To describe various important soil processes like the release of greenhouse gases or the proliferation of microorganisms, it is necessary to assess quantitatively how the geometry and in particular the connectivity of the air-filled pore space of a soil evolves as it is progressively dried. The availability of X-ray computed microtomography (μCT) images of soil samples now allows this information to

Wheeling induced compression and shearing forces are main stresses accounting for soil deformation and changes of hydraulic, gaseous, and thermal properties. There are reports about the combined effects of compaction and subsequent shearing on soil hydraulic properties, but their consequences on soil strength properties (i.e., effective stress and shear strength) need to be further analyzed. This study

Plastic film mulching (PFM) is critical for agricultural planting and maximizing production in semiarid and arid areas. Particulate organic matter (POM) is assumed to be a sensitive indicator of evaluating the effects for different agricultural practices on soil fertility and the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool. Soil aggregates have the function of “wrap” and protect the POM stored in them. However

As global warming becomes more pronounced, climate change and human activities are leading to frequent peat fire incidents. Fire plays an important role in the environmental distribution of trace metals in peat soil. In the current study, we collected peat soils from six peatlands of the Great Khingan Mountains in Northeast China, where wildfires have often occurred in recent decades. Aerobic (AE)

Alpine wetlands and meadow across the Three Rivers Source Region (TRSR) store high soil organic carbon (SOC). However, information on factors affecting SOC storage is scanty. Herein, we investigated SOC storage and explored factors affecting SOC storage, including climate, soil properties, above- and belowground biomass, using 50 soil profiles across the TRSR on the Tibetan Plateau. The SOC storage

Wind erosion is a physical process predominated by airborne grains rather than the wind itself. The soil deformation is either elastic-plastic or fully plastic during its collisions with solid grains, corresponding to dense and loose soils, respectively. Only the fully plastic deformation was previously taken into account in the physically-based wind erosion models. The impact erosion of dry and dense

Over the last few years, in the literature on the incorporation of crop residues in agricultural fields to mitigate climate change, there has been a growing tendency to no longer distinguish between the storage and the sequestration of organic carbon in soils. Applying, apparently for the first time, a simple “back-of-the-envelope” calculation to available mineralization kinetics data, we show graphically

Information about water retention in stony soils lags behind due to methodological difficulties. We applied a new strategy to measure the water retention in soils with coarse fragments and to get insights into the effect of coarse fragment porosity on water retention. Water retention at zero, 10, and 150 m suction, bulk density, and the mass fraction of six particle size classes were measured in undisturbed

Zhang, J., Chen, H., Fu, Z., Luo, Z., Wang, F., & Wang, K. (2022). Effect of soil thickness on rainfall infiltration and runoff generation from karst hillslopes during rainstorms. European Journal of Soil Science, 73, e13288. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejss.13288 Affiliation 3 was originally published with an error. It should be: University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China We apologize for

Changes in soil organic carbon (SOC) storage in agricultural land are an important part of the Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry component of national greenhouse gas emission inventories. Furthermore, as climate mitigation strategies and incentives for carbon farming are being developed, accurate estimates of SOC stocks are essential to verify any management-induced changes in SOC. Based on agricultural

Spectroscopic modelling of soil has advanced greatly with the development of large spectral libraries, computational resources and statistical modelling. The use of complex statistical and algorithmic tools from the field of machine learning has become popular for predicting properties from their visible, near- and mid-infrared spectra. Many users, however, find it difficult to trust the predictions

Aeolian dust emissions can cause many environmental hazards, like accelerating land degradation and desertification, polluting air, harming human health, and so on. The dryland areas of China (DAC) are hot spots of aeolian dust emissions. To date, many efforts have been paid to researching dust emissions processes and effects, but research studies on ecosystems' function in preventing dust emissions

Microbial communities were studied in redoximorphic microsites of highly heterogeneous Gleysol at a mm scale using 16S and 18S amplicon sequencing to demonstrate if the composition of soil microbes reflects the differences in ferric and ferrous micro-sites. In both explored gley horizons with redoximorphic features (Bg2 and Cg), ferric mottles were significantly enriched with total P and Fe and depleted

An unsolved problem in the digital mapping of categorical soil variables and soil types is the imbalanced number of observations, which leads to reduced accuracy and the loss of the minority class (the class with a significantly lower number of observations compared to other classes) in the final map. So far, synthetic over- and under-sampling techniques have been explored in soil science; however

