The use of stable isotope analysis to resolve ecosystem respiration into its plant and soil components rests on how well the end-member isotope signatures (δ13C) are characterised. In general it is assumed that end member values are constant over time. However there are necessarily diurnal and other transient variations in end members with environmental conditions. We analyse diurnal and seasonal patterns

Maintaining good soil structural stability is an important element in agricultural sustainability. Incorporation of cereal straw and use of cover crops improve soil structural stability but the long-term individual and interactive effects of these management practices is poorly understood. We examined the impact of four rates of straw incorporation in spring barley (0, 4, 8 and 12 Mg ha−1, annually)

Acid sulfate soils are one of the most environmentally harmful soils existing in nature. This is because they produce sulfuric acid and release metals, which may cause several ecological damages. In Finland, the occurrence of this type of soil in the coastal areas constitutes one of the major environmental problems of the country. To address this problem, it is essential to precisely locate acid sulfate

Agricultural waste can be made into biochar, which serves to raise soil fertility and fix carbon (C). When biochar is added to soil, a small part of biochar could be transformed into soil organic C in a short time to promote soil fertility. However, it is still unknown how much biochar can be stored in the soil as stable C and whether it plays a role in C sequestration. In this study, a 540-day incubation

The response of the carbon (C) cycle to global warming in terrestrial ecosystems is a major issue that must be considered when predicting future climate change. Due to warming simultaneously affects both vegetation and soil, therefore the response of soil organic carbon (SOC) has shown contradictory results in different warming experiments. A 7-year soil warming experiment using plastic film mulching

Iron toxicity is a major nutritional disorder in rice plants, especially in flooded areas. The use of alternative crop management practices, such as soil drainage, may mitigate negative impacts of iron toxicity, since soil aeration that follows drainage can oxidize and precipitate potentially toxic Fe+2 into Fe3+. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of alternative water management on agronomical

Abstract. Stony soils that have a considerable amount of rock fragments are widespread around the world. However, experiments to determine effective hydraulic properties of stony soils (SHP), 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 because

Abstract. The widespread use of both heavy metals and antibiotics in livestock farming and their subsequent arrival on agricultural soils through manure/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 days to study co-selection for tolerance of three tetracycline antibiotics (tetracycline

The occurrence of lamellae in soils and sediments has direct implications for agricultural production, and for stratigraphic and geomorphological studies. Although lamellae have been studied for more than a century, their origin remains controversial. The aim of this study was to identify the origin and formation mechanisms of lamellae in autochthonous soils developed from metamorphic rocks in a semi-arid

Multi-element soil extractions such as Mehlich 3 (M3) have gained popularity in recent years, but comparing outcomes to other soil testing methods is not always straightforward. In this study, extraction mechanisms of M3, Olsen and neutral 1 M ammonium acetate (AA) soil tests were explored and transfer functions were derived between P-Olsen and P-M3 as well as between K-AA and K-M3. Soils from tropical

Development of soil microbial communities is driven by local abiotic and biotic conditions, yet our current understanding of their ecology is limited to studies in modified or young and relatively fertile ecosystems. In nutrient-impoverished soils, microbial communities may be predominantly structured by availability of key elements such as phosphorus (P) or nitrogen , regardless of the taxa (bacteria

Soil enzyme stoichiometry has been proposed to reflect microbial resource limitation. However, this view overlooks the profound variations in microbial community composition and soil abiotic properties that may also affect enzyme stoichiometry. In successional subalpine ecosystems after glacier retreat, we found that the stoichiometry of soil carbon-, nitrogen- and phosphorus-acquisition enzymes was

There is increasing evidence that the accessibility of soil organic matter (SOM) to microbial decomposers is more important than chemical recalcitrance for regulating SOM stability. We show that the rapid reduction in SOM decomposition following the addition of sorptive mineral phases to soils in laboratory conditions leads to decreased accessibility of SOM to microbial decomposers due to the formation

