Estimating the capacity of cover crops (CC) to capture soil nitrogen (N) and to transfer captured N to subsequent crop remains a challenge because CC biomass production, N content and decomposition rate vary depending on environmental conditions and management practices. The objectives of this study were (1) to compare biomass production and N accumulation by a mixture of red and white clovers intercropped

Drip fertigation increases water and nitrogen use efficiency, and reduces nitrogen leaching in comparison to conventional flood irrigation and over fertilization in plastic greenhouse vegetable production. However, it is unknown whether this also improves yield stability, possibly through improved root growth. A two-factor field trial was conducted in a randomized block experimental design with drip

Farmers in semi-arid regions are experimenting with cover crop mixtures as partial summer fallow replacement, with the goal of increasing soil biological activity. We compared extracellular enzyme activity, microbial biomass, potentially mineralizable nitrogen (PMN) and mycorrhizal colonization levels after growing cover crops comprised of one or four functional groups. We asked whether cover crops

Tropical forests have been intensively degraded and deforested for different anthropogenic uses, mostly associated to agricultural expansion due to increasing human demands. Therefore, an emerging number of studies has advocated on the benefits of land-sharing strategies such as agroforestry systems which conciliate biodiversity conservation with production. Yet features at both landscape and local

Soil carbon may be enhanced in agroecosystems by increasing root density throughout the soil profile. In vineyards and orchards, groundcovers that grow concurrently with the grapevines directly increase shallow root biomass and may induce deeper rooting of the fruit crop. We examined root distributions and soil properties associated with soil carbon in a vineyard that varies in groundcover and rootstock

The global chemical-based agriculture (CBA) production system brought social and environmental consequences such as the contamination of soils, waters, bottom sediments and food, as well as negative effects on non-target species. As an alternative, a new paradigm emerged: agroecology-based agriculture (ABA), based on ecosystem services and the reduction of chemical inputs. More and more establishments

The partitioning of rainfall by plant canopies into throughfall (TF) and stemflow (SF) affects the process of rainfall infiltration into the soil as well as the ecological functions of soil water. A change in land use from croplands to orchards inevitably influences the preexisting rainfall partitioning and soil water replenishment processes. However, few studies have focused on the differences in

Conservation agriculture has been identified as one of the farming systems likely to deliver sustainable agriculture but its effects over time on the diversity and composition of weed communities are poorly documented. Using a network of 100 winter wheat fields selected to encompass a gradient of years in conservation agriculture from 1 to 20 years in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region (France), we

Currently, China has approximately four million hectares of intensively cultivated plastic-shed vegetable production, i.e., with excessive nitrogen (N) fertilization and high irrigation. Plastic-shed vegetable production has helped meet the rapidly increasing consumer demand for fresh vegetables while improving heat, light, and land utilization efficiencies, resulting in very high vegetable yield.

In rain-fed semiarid areas, low soil water availability is a major challenge constraining crop productivity and agricultural sustainability. Soil surface mulching with plastic film has been widely used to improve soil water availability in the Loess Plateau of China. However, a systematic assessment on soil water balance dynamics under plastic mulching is still lacking. We conducted a meta-analysis

Microbial immobilization of nitrogen and mineral fixation of ammonium play important roles in the retention of fertilizer N in soil, and the subsequent microbial mineralization and abiotic release regulate N availability to crops. However, how fertilization management practices temporally influence the biological and abiotic processes of fertilizer N transformation remain unclear. Therefore, we conducted

The provision of habitat for natural enemies of agricultural pests is common in integrated pest management approaches but has rarely been examined for vertebrate predators controlling vertebrate pests. To mitigate the economic and environmental costs of removing rodent pests in vineyards in Napa Valley, California, winegrape producers have installed nest boxes to attract American barn owls (Tyto furcata)

Different studies revealed an increased biomass production in grasslands due to elevated CO2 (eCO2). Thus, the question arises whether forage quality of grassland biomass is also influenced. In the present study, we assessed the long-term effects of eCO2 in context of the accompanied site conditions soil moisture, air temperature and precipitation on different forage quality and energy parameters of

Gross nitrification rate (GNR) can reflect the actual status of nitrification process but is difficult to constrain. To develop a practical method for assessing GNR, Δ17O-NO3− tracers were applied to container systems under greenhouse conditions to test their feasibility. Two treatments with double- (15NΔ17O3−, negative Δ17O value) or single-labeled (NΔ17O3−, positive Δ17O value) fertilizer nitrate

Agri-environmental schemes (AES) of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) aims at reversing the negative effects of agricultural intensification on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Landscape context may modulate, and even constraint, AES effectiveness. We evaluate AES effectiveness on ant abundance, diversity and community composition. Ants are an ecologically dominant group whose response to conservation

Agroforestry systems, in which trees and crops are cultivated in rotation, succession, or association with pastures, are alternatives for the sustainable implementation of agriculture. This study estimated the productive characteristics from eight years old eucalyptus trees in different agroforestry systems and transmission of photosynthetically active solar radiation (PAR). These were composed of