The functioning of the nitrous oxide (N2O) reductase enzyme involved in the last step of denitrification is pH sensitive, with an optimum of 6.8. A solution to mitigate N2O emissions would be to bring soil pH close to neutrality by adding agricultural liming products (aglime). Nevertheless, the influence of aglime on the soil greenhouse gas (GHG) balance (CO2–N2O) is a subject of debate, particularly

Agricultural soils are a major source of the potent greenhouse gas and ozone depleting substance, N2O. To implement management practices that minimize microbial N2O production and maximize its consumption (i.e., complete denitrification), we must understand the interplay between simultaneously occurring biological and physical processes, especially how this changes with soil depth. Meaningfully disentangling

Plant residues are often used as soil amendments in laboratory experiments, but they can reportedly release compounds interfering with soil DNA extraction and subsequent molecular biological analyses. Theoretically, for accurate comparison of microbial community composition in soils with and without added plant residues after a period of incubation, no significant difference at the beginning of the

Long-term experiments (LTEs) have provided data to modellers and agronomists to investigate changes and dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) under different cropping systems. As treatment changes have occurred due to agricultural advancements, so too have analytical soil methods. This may lead to method bias over time, which could affect the robust interpretation of data and conclusions drawn. This

Soils are typically subjected to multiple wetting–drying (WD) cycles due to irrigation and seasonal climate cycles, which directly impact soil pore structure and soil aggregate stability. Poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) is a polymer used to improve soil water holding capacity and plant growth. However, the impact of γ-PGA on soil pore structure requires further research, particularly under WD cycles.

Splash erosion plays a vital role in the loss of eroded materials. Unlike those in slope central areas, laterally ejected splashed materials in slope border areas cannot be replenished easily because slope edges prevent splash erosion particles from entering the slope. Thus, splashed materials in slope border areas are less than those in slope central areas because of the lack of source areas for splash-eroded

Rapid soil testing and soil quality assessment are essential to address soil degradation and low farm incomes in smallholder farms. With the objective of testing diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) to rapidly assess soil chemical properties, nutrient content and a soil quality index (SQI), samples of surface soil were collected from 1113 smallholder farms in seven districts in Bundelkhand region

Over the last decade, the ecosystem services (ESs) framework has been increasingly used to support mapping and assessment studies for sustainable land management purposes. Previous analysis of practical applications has revealed the significance of the spatial scale at which input data are obtained. This issue is particularly problematic with soil data that are often unavailable or available only at

Secondary and trace elements may be limiting soil microbial functioning, albeit microbial demand and content remain largely unknown and methods for their in situ detection are limited. Thus, the objective of the present study was to take the first step towards the method development for the assessment of the soil microbial ionome, that is, the elemental composition of soil microbial communities. Chloroform

The partition of materials that react with soil between the solid and the solution phase, and how this changes with time, can often be described by a simple equation: S = a cb1tb2 where S is the amount sorbed, c is the solution concentration, t the time of contact, and a, b1 and b2 are parameters. However, when the range of values for sorption is large, it is apparent that both b1 and b2 increase with

Soils are composed of wide-ranged grains and grain size distribution (GSD) is the fundamental characteristic determining the physical and hydraulic properties. Previously we have proposed a GSD function for various soils. However, the remarkable discrepancy in the distribution occurs in some soils, which not only limits the applicability of the function but also raises doubt as to the possibility of

Dispersive soil has caused innumerable water-induced erosion failures of earthen structures in arid regions up to now, among which disintegration, as the first response process, is commonly deemed as the primary inducement but with inadequate understanding. In this study, the disintegration characteristics of a compacted dispersive lean clay with sand were investigated by carrying out laboratory disintegration

Northeast and East China account for ~36% of the Chinese rice cultivation area, yet considerable spatial disparities in nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) exist between these regions. The underlying causes remain poorly understood. Herein, we conducted a case study in two sample sites from two regions, Wuchang and Changshu, using multi-scale evidence chains spanning macro- and micro- processes to identify

The extramatrical mycelium of ectomycorrhizal fungi (EMF) is an important source of soil carbon and nitrogen. While the importance of recalcitrant compounds in the fungal cell wall has been explored earlier, the contribution of highly abundant but labile components, like glucans, and the role of their temporal dynamics during decomposition remains unknown. For the first time, we examined how the concentration

The combination of nitrogen (N) fertilization and straw incorporation has complex influences on soil N transformations and derived nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. This study aimed to reveal the coupled effects of straw returning forms and N fertilizer management on soil N2O emissions. Here, carbon (C) sources with varied availabilities were supplied by different straw returning forms, including straw

