparable in the semi-arid and temperate humid zones (~20 t/(km2 yr). Physical erosion rates are low in the arid zone (~11 t/(km2 yr)) and increase towards the South (~ 40 t/(km2 yr)). Combined total chemical weathering and physical erosion rates indicate that denudation rates are lowest in the arid North and highest in the Mediterranean climate zone. The contribution of chemical weathering to total denudation rates increases and then decreases with increasing mean annual precipitation from North to South. The observation that the calculated chemical weathering rates in the southernmost location, with the highest mean annual precipitation and the highest chemical index of alteration, are not the highest of all four study areas is found to be consistent with the global data analysis.

Hydroponic Garlic Production: An Overview

Introduction: Garlic is an important crop growing all around the globe for its nutritional and medicinal purpose. Due to climate change soil production of garlic is affected and thus lower in yield. For improving the yield and increasing the quality of vegetables a new technique was developed is called hydroponic technology. Review results: In hydroponic, garlic can be produced on condition basis by providing proper nutrition and growth environment including air, light, soilless mediums, and water requirements. Methods like deep water culture, nutrient film technique, drip irrigation, bubble ponics are very common under different soilless mediums which includes organic, inorganic and synthetic. A detailed overview on production technology, nutrition, medium and hydroponic techniques which are discussed in details are given below in this review.

Methane Stem Fluxes Under Elevated CO2

&lt;p&gt;Tree stems can exchange CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; with the atmosphere at rates that can strongly affect GHG budgets at regional scales. However, we do not know those fluxes&amp;#8217; sensitivity to different components of climate change, such as the increase in concentrations of atmospheric CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;. An increase in CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; concentrations might result in a change of water use efficiency, reducing transpiration fluxes, which may enhance soil methanogenesis due to an associated increase in soil water content. Additionally, an increase of CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; could also stimulate net primary production, increasing the supply of fresh carbohydrates to the rhizosphere, and thus stimulating CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; production in soil anaerobic microsites which may themselves become larger or more numerous due to the additional oxygen demand placed by the fresh carbohydrate on the soil atmosphere. Given the positive relation between soil and stem CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; exchange processes, any increase in soil CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; production may result in higher stem emissions. However, that effect of soil production on stem fluxes might decrease with stem height, with lower fluxes or even CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; uptake at higher stem heights. In this study, we present preliminary data on spatial and temporal variability of stem CH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; fluxes measured in mature oak trees growing under both control and elevated CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; concentrations (~150 ppm above atmospheric concentrations) in a FACE experiment (free air CO&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt; enrichment; BIFoR-FACE). These data may be crucial for informing processed based models on how forests GHG fluxes might behave under predicted future climate conditions.&lt;/p&gt;

The convexity of carbonate hilltops: 36Cl constraints on denudation and chemical weathering rates and implications for hillslope curvature

Carbonate hillslopes are often soil mantled and display a classic convex morphology. In this study we examine controls on carbonate hillslope denudation and morphology using a modified regolith mass balance equation to account for chemical weathering and dust input—two fluxes that are commonly neglected in settings with silicate-dominated bedrock. We utilize seven study sites in the Eastern Mediterranean across a significant gradient in the mean annual rainfall and dust deposition flux. Combining cosmogenic 36Cl-derived hilltop denudation rates with an estimate of the regolith chemical depletion and the quantified fraction of dust in the regolith we predict hilltop curvature and compare our predictions with observations based on high-resolution airborne LiDAR (light detection and ranging). Denudation rates vary from 5 to 210 mm/k.y. and increase with mean annual rainfall. Less resistant carbonates (chalk) experience faster denudation rates relative to more resistant dolo-limestone and are less prone to chemical weathering. Soil production exhibits a humped dependency on soil thickness. The observed hilltop curvature varies as a function of rainfall and dust flux with a minimum at sub-humid sites. While trends in hilltop convexity are often solely attributed to variations in erosion rate, our results illustrate the additional effects of dust production and chemical depletion. Our mass balance model implies that drier sites in the south probably experienced a more intricate history of regolith production due to dust flux fluctuations. Thus, by incorporating dust flux and chemical weathering to the classic hillslope evolution model we are able to identify a complex relation between hilltop curvature, soil production, and climate.