Articles | Volume 5, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-91-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-91-2019
© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Original research article
| 
19 Mar 2019
Original research article |
| 19 Mar 2019
| 19 Mar 2019
On-farm study reveals positive relationship between gas transport capacity and organic carbon content in arable soil
Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences, Uppsala, 11824, Sweden
Department of Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Zurich, 8046,
Switzerland
Florian Walder
Department of Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Zurich, 8046,
Switzerland
Lucie Büchi
Department of Plant Production Systems, Agroscope, Nyon, 1260,
Switzerland
Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham
Maritime, ME4 4TB, UK
Marlies Sommer
Department of Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Zurich, 8046,
Switzerland
Kexing Liu
Department of Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Zurich, 8046,
Switzerland
College of Natural Resources and Environment, South China Agricultural
University, Guangzhou, 510640, China
Johan Six
Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, 8092,
Switzerland
Marcel G. A. van der Heijden
Department of Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Zurich, 8046,
Switzerland
Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies,
University of Zurich, 8092, Zurich, Switzerland
Plant-Microbe Interactions, Faculty of Science, Institute of
Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, 3584, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Raphaël Charles
Department of Plant Production Systems, Agroscope, Nyon, 1260,
Switzerland
Department of Extension, Training and Communication, Research
Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), 1001, Lausanne, Switzerland
Thomas Keller
Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences, Uppsala, 11824, Sweden
Department of Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Zurich, 8046,
Switzerland
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Simon Baumgartner, Marijn Bauters, Matti Barthel, Travis W. Drake, Landry C. Ntaboba, Basile M. Bazirake, Johan Six, Pascal Boeckx, and Kristof Van Oost
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Biogeosciences, 17, 6207–6218, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6207-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-6207-2020, 2020
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Katharina Hildegard Elisabeth Meurer, Claire Chenu, Elsa Coucheney, Anke Marianne Herrmann, Thomas Keller, Thomas Kätterer, David Nimblad Svensson, and Nicholas Jarvis
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R. Hüppi, R. Felber, A. Neftel, J. Six, and J. Leifeld
SOIL, 1, 707–717, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-707-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-707-2015, 2015
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C. Decock, J. Lee, M. Necpalova, E. I. P. Pereira, D. M. Tendall, and J. Six
SOIL, 1, 687–694, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-687-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-687-2015, 2015
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M. S. Torn, A. Chabbi, P. Crill, P. J. Hanson, I. A. Janssens, Y. Luo, C. H. Pries, C. Rumpel, M. W. I. Schmidt, J. Six, M. Schrumpf, and B. Zhu
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B. Wolf, L. Merbold, C. Decock, B. Tuzson, E. Harris, J. Six, L. Emmenegger, and J. Mohn
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S. Doetterl, J.-T. Cornelis, J. Six, S. Bodé, S. Opfergelt, P. Boeckx, and K. Van Oost
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We link the mineralogy of soils affected by erosion and deposition to the distribution of soil carbon fractions, their turnover and microbial activity. We show that the weathering status of soils and their history are controlling the stabilization of carbon with minerals. After burial, aggregated C is preserved more efficiently while non-aggregated C can be released and younger C re-sequestered more easily. Weathering changes the effectiveness of stabilization mechanism limiting this C sink.
E. C. Brevik, A. Cerdà, J. Mataix-Solera, L. Pereg, J. N. Quinton, J. Six, and K. Van Oost
SOIL, 1, 117–129, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-117-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-117-2015, 2015
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This paper provides a brief accounting of some of the many ways that the study of soils can be interdisciplinary, therefore giving examples of the types of papers we hope to see submitted to SOIL.
Related subject area
Soil systems
Evolutionary pathways in soil-landscape evolution models
Effects of environmental factors on the influence of tillage conversion on saturated soil hydraulic conductivity obtained with different methodologies: a global meta-analysis
Assessing soil and land health across two landscapes in eastern Rwanda to inform restoration activities
Nonlinear turnover rates of soil carbon following cultivation of native grasslands and subsequent afforestation of croplands
The effect of soil properties on zinc lability and solubility in soils of Ethiopia – an isotopic dilution study
Comparison of regolith physical and chemical characteristics with geophysical data along a climate and ecological gradient, Chilean Coastal Cordillera (26 to 38° S)
Obtaining more benefits from crop residues as soil amendments by application as chemically heterogeneous mixtures
Modeling soil and landscape evolution – the effect of rainfall and land-use change on soil and landscape patterns
Soil environment grouping system based on spectral, climate, and terrain data: a quantitative branch of soil series
Spatially resolved soil solution chemistry in a central European atmospherically polluted high-elevation catchment
Soil bacterial community and functional shifts in response to altered snowpack in moist acidic tundra of northern Alaska
Potential for agricultural production on disturbed soils mined for apatite using legumes and beneficial microbe
Zero net livelihood degradation – the quest for a multidimensional protocol to combat desertification
Soil microbial communities following bush removal in a Namibian savanna
Effects of land use changes on the dynamics of selected soil properties in northeast Wellega, Ethiopia
Soil biochemical properties in brown and gray mine soils with and without hydroseeding
Quantifying soil and critical zone variability in a forested catchment through digital soil mapping
W. Marijn van der Meij
SOIL, 8, 381–389, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-381-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-381-2022, 2022
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The development of soils and landscapes can be complex due to changes in climate and land use. Computer models are required to simulate this complex development. This research presents a new method to analyze and visualize the results of these models. This is done with the use of evolutionary pathways (EPs), which describe how soil properties change in space and through time. I illustrate the EPs with examples from the field and give recommendations for further use of EPs in soil model studies.
