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Seasonally Flooded Savannas of South America: Sustainability and the Cattle-Wildlife Mosaic
Published in Cameron La Follette, Chris Maser, Sustainability and the Rights of Nature in Practice, 2019
Almira Hoogesteijn, José Luis Febles, Rafael Hoogesteijn
Tropical soils in contrast to temperate soils are nutrient poor. In temperate zones the soil accumulates organic material in form of plant litter. This accumulation is possible because it is warm in relatively short periods of the year, when the fallen material decomposes. In the tropics, the soil is generally so warm and humid throughout the year that any plant litter is quickly broken down completely by the abundant decomposers (termites, fungi and bacteria). Therefore, there is little chance for build-up of organic material. Additionally, the minerals useful to plants in the soil have long ago been weathered away. When agriculture is conducted in such soils, the consequences are obvious: the few nutrients available in the soil are used up and the soil becomes quickly exhausted.13
Ecosystem services assessment in a páramo system
Published in Veronica Graciela Minaya Maldonado, Ecohydrology of the Andes Paramo Region, 2017
Veronica Graciela Minaya Maldonado
The slow decomposition rates enhance the carbon storage allowing a large amount of terrestrial carbon to be stored in the páramo soils (Farley et al., 2013) particularly in low elevations where the effective soil is deeper. Moreover, the carbon concentration in the plant tissues and soil are higher at low elevations in comparison to higher altitudes (Minaya et al., 2015a). The physicochemical quality and composition of the plant litter influences the ecosystem functioning, which in turn increase the amount of carbon in the soil thus important for global carbon cycle (Bell and Worrall, 2009). Although, most of the carbon stocks are sequestrated in soils, tussocks are distinctive due to their bulky above ground biomass notably at lower elevations. At higher elevations, the vegetation is more scattered, effective soil is less deep and therefore the carbon sequestration decreases considerably.
The Effect of Developmental Activities on Water Quality Functions of Bottomland Hardwood Ecosystems: The Report of the Water Quality Workgroup
Published in James G. Gosselink, Lyndon C. Lee, Thomas A. Muir, Ecological Processes and Cumulative Impacts, 2020
Michael L. Scott, Barbara A. Kleiss, William H. Patrick, Charles A. Segelquist, C. Belin, J. Chowning, L. Glenboski, P. Hatcher, D. Hicks, H. Howard, E. Hughes, A. Lucas, D. Walker
Surface irregularities of a bottomland hardwood site (Figure 10a) can trap and detain sediments either temporarily, until subsequent flood events resuspend them, or long-term if the sediments become incorporated into the soil. Ground features that detain sediments include soil fissures, stump holes, and crawfish holes. Leaf or other plant litter that buries sediments also helps detain them on the site.
Distribution and eco-stoichiometry of carbon and nitrogen of the plant-litter-soil continuum in evergreen broad-leaved forest
Published in Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects, 2020
Hui Wang, Bing Wang, Xiang Niu, Qingfeng Song, Haonan Bai, Yueqiao Li, Jiadong Luo, Hezhong Chen, Linya Nie, Zhiwei Luo
Plants store C through photosynthesis and gradually replenish soil C and nutrients by depositing leaf litter (Ladanai, Ågren, and Olsson 2010). The distribution of elemental C and N among plant organs is restricted by the availability of soil nutrients, as well as by plant growth strategies, physiological characteristics, and life history. The distribution of C and N is therefore the result of interactions between environmental factors and species development (Gao, Li, and Xu et al. 2007). Litter is the starting point of the detrital food chain in forest ecosystems (Kang et al. 2010), an intrinsic part of the nutrient cycle and the main source of soil organic matter (Sayer 2006), which plays an important role in maintaining soil fertility and increasing forest productivity. As a link between plants and soil, litter plays a decisive role in nutrient cycling and energy flow in forest ecosystems (Domke, Perry, and Walters 2016). The return of nutrients, soil nutrient supply, plant nutrient requirements, and self-regulation of plants during litter decomposition all increase the complexities of researching plant-litter-soil system nutrient concentration (Ladanai, Ågren, and Olsson 2010).
Soil biological characteristic, nutrient contents and stoichiometry as affected by different types of remediation in a smelter-impacted soil
Published in Chemistry and Ecology, 2020
Lei Xu, Xiangyu Xing, Hongbiao Cui, Jianbiao Peng, Jingfeng Bai, Xuebo Zheng
Soil N changes resembled those for SOC. There were no significant differences in total N content per treatment during the first two remediation years. Soil total N content increased slightly relative to that of P in the third year. The greatest improvement appeared in ME treatment (35.2% increase) followed by MW, MP, and MS (34.8%, 25.0%, and 18.5% increases, respectively; Table 2). Plant species did not significantly affect total N over time. Certain authors recently reported that vegetation recovery significantly increased soil total and available N content in various restoration areas of China [34]. Furthermore, total N content of the surface soil (0–20 cm) was greater than that of the 20–40-cm layer [35]. During vegetation restoration, copious litter and root exudates add nutrients to the soil, thereby substantially improving SOC and total N [36]. The addition of plant litter to the soil significantly increases soil microbial C and N, reduces soil mineral N and the loss of inorganic N, increases soil N fixation, and enhances overall soil N accumulation [37].