Nutrient resorption from senesced leaves as a nutrient conservation strategy is important for plants to adapt to nutrient deficiency, particularly in alpine and arid environment. However, the leaf nutrient resorption patterns of different functional plants across environmental gradient remain unclear. In this study, we conducted a transect survey of 12 communities to address foliar nitrogen (N)...

Increased yields with conservation tillage have been attributed to the conservation of soil water (Rao and Sustainable cropping systems are essential for agronomic, ecoDao, 1996; Papendick and Miller, 1977) due to decreased nomic, and environmental reasons. Data from a winter wheat (Tritievaporation and cooler soil temperatures (Gauer et al., cum aestivum L.)/summer fallow rotation experiment, ...

Tillage has been an integral part of crop production since crops were first cultivated. Growers and scientists have long recognized both beneficial and detrimental aspects of tillage. There is no question that most tillage operations promote soil loss, adversely affect (lower) surface water quality, and negatively impact soil productivity. Weed management is a primary reason for tillage, and un...

Taking the two typical tributaries in the loess plateau as an example, the hydrological effects of water and soil conservation measures were studied with parallel comparative analysis method. The results show that water and soil conservation measures can reduce annual runoff and sediment module, cut down flood peak discharge and lower sediment concentration efficiently. And meanwhile, it also c...

This study proposes the use of marginal abatement cost curves to calculate environmental damages of agricultural systems in China's Loess Plateau. Total system costs and revenues, management characteristics and pollution attributes are imputed into a directional output distance function, which is then used to determine shadow prices and abatement cost curves for soil and nitrogen loss. Marginal...

Jack A. Morgan is plant physiologist and Feike Dijkstra is post-doc research ecologist at the Rangeland Resources Research Unit, Ronald F. Follett is research leader and soil scientist and Stephen Del Grosso is a soil scientist and ecologist at the Soil Plant Nutrient Research Unit, USDA Agricultural Research Service Northern Plains Area, Fort Collins, Colorado. Leon Hartwell Allen Jr. is soil ...

Management of plant litter or crop residues in agricultural fields is an important consideration for reducing soil erosion and increasing soil organic C. Current methods of quantifying crop residue cover are inadequate for characterizing the spatial variability of residue cover within fields or across large regions. Our objectives were to evaluate several spectral indices for measuring crop res...