Previous research showed that adding biochar at the onset of the composting process alleviates this process and reduces emissions. The objective of this study was to evaluate in a field trial whether ...this compost with biochar applied during the process (i.e., biochar-blended compost) has added value compared to compost or biochar alone on chemical, physical and biological soil properties and crop yield. A single application of biochar, compost and biochar-blended (BB) compost increased the C content of the top soil in the long term, but only compost and biochar-blended compost had a lasting effect on pH and the K content. Two to 4 years after a single application of all three amendments in the field, the soil microbial biomass, richness, diversity and community composition remained unchanged. Due to intensive soil tillage, biochar migrated to subsoil already after 2 growing seasons, thus increasing the C sequestration in subsoil. We conclude that in general, the biochar-blended compost outperformed biochar and had a similar effect as the compost.
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•Soil quality was evaluated after adding biochar, compost and biochar-blended compost.•The products increased C content of the top soil for at least 4 years.•Biochar migrated to subsoil horizons due to intense soil tillage.•Biochar-blended compost had no added value over compost in the field.
Adding biochar at the onset of composting has proven to be beneficial for this process, and when added to the soil, this biochar-blended (BB) compost has outperformed biochar on soil quality but had ...a similar effect as the compost. Because soil quality gets more and more attention as an important tool for soil health, pot trials were conducted to evaluate the effect of compost and biochar alone, and biochar-blended (BB) compost on disease suppression. In addition, it was investigated whether the disease suppression was associated with changes in soil quality (chemical, physical and biological soil properties). The two selected bio-assays were Rhizoctoniasolani (basal rot) on lettuce and potato cyst nematodes (PCN) on potato. Both compost and BB compost released mineral N and thus increased lettuce and potato yield but biochar did not. None of the amendments affected the susceptibly of lettuce leaves to basal rot. Compost suppressed PCN while biochar had no effect on PCN reproduction. Moreover, BB compost reduced the suppressing effect of compost. We suggest that the inhibitory effect of biochar blended in compost might be attributed to the fungal biomass which was not increased in the BB compost-amended soil compared to compost-amended soil, and/or the absorbance of suppressive compounds by the high surface area of biochar. Interestingly, all three amendments reduced the water evaporation from the soil surface, which can have important implications for drought stress of plants.
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•Compost suppressed potato cyst nematodes, but biochar and BB compost did not.•None of the amendments affected the susceptibly of lettuce leaves to basal rot.•Compost and BB compost increased lettuce and potato yield, but biochar did not.•Compost and BB compost increased total microbial biomass in soil, biochar did not.•Compost, BB compost, and biochar reduced water evaporation from the soil surface.
•Intercropping increased the soil nutrients and enzyme activities of proso millet.•The effect of intercropping on the soil bacterial diversity was larger than fungi.•Intercropping decreased the ...dominant bacterial abundance of Actinobacteria.•Intercropping did not markedly change the fungal community compositions.•The soil temperature and bulk density contribute more to the bacterial community.
Cereal-legume intercropping has been widely used to increase productivity and achieve sustainable development in modern agricultural systems. However, there has been few studies of intercropping in minor grain crops, and we therefore designed an experiment to monitor rhizosphere soil properties, enzyme activities, and the microbial community diversity of proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) under proso millet /mung bean intercropping systems on the Loess Plateau of China, and a sole planting was used as a control. Illumina sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene and ITS gene was used to analyze soil microbial (bacterial and fungal) diversity and composition. The results showed that the rhizosphere soil nutrient contents and enzyme activities were higher under intercropping patterns with significant correlations being observed. The physical properties were also changed, including the soil water content, bulk density, and soil temperature. The effect of intercropping patterns on bacterial diversity was larger than that on fungal diversity, especially alpha diversity, although both groups were markedly affected by intercropping patterns. Actinobacteria was the most abundant bacterial phylum, which was decreased by 32.37% under intercropping. Other phylum species, including Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Gemmatimonadetes, Acidobacteria, Nitrospirae, and Firmicutes were also markedly affected by intercropping patterns. For the dominant fungal phyla, Ascomycota, Mortierellomycota, and Basidiomycota did not respond substantially to intercropping patterns. Binding spatial ordination analysis demonstrated that soil temperature and bulk density for bacteria and total nitrogen and nitrate contents for fungi contribute more to the microbial community than the other investigated soil parameters, whereas the soil enzyme activities played the same roles in bacteria and fungi. Overall, these results suggest that intercropping alters soil microbial community composition, and the soil bacteria reflect changes in soil properties and enzyme activities better than fungi. Meanwhile, these findings also provide insights into the mechanisms underlying the maintenance of biodiversity in the agro-ecosystems functioning.
•Microbial agents increased the size and quality of saffron cormels.•Microbial agents affected flowering rate and stigma yield.•Paenibacillus mucilaginosus increased the accumulation of crocin and ...picrocrocin in stigmas.•Microbial agents increased the soil nutrient and affected the soil microbial community structure.