We evaluated long-term impact of agro-ecological zones and cropping systems on stock and stability of organic C in soils along depth. Sixty geo-referenced soil samples were collected from Terai (TZ) and New Alluvial (NAZ) agro-ecological zones of Wet Bengal. In each zone, soil samples were drawn at 0−0.3, 0.3−0.6 and 0.6−0.9 m depth from rice-potato-jute (R-P-J), rice-vegetables-vegetables (R-V-V)

Excessive chemical nitrogen (N) fertilizer application and flood irrigation in rice production can lead to substantial soil-N losses and low nitrogen-use-efficiency (NUE) in rice due to N leaching from red paddy soils. Although inoculation of irrigated fields with nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria (NFC) has been shown to increase rice yield, there are few studies on N leaching and NUE in response to NFC

Soil fumigation is an effective method to control soil-borne diseases like Fusarium wilt, however the processes and mechanisms driving microbial community reestablishment and pathogen suppression in the rhizosphere after fumigation remain poorly understood. In this study, we examined the dynamics of the rhizosphere microbiome and microbial network associations across different watermelon development

Biodiversity-friendly farming practices are taking centre stage, with herbicide use sparking major public debate on human health. Vegetation cover is increasingly used to enhance agroecosystem biodiversity and functions, providing important ecosystem services like biological pest control. However, further information is required on the relationship between vegetation cover, natural enemies, and pest

Cover crops have been proposed as a tool for adapting cropping systems to drought stress caused by climate change. However, little research has directly evaluated whether cover crops reduce drought stress in the following cash crop. We grew maize in both ambient and imposed drought conditions following four functionally diverse cover crops and a fallow control in a two-site-year study. We looked for

Recent alarming losses of insects from agricultural landscapes in multiple countries around the world have brought into sharp focus the urgent need to identify ways to manage these landscapes to avoid further biodiversity decline. Identifying the drivers of insect declines, such as land use change, is critical to this effort. We examined ant communities at the interface between remnant vegetation patches

The burrowing activities of earthworms can change the soil macropore structure in terrestrial ecosystems. Studying the burrows structure and their effects on soil water movement may be crucial for exploring earthworm ecological functions and improving water use efficiency in farmlands in semi-humid areas. It was an experiment taken to assess the impact of anecic earthworm Metaphire guillelmi on the

The effects of biochar application on soil microbial communities and functional characteristics and their correlations with soil fertility properties were explored in a double rice cropping system three to four years after a single biochar amendment. Three treatments including a control, a low (24 t ha−1), and a high (48 t ha−1) application rate of straw-derived biochar were constructed. Biochar amendment

Wheat is one of the most important staple foods worldwide, and the organic substitution for chemical fertilizer has been increasingly receiving attention in wheat planting. However, its impact on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and ammonia (NH3) volatilization from the wheat fields, as well as on the heavy metal [Nickel (Ni), Copper (Cu), Zinc (Zn), Cadmium (Cd), and Lead (Pb)] contents in the wheat

Most smallholder cocoa farmers in West Africa are not equipped with the necessary tools, techniques, and practices to rejuvenate their aging cocoa farms. Instead, they rather prefer to establish new cocoa farms at the expense of forest remnants. Poor management of their overaged farms has resulted in the emergence and outbreaks of new pest species such as termites feeding on the remaining productive

Agriculture has been identified as one of the largest contributors to the current global biodiversity crisis. Amphibians are declining worldwide, and the loss of habitat and water contamination related to agricultural land uses have been suggested as the main drivers of this phenomenon. In central Argentina, the Pampean Region combines the highest rates of grassland replacement of South America, the

Soil pH is generally considered a master variable, controlling a wide range of physical, chemical and biological properties, including a significant effect on microbial processes responsible for production and consumption of nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas. Evidence of this pH impact on microbial denitrification mainly stems from observations in controlled laboratory experiments, while

Soil organic matter (SOM) performs an essential function in soil fertility, biomass and crop productivity, environmental sustainability, and climate change mitigation. We examined how land use change from native forest to either pasture [sown buffel (Cenchrus ciliaris cv. Biloela)] or cropping [primarily wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.)] affected total soil organic C (SOC)

Agroforestry systems can provide habitats for a rich biodiversity including multitrophic interactions, which presents opportunities to develop natural pest control. Shade coffee systems in several coffee growing areas of the world host such unique habitats where pests and their natural enemies interact. One of the major global challenges for coffee production, coffee leaf rust caused by the fungal

Fertilization has been shown to affect nitrogen (N) cycling and its related functional microbes in agricultural soils. However, the linkage between soil N2O emissions and N-related functional genes under different fertilization strategies from wheat in a wheat-rice double cropping system is rarely examined. Here, we carried out a two-year field study to examine the response of soil N2O emissions driven

Nitrogen (N) fertilization has been found to alter soil carbon storage in agroecosystem as various soil organic matter (OM) components respond differently to environmental change. However, how the direction and magnitude of soil carbon storage changes in response to N fertilization remains unclear, and a lack of deep understanding on soil OM composition particularly under various fertilization rates

