The widespread use of both heavy metals and antibiotics in livestock farming, followed by their subsequent arrival on agricultural soils through manure and slurry spreading, has become a problem of vital importance for human health and the environment. In the current research, a laboratory experiment was carried out for 42 d to study tolerance and co-tolerance of three tetracycline antibiotics (tetracycline

Microplastics are recognized as a factor of global change contaminating many environmental compartments. Agricultural soils are very likely to receive microplastic contamination and are of particular concern due to their role in food production. Microplastic fibers have already been shown to be able to affect soil properties, but their effect on different soil types is poorly understood. Moreover,

Abstract. The shortage of water resources and the decline in soil organic matter (SOM) are important limiting factors affecting the improvement of rice productivity, while alternate wetting and drying (AWD) irrigation and rice straw return are considered favorable mitigation measures. However, its impact on rice yield and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, especially nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, needs

Abstract. Weathering is widely used for pedogenesis and soil fertility studies, once it affects several soil attributes. Understanding the intensities of weathering can provide answers for environmental issues, soil and geosciences studies. Recently, there are available geotechnologies (such as geophysics and machine learning algorithms) that can be applied in soil science to provide pedosphere information

Abstract. Effects of oil-palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) management on silicon (Si) cycling under smallholder oil-palm plantations have hardly been investigated. As oil palms are Si accumulators, we hypothesized that management practices and topsoil erosion may cause Si losses and changes in spatial Si concentration patterns in topsoils under oil-palm cultivation. To test this hypothesis, we took topsoil

Abstract. Forest liming is a management tool that has and continues to be used extensively across northern Europe to counteract acidification processes from anthropogenic sulfur and nitrogen (N) deposition. In this study, we quantified how liming affects soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and attempt to disentangle the mechanisms responsible for the often-contrasting processes that regulate net soil

Abstract. To understand global soil organic matter (SOM) chemistry and its dynamics, we need tools to efficiently quantify SOM properties, for example prediction models using mid infrared spectra. However, the advantages of such models rely on their validity and accuracy. Recently, Hodgkins et al. (2018) developed models to quantitatively predict organic matter holocellulose and Klason lignin contents

The management of agricultural soils during crop establishment can affect root development due to changes in the soil structure. This paper assesses the influence of tillage depth (250 mm, 100 mm, and zero tillage) and traffic management (conventional tyre pressure, low tyre pressure, and no traffic) on wheat root system architecture during winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) tillering and flowering

Soil pollution with cadmium (Cd) has been threatening the human health. In this study, we investigated the possibility of applying biochar and oyster shell to reduce Cd uptake by crops and modify soil quality. A field study based on the rice–oilseed rape rotation was done, and the treatments were comprised without amendments (PA0) and with 15 000 kg ha−1 biochar (PA1), 15 000 kg ha−1 oyster shell (PA2)

Abstract. Carbon sequestration in soils under agricultural use can contribute to climate change mitigation. However, the spatial-temporal monitoring of soil organic carbon (SOC) requires more efficient data acquisition. The use of soil Vis-NIR spectroscopy is a promising research field in this context. However, the interpretation of the recorded spectral signal with regards to SOC is not trivial due

Soils and landscapes can show complex, nonlinear evolution, especially under changing climate or land use. Soil-landscape evolution models (SLEMs) are increasingly equipped to simulate the development of soils and landscapes over long timescales under these changing drivers, but provide large data output that can be difficult to interpret and communicate. New tools are required to analyze and visualize

Abstract. The until that time rather abstract debate about sustainable development has been focused by introducing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 and the related European Green Deal in 2019. Restricting attention to agriculture, proposed targets and indicators are, however, not specific enough to allow a focus for developing innovative and sustainable management practices

Recent studies have been engaged in estimating the adverse effects of microplastic (MP) on soil quality parameters. Mass concentrations of MP, as found in highly contaminated soils, have been shown to weaken the soil structure, and parts of the edaphon are adversely affected mainly by the <100 µm MP size fraction. However, the vast majority of these studies used pristine particles, which have surface

Abstract. Up-to-date digital soil resources information, and its comprehensive understanding, is crucial to support crop production and sustainable agricultural development. Generating such information through conventional approaches consumes time and resources, which is difficult for developing countries. In Ethiopia, the soil resource map that was in use is qualitative, dated (since 1984), and small-scale

Abstract. Identifying the drivers of soil organic carbon (SOC) stock changes is of utmost importance to contribute to global challenges like climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss or food security. Evaluating the impacts of land-use and management practices in agriculture and forestry on SOC is still challenging. Merging datasets or making databases interoperable is a promising way but

