Carbon (C) addition to promote phosphorus (P) turnover by microbes is recommended to increase soil P availability. The C-nutrient stoichiometry of organic materials (OM) are the primary factors in controlling soil P availability and C storage.

Plants are not able to take up organically bound phosphorus (P) before it is hydrolyzed by extracellular phosphatases while intracellular phosphatases play a role in P remobilization.

Intercropping is assumed to increase food production while reducing fertilizer needs and environmental impacts of crop production.

The degradation in soil quality over the last four decades poses a major threat to the sustainability of the puddled transplanted rice (Oryza sativa L.) system in southern China. Conservation tillage practices (CTPs) such as no-tillage and crop straw mulching (SM) are considered effective strategies for achieving sustainable crop production.

Forest soils are an important reservoir of organic carbon (OC) and a potential source or sink for atmospheric CO2. Prediction of OC stock changes under ongoing climatic and management changes requires a spatial explicit base. Knowledge of the vertical distribution of OC stocks is very important, since varying soil layers may be affected differently by environmental change.

Phosphorus (P) deficiency in acidic red soil restricts crop yield. However, long-term application of phosphate fertilizer can cause potential environmental risks due to the accumulation of P in the soil.

Placed cattle slurry (CS) provides essential nutrients such as nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) to young maize (Zea Mays L.) plants and may substitute the use of mineral starter fertilizers. However, placement depth and distribution of slurry may influence the plant growth response.

Crop rotations with sugar beet (SB) vary in accompanying crops, affecting the organic matter input into the soil and thus the soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks. Furthermore, the impact of aboveground SB residues themselves on SOC stocks is unclear.

Climate and management practices impact the soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks of agricultural soils. Especially under the semiarid climate of India, organic matter is rapidly decomposed, and imbalanced nutrient input further exacerbates its depletion, thus facilitating the decline in soil quality and crop yields. Improving SOC contents through integrated nutrient management (INM), that is, conjunctive

Peatlands only cover a minor fraction of the global terrestrial surface, but due to drainage, they are major contributors to carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from soils. Previous studies have shown that hydrological conditions, nutrient availability and anthropogenic disturbance play an important role in the mineralisation of organic matter. Furthermore, microbial turnover depends on peat quality, which

Incorporating high organic carbon amendments (HCA) in the soil can promote microbial nitrogen (N) immobilization. HCA incorporation is thought to reduce N loss via nitrate (NO3−); however, it often increases nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions in upland soils.

Mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, ammonia volatilization, and nitrate leaching from agriculture are important for the management of environmental pollution and climate change. Tannins, which are water-soluble polyphenolic compounds, were found to reduce emissions in animal husbandry systems when supplemented to ruminant diets.

Limited information is available on the changes in surface electrochemical properties of different-sized particles of an Anthrosol, compared with the corresponding parental upland soil.

Salt stress negatively affects rice growth and yield in many parts of the world. Cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) is very sensitive to salt stress. Breeding attempts to develop salinity-adapted rice varieties have been hampered by the quantitative nature of adaptation and limited genetic variability in cultivated rice.

The efficient use of fertilizers depends very much on their proper placement, and the effects of fertilizer placement on the woody perennial plant tea (Camellia sinensis L.) are not clearly understood.

In anaerobic lowland fields, ammonium (NH4+) is the dominant form of nitrogen (N) taken up by rice plants, however, with the large expansion of water-saving irrigation practices, nitrification is favored during drained periods, leading to an increased availability of nitrate (NO3−).

Phosphorus (P) retention behavior in the soil is one of the main factors driving ecosystem productivity and changes strongly during soil weathering. Volcanic soils are known for their high phosphate (PO4) sorption capacity (PSC). However, the changes of PO4 buffering properties and fixation processes in the course of their pedogenic development are not fully understood.

Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) symbiosis is a fundamental driver in forest ecosystems. Studies of effects of fertilizer treatment on ECM fungal community structure were predominantly based on large, single additions of nitrogen. Studies involving chronic additions of nitrogen in combination with different gradients of water regime are much less common.

Plants evolved various mechanisms to cope with metal stress. Cadmium (Cd) exposure specifically induces the synthesis of thiol-rich substances such as phytochelatins. Due to the chemical similarity of Cd and zinc (Zn), similar detoxification mechanisms for both metals are under discussion.