Grassland accounts for 70 % of the global agricultural area. Grassland amended with N fertiliser, although increasing productivity, encourages the emission of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). Soil compaction can result in impeded water movement and the development of anaerobic conditions that favour N2O production and emissions from denitrification. Soil compaction has become more prevalent

Planting flowers along crop field edges is an increasingly common management strategy for addressing pollinator declines and improving crop pollination. However, few reviews have been published summarizing the efficacy of this specific management practice and how it impacts ecosystem service delivery to crops. We conducted a systematic review (54 studies) and meta-analysis (4–29 studies, depending

The Argentine ant, Linepithema humile, is an invasive ant species well established throughout subtropical climates in the United States. The Argentine ant disrupts natural ecosystems by displacing native ant species and associating with phloem-feeding insects, which they protect from natural enemies in exchange for honeydew excreted by the phloem-feeders. Thus, interactions between these ants and phloem-feeders

Overgrazing has caused serious grassland degradation, and grazing exclusion (GE) has been considered an effective and economic approach for restoring vegetation and soils in degraded grassland. In this study, we evaluated the ecosystem restoration of two types of degraded spring and autumn pasture in arid regions of northwest China, based on field surveys (community structure characteristics, soil

The development of integrated crop-livestock systems (ICLSs) under no-tillage (NT) is of global interest for improving agroecosystem sustainability in tropical regions. In these crop systems, nitrogen (N) is the most essential nutrient. Nitrogen needs vary according to environmental conditions and crop rotation and are higher when crop succession is performed with grasses only. Intercropping maize

Agricultural cropping systems involve the application of high fertilizer rates, which lead to phosphorus (P) losses via surface runoff to the aquatic environment, thereby resulting in severe eutrophication. Here, to evaluate the nutrient loss, we established three monitoring stations in Zhejiang Province, China, in each of which the crop types were double cropping rice, rice–wheat rotation, and vegetable

Farmland birds have declined throughout Europe over recent decades. Many farmland songbirds are associated with linear woody features on field boundaries, such as hedgerows and tree lines. Previous studies have assessed songbird associations with specific hedgerow and tree characteristics, and their landscape context, but large-scale assessments have been limited by difficulties in mapping linear woody

Nitrogen (N) losses from cropland soils contribute to a series of ecological problems. No-tillage and mulching are widely regarded as practices that can minimize the disturbance of the agro-ecosystem and regulate the water cycle in dryland farming. However, detailed understanding of water and nitrate-N transport in soil and their effects on the soil ecosystem under no-tillage with mulching is lacking

Globally, the hillslope currently supporting sugarcane production is accelerating soil erosion and nutrient losses that degrade agroecosystem services and increase water pollution. However, sugarcane planting patterns (SPP), involving the arrangement of perennial (P) and newly planted (NP) sugarcane along hillslopes, may influence hillslope erosion and nutrient losses due to changes in root density

Cover crop (CC) mixtures including both legume and non-legume species have the potential to reduce nitrate leaching and increase N availability in the system through biological N2 fixation (BNF). However, the provision of multiple services depends on the biomass expression of functionally diverse species. Cover crop growth can be manipulated through management, but more knowledge is needed on species

In the mid-Atlantic USA region, nitrogen uptake by crops ceases about four weeks prior to harvest maturity, leaving substantial mineral N in the soil profile, which is prone to leach during the winter. Deep-rooted cover crops planted by early-September can potentially take up residual N and recycle some of it for following cash crops. We performed experiments on 19 minimum-tillage, grain farms investigating

Water erosion induces a wide variation in organic carbon (OC) loss in orchard agroecosystems due to high anthropogenic disturbance. Grass cover, a common agricultural practice, can both suppress OC transport by reducing erosive rainfall and runoff, and enhance the amount of OC in soil by increasing OC inputs. These different effects on OC loss call for a deeper understanding of the process and drivers

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of 6 years of continuous biochar and biochar-based fertilizer (BBF) application on the soil bacterial community of brown earth soil (Cambisol) growing peanuts. There were five treatments: no fertilizer, low biochar (LB, 250 kg ha−1), high biochar (HB, 750 kg ha−1), chemical nitrogen (N)–phosphorus (P)–potassium (K) fertilizer (NPK, 83 kg ha−1

Grassland conversion into cropland and further into abandoned land may result in substantial changes when such conversion neglects the historical context of the land use pattern in question in most cases. The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of land use shifts on soil organic carbon (OC), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) in a meadow steppe in eastern Inner Mongolia

Habitat fragmentation entails major effects on many ecological processes. Theory offers two contradicting hypotheses for the expected effects of fragmentation on seed dispersal strategy. On the one hand, fragmentation may select for increased dispersal by purging poor dispersers that are incapable of moving between patches (spatial sorting). On the other hand, fragmentation may select for reduced dispersal

Intensive agriculture faces the challenge of contributing to feeding the increasing global population while minimizing its adverse effects on the environment. Ecological intensification can help achieve this as it proposes to supplement artificial inputs with ecosystem services such as pollination, nutrient cycling and water retention. The mixed results of previous studies with respect to the potential