Articles | Volume 2, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-511-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-511-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Original research article
| 
10 Oct 2016
Original research article |
| 10 Oct 2016
Knowledge needs, available practices, and future challenges in agricultural soils
Georgina Key
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences from Faculty of Life Sciences, Michael Smith Building, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
Mike G. Whitfield
Lancaster Environment Centre, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4YQ, UK
Julia Cooper
School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Newcastle University, Kings Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK
Franciska T. De Vries
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences from Faculty of Life Sciences, Michael Smith Building, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
Martin Collison
Collison and Associates Limited, Honeysuckle Cottage, Shepherdsgate Road, Tilney All Saints, King's Lynn, Norfolk, PE34 4RW, UK
Thanasis Dedousis
European Agro Development Team, PepsiCo Europe, Rue du Rhône 50, 1204 Geneva, Switzerland
Richard Heathcote
Richard Heathcote, R & J Sustainability Consulting Ltd, working with: National Association of Cider Makers, Cool Farm Alliance, and Innovate UK, 21 Lattimore Road, Stratford-upon-Avon, CV37 0RZ, UK
Brendan Roth
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London, SW1P 3JR, UK
Shamal Mohammed
GeoInfo Fusion Ltd, Cranfield, Bedford, MK43 0DG, UK
Andrew Molyneux
Huntapac Produce Ltd, 293 Blackgate Lane, Holmes, Tarleton, Preston, Lancashire, PR4 6JJ, UK
Wim H. Van der Putten
Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Department of Terrestrial Ecology and Laboratory of Nematology, Wageningen University and Research Centre, Droevendaalsesteeg 10, 6708 PB Wageningen, the Netherlands
Lynn V. Dicks
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK
William J. Sutherland
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ, UK
Richard D. Bardgett
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences from Faculty of Life Sciences, Michael Smith Building, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
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Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 4339–4350, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4339-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-4339-2022, 2022
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We used a global-scale dataset for the surface topsoil (>3000 distinct observations of abundance of soil fungi versus bacteria) to generate the first quantitative map of soil fungal proportion across terrestrial ecosystems. We reveal striking latitudinal trends. Fungi dominated in regions with low mean annual temperature (MAT) and net primary productivity (NPP) and bacteria dominated in regions with high MAT and NPP.
Jennifer M. Rhymes, Irene Cordero, Mathilde Chomel, Jocelyn M. Lavallee, Angela L. Straathof, Deborah Ashworth, Holly Langridge, Marina Semchenko, Franciska T. de Vries, David Johnson, and Richard D. Bardgett
SOIL, 7, 95–106, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-95-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-95-2021, 2021
Saskia D. Keesstra, Johan Bouma, Jakob Wallinga, Pablo Tittonell, Pete Smith, Artemi Cerdà, Luca Montanarella, John N. Quinton, Yakov Pachepsky, Wim H. van der Putten, Richard D. Bardgett, Simon Moolenaar, Gerben Mol, Boris Jansen, and Louise O. Fresco
SOIL, 2, 111–128, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-111-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-111-2016, 2016
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Soil science, as a land-related discipline, has links to several of the UN Sustainable Development Goals which are demonstrated through the functions of soils and related ecosystem services. We discuss how soil scientists can rise to the challenge both internally and externally in terms of our relations with colleagues in other disciplines, diverse groups of stakeholders and the policy arena. To meet these goals we recommend the set of steps to be taken by the soil science community as a whole.
A. T. Nottingham, B. L. Turner, J. Whitaker, N. J. Ostle, N. P. McNamara, R. D. Bardgett, N. Salinas, and P. Meir
Biogeosciences, 12, 6071–6083, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-6071-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-12-6071-2015, 2015
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We measured indices of soil microbial nutrient status in lowland, sub-montane and montane tropical forests along a natural gradient spanning 3400 m in elevation in the Peruvian Andes. We show that soil microorganisms shift investment in nutrient acquisition from P to N between lowland and montane tropical forests, suggesting that different nutrients regulate soil microbial metabolism and the soil carbon balance in these ecosystems.
