• Authors:
    • Armstrong, R.
    • Norton, R.
    • Chen, D.
    • Lam, S. K.
    • Mosier, A. R.
  • Source: The Journal of Agricultural Science
  • Volume: 151
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2013
  • Summary: The effect of elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration on greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from semi-arid cropping systems is poorly understood. Closed static chambers were used to measure the fluxes of nitrous oxide (N2O), CO2 and methane (CH4) from a spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L. cv. Yitpi) crop-soil system at the Australian grains free-air carbon dioxide enrichment (AGFACE) facility at Horsham in southern Australia in 2009. The targeted atmospheric CO2 concentrations (hereafter CO2 concentration is abbreviated as [CO2]) were 390 (ambient) and 550 (elevated) mu mol/mol for both rainfed and supplementary irrigated treatments. Gas measurements were conducted at five key growth stages of wheat. Elevated [CO2] increased the emission of N2O and CO2 by 108 and 29%, respectively, with changes being greater during the wheat vegetative stage. Supplementary irrigation reduced N2O emission by 36%, suggesting that N2O was reduced to N-2 in the denitrification process. Irrigation increased CO2 flux by 26% at ambient [CO2] but not at elevated [CO2], and had no impact on CH4 flux. The present results suggest that under future atmospheric [CO2], agricultural GHG emissions at the vegetative stage may be higher and irrigation is likely to reduce the emissions from semi-arid cropping systems.
  • Authors:
    • Armstrong, R.
    • Norton, R.
    • Chen, D.
    • Lam, S. K.
  • Source: Plant and Soil
  • Volume: 364
  • Issue: 1-2
  • Year: 2013
  • Summary: This study investigated the residual contribution of legume and fertilizer nitrogen (N) to a subsequent crop under the effect of elevated carbon dioxide concentration ([CO2]). Field pea (Pisum sativum L.) was labeled in situ with N-15 (by absorption of a N-15-labeled urea solution through cut tendrils) under ambient and elevated (700 mu mol mol(-1)) [CO2] in controlled environment glasshouse chambers. Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and its soil were also labeled under the same conditions by addition of N-15-enriched urea to the soil. Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) was subsequently grown to physiological maturity on the soil containing either N-15-labeled field pea residues (including N-15-labeled rhizodeposits) or N-15-labeled barley plus fertilizer N-15 residues. Elevated [CO2] increased the total biomass of field pea (21 %) and N-fertilized barley (23 %), but did not significantly affect the biomass of unfertilized barley. Elevated [CO2] increased the C:N ratio of residues of field pea (18 %) and N-fertilized barley (19 %), but had no significant effect on that of unfertilized barley. Elevated [CO2] increased total biomass (11 %) and grain yield (40 %) of subsequent wheat crop regardless of rotation type in the first phase. Irrespective of [CO2], the grain yield and total N uptake by wheat following field pea were 24 % and 11 %, respectively, higher than those of the wheat following N-fertilized barley. The residual N contribution from field pea to wheat was 20 % under ambient [CO2], but dropped to 11 % under elevated [CO2], while that from fertilizer did not differ significantly between ambient [CO2] (4 %) and elevated [CO2] (5 %). The relative value of legume derived N to subsequent cereals may be reduced under elevated [CO2]. However, compared to N fertilizer application, legume incorporation will be more beneficial to grain yield and N supply to subsequent cereals under future (elevated [CO2]) climates.
  • Authors:
    • Zhang, X.
    • Zheng, Z.
    • Lu, Z.
    • Lu, C.
    • Sivelli, A.
    • Li, H.
    • Wang, Q.
    • He, J.
    • Li, H.
