Download or read book Soil Health Indicators as Tools to Understand The Effects of Disturbance written by Devyn Mc Pheeters and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soil health refers to a soil's ability to sustain biological life into the future while maintaining water and air quality. No-till agriculture has become a primary strategy to improve soil health in row-crop production in the United States. Growers who have adopted no-till practices are typically highly reluctant to use any type of tillage out of concern for its effects on the health of their soil. The two primary objectives of this thesis research were 1) to examine the effects on soil health of one-time inversion tillage in a six-year rotation including canola, corn, soy, cover crops and perennials and 2) to compare soil health effects of contrasting fertilization methods, involving either surface applications or incorporation using reduced disturbance, in a corn-soy rotation. These objectives were approached using four soil health indicators: total organic carbon, bulk density, labile carbon, and aggregate stability, to determine the impacts of different management strategies implemented at the Dairy Cropping Systems Experiment (DCSE) at the Penn State Agronomy Research Farm at Rock Springs, PA. This experiment had been initiated in 2010 as a full crop entry experiment, with all phases of the crop rotations planted every year in a randomized complete block design, replicated four times. The channery silt loam soil at this site was sampled in spring 2010 prior to the start of the experiment and in 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021 at two depths: 0-5 and 5-15 cm for labile and total carbon and to 15 cm for aggregate stability. The research conducted under Objective One is described in Chapter Two of this thesis. The management system under study was a six-year crop rotation that included two approaches to terminating the perennial forage crop--termination by standard herbicides or by inversion tillage. The aim was to assess soil health effects of once-in-six-year tillage as a strategy for herbicide reduction (T1/6) when compared to no-tillage using standard herbicide treatment (NT). Although tillage initially reduced total soil organic and labile carbon, plots that were tilled showed similar soil health levels as the continuous no-till plots in all four indicators after two full years in perennial forage. Results from this analysis indicated that soil health can return to no-till levels despite a tillage event if rotated to perennial forage for sufficient years. The research for Objective Two is described in Chapter Three and involved a more traditional corn-soy rotation, which had been included in the Dairy Cropping Systems Experiment because it is common among grain crop growers. Soil health indicators were compared in soils subjected to four fertilizer application strategies: no-till with broadcast manure (NT-BM), chisel disk with broadcast manure (CD-BM), no-till with broadcast synthetic fertilizer (NT-SF), and no-till with injected manure (NT-IM). Despite the classification of chisel-disk as a type of conservation tillage, the CD-BM strategy had the highest expected potential to reduce soil health because of its increased level of disturbance. Investigating the impact of CD on soil health was the primary focus of this chapter. There was also some expectation that injected manure would reduce soil health due to disturbance associated with injection, which also motivated comparison of the three different no-till strategies. Soil total organic carbon, labile carbon, and aggregate stability were all reduced in the CD-BM strategy, though no effects due to tillage were observed at the 5-15 cm depth. Additionally, there were no differences between the effects of the three no-till strategies on soil health. Results from this analysis suggest that soil health is negatively impacted by chisel disking compared to no-till, but that manure injection does not appear to affect soil health. The concluding chapter of this thesis summarizes the results of both studies and provides recommendations for farmers and future research. Reducing tillage intensity is critical to improving soil health, though strategic timing of one-time tillage events may alleviate some of the herbicide requirement typically associated with no-till, particularly when these events are coupled with perennials in rotation. Chisel-disking may be a positive alternative to more intensive tillage practices, but it showed short-term negative impacts compared to no-till. Overall, this thesis supports the idea that reducing disturbance and increasing perenniality of systems is the key to long-term improvements to soil health.
