Np, for NPP Nec, Net ecosystem carbon exchange, as measured by micrometeorologists NB, Net biome productivity Gp, Gross primary productivity Jpmax, maximum flux density of canopy photosynthesis Reco, ecosystem respiration Rplant, plant respiration Rauto, soil autotrophic respiration Rhetero, soil heterotrophic respiration Rsoil, total soil respiration Ea,actual evaporation Ep, potential evapora...

This chapter analyzes the technical efficiency of banana production among Ugandan smallholders by estimating a stochastic production frontier model with inefficiency effects. The empirical models are formulated within the overarching framework of the agricultural household specified in Chapter 2. The data design is also summarized in Chapter 2, although additional information about soil quality...

[1] The goal of this study is to understand the interaction between belowground and aboveground ecohydrologic dynamics as facilitated by hydraulic redistribution. We analyze the partitioning of moisture and energy between tall and understory vegetation, and soil evaporation. Both the competitive and facilitative dependencies are examined using a shared resource model where the soil serves as a ...

The excessive use of nitrogen (N) fertilizers in sustaining high rice yields due to N dynamics in tropical acid soils not only is economically unsustainable but also causes environmental pollution. The objective of this study was to coapply biochar and urea to improve soil chemical properties and productivity of rice. Biochar (5 t ha(-1)) and different rates of urea (100%, 75%, 50%, 25%, and 0%...

Degradation of semi-arid and arid ecosystems due to desertification is arguably one of the main obstacles for sustainability in those regions. In recent decades, the Mu Us Desert in China has experienced such ecological degradation making quantification of spatial patterns of desertification in this area an important research topic. We analyzed desertification dynamics for seven periods from 19...

Prescribed burning is a common management tool used in grassland restorations to improve conditions for plant growth. At a grassland restoration in Maryland, we studied the impacts of sequential prescribed burning on near-surface soil chemistry of a highly weathered soil. We hypothesized that soil pH and base cations in the surface soil would increase in the nutrient-poor soils after the burnin...

Miscanthus is an intriguing cellulosic bioenergy feedstock because its aboveground productivity is high for low amounts of agrochemical inputs, but soil temperatures below -3.5 °C could threaten successful cultivation in temperate regions. We used a combination of observed soil temperatures and the Agro-IBIS model to investigate how strategic residue management could reduce the risk of rhizome ...