Saffron (Crocus sativus L.) is a bulbous flower whose dried stigmas are used as a herbal medicine and as a spice. Saffron is cultivated worldwide, but corm degradation is an important factor affecting its yield and quantity. This study investigated the effects of three different microbial agents (Bacillus megaterium, Brevibacillus laterosporus, Paenibacillus mucilaginosus) on the growth and quality of saffron cormels. Both the weight and circumference of the cormels were significantly increased in response to microbial agent treatment. Measurements of the physiological and biochemical characteristics of the cormels as well as the flowering traits showed that the starch and protein contents as well as the flowering rate and stigma yield increased significantly after the application of the three microbial agents. Analyses of soil physicochemical properties and microbial populations revealed increases in the soil potassium content and a significant alteration in the soil microbial community structure in response to treatment. Our results showed that the application of three microbial agents enhances the growth, nutritional status and health of saffron cormels and improves the soil environment during saffron corm cultivation. Paenibacillus mucilaginosus also increased the accumulation of crocins and picrocrocin in stigmas. Our results provide the theoretical and practical knowledge needed to reduce corm degradation and to improve saffron corm cultivation.
Soil plays a crucial role in ecosystem functioning. In the 1990s ecosystem services (ES) research focused on developing the concept and framework and only a few studies linked soil properties to ...ecosystem services. This study reviews the literature on the relationship between soils and ecosystem services and aims to contribute to the scientific understanding on soil and ecosystem services and their interrelations. Most studies have focused on provisioning and regulating ES relating to soil physico-chemical properties. Cultural services had only a few studies, and supporting services were mostly related to soil physico-chemical and biological properties. The number of ES papers increased rapidly after 2000 and in the past 5years, regulating services such as carbon sequestration, climate and gas regulations, were commonly studied. Once the concept was established in the 1990s, studies focusing on the assessment, valuation, and payments of services became more prominent. Most soil-ES research is published in Geoderma. Soil scientists seems to be hesitant to use the term ‘ecosystem services’ even if their research is devoted to linking soils to ecosystem services. We suggest that future ES research should focus on exploring soil functional diversity of soil biota and the spatial aspects of soil properties to lower level ecosystem services (e.g., water purification, gene pool, and climate regulation). Soil scientists should engage professionals from other disciplines to further promote the contribution of soils to ecosystem services delivery and human well-being. ES soil studies could be used in local and national policy development and program on natural resource use and management.
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•Contributes to the understanding of soils in relation to ecosystem services (ES)•Temporal and geographical distribution of soil ES studies has been analyzed.•Highlights use of soil information on the spatial aspects of soil ES studies•Recommends the future soil ES research focus
Growing populations and the increasing use of existing resources has led to growth in organic waste emissions. Therefore, a sustainable approach to managing this waste has become a major concern in ...densely populated areas. Biological treatment is an efficient method for reducing the amount of organic waste, and for producing energy. A large number of biogas plants and compost facilities that use organic waste as a substrate for electricity and fuel production are being built around the world. The biological treatment process in these plants produces large amounts of organic waste, and there is therefore a growing need to find a sustainable use for this material. Organic waste, such as biogas residues and compost can be a valuable fertilizer for agricultural soils. They can serve as a source of plant nutrients and can also improve soil structure and water holding capacity. However, as organic residues are known to contain both heavy metals and organic contaminants there is a need for long term field experiments to ensure that soil and plant quality is maintained. In order to investigate the potential risks and benefits of using organic waste in agriculture, an 8
year field experiment was established in central Sweden. Under realistic conditions, compost and biogas residues from source-separated household waste were compared with traditional mineral fertilizer. We examined crop yield and soil chemical and microbiological properties. The main conclusion from the field experiment was that biogas residues resulted in crop yields almost as high as the mineral fertilizer NPS. In addition, several important soil microbiological properties, such as substrate induced respiration, potential ammonium oxidation and nitrogen mineralization were improved after application of both biogas residues and compost. Moreover, no negative effects could be detected from using either of the organic wastes. In particular the genetic structure of the soil bacterial community appeared to resist changes caused by addition of organic waste.
We present one of the first case studies demonstrating the use of distributed acoustic sensing deployed on regional unlit fiber-optic telecommunication infrastructure (dark fiber) for broadband ...seismic monitoring of both near-surface soil properties and earthquake seismology. We recorded 7 months of passive seismic data on a 27 km section of dark fiber stretching from West Sacramento, CA to Woodland, CA, densely sampled at 2 m spacing. This dataset was processed to extract surface wave velocity information using ambient noise interferometry techniques; the resulting V
profiles were used to map both shallow structural profiles and groundwater depth, thus demonstrating that basin-scale variations in hydrological state could be resolved using this technique. The same array was utilized for detection of regional and teleseismic earthquakes and evaluated for long period response using records from the M8.1 Chiapas, Mexico 2017, Sep 8th event. The combination of these two sets of observations conclusively demonstrates that regionally extensive fiber-optic networks can effectively be utilized for a host of geoscience observation tasks at a combination of scale and resolution previously inaccessible.