Download or read book Cornell Soil Health Assessment Training Manual written by Beth K. Gugino and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Approaches to Soil Health Analysis Soil Health series Volume 1 written by Douglas L. Karlen and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-08-24 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Approaches to Soil Health Analysis A concise survey of soil health analysis and its various techniques and applications The maintenance of healthy soil resources provides the foundation for an array of global efforts and initiatives that affect humanity. Whether they are working to combat food shortages, conserve our ecosystems, or mitigate the impact of climate change, researchers and agriculturalists the world over must be able to correctly examine and understand the complex nature of this essential, fragile resource. These new volumes have been designed to meet this need, addressing the many dimensions of soil health analysis in chapters that are concise, accessible and applicable to the tasks at hand. Soil Health, Volume One: Approaches to Soil Health Analysis provides a well-rounded overview of the various methods and strategies available to analysists, and covers topics including: The history of soil health and its study Challenges and opportunities facing analysists Meta-data and its assessment Applications to forestry and urban land reclamation Future soil health monitoring and evaluation approaches Offering a far-reaching survey of this increasingly interdisciplinary field, this volume will be of great interest to all those working in agriculture, private sector businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academic-, state-, and federal-research projects, as well as state and federal soil conservation, water quality and other environmental programs.
Download or read book Soil Health and Intensification of Agroecosystems written by Mahdi M. Al-Kaisi and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2017-03-15 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soil Health and Intensification of Agroecosystems examines the climate, environmental, and human effects on agroecosystems and how the existing paradigms must be revised in order to establish sustainable production. The increased demand for food and fuel exerts tremendous stress on all aspects of natural resources and the environment to satisfy an ever increasing world population, which includes the use of agriculture products for energy and other uses in addition to human and animal food. The book presents options for ecological systems that mimic the natural diversity of the ecosystem and can have significant effect as the world faces a rapidly changing and volatile climate. The book explores the introduction of sustainable agroecosystems that promote biodiversity, sustain soil health, and enhance food production as ways to help mitigate some of these adverse effects. New agroecosystems will help define a resilient system that can potentially absorb some of the extreme shifts in climate. Changing the existing cropping system paradigm to utilize natural system attributes by promoting biodiversity within production agricultural systems, such as the integration of polycultures, will also enhance ecological resiliency and will likely increase carbon sequestration. - Focuses on the intensification and integration of agroecosystem and soil resiliency by presenting suggested modifications of the current cropping system paradigm - Examines climate, environment, and human effects on agroecosystems - Explores in depth the wide range of intercalated soil and plant interactions as they influence soil sustainability and, in particular, soil quality - Presents options for ecological systems that mimic the natural diversity of the ecosystem and can have significant effect as the world faces a rapidly changing and volatile climate
Download or read book Biological Indicators of Soil Health written by Clive Pankhurst and published by Cabi. This book was released on 1997 with total page 482 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 1. Defining and assessing soil health and sustainable productivity 2. The relationship of soil health to ecosystem health 3. Rationale for developing bioindicators of soil health 4. Bioindicators: perspectives and potential for land users, researchers and policy makers 5. Soil microbial biomass, activity and nutrient cycling as indicators of soil health 6. Soil enzyme activities as integrative indicators of soil health 7. Soil microflora as bioindicators of soil health 8. Potential use of plant root pathogens as bioindicators of soil health 9. Soil microfauna as bioindicators of soil health 10. Community structure of soil arthropods as a bioindicator of soil health 11. Can the abundance or activity of soil macrofauna be used to indicate the biological health of soils? 12. Biodiversity of soil organisms as indicators of soil health 13. Biomonitoring of soil health by plants 14. Bioindicators to detect contamination of soils with special reference to heavy metals 15. Chemical and molecular approaches for rapid assessment of the biological status of soils 16. Use of genetically modified microbial biosensors for soil ecotoxicity testing 17. Biological indicators of soil health: synthesis.
Download or read book Forest and Rangeland Soils of the United States Under Changing Conditions written by Richard V. Pouyat and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-09-02 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book synthesizes leading-edge science and management information about forest and rangeland soils of the United States. It offers ways to better understand changing conditions and their impacts on soils, and explores directions that positively affect the future of forest and rangeland soil health. This book outlines soil processes and identifies the research needed to manage forest and rangeland soils in the United States. Chapters give an overview of the state of forest and rangeland soils research in the Nation, including multi-decadal programs (chapter 1), then summarizes various human-caused and natural impacts and their effects on soil carbon, hydrology, biogeochemistry, and biological diversity (chapters 2–5). Other chapters look at the effects of changing conditions on forest soils in wetland and urban settings (chapters 6–7). Impacts include: climate change, severe wildfires, invasive species, pests and diseases, pollution, and land use change. Chapter 8 considers approaches to maintaining or regaining forest and rangeland soil health in the face of these varied impacts. Mapping, monitoring, and data sharing are discussed in chapter 9 as ways to leverage scientific and human resources to address soil health at scales from the landscape to the individual parcel (monitoring networks, data sharing Web sites, and educational soils-centered programs are tabulated in appendix B). Chapter 10 highlights opportunities for deepening our understanding of soils and for sustaining long-term ecosystem health and appendix C summarizes research needs. Nine regional summaries (appendix A) offer a more detailed look at forest and rangeland soils in the United States and its Affiliates.