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Jorge Prieto-Rubio, José L. Garrido, Julio M. Alcántara, Concepción Azcón-Aguilar, Ana Rincón, and Álvaro López-García
SOIL, 10, 425–439, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-425-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-425-2024, 2024
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Changes in soil biological activity when microbial taxa interact remain little understood. To address this, we approach network analyses of ectomycorrhizal fungal communities. The study highlights how distinct fungi contribute to explaining community structure, whilst others mainly do for soil enzymatic activity. This differentiation between structural and functional roles of ectomycorrhizal fungi adds new insights to understand soil fungal community complexity and its functionality in soils.
Christophe Djemiel, Samuel Dequiedt, Walid Horrigue, Arthur Bailly, Mélanie Lelièvre, Julie Tripied, Charles Guilland, Solène Perrin, Gwendoline Comment, Nicolas P. A. Saby, Claudy Jolivet, Antonio Bispo, Line Boulonne, Antoine Pierart, Patrick Wincker, Corinne Cruaud, Pierre-Alain Maron, Sébastien Terrat, and Lionel Ranjard
SOIL, 10, 251–273, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-251-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-10-251-2024, 2024
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The fungal kingdom has been diversifying for more than 800 million years by colonizing a large number of habitats on Earth. Based on a unique dataset (18S rDNA meta-barcoding), we described the spatial distribution of fungal diversity at the scale of France and the environmental drivers by tackling biogeographical patterns. We also explored the fungal network interactions across land uses and climate types.
Jing Sun, Xinrui Lu, Guoshuang Chen, Nana Luo, Qilin Zhang, and Xiujun Li
SOIL, 9, 261–275, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-261-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-261-2023, 2023
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A field experiment was conducted to compare and analyze the effects of combined application of biochar and nitrogen fertilizer on soil aggregate stability mechanism, the dynamic characteristics of aggregate organic carbon, and the microbial community structure in northeast black soil. We provide a scientific basis for formulating effective strategies to slow down soil quality degradation and ensure the sustainable development of the agroecosystem.
Talia Gabay, Eva Petrova, Osnat Gillor, Yaron Ziv, and Roey Angel
SOIL, 9, 231–242, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-231-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-231-2023, 2023
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This paper evaluates bacterial growth in biocrusts after a large-scale mining disturbance in a hyperarid desert, using a stable isotope probing assay.
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By analyzing and generalizing microbial taxonomic and functional profiles, we provide strong evidence that the degree of soil microbial functional redundancy differs significantly between “broad” and “narrow” functions across the globe. Future sequencing efforts will likely increase our confidence in comparative metagenomes and provide time-series information to further identify to what extent microbial functional redundancy regulates dynamic ecological fluxes across space and time.
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Guoyu Lan, Chuan Yang, Zhixiang Wu, Rui Sun, Bangqian Chen, and Xicai Zhang
SOIL, 8, 149–161, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-149-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-149-2022, 2022
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Forest conversion alters both bacterial and fungal soil networks: it reduces bacterial network complexity and enhances fungal network complexity. This is because forest conversion changes the soil pH and other soil properties, which alters the bacterial composition and subsequent network structure. Our study demonstrates the impact of forest conversion on soil network structure, which has important implications for ecosystem functions and the health of soil ecosystems in tropical regions.
Zijun Zhou, Zengqiang Li, Kun Chen, Zhaoming Chen, Xiangzhong Zeng, Hua Yu, Song Guo, Yuxian Shangguan, Qingrui Chen, Hongzhu Fan, Shihua Tu, Mingjiang He, and Yusheng Qin
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Munawwar A. Khan and Shams T. Khan
SOIL, 6, 513–521, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-513-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-513-2020, 2020
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Soil is a renewable resource for purposes ranging from agriculture to mineralization. Soil microbiome plays vital roles in facilitating process like providing nutrients to plants, or their mobilization for plant uptake, consequently improving plant growth and productivity. Therefore, understanding of these microbial communities and their role in soil is crucial for exploring the possibility of using microbial community inoculants for improving desert soil fertility and agricultural potential.