  • Source: Soil Science
  • Volume: 178
  • Issue: 1
  • Year: 2013
  • Summary: Traditional tillage (TT) in the North China Plain has maintained grain productivity in the past 50 years. Nonetheless, it has also been a major contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity and soil fertility loss, soil degradation, and even desertification. Permanent raised beds (PRB) have been proposed as a viable solution to achieve sustainable farming in this plain. The effects on soil chemical properties of the PRB treatment and two other treatments, namely, no-tillage and TT treatments, were measured between 2005 and 2011 in the annual double cropping regions of the North China Plain. The soil properties significantly (P 1.35) were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than those under no-tillage and TT. In the cropping zone of PRB, the bulk density was significantly reduced by 14.4%, whereas soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium and available nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium in the 0- to 10-cm soil layer were significantly increased by 24.8%, 78.8%, 121.9%, 81.8%, 46.2%, 7.0%, 2.9%, respectively, in comparison with those of TT treatments. Winter wheat and summer maize yields in PRB also underwent a slight increase. Permanent raised beds seem to be an improvement on current farming systems in the North China Plain and valuable for the sustainability of farming in this region.
  • Authors:
    • Marschner, P.
    • Khan, K. S.
    • Malik, M. A.
    • Fayyaz-ul, H.
  • Source: Journal of soil science and plant nutrition
  • Volume: 13
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2013
  • Summary: A 72-day greenhouse pot experiment was conducted with a sandy loam or a silt loam soil to examine the effects of farmyard manure (FYM), poultry litter (PL) and biogenic waste compost (BWC) at 10 g dw kg(-1) soil on microbial biomass and activity and growth and nutrient uptake by wheat. Soil samples were collected at days 0, 14, 28, 42, 56 and 72 after planting. Growth and nutrient uptake by wheat were determined on day 72. All three amendments increased microbial biomass C, N and P, dehydrogenase activity, plant growth and nutrient uptake with a greater effect by FYM and PL than by BWC. All amendments increased microbial biomass C, N and P and enzyme activity particularly on day 0. These microbial parameters decreased after day 0 indicating microbial biomass turnover. All amendments increased plant growth and nutrient uptake. It is concluded that organicamendments can stimulate microbial growth and nutrient uptake as well as plant growth and nutrient uptake. Microbes can increase plant nutrient availability by nutrient mobilisation but also because nutrients taken up by the microbial biomass initially could become available to plants when the microbial biomass turns over as the easily available C is depleted.
  • Authors:
    • Silva, P.
    • Pino, V.
    • Fuentes, J.-P.
    • Martinez, E.
    • Acevedo, E.
  • Source: Soil and Tillage Research
  • Volume: 126
  • Year: 2013
  • Summary: Soil management practices may change the soil properties. The magnitude of the change varies according to the soil property, the climate, and the type and time of implementation of a particular management system. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of no-tillage (NT) on the chemical and biological properties of an Entic Haploxeroll in Central Chile. Soil organic carbon (SOC), microbial biomass and associated indicators q(CO2), q(Mic), q(Min), available N, P and K, pH, electrical conductivity (EC), and crop yield were determined in a field experiment having a wheat (Triticum turgidum L)-maize (Zea mays L.) crop rotation. The change in soil chemical properties was further evaluated using a greenhouse bioassay in which ryegrass (Lolium perenne L) was grown in soil samples extracted at 0-2,2-5, and 5-15 cm depth. After nine years SOC in the NT treatment was 29.7 Mg ha(-1) compared to 24.8 Mg ha(-1) of CT, resulting in 4.98 Mg ha(-1) C gain. The NT therefore resulted in an average annual sequestration of 0.55 Mg C ha(-1) yr(-1) in the upper 15 cm soil. The soil organic C stored under NT was mainly accumulated in the top 2-cm of soil. The biological indicators showed a greater biological soil quality under NT than under CT. Soil organic C was positively associated with available N, P. and K, but negatively with soil pH. The iyegrass bioassay yielded higher biomass in NT than CT. An improvement in the soil chemical quality of the NT soil was considered to be the main reason for this result. The maize yield under NT had the tendency to improve in time as compared to CT. Wheat, however, had lower yield under NT. It was concluded that NT increased C sequestration and SOC improving the chemical and biological properties of this soil. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
  • Authors:
    • Nazmi, L.