Soil organic nitrogen (N) cycling processes constitute a bottleneck of soil N cycling, yet little is known about how tree species composition may influence these rates, and even less under changes in soil water availability such as those that are being induced by climate change. In this study, we used a 12-year-old tree biodiversity experiment in southwestern France to assess the interactive effects

Pedometricians have spent a lot of effort on mapping soil types and basic soil properties. However, end-users typically need a more elaborate soil quality index for land management. Soil quality indices are typically derived from multiple individual soil properties by evaluating whether specific criteria are met. If this is based on individually mapped soil properties, then an important consequence

Spatiotemporal characterisation of the soil redox status within the capillary fringe (CF) is a challenging task. Air-filled porosities (ε), oxygen concentration (O2) and soil redox potential (EH) are interrelated soil variables within active biogeochemical domains such as the CF. We investigated the impact of water table (WT) rise and drainage in an undisturbed topsoil and subsoil sample taken from

When exposed to water, dispersive (D) soils are eroded and washed away by underground or surface flowing waters. Although soil dispersion is due to its chemical composition, the results of the commonly used chemical method, that is, the Sherard approach, do not match with those of the popular robust Pinhole test. Due to the deficiency of the chemical method, this study aimed to employ artificial intelligence

The uncertainty of soil respiration under the influence of rainfall significantly affects the carbon flux in forest ecosystems. Thus, this study assessed the impact mechanism of aggregate changes on short-term forest soil microbial respiration under rainfall simulation. The response of short-term soil microbial respiration to the variation in aggregate distribution, carbon concentration in the aggregate

Soil may be a carbon source or sink under the effect of sediment and soil organic carbon (SOC) erosion, transport and deposition. Partial SOC processes to determine whether soil subjected to water erosion is a carbon sink or source have not been clarified but are essential for increasing and predicting SOC storage. In this review, the associations between SOC mineralization, stability and stock at

Terrestrial enhanced rock weathering (ERW) is a carbon dioxide removal technology that aims at accelerating one of the most powerful negative feedbacks on Earth's climate, the chemical weathering of silicates. To achieve this, ERW proposes to spread ground silicate rock on agricultural soils. According to many models, global application rates of 40 tonnes of ground basaltic rock per hectare and per

Soils provide services that can increase food security and mitigate global warming. Simulation modelling of biophysical processes is one approach used to estimate values of soil ecosystem services (SES) based on soil properties and climate conditions. The SES are usually investigated using statistical approaches that assume that values of SES are normally distributed. This assumption, however, ignores

Polyphosphate fertilizer is an alternative to traditional orthophosphate fertilizer, but it is unclear whether it provides greater soil phosphorus (P) mobility and availability than orthophosphate fertilizer. This study aimed to examine the chemical behaviour of polyphosphate after its application to the soil. The hydrolysis, sorption, and P transformation of two types of polyphosphate fertilizers

Fluxes of the powerful greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) are mainly quantified using manually operated or automatic non-steady-state chambers. With both systems, fluxes are calculated as the change in N2O concentration over time using linear or non-linear regression, but the type of regression selected can have a strong influence on the N2O flux magnitude. The HMR package, a regression-based implementation

Cosmic-ray neutron sensing (CRNS) is a promising method for the continuous monitoring of soil water content (θv) at the hectometre scale. However, few studies have validated its applicability within the complex terrains of various ecosystems in semiarid loess regions. In this study, CRNS-based θv was measured on China's Loess Plateau under two managed ecosystems (Caragana korshinskii K. shrubland [KOS]

Conservation agriculture (CA) is an agronomic system based on minimum soil disturbance (no-tillage, NT), permanent soil cover, and species diversification. The effects of NT on soil organic carbon (SOC) changes have been widely studied, showing somewhat inconsistent conclusions, especially in relation to the Mediterranean and humid subtropical climates. These areas are highly vulnerable and predicted

Microorganisms play pivotal roles in soil processes. Metabolically related microorganisms constitute functional groups, and diverse microbial functional groups control nutrient cycling in soils. This study explored environmental (i.e., rainfall, temperature) and soil factors driving the distribution of bacterial functional groups involved in soil carbon (C) cycling in paired natural and agricultural

Torrential rainfall regimes, among others, are the origin of accelerated soil erosion. The Spanish southeastern Mediterranean region is characterised by an arid climate regime affected by extreme erosion episodes with an important loss of sediments. Soil erosion effects are even more noticeable in areas where soil has been anthropically degraded, as in the mining district of Sierra Minera de Cartagena