Download or read book Soil Health and Climate Change written by Bhupinder Pal Singh and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-07-24 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Soil Health and Climate Change” presents a comprehensive overview of the concept of soil health, including the significance of key soil attributes and management of soil health in conventional and emerging land use systems in the context of climate change. Starting with a review of the physical, chemical and biological indicators of soil health and their significance for monitoring the impacts of climate change, this book then focuses on describing the role of soil structure, pH, organic matter, nitrogen, respiration and biota in sustaining the basic functions of soil ecosystems, and their anticipated responses to climate change. Further topics include the management of cropping, pastoral, and forestry systems, and rehabilitated mine sites, with a focus on mitigation of and adaptation to climate change impacts. Finally, the opportunities and potential risks of organic farming, biochar and bioenergy systems, and their ability to sustain and even enhance soil health, are discussed.
Download or read book Laboratory Methods for Soil Health Analysis written by Douglas L. Karlen and published by ACSESS. This book was released on 2021-08-09 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Analyzing, comparing, and understanding soil health data The maintenance of healthy soil resources is instrumental to the success of an array of global efforts and initiatives. Whether they are working to combat food shortages, conserve our ecosystems, or mitigate the impact of climate change, researchers and agriculturalists the world over must be able to correctly examine and understand the complex nature of this essential resource. This work has been designed to meet this need, addressing the many dimensions of soil health analysis in chapters that are concise, accessible and practically applicable to the tasks at hand. Laboratory Methods for Soil Health Analysis provides explanations of the best practices by which one may arrive at valuable, comparable data and incisive conclusions, and covers topics including: Sampling considerations and field evaluations Assessment and interpretation of soil-test biological activity Macro- and micronutrients in soil quality and health PLFA and EL-FAME indicators Offering a practical guide to collecting and understanding soil health data, this volume will be of great interest to all those working in agriculture, private sector businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academic-, state-, and federal-research projects, as well as state and federal soil conservation, water quality and other environmental programs.
Download or read book Soil Health and Land Use Management written by Maria C. Hernandez Soriano and published by BoD – Books on Demand. This book was released on 2012-01-25 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Soils play multiple roles in the quality of life throughout the world, not only as the resource for food production, but also as the support for our structures, the environment, the medium for waste disposal, water, and the storage of nutrients. A healthy soil can sustain biological productivity, maintain environmental quality, and promote plant and animal health. Understanding the impact of land management practices on soil properties and processes can provide useful indicators of economic and environmental sustainability. The sixteen chapters of this book orchestrate a multidisciplinary composition of current trends in soil health. Soil Health and Land Use Management provides a broad vision of the fundamental importance of soil health. In addition, the development of feasible management and remediation strategies to preserve and ameliorate the fitness of soils are discussed in this book. Strategies to improve land management and relevant case studies are covered, as well as the importance of characterizing soil properties to develop management and remediation strategies. Moreover, the current management of several environmental scenarios of high concern is presented, while the final chapters propose new methodologies for soil pollution assessment.
Download or read book Bacteria in Agrobiology Crop Ecosystems written by Dinesh K. Maheshwari and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2011-04-19 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The future of agriculture strongly depends on our ability to enhance productivity without sacrificing long-term production potential. An ecologically and economically sustainable strategy is the application of microorganisms, such as the diverse bacterial species of plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB). The use of these bio-resources for the enhancement of crop productivity is gaining worldwide importance. Bacteria in Agrobiology: Crop Ecosystems describes the beneficial role of plant growth promoting bacteria with special emphasis on oil yielding crops, cereals, fruits and vegetables. Chapters present studies on various aspects of bacteria-plant interactions, soil-borne and seed-borne diseases associated with food crops such as rice, sesame, peanuts, and horticultural crops. Further reviews describe technologies to produce inoculants, the biocontrol of post harvest pathogens as a suitable alternative to agrochemicals, and the restoration of degraded soils.
