Measures of soil and water conservation (SWC) could affect the hydrological process. The impacts of typical measures on groundwater recharge, levels and flow were analyzed based on simulated rainfall experiments and a groundwater model. The three-dimensional finite-difference groundwater flow model (MODFLOW) was calibrated and verified for bare slope, grassland and straw mulching scenarios base...

The transition of farming systems to higher levels of productivity without overusing natural resources is of rising interest especially in African countries, where population growth has often been larger than past productivity increases. This paper aims to contribute to the debate on whether environmentally friendly agricultural practices are compatible with economic interests. In the context o...

The soils of tropical tasar plantation fields in general are sloppy and are primarily deficient of nutrition due to top soil erosion and constant leaf productivity exploitation to rear tasar silk insect, Antheraea mylitta Drury. The rainfed field of Terminalia tomentosa (W&A) plantation has been evaluated for soil fortification with green mulching through legumes, Sun hemp (Crotalaria juncea), ...

Biogeosciences Discussions This discussion paper is/has been under review for the journal Biogeosciences (BG). Please refer to the corresponding final paper in BG if available. Abstract Legumes are an important source of nitrogen in stockless organic cereal production. However, substantial amounts of N can be lost from legume-grass leys prior to or after incorporation as green manure (GM). Here...

Pot and field experiments were conducted to study the effects of mulching with straw of cadmium (Cd) tolerant plants (Ranunculus sieboldii, Mazus japonicus, Clinopodium confine and Plantago asiatica) on growth and Cd accumulation of Galinsoga parviflora in Cd-contaminated soil. In the pot experiment, mulching with M. japonicus straw increased the root biomass, stem biomass, leaf biomass, shoot ...

Environmental factors and human activities play important roles in carbon fixation and emissions generated from croplands. Eddy covariance measurements in a drip-irrigated, film-mulched cotton field were used to analyze the relationships between carbon fluxes and environmental factors in Wulanwusu, northern Xinjiang, an arid region of Northwest China. Our results showed that the cumulative net ...

1. Chinese privet (Ligustrum sinense Lour.) was removed from riparian forests in the Piedmont of Georgia in November 2005 by mulching with a trackmounted mulching machine or by chainsaw felling. The remaining privet in the herbaceous layer was killed with herbicide in December 2006. 2. Bee (Hymentoptera: Apoidea) abundance, diversity and community similarity in the forests were measured for 2 y...

Composted municipal solid wastes (CMSW) could potentially be used as a mulching material to control runoff and soil erosion. The effects of mulching with CMSW on water percolation and rate of compost decomposition were studied using laboratory rainfall simulator. Samples of typical loess soil (Calcic Haploxeralf) were packed in boxes and either covered with 0, 100,200 and 300 m' ha-' of CMSW, o...

Heavy fuel loads were created by southern pine beetle (Dendroctonus frontalis Ehrh.) outbreak throughout the southeastern Piedmont during the early 2000s. Prescribed burning and mechanical mulching (mastication) were used to reduce fuel loading, but many ecological impacts are unknown. Successful forest regeneration depends on ectomycorrhizal (ECM) or vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhizal (VAM) fung...

Carbon (C) occluded in phytolith (PhytOC) is highly stable at millennium scale and its accumulation in soils can help increase long-term C sequestration. Here, we report that soil PhytOC storage significantly increased with increasing duration under intensive management (mulching and fertilization) in Lei bamboo (Phyllostachys praecox) plantations. The PhytOC storage in 0-40 cm soil layer in ba...