Maize and wheat are main field crops on arable lands in Croatia. According to the data of the State Bureau for Statistics (Statistical Yearbook 2011) in the five-year period (2006-2010) mean used agricultural land in the category arable land and gardens in Croatia was 867123 ha. Mean harvested areas of maize (298412 ha) and wheat (176794 ha) occupied 55% of used arable land of the country. Majo...

Local adaptation is a major mechanism underlying the maintenance of phenotypic variation in spatially heterogeneous environments. In the barn owl (Tyto alba), dark and pale reddish-pheomelanic individuals are adapted to conditions prevailing in northern and southern Europe, respectively. Using a long-term dataset from Central Europe, we report results consistent with the hypothesis that the dif...

The sequestration in soil of organic carbon (SOC) derived from atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) by replacing arable crops with leys, has been measured over 70 years on a sandy loam soil. The experiment was designed initially to test the effect of leys on the yields of arable crops. A 3-year grazed grass with clover (grass + clover) ley in a 5-year rotation with arable crops increased percentage...

Andisols are characterized by a high phosphorus (P) fixation capacity, which is a limiting factor for plant production. Continuous application of P fertilizer may result in an accumulation of P associated with soil organic matter (SOM), which further acts to reduce the availability of the added P. The objectives of this study were (1) to evaluate the impact of P fertilizer inputs on the quantit...

Although grasslands are crucial habitats for European butterflies, large-scale declines in quality and area have devastated many species. Grassland restoration can contribute to the recovery of butterfly populations, although there is a paucity of information on the long-term effects of management. Using eight UK data sets (9-21 years), we investigate changes in restoration success for (1) arab...

The bacterial genetic diversity after long-term arable cultivation was compared with that under permanent grassland using replicated paired contrasts. Pea-nodulating Rhizobium leguminosarum populations were sampled from pairs of arable and grass sites at four locations in Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Isolates were characterized using both chromosomal (16S-23S ribosomal DNA internal transcribed sp...

This study aimed at analysing patterns of crop sequences over time throughout the German federal state of Lower Saxony from 2005 to 2012. Therefore, the IACS (Integrated Administration and Control System) data was analysed for the identification of spatial and temporal pattern of crops grown on farmer’s fields. Lower Saxony is a region where maize growing had a steep increase and, therefore, wa...

Rothamsted's Woburn Ley-arable experiment, started in 1938 on a sandy loam soil, provides valuable real-world data the effects of all-arable and ley-arable rotations. In this study, six rotations were compared from 1973 to 2001. Two had 3-year arable “treatment” crops, two leys, 8-year leys; leys being all-grass given fertilizer nitrogen (Ln3 Ln8), or grass/clover (Lc3 Lc8). Here, we present yi...

Odlare, M. 2005. Organic Residues – a Resource for Arable Soils. Doctor’s dissertation. ISSN 1652-6880, ISBN 91-576-6970-8. An increased recirculation of urban organic residues to arable soils has several environmental benefits, but there is a need for reliable test systems to ensure that soil quality is maintained. In this thesis, soil microbial, chemical and physical properties were included ...