Abstract. A major obstacle to selecting the most appropriate crops and closing the yield gap in many areas of the world is a lack of site-specific soil information. Accurate information on soil properties is critical for identifying soil limitations and the management practices needed to improve crop yields. However, acquiring accurate soil information is often difficult due to the high spatial and

A potential effect of adjuvants/wetting agents added to the spray mixture on the water stability of soil aggregates (WSA) in agricultural soil was studied. Nine sites were chosen in the Czech Republic. Each site was mapped using representative soil pits (depth min. 1.3 m). A total of 54 mixed samples were collected from topsoil horizons on the selected sites. The samples were exposed to the action

Abstract. Adopting soil and crop management practices that conserve or enhance soil structure is critical for supporting the sustainable adaptation of agriculture to climate change, as it should help maintain agricultural production in the face of increasing drought or water excess without impairing environmental quality. In this paper, we evaluate the evidence for this assertion by synthesizing the

The roles of microorganisms in enhancing crop production have been demonstrated for a range of cropping systems. Most studies to date, however, have been confined to a limited number of locations, making it difficult to identify general soil biotic and abiotic characteristics underpinning the yield-promotion across various locations. This knowledge gap limits our capacity to harness soil microbiome

Abstract. Carbon is a key element for the functioning and productivity of tropical soils. While the impact of organic inputs on carbon storage in these soils is known, little is known about the contribution of non-cultivated trees. In this study, we measured carbon content in non-cultivated trees (VC), soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil total nitrogen (TN) in different land uses in a West African forest

Abstract. This study evaluates an optimized cropping system (including no-tillage, cover crops and organic amendments), as an alternative to conventional management for rainfed cereal cropping in a calcareous soil in a semi-arid Mediterranean climate zone in Navarre (Spain), based on the analysis of soil water retention curves (SWRC) and soil structure. In an agricultural area, plots were randomly

Abstract. Soil erosion rates on arable land frequently exceed the pace at which new soil is formed. This imbalance leads to soil thinning (i.e., truncation), whereby subsoil horizons and their underlying parent material become progressively closer to the land surface. As subsurface horizons often have contrasting properties to the original topsoil, truncation-induced changes to soil properties might

Abstract. A critical tool to succeed in sustainable spatial planning is accurate and detailed maps. To meet the sustainable development goals and enable sustainable management and protection of peatlands, there is a strong need for improving the mapping of peatlands. Here we present a novel approach to identify peat soils based on a high-resolution digital soil moisture map that was produced by combining

The sensitivity of chemical weathering to climatic and erosional forcing is well established at regional scales. However, soil formation is known to vary strongly along catenas where topography, hydrology, and vegetation cause differences in soil properties and, possibly, chemical weathering. This study applies the SoilGen model to evaluate the link between the topographic position and hydrology with

Abstract. The maintenance of the large soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks of the boreal forest under climate change is a matter of concern. In this study, major soil carbon pools and fluxes were assessed in twenty-two closed-canopy forests located along an elevation and latitudinal climatic gradient expanding 4 °C in mean annual temperature (MAT) for two important boreal conifer forest stand types: balsam

The saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) is a key soil hydraulic property governing agricultural production. However, the influence of the conversion from the conventional tillage (CT) to conservation tillage (CS; including no tillage, NT, and reduced tillage, RT) on the Ksat of soils is not well understood and still debated. In this study, we applied a global meta-analysis method to synthesize

Understanding the relationship between soil microbial taxonomic compositions and functional profiles is essential for predicting ecosystem functions under various environmental disturbances. However, even though microbial communities are sensitive to disturbance, ecosystem functions remain relatively stable, as soil microbes are likely to be functionally redundant. Microbial functional redundancy may

Soil degradation is a global challenge that is intrinsically linked to climate change and food security. Soil degradation has many causes, but all degraded soils suffer from poor soil structure. The increasing global production of water treatment residual (WTR), an organo-mineral waste product from clean water treatment, means that the sustainable reuse of this waste provides a potential timely opportunity

Land use is known to exert a dominant impact on a range of essential soil functions like water retention, carbon sequestration, organic matter cycling and plant growth. At the same time, land use management is known to have a strong influence on soil structure, e.g., through bioturbation, tillage and compaction. However, it is often unclear whether the differences in soil structure are the actual cause

Improving N cycling in agroecosystems is one of the key challenges in reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture. Further, uncertainty in precipitation makes crop water management relevant in regions where it has not been necessary thus far. Here, we focus on the potential of winter-killed catch crops (CCs) to reduce N leaching losses from N mineralization over the winter and from soil water

E or pyriminobac-methyl (EPM), a pyrimidine benzoic acid esters herbicide, has a high potential as weedicide; nevertheless, its environmental behaviors are still not well understood. In this study, we systematically investigated, for the first time, the adsorption–desorption, degradation, and leaching behaviors of EPM in agricultural soils from five exemplar sites in China (Phaeozems – S1; Anthrosol – S2;

