Various organic constituents extracted from wheat and from soil organic matter have been analysed for their carbon content, their absolute concentration and their stable carbon isotope ratios. Most organic subfractions from plants, or soil, are 13C-depleted by up to 9.4‰ relative to bulk organic matter, mainly as a result of their higher lipid content. Furthermore, soil organic constituents are...

Soils used for vegetable production in Florida are sandy, have low organic matter content and fertility, and can support the growth of soil-borne pathogens. Some growers choose to apply compost as an antagonistic suppression approach to combat soil-borne disease effects on crop yields or to increase organic matter and improve soil fertility. The objective of this on-farm study was to determine ...

Eukaryotic organisms play essential roles in the biology and fertility of soils. For example the micro and mesofauna contribute to the fragmentation and homogenization of plant organic matter, while its hydrolysis is primarily performed by the fungi. To get a global picture of the activities carried out by soil eukaryotes we sequenced 2×10,000 cDNAs synthesized from polyadenylated mRNA directly...

Wet soil microcosms were established to determine effects of organic matter and nitrate additions on microbial respiration and redox potentials. Organic matter (1%) and nitrate (100 ppm and 200 ppm) treatments were applied in factorial combination. Soil pH, redox potential, and CO2 emissions were measured. Data were analyzed by ANOVA for repeated measures and separately by sampling day. Additio...

Soil organic matter is critical to sustainable agriculture because it provides nutrients to crops as it decomposes and increases nutrient- and water-holding capacity when built up. Fast- and slow-cycling fractions of soil organic matter can have different impacts on crop production because fast-cycling fractions rapidly release nutrients for short-term plant growth and slow-cycling fractions bi...

CONTENTS 3.1 Temperate Region Soil Differences .................................................................................. 28 3.2 Challenges to Soil Fertility and Management................................................................ 29 3.2.1 Soil Organic Matter Restoration and Conservation.......................................... 30 3.2.2 High Nutrient-Use Efficiency .................