Quantifying crop residue cover on the soil surface is important for improving estimates of surface energy balance, net primary productivity, nutrient cycling, and carbon sequestration. Quantifying crop residue cover is also an important factor in controlling soil erosion and evaluating the effectiveness of conservation tillage practices. By reducing the movement of eroded soil into streams and ...

Farming activities practiced on many Australian soils have resulted in substantial losses of soil organic matter (SOM), nutrient loss, soil structural degradation and declines in cereal yield and quality. Field trials, consisting of a legume or fallow phase followed by three wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) crops, were established on a degraded Ferric Luvisol (Red Earth) soil in New South Wales to ...

The recycling of livestock manure in cropping systems is considered to enhance soil fertility and crop productivity. However, there have been no systematic long-term studies of the effects of manure application on soil and crop macro- and micro-nutrients, heavy metals, and crop yields in China, despite their great importance for sustainable crop production and food safety. Thus, we conducted fi...

B et te r C ro ps /V ol . 9 9 (2 01 5, N o. 1 ) Abbreviations and notes: N = nitrogen; P = phosphorus; K = potassium; S = sulfur; Cu = copper; Fe = iron; Mn = manganese; Mo = molybdenum; Zn = zinc. Sustainable crop production is essential to a healthy and adequate food supply. At fi rst glance, a healthy crop reveals only the above ground plant; the roots that support the visible plant are seld...

Land degradation takes a number of forms, including depletion of soil nutrients, salinization, agrochemical pollution, soil erosion, vegetative degradation as a result of overgrazing, and the cutting of forests for farmland. All of these types of degradation cause a decline in the productive capacity of the land, reducing potential yields. Farmers may need to use more inputs such as fertilizer ...

Soil-dwelling insects commonly co-occur and feed simultaneously on belowground plant parts, yet patterns of damage and consequences for plant and insect performance remain poorly characterized. We tested how two species of root-feeding insects aff ect the performance of a perennial plant and the mass and survival of both conspecifi c and heterospecifi c insects. Because root damage is expected ...

—We conducted a pot experiment examining the effects of simulated leaf herbivory and supplemental soil nutrients on extrafloral nectary (EFN) glands of Sapium sebiferum seedlings derived from native Chinese and invasive Texas seed stock. We predicted that simulated herbivory and increased soil nutrients would increase EFN activity. We also predicted that Chinese genotypes would have greater EFN...

Supervisory Soil Scientist, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Tempe, Arizona; and Soil Microbiologist, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station, Glendora, California. The weathering of parent rock may be an important source of some nutrients. The rates of weathering of the different parent rock materials vary and affect the inherent fertility and productivity of a...

Arid ecosystems are characterized by high spatial heterogeneity, and the variation among vegetation patches is a clear example. Soil biotic and abiotic factors associated with these patches have also been well documented as highly heterogeneous in space. Given the low vegetation cover and little precipitation in arid ecosystems, soil microorganisms are the main drivers of nutrient cycling. None...

with the development of the wastewater treatment plants and the increase in volume of treated wastewaters in our country, it is necessary to use treated wastewater wisely. landscape irrigation and agriculture applications considered as a significant scope for the treated wastewater. in this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of these applications are investigated and the importance of the ...