Soil fungi play important roles in the functioning of ecosystems, but they are challenging to measure. Using a continental-scale dataset, we developed and evaluated a new method to estimate the relative abundance of the dominant phyla and diversity of fungi in Australian soil. The method relies on the development of spectrotransfer functions with state-of-the-art machine learning and uses publicly

Conservation agriculture (CA) relies on the following three key practices to improve agricultural sustainability: crop rotation, reduced tillage, and cover crop usage. Despite known soil physical benefits (reduced soil compaction and strength, enhanced soil porosity, and permeability), inconsistent reports on short-term CA results have limited its adoption in the European agroecosystems. To elucidate

Abstract. Inversion tillage is a commonly applied soil cultivation practice in Europe, which though has been blamed for deteriorating topsoil stability and organic carbon (OC) content. In this study, the potential to reverse these negative effects in the topsoil by alternative agricultural management practices are evaluated in five long-term experiments (running from 8 to 54 years the moment of sampling)

We studied the long-term impact of contrasting tillage and cover cropping systems on soil structure and hydraulic properties. Complete water retention and conductivity curves for the top (0–5 cm) and subsurface (20–25 cm) soils were characterized and contrasted. Dynamic water storage and retention were evaluated using numerical simulations in HYDRUS-2D software. Compared with standard-till (ST) and

Biochar production and application as soil amendment is a promising carbon (C)-negative technology to increase soil C sequestration and mitigate climate change. However, there is a lack of knowledge about biochar degradation rate in soil and its effects on native soil organic carbon (SOC), mainly due to the absence of long-term experiments performed in field conditions. The aim of this work was to

Including information about soil microbial communities into global decomposition models is critical for predicting and understanding how ecosystem functions may shift in response to global change. Here we combined a standardised litter bag method for estimating decomposition rates, the Tea Bag Index (TBI), with high-throughput sequencing of the microbial communities colonising the plant litter in the

Abstract. Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) composed of cyanobacteria, bacteria, algae, fungi, lichens, and bryophytes stabilize the soil surface. This effect has mainly been studied in arid climates, where biocrusts constitute the main biological agent to stabilize and connect soil aggregates. Besides, biocrusts are an integral part of the soil surface under mediterranean and humid climate conditions

Soil microbial communities play a crucial role in ecosystem functioning. Past research has examined the effects of forest conversion on soil microbial composition and diversity, but it remains unknown how networks within these communities respond to forest conversion, including when tropical rainforests are replaced with rubber plantations. Microbial networks are viewed as critical indicators of soil

To expand the knowledge base on natural infrastructure for erosion mitigation in the Andes, it is necessary to move beyond case by case empirical studies to comprehensive assessments. This study reviews the state of evidence on the effectiveness of interventions to mitigate soil erosion by water and is based on Andean case studies published in gray and peer-reviewed literature. Based on a systematic

Soil organic matter (SOM) is an indispensable component of terrestrial ecosystems. Soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics are influenced by a number of well-known abiotic factors such as clay content, soil pH, or pedogenic oxides. These parameters interact with each other and vary in their influence on SOC depending on local conditions. To investigate the latter, the dependence of SOC accumulation on parameters

Abstract. Land use is recognized to impact soil geochemistry on the centennial to millennial time scale, with implications for the distribution and stability of soil organic carbon (SOC). Juvenile volcanic soils in tropical areas are subject to much faster pedogenesis, with then also possibly a significant mediation by land use on much shorter centennial or even decadal scale. Very scarce observational

Abstract. Soil ecological stoichiometry offers a sort of effective way to explore the distribution, cycling, limitation, and balance of chemical elements in tea plantation ecosystems. This study was aim to explore how soil organic C (OC) and nutrient contents (total N (TN), total P (TP), Ca2+, Mg2+, Fe2+, and Mn2+) as well as their stoichiometric ratios (C / N, C / P, N / P, Ca / Mg, and Fe / Mn) vary

Abstract. Black carbon (BC) plays an important role in terrestrial carbon storage and can improve sustainably soil fertility. Nevertheless, the accurate quantification of BC remains a critical issue to fully unravel the functions and dynamics of BC in soil. In this work, we explored the potential of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) to identify, characterize and quantify charcoal in the soil

Abstract. Mining can cause severe disturbances to the soil, which underpins the viability of terrestrial ecosystems. Post-mining rehabilitation relies on measuring soil properties that are critical soil health indicators. Soil visible–near-infrared (vis–NIR) spectroscopy is rapid, relatively accurate and cost-effective for estimating a range of soil properties. Recent advances in infrared detectors