The soil freezing characteristic curve (SFCC) has applications in determining the soil water retention curve (SWRC) and modelling thermal and hydrological processes in cold regions. Accurate measurement of the SFCC in the laboratory has been constrained to the thawing process because of the interference of supercooling during the freezing process. In this study, we introduce a dynamic method based

Floodplain ecosystems play a significant role in the global carbon (C) cycle, particularly due to their C sink potential in hardwood floodplain forests. However, in these forests, interactions between a heterogeneous micro-relief and anthropogenic landscape changes make estimating C loss through soil CO2 efflux difficult. To determine the drivers of soil CO2 efflux, we selected six hardwood floodplain

Soil acidification has occurred and accelerated in Jiaodong Peninsula, China, causing serious problems, such as manganese (Mn) toxicity and soil organic carbon (SOC) losses. However, the relationships between SOC and soil Mn are still unclear. This study aimed to explore the changes of Mn fractions and SOC under soaking conditions and the acidification-induced positive coupled relationship between

Agricultural production is facing a challenging transition through changing political framework conditions and climate change. Innovative field use and land management through temporal and spatial diversification measures support the political efforts to achieve the European Green Deal. However, increasing precipitation intensities through climate change are leading to an increased risk of soil erosion

Two methodological approaches are commonly used to investigate heterotrophic nitrification (Nith) in soil: process inhibitions and 15N tracing. Although many studies have reported Nith based on 15N tracing approaches, estimates via specific inhibitor are less common. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis to illustrate the similarities and differences of the results of soil Nith between the two approaches

Soils store vast amounts of carbon (C) on land, and increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in already managed soils such as croplands may be one way to remove C from the atmosphere, thereby limiting subsequent warming. The main objective of this study was to estimate the amount of additional C input needed to annually increase SOC stocks by 4‰ at 16 long-term agricultural experiments in Europe

The primer sets of 18S rRNA genes and Internal Transcribed Spacer (ITS) regions are universal primers for amplicon sequencing in soil fungal diversity studies. The selection of proper primer sets has been identified as one of the main drivers affecting effective cross-study comparisons in various types of soils. However, few studies have provided guidance for the selection of fungal primers in soil

In high-mountain areas, Pleistocene glaciations and erosion-related processes erased most of the pre-existing landforms and soils. However, on scattered stable surfaces, ancient soils can be locally preserved for long periods, retaining valuable palaeoenvironmental information. Such relict surfaces survived during glaciations either through coverage by non-erosive, cold-based, ice or as nunataks. Thus

Increasing concerns over water eutrophication due to agricultural phosphorus (P) loss have led to the development of indicators to assess the risk of P release from agricultural soils. Recently, a logarithmic equation linking the degree of phosphorus saturation (DPS) to the simple water-soluble P (WSP) content of soils has been proposed as a universal method to assess this risk based, however, mainly

Predicting soil water availability to crops in water-repellent sandy soil is complicated as soil water repellency (SWR) responds non-linearly to soil water content. Others have hypothesised that the development of a monolayer of water molecules results in SWR increasing before SWR declines with a further increase in soil water content. In a previous study, we found that SWR increases when above 0.28–0

Accurate assessment of key soil attributes such as soil organic carbon (OC), available phosphorus (P), and available potassium (K) using mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIRS) is essential for better soil management in precision agriculture. However, the calibration of the portable version of MIRS is more challenging than the benchmark technologies, hence, demanding more efficient modelling methods to provide

To elucidate the identity and mechanisms by which specific bacterial members drive efficient decomposition and utilisation of straw, the succession and co-occurrence patterns of 13C-labelled bacteria were analysed using DNA-stable isotope probing (SIP) techniques. Microcosms with 13C-labelled maize straw incorporated into soils subjected to no nitrogen (N) fertiliser (CK), chemical fertiliser (NPK)

Soil fauna drives crucial processes of energy and nutrient cycling in agricultural systems, and influences the quality of crops and pest incidence. Soil tillage is the most influential agricultural manipulation of soil structure, and has a profound influence on soil biology and its provision of ecosystem services. The objective of this study was to quantify through meta-analyses the effects of reducing

Both temperature and nutrient availability have essential roles in regulating the decomposition of soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N), the main controls on organic matter accumulation in forest ecosystems. However, there is a lack of information about how N deposition and phosphorus (P) additions might impact soil C and N decomposition rates in subtropical forests under climate warming. We measured soil

Laboratory incubation studies evaluating the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration often use measurements of respiration taken at a constant incubation temperature from soil that has been pre-incubated at the same constant temperature. However, such constant temperature incubations do not represent the field situation where soils undergo diurnal temperature oscillations. We investigated the legacy