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Soil
Published in Stanley E. Manahan, Environmental Chemistry, 2022
The small fraction of soil mass consisting of organic matter (typically 5% or less of soil) has a strong influence on the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of soil, playing a strong role in determining soil productivity. Among its important effects in soil, organic matter is effective in holding soil moisture, and it holds and exchanges with plant roots some of the ions that are required as plant nutrients. Organic matter in soil serves as a source of food for microorganisms, undergoes chemical reactions such as ion exchange, and influences the physical properties of soil. Some organic compounds even contribute to the weathering of mineral matter, the process by which soil is formed. Temperature, moisture, and climatic conditions significantly affect the kinds and levels of soil organic matter. Cold, wet conditions under which soil stays saturated with moisture, preventing access of microorganisms to oxygen, tend to prevent complete biodegradation of plant residues that compose soil organic matter, allowing it to accumulate. This is clearly illustrated by the accumulation of peat in Ireland and other locales with similar climatic conditions such that most of the solid soil is composed of organic matter. Tropical conditions, especially with alternate wet and dry seasons, can result in loss of soil organic matter. One reason that the soil supporting tropical rainforests degrades so quickly when the trees are removed is that the organic matter in the soil undergoes rapid biodegradation when the forest cover is removed.
Organic Amendments for Sustainable Crop Production, Soil Carbon Sequestration and Climate Smart Agriculture
Published in Moonisa Aslam Dervash, Akhlaq Amin Wani, Climate Change Alleviation for Sustainable Progression, 2022
Maryam Adil, Muhammad Riaz, Farah Riaz, Komel Jehangir, Muhammad Arslan Ashraf, Sajid Ali, Rashid Mahmood, Qaiser Hussain, Afia Zia, Muhammad Arif
Enhancing the soil quality from organic amendments can make soils more productive with sustainable C and nutrient cycling which make soils flexible enough to changing climatic and environmental conditions, such as floods, droughts and extreme temperatures (Parfitt et al., 2010). Several available studies have confirmed that organic amendments can assist in improving soil quality, resulting in soil with better soil organic matter content, improved agronomic constancy and soil structure (Manna et al., 2005; Bhattacharyya et al., 2008). Because organic amendments enhance soil organic matter, provide plant nutrient and reduce water losses, therefore, organic amendments also enhance soil microbiological, chemical and physical quality for CSA (Ros et al., 2003; Tejada et al., 2009).
Balancing Soil Health and Biomass Production
Published in Larry E. Erickson, Valentina Pidlisnyuk, Phytotechnology with Biomass Production, 2021
Larry E. Erickson, Kraig Roozeboom
Many organic soil amendments have beneficial value for soil health because the increase in soil organic matter improves soil structure, water-holding capacity, and nutrient availability. Biomass production is improved, microbial populations are larger, and the ecosystem functions better. The review includes a comprehensive discussion of research with biochar amendments in soils with toxic elements, including some information on 29 field studies reported by O’Connor et al. (2018). The yield with Miscanthus was increased using biochar in one of the studies. In general contaminant bioavailability was reduced by adding biochar, but the magnitude of the effect may decrease when pH decreases over time. Soil amendments have been reported to be cost-effective and beneficial to soil health and biomass production. When selecting amendments, it is important to evaluate their composition because toxic substances, salts, and other contaminants may be present. When using organic amendments at a new site where vegetation is being established, there may be a need to add soil fauna to enhance biodiversity.
Small scale biogas technology adoption behaviours of rural households and its effect on major crop yields in East Gojjam Zone of Ethiopia: propensity score matching approach
Published in Cogent Engineering, 2022
Fasika Chekol, Ashebir Tsegaye, Teshager Mazengia, Minas Hiruy
Although fertilizer use is the primary strategy for addressing soil depletion, the long-term and continuous application of chemical fertilizers has a significant and irreversible impact on agricultural production by degrading soil fertility (Gelmesa et al., 2012; Rahman & Tetteh, 2014). The resulting issues, such as soil organic matter depletion, deteriorating soil structure, nutrient imbalances, and loss of soil biodiversity, may cause agricultural production to decline (Bansal et al., 2020; Chen et al., 2020; Fan et al., 2020; Haile & Ayalew, 2018; Kamran et al., 2021). Such degradation has largely dominated the major crop production area, which is primarily cultivated using an intensive annual crop rotation of wheat and maize (Wang et al., 2019; Zhu et al., 2021). Low organic matter content and poor soil fertility may severely limit crop yields, exposing many Ethiopian farmers to food insecurity and poverty and necessitating food aid (Zheng et al. 2021; Biramo et al., 2019).
Changes of bacterial community in arable soil after short-term application of fresh manures and organic fertilizer
Published in Environmental Technology, 2022
Chunmei Ye, Shenfa Huang, Chenyan Sha, Jianqiang Wu, Changzheng Cui, Jinghua Su, Junjie Ruan, Juan Tan, Hao Tang, Jiajia Xue
Actinobacteria had been reported as a group of bacteria involved in organic matter turnover [51]. They are the key microorganism that regulates the decay of plant litter and subsequently form soil organic matter in terrestrial ecosystems [52]. The relative abundance of Actinobacteria in OF was much lower than that in CM, PM and CK (p < 0.05), indicating that the addition of OF might reduce the ability of soil microbial organic matter synthesis. The phylum Nitrospirae is bacteria that known to participate in nitrification [29]. Nitrospira under Nitrospirae is a common nitrite oxidizer in soil and plays an important role in nitrification of soil systems [53]. If the nitrification is too strong, it will result in significant loss of NO3−–N, degradation of soil quality and fertility, and increased N2O emissions etc [54]. The conclusion of this paper suggested that the application of OF and CM can reduce the relative abundance of Nitrospirae and Nitrospira in soil, which was beneficial to the inhibition of soil nitrification and the reduction of N2O emission.
Principal component analysis reveals microbial biomass carbon as an effective bioindicator of health status of petroleum-polluted agricultural soil
Published in Environmental Technology, 2020
Chukwudi O. Onwosi, Joyce N. Odimba, Victor C. Igbokwe, Florence O. Nduka, Tochukwu N. Nwagu, Chinwe J. Aneke, Ifeanyichukwu E. Eke
The soil microbial biomass has been described as the living component of the soil organic matter formed by a variety of microorganisms in the soil and serves as an important source of nutrients for plant growth due to its rapid nutrient cycling ability [18,22]. However, there is a very limited literature on the use of soil microbial biomass carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus as a sensitive ecotoxicological monitoring tool for the evaluation of a bioremediation process involved in hydrocarbon-polluted soil. Soil microbial biomass has been reported to be linked with important soil functions such as cycling of mineral nutrients, decomposition of organic matter, degradation of xenobiotics, and promotion of plant growth [23]. Soil microbial biomass immobilizes C, N, P and other nutrients in the soil which can thus be released easily to promote plant growth as a result of its rapid cycling [22]. Therefore, it has been proposed as a sensitive parameter for assessing soil perturbation, especially those arising from agricultural management such as forest devastation [18,24,25]. Of the few known literature on soil microbial biomass so far, only carbon and nitrogen have been reported [9].