Common soil characteristics, nutrients and microbial activity at deeper soil depths are topics seldom covered in agricultural studies. Biogeochemical cycles in deep soils are not yet fully understood. This study investigates the effect of different mineral and organic fertilisation on soil organic matter dynamics, nutrients and bacterial community composition in the first meter of the soil profiles in the long-term maize cropping system experiment Tetto Frati, near the Po River in northern Italy.
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Elsevier, Soil and Tillage Research, Volume 198, April 2020
The ploughing-induced compaction of the interface between topsoil and subsoil negatively affects the connectivity and continuity of the complex pore system through plough pans as artificial boundary resulting in water-logged conditions. The conversion of arable land into hayfield is an opportunity for breaking up plough pans and recovering pore networks in the long-term. The basic idea of the current study was to investigate the potential pore structure recovery effect by growing either deep-rooting alfalfa or shallow-rooting grass on former conventionally-tilled cropland.
Elsevier, Soil and Tillage Research, Volume 198, April 2020
The artificial drainage of heavy textured gley soils is prevalent on pasture. Drainage of a soil profile reduces the water filled pore space (WFPS) in the upper soil horizons with consequences for N2 and N2O emissions, the fate of nitrogen (N), transformational processes and microbial and bacterial communities. The present intact soil column study with isotopically enriched fertiliser investigates all these aspects simultaneously under two WFPS treatments (80% (HS) and 55% (LS) saturation).
Elsevier, Soil and Tillage Research, Volume 194, November 2019
Historically, tillage has been essential for seedbed preparation and weed control, but it has also accelerated soil degradation through erosion and loss of soil organic matter (SOM). Our objective was to quantify the changes in soil physical properties and earthworm abundance under six tillage treatments on an Endocalcic Chernozem (Loamic) soil (2016 and 2017).
Elsevier, Soil and Tillage Research, Volume 200, June 2020
Soil organic matter (OM) stratification and macro and micro fauna are both good indicators for the evaluation of soil ecological functioning, which is interrelated with nutrient cycles. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, responses of the degree of OM stratification with soil depth expressed as a ratio, and belowground biota to forest degradation and land cover changes have received little attention, particularly in northern Iran.
Elsevier, Soil and Tillage Research, Volume 194, November 2019
As a response to the worldwide challenge raised by soil degradation, Conservation Agriculture (CA) was proposed to help restoring the three main soil functions, i.e. carbon transformation, nutrient cycling and structure maintenance. However, there is still a lack of integrative studies that assess the overall impact of CA on soil health. To fill the gap, Biofunctool®, a set of in-field indicators, was developed to monitor changes in soil biological functioning.
Elsevier, Soil and Tillage Research, Volume 192, September 2019
The no-tillage system combining winter cover crops and crop rotation may increase the efficiency use of soil P and phosphate fertilizer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of three decades of different soil management systems and winter cover crops on the fractions of P in a clayey Oxisol of Paraná State, Brazil. The bi-factorial experiment with three replicates was established in 1986. The main plots consisted of seven winter cover crops. In the subplots, two tillage systems were used: no-tillage and conventional tillage.
Elsevier, Soil and Tillage Research, Volume 188, May 2019
At the 21st session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC, COP21), a voluntary action plan, the ‘4 per 1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate’ was proposed under the Agenda for Action. The Initiative underlines the role of soil organic matter (SOM) in addressing the three-fold challenge of food and nutritional security, adaptation to climate change and mitigation of human-induced greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions. It sets an ambitious aspirational target of a 4 per 1000 (i.e.
Elsevier, Soil and Tillage Research, Volume 185, January 2019
Although the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization on soil microflora have been well studied, the effects should be verified across soil types and N-added levels. To understand the impacts of N fertilization on shifts in soil biological traits and bacterial communities and to further explore the coupling mediation of these parameters with respect to crop yields, we sampled soils from three experimental sites (each site received three levels of N fertilization (0, 168 and 312 kg N ha−1)) that share the same climatic conditions but have different soil types (clay, alluvial and sandy soils).
Elsevier, Catena, Volume 195, December 2020
This research examines high-elevation biocrusts on volcanic tephra in Haleakalā Crater, Maui, Hawai′i; geomorphic, ecological, and pedological processes are discussed, in order to provide an integrated geoecological view of linkages that have influenced biocrust genesis. The study considers four spatial scales: (i) the landscape scale; (ii) the site scale; (iii) the miniature scale and, (iv) the microscopic scale.