Agronomic performance, carbon storage and nitrogen utilisation of long-term organic and conventional stockless arable systems in Mediterranean area

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 138-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paola Migliorini ◽  
Valentina Moschini ◽  
Fabio Tittarelli ◽  
Corrado Ciaccia ◽  
Stefano Benedettelli ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Beatriz Gómez‐Muñoz ◽  
Lars Stoumann Jensen ◽  
Lars Munkholm ◽  
Jørgen Eivind Olesen ◽  
Elly Møller Hansen ◽  
...  

2011 ◽  
Vol 262 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Powers ◽  
Randall Kolka ◽  
Brian Palik ◽  
Rachel McDonald ◽  
Martin Jurgensen

Author(s):  
Trina Stephens

Land‐use change can have a major impact on soil properties, leading to long‐term changes in soilnutrient cycling rates and carbon storage. While a substantial amount of research has been conducted onland‐use change in tropical regions, empirical evidence of long‐term conversion of forested land toagricultural land in North America is lacking. Pervasive deforestation for the sake of agriculturethroughout much of North America is likely to have modified soil properties, with implications for theglobal climate. Here, we examined the response of physical, chemical and biological soil properties toconversion of forest to agricultural land (100 years ago) on Roebuck Farm near Perth, Ontario, Canada.Soil samples were collected at three sites from under forest and agricultural vegetative cover on bothhigh‐ and low‐lying topographic positions (12 locations in total; soil profile sampled to a depth of 40cm).Our results revealed that bulk density, pH, and nitrate concentrations were all higher in soils collectedfrom cultivate sites. In contrast, samples from forested sites exhibited greater water‐holding capacity,porosity, organic matter content, ammonia concentrations and cation exchange capacity. Many of these characteristics are linked to greater organic matter abundance and diversity in soils under forestvegetation as compared with agricultural soils. Microbial activity and Q10 values were also higher in theforest soils. While soil properties in the forest were fairly similar across topographic gradients, low‐lyingpositions under agricultural regions had higher bulk density and organic matter content than upslopepositions, suggesting significant movement of material along topographic gradients. Differences in soilproperties are attributed largely to increased compaction and loss of organic matter inputs in theagricultural system. Our results suggest that the conversion of forested land cover to agriculture landcover reduces soil quality and carbon storage, alters long‐term site productivity, and contributes toincreased atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations.


2012 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. F. Powers ◽  
M. D. Busse ◽  
K. J. McFarlane ◽  
J. Zhang ◽  
D. H. Young

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belén Luna ◽  
José M. Moreno ◽  
Alberto Cruz ◽  
Federico Fernández-González

This work documents the effect of a common, long-term fire retardant chemical, Fire-Trol 934, on seed viability and germination of 36 plant species growing in a burned Mediterranean area, covering different life-form types, regenerative strategies and distribution ranges. Seeds were subjected to four treatments: control, and application of Fire-Trol 934 at concentrations of 0.02, 0.2 and 2%. Fire-Trol 934 significantly decreased both seed viability and germination in the group of species studied, which suggests that Fire-Trol 934 may be toxic for seeds, at least when applied at high concentrations. Whereas seed viability generally showed a progressive decrease with increased Fire-Trol 934 concentration, germination percentages generally increased when intermediate Fire-Trol 934 concentrations were used, but tended to be drastically reduced when seeds were exposed to the highest (2%) concentration. The reduction observed in germination at the highest Fire-Trol 934 concentration was greater than that observed in viability, which suggests that the effect of Fire-Trol 934 on seeds may not be lasting. Little differences in the response to Fire-Trol 934 emerged among plant groups, all of which followed the general tendency described above.


Oryx ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy Hinsley ◽  
Abigail Entwistle ◽  
Dorothea V. Pio

AbstractOriginally proposed in 2005 as a way to use financial incentives to tackle global climate change, Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) has evolved to include conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks, in what is now known as REDD+. Biodiversity protection is still viewed principally as a co-benefit of the REDD+ process, with conservation of forest tree cover and carbon stocks providing the main measure of success. However, focusing solely on tree cover and carbon stocks does not always protect other species, which may be threatened by other factors, most notably hunting. We present evidence from the literature that loss of biodiversity can affect forest composition, tree survival and forest resilience and may in some cases ultimately lead to a reduction in carbon storage. We argue that REDD+ projects should specifically mitigate for threats to biodiversity if they are to maximize carbon storage potential in the long term.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (9) ◽  
pp. 4160-4172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minghua Song ◽  
Yu Guo ◽  
Feihai Yu ◽  
Xianzhou Zhang ◽  
Guangmin Cao ◽  
...  

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