Background: Gaseous matter exchanges in soil are determined by the connectivity of the pore system which is easily clogged by fresh root exudates. However, it remains unclear how a hydrogel (e.g., mucilage) affects soil pore tortuosity and gas diffusion properties when drying.

Background: Legume crop rotation in sugarcane cropping systems can improve soil health and fertility. However, their impacts on soil microbial community composition and function have not been clearly understood to date.

Humans act at worldwide scale as a growing geomorphic agent since mid‐Holocene (8,200–4,200 y BP) through the pervasive impacts of domestication, deforestation, agriculture, urbanization, and mining. The concept of Anthropocene has been introduced exactly to indicate the timespan in which humans have joined with other natural forces in impacting the outermost shell of the planet and the biosphere.

Background: Under the background of drought and nitrogen deposition, global climate change is changing the supply of resources and environmental conditions that are crucial to plant growth, and plants respond to climate change by environmentally induced phenotypic changes.

Background and aims: Phosphorus (P) is an essential element for crop growth. However, while links of P turnover in soils to carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) availability have been described, it remains to be clarified how combinations of fertilizer C and N additions affect stocks and cycling of distinct P fractions at different soil depths. The objectives of our study were (1) to assess how soil total P

Background: The current method employed by industry for tissue analysis to determine grapevine nitrogen (N) status is expensive and time intensive.

Background: The organic matter (OM) in soils interacts with polyvalent cations such as Ca2+ through hydroxyl (OH), carboxylic acid, ester, keto, aldehyde (summarized as C=O), and carboxylate (COO−) functional groups. Such interactions affect the bonding strength of the double bond between the C and the O atom in the functional groups, which is assumed to shift the wavenumber (WN) region of O–H (hydroxyl)

Humic substances affect iron (Fe) and phosphate (P) uptake by higher plants by two different ways.

Radiation damage to plants through X-ray exposure has been reported to impair root growth. The literature on the critical dose for growth impairment is inconclusive, partly as dose measurements in soil are scarce. Here we fill this gap and show that the dose in a typical single pot scan amounts to 1.2 Gy. In addition, we demonstrate the shortcomings of estimating the dose from scan settings using the

The objectives of this study were to analyze soil aggregation and associated soil organic carbon (SOC) under cup plant and maize in a field trial (sandy loam) and two farmers' fields (both silty loams) during the 2018 growing period. On the sandy loam, aggregation under the two crops did not differ despite higher bulk SOC under cup plant. At the silty loam sites, cup plant exhibited a 64% higher aggregate

Background: Increasing nitrogen (N) plant uptake efficiency may result in better plant quality and growth, less N susceptible to leaching and potential contamination to surrounding environments. Soil surfactants have been documented to increase water infiltration and enhance water uniformity throughout the soil profile. Thus, applying a surfactant may increase N uptake and use efficiency.

Background: Excessive application of nitrogen (N) fertilizer in cereal crops not only decreases the N use efficiency but also accelerates greenhouse gas (GHG) emission.

Background: Foliar application is mainly used in agriculture as a targeted top-up application to prevent deficiencies or during anthesis to improve quality. Hence, foliar fertilization usually occurs in plants that are in good condition and capable of uptake through the leaf. However, the extent to which plants utilize a nutrient under conditions of deficiency is also of importance.

Aims: High maize yields in modern well-managed agroecosystems depend on the use of elite varieties and hybrids. Unfortunately, because of repeated selection at high fertilizer rates, some beneficial traits, such as the interaction with arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi or the release of organic acid anions for phosphate mobilization and for attracting beneficial microorganisms, might be gradually declining

Mucilage is a hydrogel exuded at root tips, which can hold large amounts of water but turns hydrophobic once dried. It is very challenging to understand the interplay of these opposite mechanisms and to incorporated them into hydraulic soil models. My summary of experimental and modelling approaches and observations at various scales is meant to help improving soil–plant water dynamic models and may

Background: Poor utilization of urea fertilizer and N losses from agriculture lands demands alternate fertilization practices to reduce N losses and improve utilization, i.e., application of nitrification inhibitors.

Background: The soils under continuous rice monocropping are currently facing a serious threat of accelerated soil and environmental quality degradation.

Background: Direct plant uptake of organic nitrogen (N) may be important for plant N nutrition, but we lack knowledge of how the concentration and form of external N influence organic N uptake and plant N status.

Background: Salinity is one of the main threats that can cause crop yield losses by limiting plant growth. Several important cultivated crops including wheat exhibit sensitivity to salt stress by severe yield reductions. Approaches to improve salt resistance are critical for improved food production in the future.