Land-use practice shift in the wetland riparian zone can influence groundwater table (GWT) fluctuations and salts dynamics, potentially leading to soil salinization. The risk of soil salinization linked with high water tables could better manage using high growing capacity and deep-rooted phreatophytic vegetation via the 'biodrainage' approach. We evaluated the impacts of short rotation willow (SRW)

Extreme events such as hurricanes repeatedly affect coastal areas in several tropical regions of the world. The economic and biodiversity losses caused by these extreme events are considerable. Mexico's coasts are exposed to hurricanes annually. A hydrological characterization and regionalization of the storms caused by the rain fields generated by all the hurricanes that touched the Mexican coast

Solar energy is increasingly used to produce electricity in Europe, but the environmental impact of constructing and running solar parks (SP) is not yet well studied. Solar park construction requires partial vegetation removal and soil leveling. Additionally, solar panels may alter soil microclimate and functioning. In our study of three French Mediterranean solar parks, we analysed 1) effects of solar

Community density of grassland has obvious impacts on the absorb, sequestration and accumulation of soil carbon (C). However, few studies have examined the effect of community density on soil C dynamics and their internal driving forces after cropland abandonment. Here, we conducted a synthesizing the responses of soil C to community density of grassland from a 45-years-time along a natural restoration

Many countries are having increased frequency and severity of wildfires, including mega-fires. The revegetation of post-fire sites and tree species selection are the most important counteracting measure. In this study, we analyzed the effect of tree species (Scots pine, European larch, common birch) on the C stock, macronutrient content and physicochemical parameters (pH, sorption complex properties)

The intermediate-disturbance hypothesis (IDH) posits that more species will be found under moderate disturbance in an ecosystem. We found that moderate disturbance improved the microbial community structure in biocrusts in a one-year field experiment in a dryland ecosystem. However, whether the improvement of microbial community structure in biocrusts can be sustained for a long time is unclear. Here

To meet the goals of the Climate Agreement, policy makers consider incentivizing soil carbon sequestration by carbon credits to offset greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, industry and other sectors. Therefore, the interest in monitoring soil organic matter dynamics is growing rapidly, yet factors affecting the precision of the monitoring results are rarely quantified. We used the rhetorical

Aims Belowground carbon (C) input is a key component of the global C cycle. However, how does fencing affect Belowground net primary production (BNPP) and the contribution of root derived C to belowground C input remains poorly studied. Methods In this study, the in-growth soil cores-13C method was used to quantify net root C input. Five different plant communities of different fencing years (1 year

Purpose There is concern about nitrification inhibitor (NI) residues in soil and pasture plants and their potential entry into food-chain when NIs are applied to pastures to mitigate nitrogen (N) losses. Monitoring of NI residues necessitates development of quantitative methods for their extraction and analysis in soil and pasture samples. Methods Modifications were made to published methods for extraction

Background As sap flow research expands, new challenges such as fast sap flows or flows co-occurring with freeze/thaw cycles appear, which are not easily addressed with existing methods. In order to address these new challenges, sap flow methods capable of measuring bidirectional, high and slow sap flux densities (Fd, cm3 cm−2 h−1), thermal properties and stem water content with minimum sensitivity

Scientists have long been developing better and more efficient methods to improve the prediction of the spatial distribution of soils and their presence in the landscape, but research in this field is still needed. This study introduces an algorithm to derive terrain attributes at multiple scales and automatically calibrate the optimal scale for each predictor based on the robust and powerful Random

Factors limiting the production of the greenhouse gases nitrous oxide (N2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) were investigated in three incubation experiments conducted with soil from top- and subsoil horizons of a peatland which had an acid sulphate mineral subsoil derived from black schists. The effect of moisture was investigated by equilibrating undisturbed soil samples from three horizons (H2, Cg and

Soil biocrusts, formed from communities of microbes and their extracellular products are a common feature of dryland soil surfaces. Biocrust organisms are only intermittently metabolically active, but due to their ubiquity they make a significant contribution to the carbon cycle. Quantification of the controls and insights into the interlinked process of photosynthesis and respiration are essential