Addressing critical challenges in sustainable agriculture, notably water scarcity and soil degradation, necessitates innovative irrigation and fertilization methods. This investigation thoroughly ...assessed the effects of combining inorganic and organic fertilizers under brackish water irrigation, particularly focusing on magnetized-ionized brackish water-a promising solution for these challenges. The study shows that the integration of inorganic and organic fertilizers notably enhances soil water retention and salt leaching when applied with magnetized-ionized brackish water irrigation (MIBIO treatment), with water storage rate and salt accumulation rate observed at −0.454 and −0.075, respectively. Additionally, soil microbial diversity and uniformity witnessed significant improvement, positively influencing cotton growth rates, particularly noting a dry matter accumulation rate of 9.3262 kg·(ha·°C)−1. Transcriptomic analysis revealed that the MIBIO treatment elevated gene expression during the boll period, with notable enrichment in pathways such as the MAPK signaling pathway-plant and amino sugar and nucleotide sugar metabolism. Furthermore, the partial least squares path modeling indicated that soil alkali-hydrolyzed nitrogen (AN) and available potassium (AK) positively impact cotton leaf transcription and yield, with path coefficients of 0.613 and 0.428, respectively. Specifically, AN and AK contribute to enhancing cotton growth and affect the expression of metabolism genes in cotton leaves, thereby increasing cotton yield. Our study highlights the crucial role of irrigation and fertilization in influencing the soil environment and cotton growth. We recommend the use of magnetized-ionized water irrigation in combination with organic fertilizers as a strategy to boost agricultural productivity. Through the development of these strategies, our goal is to offer farmers practical guidance that can be readily implemented to enhance crop production efficiency, reduce environmental impact, and adhere to the principles of sustainable agriculture.
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•·Introduces magnetized-ionized brackish water irrigation to tackle water scarcity and soil degradation•·Enhances soil microbial diversity with organic fertilizer, positively affecting cotton growth•·Demonstrates positive impact of soil physicochemical properties on cotton yield through partial least squares path modeling•·Offers a sustainable approach to enhance crop productivity and environmental health
The effects of vegetation restoration on plant characteristics and soil physicochemical properties have been widely documented; however, knowledge of the variation in soil ecoenzymatic activity and ...stoichiometry remains limited, particularly with respect to their relationship with plant and soil variables in restored ecosystems. Here, the vegetation and soil from one farmland and two restored land-use types (Robinia pseudoacacia plantations: RP and abandoned lands: AL) of four age classes (10, 18, 28, and 43-years) were investigated and sampled on the Loess Plateau, China. The activity of C, N, and P-acquiring enzymes (β-1,4-glucosidase, BG; β-1,4-N-acetylglucosaminidase, NAG; leucine aminopeptidase, LAP; and alkaline phosphatase, AP) and other major influencing factors (soil physical properties, soil nutrient contents, and microbial biomass) were determined. It was found that both restoration time and vegetation types significantly affect plant characteristics, soil physical properties, soil nutrient content, and microbial biomass. Soil BG, NAG + LAP, and AP enzyme activities were higher in RP and AL than in farmland, and increased with restoration time in AL. For RP, the activity of these enzymes increased from year 10 to year 28, then decreased from year 28 to year 43. Soil ecoenzymatic C:P and N:P activity ratios were ordered: farmland > AL > RP, and decreased with restoration time in AL and RP; thus, P limitation was stronger in RP than in AL and increased with restoration time in both AL and RP. Soil ecoenzymatic C:N:P acquisition ratios of farmland, AL, and RP deviated from the 1:1:1 ratio and depended on the availability of environmental nutrients and demand for microbial nutrients. The vegetation characteristics and soil physical properties were closely related to the nutrient acquisitions of microbes and, ultimately, contributed towards shaping soil ecoenzymatic activity and stoichiometry (particularly vegetation coverage, belowground biomass, soil water content, soil bulk density, and pH). Furthermore, variation in soil ecoenzymatic activity and stoichiometry was better accounted by dissolved nutrients in the soil (particularly C and N) and microbial biomass (particularly N and P) than by plant characteristics and soil properties. Overall, this study demonstrates that the C:N:P stoichiometry of soil microbes and ecoenzymatic activity is nutrient dependent, rather homeostatic, with the potential to influence nutrient cycling on the Loess Plateau.
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•Soil ecoenzymatic C:N:P acquisition ratios deviated from the 1:1:1.•Soil ecoenzymatic activity ratio was not in homeostasis but resource dependent.•P limitation of microbial metabolisms increased with restoration time.•Soil ecoenzymatic stoichiometry were influenced by both plant and soil properties.•Soil dissolved nutrients and microbial biomass have stronger effect on soil ecoenzymatic stoichiometry than plant and soil properties.
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