Anion exchange between ubiquitous low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOA), such as oxalate, and surface retained inorganic anions, such as F‐, SO42‐, and OH‐, can play a critical role on Al bioavailability and transport in acidic alpine tundra soil. A series of batch equilibration and composite soil column leaching studies were conducted to examine anion exchange reactions between F‐, oxalate and

Soils are indispensable for the provision of several functions. Agricultural intensification and its focus on increasing primary productivity (PP) poses a threat to soil quality, due to increases in nutrient loads, greenhouse gas emissions and declining biodiversity. The EU Horizon 2020 Landmark project has developed multi‐criteria decision models to assess five soil functions: PP, nutrient cycling

Over the last decades, several authors have suggested that multifractal measures, i.e., self‐similar measures defined on fractal or non‐fractal objects, could be useful to describe soil properties, to model soil processes, and to deal with their extreme microscale heterogeneity. In this context, a key question relates to the extent to which multifractal measures can indeed fulfill all the expectations

Soil quality (SQ) is the ability of soil to provide ecosystem functions and services. Implementation of a certain agricultural system can affect SQ and therefore play an essential role in achieving sustainable agriculture. The aim of this study was to explore how agricultural systems (conventional vs. organic), grazing regime (non‐grazed vs. grazed) and the different proportions of temporary grass‐clover

To achieve appropriate yield levels, inherent nitrogen (N) supply and biological N fixation are often complemented by fertilization. To avoid economic losses and negative environmental impacts due to over‐application of N fertilizer, estimation of the inherent N supply is critical. We aimed to identify the roles of soil texture and organic matter in N mineralization and yield levels attained in cereal

Spatially resolved estimates of change in soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks are necessary for supporting national and international policies aimed at achieving land degradation neutrality and climate change mitigation. In this work we report on the development, implementation and application of a data‐driven, statistical method for mapping SOC stocks in space and time, using Argentina as a pilot. We

Hydrothermal carbonization and dry pyrolysis transform sewage sludge (SS) into nitrogen‐ (N) and phosphorus‐ (P) rich hydrochars (Hyd) and pyrochars (Py), respectively, which may act as slow‐release fertilizers with carbon (C) sequestration potential. Whereas this has been mostly studied with short‐term experiments, this study focused on the cycling of char‐derived N, P and C after ageing during a

Below‐surface horizontal pore gas velocity profiles in response to above‐surface wind conditions were measured for 16 combinations of wind speed (1.4–5.7 ms−1) and wind gust frequency (0–1 Hz) in four porous media with different particle size (0.6–10 mm), yielding 64 combinations of wind condition and porous medium using a recently developed experimental gas tracer tracking method. Experiments were

Combining digital imaging, physical models and laboratory measurements is a step further towards a better understanding of the complex relationships between the soil pore system and soil functions. Eight natural 100‐cm3 soil cores were sampled in a cultivated Stagnic Luvisol from the topsoil and subsoil, which we assumed had contrasting pore systems. Artificial 100‐cm3 cores were produced from plastic

Plant roots release various organic materials that may modify soil structure and affect heat and mass transfer processes. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of a synthetic root exudate (SRE) on penetrometer resistance (PR), thermal conductivity (λ), hydraulic conductivity (k ) and evaporation of water in a sandy soil. Soil samples, mixed with either distilled water or the SRE

Sediment transport capacity (STC) is an important variable for characterising soil erosion on hillslopes. STC also determines the capability of sediment delivery and solute transportation. An experimental methodological strategy was developed in this study to measure the STC in eroding rills on a saturated soil slope. The STC was ensured by using a slope‐raised flume section to feed sufficient amounts

The operationally defined fraction of soil organic matter (SOM), glomalin‐related soil protein (GRSP), has been reported to be particularly stable. This is the first study to test this hypothesis. Archived soil has been used from the long‐term bare fallow trial, known as the 42‐Plots, in Versailles, France. With no input from plants for 80 years, changes in GRSP must result from either turnover of

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas that is released from agricultural ecosystems where nitrogen fertilizers are poorly used, and contributes to global climate warming. Large nitrogen fertilizer inputs in summer maize fields on the North China Plain lead to large N2O emissions. N2O emissions can be mitigated using 3,4‐Dimethylpyrazole phosphate (DMPP), but the efficiency and microbial mechanisms

It is commonly accepted that an estimated soil variogram can be transferred to another similar area for deriving the tolerable spacing of a sampling grid or, more generally, the sample size, given a requirement on the quality of the soil property map of the recipient area. The quality of the derived tolerable grid spacing depends on how similar the population variograms of the donor area and recipient