  • Source: Advances in Environmental Biology
  • Volume: 7
  • Issue: 2
  • Year: 2013
  • Summary: Since soil properties influence the behavior of soils, the knowledge related to these properties is important in using them for different agricultural purposes. This study aimed to develop a structural equation model of yield components of wheat (YCW) in northwest of Iran using soil physical and chemical properties. Soil samples were collected from Mollaahmad watershed of Ardabil province in northwest of Iran for the greenhouse experiment. The primary purpose of this research was to develop a conceptual model in order to determine the sources of variations within the dataset and to explore equations for the sampled soils. The findings revealed that two soil properties components (chemical and physical properties) were significant in explaining YCW. The accepted model in the multiple linear regression (MLR) analysis demonstrated that the soil's chemical and physical properties measures are statistically significant in estimating YCW. Following this, and according to R square statistic, 87% of the variance in YCW was explained by the soil chemical properties and 83% was accounted for by soil physical properties. Considering the relative importance of the estimation of YCW variable and from the perspective of regression equations, the organic carbon and saturated point moisture made the largest contribution through the two proposed models for the soil productivity. According to the structural equation modeling (SEM) results, the final model has proved that YCW was controlled by soil chemical properties more than physical properties. The obtained general model can be useful for wheat and also an analytical pattern for Gramineae family. The improved estimation of production might be valuable in practice because crop productions are widely applied, for instance, to assess agroenvironmental policy measures to compare cropping systems or the need of a better soil quality managing.
  • Authors:
    • Boettcher, U.
    • Pahlmann, I.
    • Kage, H.
    • Sieling, K.
  • Source: Biomass & Bioenergy
  • Volume: 57
  • Year: 2013
  • Summary: In 2009, the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), established sustainability criteria for biofuels including legal thresholds for specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, expressed as g CO(2)eq per MJ of biofuel. Because biofuels are a major market for winter oilseed rape (WOSR), investigating the possible impact of the RED on WOSR cropping practices is prudent. This study analyses GHG emissions for WOSR cropping practices (namely N fertilization intensity, tillage method and crop rotation) basing on a 6-year field trial in a high yielding area of northern Germany. Using the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) methodology the field emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) are calculated from the nitrogen (N) inputs to the cropping system. Results showed that the predominant source of GHG emissions is the N related emissions from production of fertilizer and N2O field emissions. Specific GHG emissions are lowest without N fertilizer but rise continuously with increasing N rates. Yield per ha also responded to N fertilization resulting in lowered acreage productivity when reducing GHG emissions by reducing N fertilization level. Most calculated scenarios and cropping systems result in a drastic decrease of N fertilization to achieve thresholds, causing substantial yield losses. To a certain extent, the required drastic reduction of N fertilization in some scenarios is driven by using the IPCC methodology for calculating N2O emissions. Therefore characteristics of this methodology are also discussed within this study. To mitigate the impact of the RED on WOSR, peas (legumes) may be a possible preceding crop to WOSR. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
  • Authors:
    • Kuzyakov, Y.
    • Zhu, B.
    • Pausch, J.
    • Cheng, W.
  • Source: Soil Biology & Biochemistry
  • Volume: 57
  • Year: 2013
  • Summary: Living roots and their hizodeposits can stimulate microbial activity and soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition up to several folds. This so-called rhizosphere priming effect (RPE) varies widely among plant species possibly due to species-specific differences in the quality and quantity of rhizodeposits and other root functions. However, whether the RPE is influenced by plant inter-species interactions remains largely unexplored, even though these interactions can fundamentally shape plant functions such as carbon allocation and nutrient uptake. In a 60-day greenhouse experiment, we continuously labeled monocultures and mixtures of sunflower, soybean and wheat with C-13-depleted CO2 and partitioned total CO2 efflux released from soil at two stages of plant development for SOM- and root-derived CO2. The RPE was calculated as the difference in SOM-derived CO2 between the planted and the unplanted soil, and was compared among the monocultures and mixtures. We found that the RPE was positive under all plants, ranging from 43% to 136% increase above the unplanted control. There were no significant differences in RPE at the vegetative stage. At the flowering stage however, the RPE in the soybean-wheat mixture was significantly higher than those in the sunflower monoculture, the sunflower-wheat mixture, and the sunflower-soybean mixture. These results indicated that the influence of plant inter-specific interactions on the RPE is case-specific and phenology-dependent. To evaluate the intensity of inter-specific effects on priming, we calculated an expected RPE for the mixtures based on the RPE of the monocultures weighted by their root biomass and compared it to the measured RPE under mixtures. At flowering, the measured RPE was significantly lower for the sunflower wheat mixture than what can be expected from their monocultures, suggesting that RPE was significantly reduced by the inter-species effects of sunflower and wheat. In summary, our results clearly demonstrated that inter-species interactions can significantly modify rhizosphere priming on SOM decomposition. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
  • Authors:
    • Ashraf, M.