Stony soils that have a considerable amount of rock fragments (RFs) are widespread around the world. However, experiments to determine the effective soil hydraulic properties (SHPs) of stony soils, i.e., the water retention curve (WRC) and hydraulic conductivity curve (HCC), are challenging. Installation of measurement devices and sensors in these soils is difficult, and the data are less reliable

The use of wireless sensor networks to measure soil parameters eliminates the need to remove sensors for field operations, such as tillage, thus allowing long-term measurements without multiple disturbances to soil structure. Wireless sensors also reduce above-ground cables and the risk of undesired equipment damage and potential data loss. However, implementing wireless sensor networks in field studies

Abstract. Floodplain soilscapes act as temporary sinks in the environment and are nowadays affected by multiple contaminant accumulations and exposures, including heavy metals and (micro-)plastics. Despite increasing knowledge of the occurrence and behaviour of (micro-)plastics at the interface between aquatic and terrestrial systems, there are still major uncertainties about the spatial distribution

Abstract. Soil extracellular enzymes are central in terrestrial ecosystem responses to climate change, and their research can be crucial for assessing microbial nutrient demand. However, the effects of climate-induced precipitation patterns on soil microbial nutrient demand in different soil profiles of agroecosystems are rarely studied. Here, we present how the precipitation gradient affects soil

Abstract. Biochar has been widely used for the in-situ remediation in the cadmium (Cd) contaminated soil, while the high-cost of biochar limited its application in farmland. In this study, we firstly investigated the possibility of cooperative application of oyster shell and biochar to enhance Cd immobilization efficiency and reduce the cost in field experiments under rice-oilseed rape rotation. Treatments

Subsoil carbon (C) stocks are a prime target for efforts to increase soil C storage for climate change mitigation. However, subsoil C dynamics are not well understood, especially in soils under long-term intensive agricultural management. We compared subsoil C storage and soil organic matter (SOM) composition in tomato–corn rotations after 25 years of differing C and nutrient management in the California

Rhizosheath size varies significantly with crop genotype, and root exudation is one among its driving factors. Unravelling the relationships between rhizosheath formation, root exudation and soil carbon dynamics may bring interesting perspectives in terms of crop breeding towards sustainable agriculture. Here we grew four pearl millet (C4 plant type: δ13C of −12.8 ‰, F14C = 1.012) inbred lines showing

Crop rotation and biofertilizer application have historically been employed as efficient management strategies for soil-borne disease suppression through soil microbiome manipulation. However, how this occurs and to what extent the combination of methods affects the microbiota reconstruction of diseased soil is unknown. In this study, pineapple–banana rotation combined with biofertilizer application

Agricultural plastic covers made from polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) provide increased yields and an improved crop quality. However, such covers are suspected of partially breaking down into smaller debris and thereby contributing to soil pollution with microplastics. To scrutinize this, we randomly sampled 240 topsoil cores (0–5 cm) from eight fields which were covered with fleeces, perforated

Abstract. Understanding the relationship between soil microbial taxonomic compositions and functional profiles is essential for predicting ecosystem functions under various environmental disturbances. However, even though microbial communities are sensitive to disturbance, ecosystem functions remain relatively stable, as soil microbes are likely to be functionally redundant. Microbial functional redundancy

At the early stages of pedogenesis, the dynamics of phosphorus (P) in soils are controlled by microbial communities, the physicochemical properties of the soil and the environmental conditions. While various microorganisms involved in carrying out biogeochemical processes have been identified, little is known about the actual contribution of microbial processes, such as organic P hydrolysis and microbial

Biochar is purported to provide agricultural benefits when added to the soil, through changes in saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) and increased nutrient retention through chemical or physical means. Despite increased interest and investigation, there remains uncertainty regarding the ability of biochar to deliver these agronomic benefits due to differences in biochar feedstock, production method

Abstract. Microplastic is recognized as a factor of global change affecting many environmental compartments. Agricultural soils are likely hotspots of microplastic contamination in terrestrial ecosystems and are of particular concern due to their role in food production. Microplastic has already been shown to be able to affect soil properties, but its effect on different soil types is poorly understood

Abstract. Free amino acids (FAAs) in soil play an important role in the soil nitrogen cycle and plant nutrition. However, the attributing factors and migration characteristics of free amino acid pools in paddy soils after green manure application during the entire growth period of rice have not been elucidated. In this study, a single application of chemical fertilizer (CK) was used as a control under

Abstract. The management of agricultural soils during crop establishment can affect root development by changes to soil structure. This paper assesses the influence of tillage depth (250 mm, 100 mm & zero) and traffic management (conventional tyre pressure, low tyre pressure & no traffic) on wheat root system architecture during winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) tillering and flowering growth stages