Several misconceptions about the design‐based approach for sampling and statistical inference, based on classical sampling theory, seem to be quite persistent. These misconceptions are the result of confusion about basic statistical concepts such as independence, expectation, and bias and variance of estimators or predictors. These concepts have a different meaning in the design‐based and model‐based

The potential for soils to produce nitrous oxide (N2O) is impacted by past moisture conditions, however the extent of this impact is not fully understood. We conducted the first review, using two literature searches and a meta‐analysis. We found 36 studies out of a possible 735 that described experiments where soil moisture conditions had been controlled, such that the impact of antecedent moisture

There is a lack of field methods for measuring plant and soil processes controlling soil organic matter (SOM) turnover over diurnal, seasonal, and longer time‐scales with which to develop datasets for modelling. We describe an automated field system for measuring plant and soil carbon fluxes over such time‐scales using stable isotope methods, and we assess its performance. The system comprises 24 large

Endophytes live asymptomatically within many cool‐season grasses for at least a portion of their life cycle. Although the leaf endophyte effects on the growth and stress resistance of host grasses have been relatively well studied, less attention has been focused on how this relationship may impact soil microbial communities, especially arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). We defined endophyte‐infected

Soil microaggregates contain particles of different sizes, which may affect their potential to store organic carbon (OC). A variety of methods can be used to isolate microaggregates from the larger soil structures among which wet sieving approaches are widely employed. We developed a novel dry crushing method that isolates microaggregates along failure planes due to mechanical stresses rather than

Desiccation cracking is a common phenomenon of soil, which potentially affects irrigation and crop growth in farmland. Understanding the cracking behavior aids in developing an effective means of crack prevention or utilization. In the present paper, we report on a phenomenological investigation aimed at exploring the effects of irrigation methods on cracking behavior of soil during wetting‐drying

Changes in climate patterns are dramatically influencing some agricultural areas. Arid, semi‐arid, and coastal agricultural areas are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts on soil salinity. Inventorying and monitoring climate change impacts on salinity are crucial to evaluate the extent of the problem, to recognize trends, and to formulate irrigation and crop management strategies that will

Digital soil mapping (DSM) is an effective mapping technique that supports the increased need for quantitative soil data. In DSM, soil properties are correlated to environmental characteristics using statistical models like regression. However, many of these relationships are explicitly described in mechanistic simulation models. Therefore, the mechanistic relationships can, in theory, replace the

Simple measures of appropriate levels of soil organic matter are needed for soil evaluation, management and monitoring, based on readily‐measurable soil properties. We test an index of soil organic matter based on the soil organic carbon (SOC) to clay ratio, defined by thresholds of SOC/clay ratio for specified levels of soil structural quality. The thresholds were originally delineated for a small

X‐ray computed tomography (CT) is commonly used in soil science to quantify distributions of pores, water, and solids within soil samples. A particularly promising for liquid visualization is dual‐energy scanning of samples with added dopant solutions. The approach uses solutions of heavy elements as a proxy for the soil water and utilizes the abrupt increase of mass attenuation coefficient of heavy

The vertical and horizontal movement of water extractable organic carbon (WEOC) has a significant influence on soil organic carbon (SOC) storage and water quality. However, how the amount, components and chemical qualities change in horizontal and vertical levels as well as desorption in the cascade model in subtropical red soils are not fully understood. We sampled soils from four types of land (Elaeocarpus

The widespread antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) have caused critical threats to public health on a global scale. Soil, composed mainly of minerals, acts as a source of resistance determinants, playing a considerable role in the development and dissemination of ARGs. The great abundance of ARGs in soil environment draws concern about the effect of mineral on the spread of ARGs. Herein, the horizontal

The location of microorganisms and substrates within soil pore networks plays a crucial role for organic carbon (C) processing, its microbial utilization and turnover, and has direct consequences for C and nutrient cycling. An optimal approach to quantify responses to new C inputs from microorganisms residing in specific pores is the addition of new C to pores of target sizes in undisturbed soil cores

Soil aggregates can be considered massive microbial incubators. Thus, the study of the bacteria and fungi colonising different soil aggregate fractions helps to elucidate the factors influencing the associations between microhabitats in soil aggregates and microbial functioning. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the total bacterial and total fungal abundances and soil quality‐related

If a map is constructed through prediction with a statistical or non‐statistical model, the sampling design used for selecting the sample on which the model is fitted plays a key role in the final map accuracy. Several sampling designs are available for selecting these calibration samples. Commonly, sampling designs for mapping are compared in real‐world case studies by selecting just one sample for

Ground data on spectral characteristics of Jordan's soils remain sparse, which makes the interpretation of remote sensing datasets challenging. These are, however, very useful for predicting soil properties and agricultural suitability. Previous studies have shown that soil colours correlate well with degrees of weathering intensity, as indicated by magnetic parameters and dithionite‐extractable iron