Selvaraj Aravindh, Chinnappan Chinnadurai, and Dananjeyan Balachandar
SOIL, 6, 483–497, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-483-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-483-2020, 2020
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Soil quality is important for functioning of the agricultural ecosystem to sustain productivity. It is combination of several physical, chemical, and biological attributes. In the present work, we developed a soil biological quality index, a sub-set of the soil quality index (SBQI) using six important biological variables. These variables were computed from long-term manurial experimental soils and transformed into a unitless 10-scaled SBQI. This will provide constraints of soil processes.
Frederick Büks, Nicolette Loes van Schaik, and Martin Kaupenjohann
SOIL, 6, 245–267, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-245-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-245-2020, 2020
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Via anthropogenic input, microplastics (MPs) today represent a part of the soil organic matter. We analyzed studies on passive translocation, active ingestion, bioaccumulation and adverse effects of MPs on multicellular soil faunal life. These studies on a wide range of soil organisms found a recurring pattern of adverse effects on motility, growth, metabolism, reproduction, mortality and gut microbiome. However, the shape and type of the experimental MP often did not match natural conditions.
Marshall D. McDaniel and A. Stuart Grandy
SOIL, 2, 583–599, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-583-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-583-2016, 2016
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Karen A. Thompson, Bill Deen, and Kari E. Dunfield
SOIL, 2, 523–535, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-523-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-523-2016, 2016
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Dedicated bioenergy crops are required for future energy production; however the effects of land use change from traditional crops to biofuel crops on soil microbial communities, which drive greenhouse gas production, are largely unknown. We used quantitative PCR to enumerate these microbial communities to assess the sustainability of different bioenergy crops, including miscanthus and corn. We found that miscanthus may be a suitable crop for bioenergy production in variable Ontario conditions.
Mohammed Ahmed, Melanie Sapp, Thomas Prior, Gerrit Karssen, and Matthew Alan Back
SOIL, 2, 257–270, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-257-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-257-2016, 2016
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This review covers the history and advances made in the area of nematode taxonomy. It highlights the success and limitations of the classical approach to nematode taxonomy and provides reader with a bit of background to the applications of protein and DNA-based methods for identification nematodes. The review also outlines the pros and cons of the use of DNA barcoding in nematology and explains how DNA metabarcoding has been applied in nematology through next-generation sequencing.
E. Ashley Shaw, Karolien Denef, Cecilia Milano de Tomasel, M. Francesca Cotrufo, and Diana H. Wall
SOIL, 2, 199–210, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-199-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-199-2016, 2016
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We investigated fire's effects on root decomposition and carbon (C) flow to the soil food web. We used 13C-labeled dead roots buried in microcosms constructed from two burn treatment soils (annual and infrequent burn). Our results showed greater root decomposition and C flow to the soil food web for the annual burn compared to infrequent burn treatment. Thus, roots are a more important C source for decomposers in annually burned areas where surface plant litter is frequently removed by fire.
E. Gagnarli, D. Goggioli, F. Tarchi, S. Guidi, R. Nannelli, N. Vignozzi, G. Valboa, M. R. Lottero, L. Corino, and S. Simoni
SOIL, 1, 527–536, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-527-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-527-2015, 2015
M.-A. de Graaff, J. Adkins, P. Kardol, and H. L. Throop
SOIL, 1, 257–271, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-257-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-257-2015, 2015
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Short summary
Enhancing soil health is key to providing ecosystem services and food security. There are often trade-offs to using a particular practice, or it is not fully understood. This work aimed to identify practices beneficial to soil health and gaps in our knowledge. We reviewed existing research on agricultural practices and an expert panel assessed their effectiveness. The three most beneficial practices used a mix of organic or inorganic material, cover crops, or crop rotations.
Enhancing soil health is key to providing ecosystem services and food security. There are often...
