Traffic-induced soil compaction and tillage systems can impact the productivity and sustainability of agricultural soils. The objective of this study was to assess the response of soil microbial populations to wheel-traffic in two tillage systems on a Norfolk loamy sand (Typic Kandiudults; FAO classification Luxic Ferralsols). Experimental variables were with and without traffic under conventio...

We evaluated annual productivity and carbon fluxes over the Fontainebleau forest, a large heterogeneous forest region of 17,000 ha, in terms of species composition, canopy structure, stand age, soil type and water and mineral resources. The model is a physiological process-based forest ecosystem model coupled with an allocation model and a soil model. The simulations were done stand by stand, i...

Aims: Many experiments have shown a positive effect of species richness on productivity in grassland plant communities. However, it is poorly understood how environmental conditions affect this relationship. We aimed to test whether deep soil and limiting nutrient conditions increase the complementarity effect (CE) of species richness due to enhanced potential for resource partitioning. Methods...

Ecologically based farming conserves and improves the soil resource and protects environmental quality by using organic or natural resources without the application of synthetic chemicals. Soil quality assessment indicates the ability of management systems to optimize soil productivity and to maintain its structural and biological integrity. Our objective was to evaluate the effect of ecologica...

Carbon cycle models often lack explicit belowground organism activity, yet belowground organisms regulate carbon storage and release in soil. Ectomycorrhizal fungi are important players in the carbon cycle because they are a conduit into soil for carbon assimilated by the plant. It is hypothesized that ectomycorrhizal fungi can also be active decomposers when plant carbon allocation to fungi is...

Soil carbon accumulation is largely dependent on net primary productivity. To our knowledge, there have been no studies investigating the dynamics of carbon accumulation in weathered subtropical soils, especially in managed eucalyptus plantations. We quantified the seasonal input of leaf litter, the leaf decomposition rate and soil carbon stocks in an commercial plantation of Eucalyptus saligna...

The predominance of rice-wheat cropping system in Punjab has resulted in number of ecological problems in the state such as depletion of underground water table, deterioration of soil health by adversely affecting the physical, chemical and biological properties of the soil (Kumar et al., 2016). However, for over a decade, ricewheat cropping system yields in high productivity zones have either ...

Deforestation leads to the deterioration of soil fertility which occurs rapidly under tropical climates. Forest rehabilitation is one of the approaches to restore soil fertility and increase the productivity of degraded areas. The objective of this study was to evaluate and compare soil biological properties under enrichment planting and secondary forests at Tapah Hill Forest Reserve, Perak aft...

Contents 1. Introduction 2. Soil acidity and its indices 2.1. Actual acidity. 2.2. Potential acidity. 2.3. Cation (positive ion) exchange capacity and saturation with bases. 3. Natural reasons for increasing soil acidification 3.1. Leaching regime. 3.2. Soil-forming rocks and plants. 3.3. The distribution of acid soils. 4. The reasons for anthropogenic acidification of soils. The phenomenon of ...

Measurement of soil components such as microbial population, minerals and obviously the content of organic carbon play the important roles for the productivity of crops and plants. The present study was attempted to evaluate the impact of Mr. Trivedi’s biofield energy treatment on soil for its physical (electrical conductivity), chemical (minerals) and microbial flora (bacteria and fungi). A pl...