Despite the vast carbon (C) stock of crop root residues in arable ecosystems, the microbial assimilation mechanism of crop root derived‐C is poorly understood. In this study, a DNA‐based stable isotope probing (DNA‐SIP) approach was used to explore and characterize the diversity of the soil bacterial community assimilating C derived from 13C‐labelled rice root residues during a 90‐day incubation. Overall

This review discusses the causes and consequences of ‘non‐equilibrium’ water flow and solute transport in large structural pores or macropores (root and earthworm channels, fissures and interaggregate voids). The experimental evidence suggests that pores larger than c. 0.3 mm in equivalent cylindrical diameter allow rapid non‐equilibrium flow. Apart from their large size and continuity, this is also

Sorption of phosphate by soils is an important determinant of fertiliser efficiency. Its extent and rate differ between soils. This paper considers both how these differences can be described and how they can be explained. Published data on the rate of reaction of soil with phosphate are assembled. There are 88 soil samples from five continents as reported in six publications. In almost all cases,

The aim of this investigation was to experimentally compare the movement of a solute through soils with two field‐representative surface geometries: ridge and furrow surfaces vs. flat surfaces. XCT imaging was undertaken to trace the movement of a soluble iodinated contrast medium, here used as an XCT‐visible analogue for field‐applied solutes, through soil columns with either a ridge and furrow or

Glyphosate is an important and widely used herbicide, its environmental behaviour being of scientific and public interest. Computational models of clay minerals and their interactions with small organic molecules are valuable in studying adsorption processes at an atomistic resolution. We analysed the adsorption process of glyphosate on kaolinite, a clay mineral with a high abundance in several types

Improving our knowledge of soil formation is critical so that we can better understand the first‐order controls on soil thickness and more effectively inform land‐management decisions. Cosmogenic radionuclide analysis has allowed soil scientists to more accurately constrain the rates at which soils form from bedrock. In such analysis, the concentration of an isotope, such as Beryllium‐10, is measured

The adoption of conservation agriculture (e.g., no‐till system) has been recognized as pivotal to maintaining soil functions, but the potential of this system to enhance organic carbon (OC) quantity and quality and how this OC is stabilized in soils are not well established. In this study, we evaluated the effects of land‐use types (native vegetation (NV) vs. no‐till system (NT)) on OC stocks and on

Understanding soil microbiome responses to different land management strategies provides insights into tallgrass prairie restoration. However, few studies have examined these interactions. We addressed this issue by surveying samples from the University of Nebraska at Omaha's Glacier Creek Preserve, where a long‐term burn experiment was established in 1982, with the mow treatments incorporated in 2002

Soil microbial community and enzyme activity regulate carbon and nutrient cycling in soils. No‐till has elevated levels of carbon at the soil surface compared to intensively tilled soils. The introduction of crop diversification in agricultural systems increases soil carbon protection and aggregate stability. Thus, the association of no‐till with crop diversification may change the soil microbial distribution

Soil microorganisms surviving in mining sites have developed metal‐resistance mechanisms to biotransform metals. Their use as biofertilizers can improve phytoremediation efficiency in contaminated soils by reducing metal toxicity while promoting plant growth. We analysed through whole‐metagenome shotgun sequencing the composition, diversity and function of microbial communities present in a contaminated

Soil scientists are accustomed to geostatistical methods and tools such as semivariograms and kriging for analysis of observational data. Such methods assume and exploit that observations are spatially correlated. Conversely, analysis of variance (ANOVA) of designed experiments assumes that observations from different experimental units are independent, an assumption that is justified based on randomization

This study was set up to identify the role of the phosphorus (P) desorption rate in P diffusion and in P bioavailability in soil. The P desorption kinetics were measured with a zero‐sink method in soil suspensions (0–77 days) for a set of soils that either had or had not been mined for P in a glasshouse study. The desorption kinetics was fitted by a serial two‐pool model, discriminating a fast desorbing

Land‐use intensification can reduce soil carbon stocks and changes microbial community biodiversity and functionality. However, there is a lack of consensus on whether management consistently affects microbial biodiversity across geographic scales, and how this relates to altered soil function. From a regulatory and monitoring perspective, there is a need to identify functionally relevant indicators

For over a half a century, researchers have been aware of the fact that the physical and chemical characteristics of microenvironments in soils strongly influence the activity, growth and metabolism of microorganisms. However, many aspects of the effect of soil physical characteristics, such as the pore geometry, remain poorly understood. Therefore, the objective of the present research was to determine

Connectivity is one of the most important parameters to quantify pore structure and link it to soil functions. One of the great challenges in quantifying connectivity with X‐ray microtomography (X‐ray μCT) is that high resolution, as required for small pores, can only be achieved in small samples in which the connectivity of larger pores can no longer be quantified in a meaningful way. The objective