Background: In recent times, also in compliance with several sustainable agriculture rules, the use of soil conditioners, such as zeolites, progressively increased. Zeolites are minerals characterized by unique physical‐chemical properties, which make them able to control the mobility of water, ammonium and other cations in soils. As zeolites do not exhaust their properties over time, it would be appropriate

Background: Blends of controlled‐release and slow‐release urea may help to synchronize N release from fertilizers and N uptake by maize to improve the plant nitrogen use efficiency.

Background: Adequate regulation of plant nutrients may constitute a promising approach to overcome the deleterious effects of salinity on plant growth and development. Among these nutrients, nitrogen (N) can be a stand out option to improve plant adaptation to saline environment. However, plant response to N under salinity stress may vary depending upon NH 4 + : NO 3 - ratio in the growth medium.

Background and aims: The concepts of critical nitrogen (N) concentration and nitrogen nutrition index (NNI) provide effective tools for assessing the N nutritional status of pastoral systems. However, no conclusive data exist concerning the effects of stubble height at harvest on the N dilution curve [N concentration (N%) = a(biomass)−b] and mixed species cultivation on N nutritional status of forage

Background: Diversified food crop production systems with high‐value vegetable crops are increasingly replacing conventional rice–wheat rotations across Nepal. These newly emerging systems are likely to enhance the demand for the micro‐nutrients boron (B) and zinc (Zn), which are already widely deficient throughout in Nepal. However, B and Zn fertilizers often are either unavailable in rural areas

Background: Carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) assimilate availability and their ratios are crucial for maize grain production and N‐use efficiency.

Aims: This study was initiated to evaluate different responses of sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) genotypes to sparingly soluble phosphorus (P) treatments and to identify useful plant traits contributing to P efficiency for the selection of efficient and responsive genotypes.

Background: Optimal wheat straw management in paddy fields is important for evaluating soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics and sustaining soil quality.

Background: Little is known about the relationship between plant availability of P in different sludges and their derived ashes, its development over time and its interaction with soil pH.

Background: Water and nitrogen (N) are essential resources influencing plant growth and yield. To improve their efficiencies in crop production is challenging because the physiological mechanisms of water and N coupling and their interactive effect on crop water use efficiency (WUE) are not well understood yet.

Background: Chemical methods allowing a single soil extraction followed by multi‐elemental simultaneous measurement by ICP‐OES are increasingly used to predict plant uptake; however, calibration results against crop response are scarce and contradictory.

Background: Intensive winter wheat–summer maize (Triticum aestivum L.–Zea mays L.) double‐cropping systems in the North China Plain often show high nitrogen (N) losses and water use causing harmful threats to the environment.

Background: Although cover crops provide many agronomic and environmental benefits, they may also increase nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions after termination. The N2O emissions from decomposing biomass of cover crops largely depends on the type of cover and maturity level at termination.

The editorial office would like to draw reader's attention to an error occurring in the “Table of Content” regarding the contribution of Christensen et al. · Volume 183 · Number 4 · August 2020 that we like to apologize for. The correct title must be: 416 The correct figure caption is: N.H. Christiansen, P. SØrensen, R. Labouriau, B.T. Christensen, and G.H. RubÆk – Characterizing phosphorus availability

Background: Rice production in low‐input systems of West Africa relies largely on nitrogen supply from the soil. Especially in the dry savanna agro‐ecological zone, soil organic N is mineralized during the transition period between the dry and the wet seasons. In addition, in the inland valley landscape, soil N that is mineralized on slopes may be translocated as nitrate into the lowlands. There, both

Background: Adaptation of pearl millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] to low soil phosphorus (P) at early seedling stages and efficient P fertilizer application are crucial for its survival in the West African Sahel. While addition of NH 4 + - N to P in the microdose technique has been reported to stimulate early growth of pearl millet, there is little information regarding root length (RL) at different

Background: Potassium (K) availability in soil and plant uptake is restrained by the dynamic interactions among the different pools of K.

Background: The research on plant salt tolerance has mainly focused on Na+, but Cl− has been relatively neglected. Previous studies have found that the xerophyte Pugionium cornutum, an important forage grass in the arid and semi‐arid regions of northwestern China, could synergistically accumulate high quintiles of Na+ and Cl− in its shoots under NaCl treatments. However, the separate effects of these