The DAYCENT ecosystem model (a daily version of CENTURY) and an emission factor (EF) methodology used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were used to estimate direct and indirect N2O emission for major cropping systems in the USA. The EF methodology is currently used for the USA greenhouse gas inventory but process based models, such as DAYCENT, may yield more reliable results bec...

—Worldwide, rice (Oryza sativa) agriculture typically involves seasonal flooding and soil tillage, which provides a variety of microhabitats and potential food for birds. Water management in rice fields creates conditions ranging from saturated mud flats to shallow (<30 cm) water, thereby attracting different guilds of birds. Grain not collected during harvest (i.e. waste rice) is typically the...

The cultivation of agricultural soils has until recently predominantly been achieved by inverting the soil using tools such as the plough. Soil tillage is one of the basic and important components of agricultural production technology. Various forms of tillage are practised throughout the world, ranging from the use of simple stick or jab to the sophisticated para-plough. The practices develope...

Excessive harvest of corn (Zea mays L.) stover for ethanol production has raised concerns regarding negative consequences on soil physical quality. Our objective was to quantify the impact of two tillage practices and three levels of corn stover harvest on near-surface soil physical quality through the Least Limiting Water Range (LLWR). We evaluated no harvest, moderate and high stover harvest ...

High water loss during land preparation of soils for rice (Oryza sativa L.) production results from bypass ̄ow through cracks. It was hypothesized that the losses can be reduced by measures that minimize crack development during the soil drying period or impede the ̄ow of water through these cracks. The effect of straw mulching and shallow surface tillage on crack formation during the fallow pe...

There is a lack of understanding of how associations among soil properties and management-induced changes control the variability of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from soil. We performed a laboratory investigation to quantify relationships between GHG emissions and soil indicators in an irrigated agricultural field under standard tillage (ST) and a field recently converted (2 yr) to no-tillage...