Kaihua Liao, Juan Feng, Xiaoming Lai, and Qing Zhu
SOIL, 8, 309–317, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-309-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-8-309-2022, 2022
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The influence of the conversion from conventional tillage (CT) to conservation tillage (CS; including no tillage, NT, and reduced tillage, RT) on the saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) of soils is not well understood and still debated. This study has demonstrated that quantifying the effects of tillage conversion on soil Ksat needed to consider experimental conditions, especially the measurement technique and conversion period.
Leigh Ann Winowiecki, Aida Bargués-Tobella, Athanase Mukuralinda, Providence Mujawamariya, Elisée Bahati Ntawuhiganayo, Alex Billy Mugayi, Susan Chomba, and Tor-Gunnar Vågen
SOIL, 7, 767–783, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-767-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-767-2021, 2021
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Achieving global restoration targets requires scaling of context-specific restoration options on the ground. We implemented the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework in Rwanda to assess indicators of soil and land health, including soil organic carbon (SOC), erosion prevalence, infiltration capacity, and tree biodiversity. Maps of soil erosion and SOC were produced at 30 m resolution with high accuracy. These data provide a rigorous biophysical baseline for tracking changes over time.
Guillermo Hernandez-Ramirez, Thomas J. Sauer, Yury G. Chendev, and Alexander N. Gennadiev
SOIL, 7, 415–431, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-415-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-415-2021, 2021
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We evaluated how sequestration of soil carbon changes over the long term after converting native grasslands into croplands and also from annual cropping into trees. Soil carbon was reduced by cropping but increased with tree planting. This decrease in carbon storage with annual cropping happened over centuries, while trees increase soil carbon over just a few decades. Growing trees in long-term croplands emerged as a climate-change-mitigating action, effective even within a person’s lifetime.
Abdul-Wahab Mossa, Dawd Gashu, Martin R. Broadley, Sarah J. Dunham, Steve P. McGrath, Elizabeth H. Bailey, and Scott D. Young
SOIL, 7, 255–268, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-255-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-7-255-2021, 2021
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Zinc deficiency is a widespread nutritional problem in human populations, especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Crop Zn depends in part on soil Zn. The Zn status of soils from the Amahara region, Ethiopia, was quantified by measuring pseudo-total, available, soluble and isotopically exchangeable Zn, and soil geochemical properties were assessed. Widespread phyto-available Zn deficiency was observed. The results could be used to improve agronomic interventions to tackle Zn deficiency in SSA.
Mirjam Schaller, Igor Dal Bo, Todd A. Ehlers, Anja Klotzsche, Reinhard Drews, Juan Pablo Fuentes Espoz, and Jan van der Kruk
SOIL, 6, 629–647, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-629-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-629-2020, 2020
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In this study geophysical observations from ground-penetrating radar with pedolith physical and geochemical properties from pedons excavated in four study areas of the climate and ecological gradient in the Chilean Coastal Cordillera are combined. Findings suggest that profiles with ground-penetrating radar along hillslopes can be used to infer lateral thickness variations in pedolith horizons and to some degree physical and chemical variations with depth.
Marijke Struijk, Andrew P. Whitmore, Simon R. Mortimer, and Tom Sizmur
SOIL, 6, 467–481, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-467-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-467-2020, 2020
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Crop residues are widely available on-farm resources containing carbon and nutrients, but, as soil amendments, their decomposition does not always benefit the soil. We applied mixtures of crop residues that are chemically different from each other and found significantly increased soil organic matter and available nitrogen levels. Applying crop residue mixtures has practical implications involving the removal, mixing and reapplication rather than simply returning crop residues to soils in situ.
W. Marijn van der Meij, Arnaud J. A. M. Temme, Jakob Wallinga, and Michael Sommer
SOIL, 6, 337–358, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-337-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-337-2020, 2020
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We developed a model to simulate long-term development of soils and landscapes under varying rainfall and land-use conditions to quantify the temporal variation of soil patterns. In natural landscapes, rainfall amount was the dominant factor influencing soil variation, while for agricultural landscapes, landscape position became the dominant factor due to tillage erosion. Our model shows potential for simulating past and future developments of soils in various landscapes and climates.