Climate warming can enhance the decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM), thereby increasing the rate of carbon release from soils. In permafrost regions, climate warming alters the nature of freeze–thaw cycles by affecting sub-surface hydrology and soil temperature, thereby impacting the decomposition of SOM. However, this process is rarely considered in projections of the long-term dynamics of

Fly-ash (FA) is a by-product or residue that is produced during the combustion of coal for energy production in thermal power plants. The huge amount of FA generation is a global problem; and coal power generators still can find no safe and sustainable approach to FA disposal. FA dumps not only create air, water, and soil pollution but also pose a noxious impact on human health by introducing toxins

Improving soil productivity is the best way to increase grain production by 1% annually for feeding the rising population within the next 20 years in China. Nevertheless, how soybean yield and seed quality are affected by improving soil quality via consecutive manure addition are still unclear. A 7-year consecutive cattle manure addition experiment was conducted under a soybean [Glycine max (Merrill

Purpose Phytosiderophores (PS) from grasses solubilize sparingly soluble iron (Fe), and the resultant PS-Fe is an Fe source even for dicots. Recently, the synthetic PS proline-2′-deoxymugineic acid (PDMA) has been developed as a moderately biodegradable Fe fertilizer for grasses. We aimed to investigate whether PDMA-Fe is also a good Fe source for dicots. Methods The availability of PDMA-Fe to cucumber

Purpose Plant cell wall polysaccharide composition is closely related to the occurrence of aluminum (Al) toxicity and Al resistance. Glycosyltransferases participate in cell wall polysaccharide biosynthesis. Our previous microarray analysis showed that Al increased the transcriptional abundance of UDP-glycosyltransferase (UGT) in soybean (Glycine max). The present study aimed to clarify if GmUGTs are

Abstract. 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

Previous studies monitoring the spatial distribution of rocky desertification have used single indices, a comprehensive index, or image classification. However, these approaches could not distinguish between the degrees of rocky desertification as they did not consider various influencing factors and their interactions. To avoid the above shortcomings, this study used the feature space model and seven

For many decades, soil scientists have produced spatial estimates of soil properties using statistical and non-statistical mapping models. Commonly in soil mapping studies the map quality is assessed through pairwise comparison of observed and predicted values of a soil property, from which statistical indices summarizing the quality of the entire map are computed. Often these indices are based on

Performing laboratory measurement of saturated hydraulic conductivity, Ks, of sieved soil is important for many scientific purposes such as testing theories and methods to determine Ks. A given soil mass can be used only once or it can be reused after a previous use. Little is known on the dependence of the Ks measurements on both the applied packing method and the reuse of the same soil mass. This

A better understanding of soil biogeochemical responses to the increasing drought in many regions predicted for the next decades by climate models is needed. Extracellular enzyme (EE) stoichiometry provides integrative information about the soil community metabolism and resource availability that is crucial to understand soil microbial and plant strategies in response to those projected changes in

Abstract. Soil structure in terms of the spatial arrangement of pores and solid is highly relevant for most physical, biochemical processes in soil. While this is known for long a scientific approach to quantify soil structural characteristics was also missing for long. This was due to its buried nature but also due to the three-dimensional complexity. During the last two decades, tools to acquire

Ecosystem degradation is a process during which different ecosystem components interact and affect each other. The microbial community, as a component of the ecosystem whose members often display high reproduction rates, is more readily able to respond to environmental stress at the compositional and functional levels, thus potentially threatening other ecosystem components. However, very little research

Ephemeral gullies (EGs) play a crucial role in hydrological connectivity, soil erosion, and land degradation. However, little research has focused on flow hydraulics in concentrated flow channels and their effects on EG erosion on steep loessial slopes. A simulated experiment of rainfall (60–120 mm hr−1) and upslope inflow (0.45–2.25 m2 hr−1) were conducted on concentrated flow channels with loess