    • Shahbaz, M.
    • Perveen, S.
  • Source: Photosynthetica
  • Volume: 51
  • Issue: 4
  • Year: 2013
  • Summary: A greenhouse experiment was conducted to examine the effect of foliar application of triacontanol (TRIA) on two cultivars (cv. S-24 and MH-97) of wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) at different growth stages. Plants were grown in full strength Hoagland's nutrient solution under salt stress (150 mM NaCl) or control (0 mM NaCl) conditions. Three TRIA concentrations (0, 10, and 20 M) were sprayed over leaves at three different growth stages, i.e. vegetative (V), boot (B), and vegetative + boot (VB) stages (two sprays on same plants, i.e., the first at 30-d-old plants and the second 78-d-old plants). Salt stress decreased significantly growth, net photosynthetic rate ( PN), transpiration rate ( E), chlorophyll contents (Chl a and b), and electron transport rate (ETR), while membrane permeability increased in both wheat cultivars. Stomatal conductance ( gs ) decreased only in salt-sensitive cv. MH-97 under saline conditions. Foliar application of TRIA at different growth stages enhanced significantly the growth, PN, gs , Chl a and b contents, and ETR, while membrane permeability was reduced in both cultivars under salt stress. Of various growth stages, foliar-applied TRIA was comparatively more effective when it was applied at V and VB stages. Overall, 10 M TRIA concentration was the most efficient in reducing negative effects of salinity stress in both wheat cultivars. The cv. S-24 showed the better growth and ETR, while cv. MH-97 exhibited higher nonphotochemical quenching.
  • Authors:
    • Messier, C.
    • Olivier, A.
    • Lorente, M.
    • Rivest, D.
  • Source: Science of the Total Environment
  • Volume: 463-464
  • Year: 2013
  • Summary: Agroforestry is increasingly viewed as an effective means of maintaining or even increasing crop and tree productivity under climate change while promoting other ecosystem functions and services. This study focused on soil biochemical properties and resilience following disturbance within agroforestry and conventional agricultural systems and aimed to determine whether soil differences in terms of these biochemical properties and resilience would subsequently affect crop productivity under extreme soil water conditions. Two research sites that had been established on agricultural land were selected for this study. The first site included an 18-year-old windbreak, while the second site consisted in an 8-year-old tree-based intercropping system. In each site, soil samples were used for the determination of soil nutrient availability, microbial dynamics and microbial resilience to different wetting drying perturbations and for a greenhouse pot experiment with wheat. Drying and flooding were selected as water stress treatments and compared to a control. These treatments were initiated at the beginning of the wheat anthesis period and maintained over 10 days. Trees contributed to increase soil nutrient pools, as evidenced by the higher extractable-P (both sites), and the higher total N and mineralizable N (tree-based intercropping site) found in the agroforestry compared to the conventional agricultural system. Metabolic quotient (qCO(2)) was lower in the agroforestry than in the conventional agricultural system, suggesting higher microbial substrate use efficiency in agroforestry systems. Microbial resilience was higher in the agroforestry soils compared to soils from the conventional agricultural system (windbreak site only). At the windbreak site, wheat growing in soils from agroforestry system exhibited higher aboveground biomass and number of grains per spike than in conventional agricultural system soils in the three water stress treatments. At the tree-based intercropping site, higher wheat biomass, grain yield and number of grains per spike were observed in agroforestry than in conventional agricultural system soils, but in the drought treatment only. Drought (windbreak site) and flooding (both sites) treatments significantly reduced wheat yield and 1000-grain weight in both types of system. Relationships between soil biochemical properties and soil microbial resilience or wheat productivity were strongly dependent on site. This study suggests that agroforestry systems may have a positive effect on soil biochemical properties and microbial resilience, which could operate positively on crop productivity and tolerance to severe water stress.