Andre Carnieletto Dotto, Jose A. M. Demattê, Raphael A. Viscarra Rossel, and Rodnei Rizzo
SOIL, 6, 163–177, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-163-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-6-163-2020, 2020
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The objective of this study was to develop a soil grouping system based on spectral, climate, and terrain variables with the aim of developing a quantitative way to classify soils. To derive the new system, we applied the above-mentioned variables using cluster analysis and defined eight groups or "soil environment groupings" (SEGs). The SEG system facilitated the identification of groups with similar characteristics using not only soil but also environmental variables for their distinction.
Daniel A. Petrash, Frantisek Buzek, Martin Novak, Bohuslava Cejkova, Pavel Kram, Tomas Chuman, Jan Curik, Frantisek Veselovsky, Marketa Stepanova, Oldrich Myska, Pavla Holeckova, and Leona Bohdalkova
SOIL, 5, 205–221, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-205-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-5-205-2019, 2019
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Some 30 years after peak pollution-related soil acidification occurred in central Europe, the forest ecosystem of a small V-shaped mountain valley, UDL, was still out of chemical balance relative to the concurrent loads of anions and cations in precipitation. The spatial variability in soil solution chemistry provided evidence pointing to substrate variability, C and P bioavailability, and landscape as major controls on base metal leaching toward the subsoil level in N-saturated catchments.
Michael P. Ricketts, Rachel S. Poretsky, Jeffrey M. Welker, and Miquel A. Gonzalez-Meler
SOIL, 2, 459–474, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-459-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-459-2016, 2016
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Soil microbial communities play a key role in the cycling of carbon (C) in Arctic tundra ecosystems through decomposition of organic matter (OM). Climate change predictions include increased temperature and snow accumulation, resulting in altered plant communities and soil conditions. To determine how soil bacteria may respond, we sequenced soil DNA from a long-term snow depth treatment gradient in Alaska. Results indicate that bacteria produce less OM-degrading enzymes under deeper snowpack.
Rebecca Swift, Liza Parkinson, Thomas Edwards, Regina Carr, Jen McComb, Graham W. O'Hara, Giles E. St. John Hardy, Lambert Bräu, and John Howieson
SOIL Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2016-33, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2016-33, 2016
Preprint retracted
Marcos H. Easdale
SOIL, 2, 129–134, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-129-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-129-2016, 2016
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Zero Net Land Degradation (ZNLD) was proposed as a new global protocol to combat desertification. This framework aims at reducing the rate of global land degradation and increasing the rate of restoration of already degraded land. However, there is a narrow focus on land and soil, while an essential human dimension to the sustainability of drylands is lacking and should be more adequately tackled. I propose a complementary perspective based on the sustainable livelihood approach.
Jeffrey S. Buyer, Anne Schmidt-Küntzel, Matti Nghikembua, Jude E. Maul, and Laurie Marker
SOIL, 2, 101–110, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-101-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-101-2016, 2016
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Savannas represent most of the world’s livestock grazing land and are suffering worldwide from bush encroachment and desertification. We studied soil under bush and grass in a bush-encroached savanna in Namibia. With bush removal, there were significant changes in soil chemistry and microbial community structure, but these changes gradually diminished with time. Our results indicate that the ecosystem can substantially recover over a time period of approximately 10 years following bush removal.
Alemayehu Adugna and Assefa Abegaz
SOIL, 2, 63–70, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-63-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-2-63-2016, 2016
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The purpose of our study was to explore the effects of land use changes on the dynamics of soil properties and their implications for land degradation. The result indicates that cultivated land has a lower organic matter, total nitrogen, cation exchange capacity, pH, and exchangeable Ca2+ and Mg2+ contents than forestland and grazing land.
C. Thomas, A. Sexstone, and J. Skousen
SOIL, 1, 621–629, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-621-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-621-2015, 2015
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Surface coal mining disrupts large areas of land and eliminates valuable hardwood forests. Restoring the land to a sustainable forest ecosystem with suitable soils is the goal of reclamation. Soil microbial activity is an indicator of restoration success. We found hydroseeding with herbaceous forage species and fertilization doubled tree growth and microbial biomass carbon (an indicator of microbial activity) compared to non-hydroseed areas. Hydroseeding is an important component of reclamation.
M. Holleran, M. Levi, and C. Rasmussen
SOIL, 1, 47–64, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-47-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-1-47-2015, 2015
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Short summary
The role of soil aeration in carbon sequestration in arable soils has only been explored little, especially at the farm level. The current study, which was conducted on 30 fields that belong to individual farms, reveals a positive relationship between soil gas transport capability and soil organic carbon content. We therefore conclude that soil aeration needs to be accounted for when developing strategies for carbon sequestration in arable soil.
The role of soil aeration in carbon sequestration in arable soils has only been explored little,...
