The soil C, N, P and K content of agricultural soil were measured over the last 4 decades in NE Catalonia (NE Spain). Plant-available P and K increased by ca 109 and 105% respectively and total N decreased by 30%. The increases in plant-available P content are in accordance with the increasingly used pig slurry being very rich in P, and with P tendency to be retained in soils, since it is less ...

Mass balance studies in forested catchments in the northeastern USA show that S losses via streamwater SO4 exceed measured atmospheric S inputs. Possible sources of the excess S loss include underestimated dry deposition, mineralization of organic S in soils, desorption of soil sulphate, oxidation of recently formed sulphides and mineral weathering. Evaluating the relative contribution of these...

A field experiment was carried out at the Didactic and Experimental Farm in Swadzim near Poznań in 2004-07. Two maize cultivars were studied, six nitrogen doses and magnesium doses. The effects of the mentioned factors exerted on the utilization of nitrogen from the applied mineral fertilizer and on the nitrogen harvest index were studied. The impact of nitrogen fertilization on the mineral int...

Extremes in soil mineral supply alter the metallome of seeds much less than that of their herbage. The underlying mechanisms of mineral homeostasis and the “puzzle of seed filling” are not yet understood. Field crops of wheat, rye, pea, and the mushroom Kuehneromyces mutabilis were established on a set of metalliferous uranium mine soils and alluvial sands. Mineral concentrations in mature plan...

Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration is important for improving soil fertility of cropland and for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. The efficiency of SOC sequestration depends on the quantity and quality of the organic matter, soil type, and climate. Little is known about the SOC sequestration efficiency of organic amendments in Vertisols. Thus, we conducted the ...

Pyrogenic organic matter (PyOM) is considered as a technique to improve soil fertility and store carbon (C) in soil. However, little is known regarding soil organic C and nitrogen (N) mineralization in PyOM-amended soils. To investigate the relationship between the C and N mineralization rates and the possible consequences in terms of C storage and N availability, we incubated ryegrass-derived ...

Degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and survival of bacteria in soil was investigated by applying different inoculation protocols. The soil was inoculated with Sphingomonas paucimobilis BA 2 and strain BP 9, which are able to degrade anthracene and pyrene, respectively. CFU of soil bacteria and of the introduced bacteria were monitored in native and sterilized soil at differe...

This research was conducted to evaluate the effect of soil application of nitrogen (N) and iron (Fe) fertilizers on morphological traits and shoot mineral contents of bread wheat via factorial arrangement based on randomized complete block design with four replications. The factors included three level of nitrogen (100, 200 and 400 mg N kg-1 dry soil applied) as Ca(NO3)2 and three rate of Iron ...

Spring and summer tillage are usually followed by irrigation before planting crops in California's summer-dry Mediterranean-type climate. Tillage treatments such as rototillage or disking are known to disturb the soil structure to different extents, but little is known about how the intensity of a tillage event and subsequent irrigation affect the microbial biomass, respiration, CO2 efflux, and...

The spatial distribution of plant-available mineral nutrients in forest soils is often highly heterogeneous. To test the hypothesis that local nutrient enrichment of soil leads to increased root proliferation in the nutrient-rich soil zone, we studied the effects of nutrient enrichment on the growth and nutrient concentrations of Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco), Scots pine (P...