Despite the critical importance of roots within soils for supporting plant growth, the assessment of root distribution in soils remains difficult and much is unknown regarding their behaviour. In this review, we examine X-ray computed tomography (CT) as a non-invasive method for examining root distribution in soils. X-ray CT enables three-dimensional reconstruction of soil cores to accurately estimate

Purpose The Spartina alterniflora invasion across the southeast coast in China significantly reduced vegetation diversity and generated associated ecological problems. Sulfur (S) is a vital nutrient, while sulfide is phytotoxic and the impact of S. alterniflora invasion on soil S cycle remains unclear. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impacts of S. alterniflora invasion on the S cycle

Soil microbes in the topsoil have long been the centre of cropping systems, yet the influence of subsoil microbes on soil functions remains elusive. Sustainable crop management will require an in-depth understanding of interactions of cropping patterns, soil microbials and multifunctionality. This study aimed to explore the relationships between soil microbials and multifunctionality in both topsoil

Extensive reports on research into the effects of biochar additions on soil-plant systems show many inconsistencies in the response of various parameters including nitrogen (N) transformations. This review focusses on the use of the stable isotope 15N to provide unique information about the N dynamics in biochar-amended systems. The properties of biochars and their impacts on N cycling depends on the

People's preferences influence national priorities for economic development and ecological integrity. Often policy makers and development agents base their actions on unclear assumptions about such preferences. This paper explores rural citizens' preferences for economic and ecological development outcomes and how they differ within and between communities. We collected data from three purposely selected

Background and aims It has been confirmed that the declines in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) populations and agroecosystem diversity are largely due to nutrient enrichment caused by fertilization. Replacing chemical-only fertilization with organic fertilization is widely considered a possible approach for maintaining soil biodiversity and a healthy functioning ecosystem. Here we aim to examine

Aims To investigate phylogenetic and phenotypic diversity of resident chickpea-nodulating rhizobia from Australian cropping soils. Methods Eighty Mesorhizobium strains collected from across Australian cropping regions were analysed in a pot experiment to evaluate nodulation and symbiotic effectiveness (SE%) in chickpea plants. In vitro testing of these strains tolerant to specific stresses (pH, temperature

N and P are essential macronutrients for all organisms. How shifts in the availability of N or P affect fungal communities in temperate forests is not well understood. Here, we conducted a factorial P × N fertilization experiment to disentangle the effects of nutrient availability on soil-residing, root-associated, and ectomycorrhizal fungi in beech (Fagus sylvatica) forests differing in P availability

The effect of reaction between soil and phosphate on pH has not previously been explored or explained. We incubated samples of a soil with calcium carbonate to give a range of pHCaCl2 from 4.2 to 7.2, and then measured the change in pH when we reacted these samples with phosphate solutions. These solutions were at the same pH as the soil to which they were added. We also measured exchangeable cations

Reduced use of fossil energy by removing cereal straw for bioenergy potentially threatens soil organic carbon (SOC) storage. Straw incorporation plays a key role for SOC storage in cereal-based cropping systems but the use of cover crops may compensate for straw removal. However, assessing the SOC sequestration potential of management changes requires field experiments with long continued treatments

The impact of land-use change in urban ecosystem on soil aggregate dynamics and soil carbon storage was studied through two annual cycles in five land uses. All the land uses viz., 1) natural mixed vegetation (NV) growing in a protected area, 2) grass fallow (GF) and tree plantations of 3) Cassia siamea (CP), 4) Jatropha curcas (JP) and 5) Tectona grandis (TP)were grown on urban degraded waste lands

Multiple large-scale ecological conservation programmes have been launched by the Chinese Government to combat grassland degradation across the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau (QTP) since 1999. However, the mechanisms by which these ecological initiatives might affect grassland changes remains unknown. Here, we examined the land use cover change (LUCC) and net primary productivity (NPP) of the grassland in the