The denitrification rates of freshwater and oligohaline tidal marsh soils with different textures (loam and sandy soils) in a subtropical estuary, and their responses to nitrogen (N) loading, were investigated. In both marshes, the denitrification rates varied significantly with the season only in loam soil. The denitrification rates were highest in oligohaline marsh loam soil and lowest in freshwater

A major challenge in soil science is to monitor and understand the state and change of soils at a national scale to inform decision making and policy. To address this, there is a need to identify key parameters for soil health and function and determine how they relate to other parameters, including traditional soil surveys. Here we present a national‐scale dataset of topsoil sampled as part of a wider

Overgrazing has caused serious grassland soil deterioration and significant soil organic carbon (SOC) losses. Controlled grazing is recommended for restoring grassland and enhancing SOC stocks. Studies have suggested that, in particular, labile organic carbon (C) is a sensitive indicator for soil degradation and SOC recovery, but few studies of the effect of different grassland management practices

The soils of the Maritime and sub‐Antarctic experience extreme environmental conditions but nonetheless host biological communities that can survive low temperatures, limited water availability and short day lengths or even the complete absence of solar radiation during the winter. We determined the soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (N), soil microbial biomass (SMB), labile carbon (LC) and

Liming is widely used to alleviate soil acidity in western and central Europe, but its role in the cycling of magnesium (Mg) in arable soil–plant systems is still ambiguous. Here, we systematically analysed Mg concentrations and the natural Mg stable isotope compositions (δ26Mg) of two Mg pools in soil profiles and a major crop (winter rye) in a long‐term German agricultural experimental field that

Biological exudates, such as plant mucilage, can greatly stabilize soils, but as the mechanical and hydrological drivers depend much on soil particle size composition, eroding and depositional areas of a slope may respond differently. Soils from an eroded midslope and a depositional footslope in an arable farm were amended with chia (Salvia hispanica) seed mucilage at concentrations of 0 g C kg−1,

Soil structure is closely linked to biological activities. However, identifying, describing and quantifying soil aggregates remain challenging. X‐ray micro computed tomography (X‐ray μCT) provides a detailed view of the physical structure at a spatial resolution of a few microns. It could be a useful tool to discriminate soil aggregates, their origin and their formation processes for a better comprehension

Farming practices that integrate plastic film mulching and nitrogen (N) fertilization have been extensively used to enhance crop productivity. However, the interactive effects of mulching and N application on soil microbial properties and crop yields have received little attention. A 2‐year field experiment was carried out in the Loess Plateau to investigate the independent and combined effects of

The genesis of hard carbonate nodules in the lowermost horizons (180–200 cm) of arable soils in the southern part of the forest‐steppe region of the Central Russian Upland was associated with a change in soil water regime. The conversion of forest to arable lands was studied in three agro‐chronosequences located on flat interfluves and consisted of undisturbed soils under deciduous forests and arable

Increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks in agricultural soils is currently of special interest because it can help mitigate global warming through atmospheric carbon (C) sequestration. Recommended management practices, such as conservation agriculture (CA) and conventional tillage with cover crops (CC), could have significant implications for C sequestration potential. A field experiment was carried

Soil fertility is the result of interactions between the physical and chemical soil attributes, affecting its biological component, which in turn feeds back to the physical and chemical soil attributes. The No‐Till System (NTS) is the main modality of Conservation Agriculture, essential to achieving farming sustainability and conserving soil fertility. However, farmers often fail to adopt the three

Improvements in management practices can prevent the decline of soil organic carbon (SOC) storage caused by conventional tillage practice in Northeast China. Density and size fractionation can track the transformation of plant residue into SOC and its location in the soil matrix. We used a long‐term field study in China to evaluate these changes as a result of improved management involving tillage

Almost 30 years ago, a distinguished soil physical‐chemist, Grant W. Thomas, voiced serious concern about what he saw in the soil science literature as more a preoccupation with style than with substance. The present article argues that, similarly, there are reasons to be worried at the moment because of a tendency in much of the literature on soils, both within and outwith soil science, to systematically

The impacts of climate change on biodiversity can be modulated by other changing environmental conditions (e.g. induced by land‐use change). The potential interactive effects of climate change and land use have rarely been studied for soil organisms. To test the effects of changing climatic conditions and land use on soil invertebrates, we examined earthworm communities across different seasons in

Monitoring the availability of phosphorus (P) in soil under continuous cropping facilitates finding deficiency in crops and contributes to improving crop growth and nutrient management models. Soil P availability for crops is usually estimated by soil test P (STP), such as Bray‐1. This is widely used in the Americas. The relationship between the decrease of STP Bray‐1 and cumulative removal of P was