Download or read book Agricultural Systems Agroecology and Rural Innovation for Development written by Sieglinde Snapp and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2017-02-17 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Agricultural Systems, Second Edition, is a comprehensive text for developing sustainable farming systems. It presents a synthetic overview of the emerging area of agroecology applications to transforming farming systems and supporting rural innovation, with particular emphasis on how research can be harnessed for sustainable agriculture. The inclusion of research theory and examples using the principles of cropping system design allows students to gain a unique understanding of the technical, biological, ecological, economic and sociological aspects of farming systems science for rural livelihoods. This book explores topics such as: re-inventing farming systems; principles and practice of agroecology; agricultural change and low-input technology; ecologically-based nutrient management; participatory breeding for developing improved and relevant crops; participatory livestock research for development; gender and agrarian inequality at the local scale; the nature of agricultural innovation; and outreach to support rural innovation. The extensive coverage of subjects is complemented with integrated references and a companion website, making this book essential reading for courses in international agricultural systems and management, sustainable agricultural management, and cropping systems. This book will be a valuable resource for students of agricultural science, environmental engineering, and rural planning; researchers and scientists in agricultural development agencies; and practitioners of agricultural development in government extension programs, development agencies, and NGOs. - Provides students with an enhanced understanding of how research can be harnessed for sustainable agriculture - Incorporates social, biological, chemical, and geographical aspects important to agroecology - Addresses social and development issues related to farming systems
Download or read book The Fungal Kingdom written by Joseph Heitman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2020-07-10 with total page 1136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fungi research and knowledge grew rapidly following recent advances in genetics and genomics. This book synthesizes new knowledge with existing information to stimulate new scientific questions and propel fungal scientists on to the next stages of research. This book is a comprehensive guide on fungi, environmental sensing, genetics, genomics, interactions with microbes, plants, insects, and humans, technological applications, and natural product development.
Download or read book Soil Health Analysis Set written by Douglas L. Karlen and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2021-08-13 with total page 527 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Volume 1 briefly reviews selected “Approaches to Soil Health Analysis” including a brief history of the concept, challenges and opportunities, meta-data and assessment, applications to forestry and urban land reclamation, and future soil health monitoring and evaluation approaches. Volume 2 focuses on “Laboratory Methods for Soil Health Analysis” including an overview and suggested analytical approaches intended to provide meaningful, comparable data so that soil health can be used to guide restoration and protection of our global soil resources.
Download or read book Meta Analysis with R written by Guido Schwarzer and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-10-08 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a comprehensive introduction to performing meta-analysis using the statistical software R. It is intended for quantitative researchers and students in the medical and social sciences who wish to learn how to perform meta-analysis with R. As such, the book introduces the key concepts and models used in meta-analysis. It also includes chapters on the following advanced topics: publication bias and small study effects; missing data; multivariate meta-analysis, network meta-analysis; and meta-analysis of diagnostic studies.
Download or read book Soil Health Series written by Douglas L. Karlen and published by . This book was released on 2021 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The maintenance of healthy soil resources is instrumental to the success of an array of global efforts and initiatives. Whether they are working to combat food shortages, conserve our ecosystems, or mitigate the impact of climate change, researchers and agriculturalists the world over must be able to correctly examine and understand the complex nature of this essential resource. These new volumes have been designed to meet this need, addressing the many dimensions of soil health analysis in chapters that are concise, accessible and applicable to the tasks at hand. Soil Health, Volume Two: Laboratory Methods for Soil Health Analysis provides explanations of the best practices by which one may arrive at valuable, comparable data and incisive conclusions, and covers topics including: Sampling considerations and field evaluations. Assessment and interpretation of soil-test biological activity. Macro- and micronutrients in soil quality and health PLFA and EL-FAME indicators. Offering a practical guide to collecting and understanding soil health data, this volume will be of great interest to all those working in agriculture, private sector businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), academic-, state-, and federal-research projects, as well as state and federal soil conservation, water quality and other environmental programs.--Provided by publisher.
Download or read book Enhancing Soil Health to Mitigate Soil Degradation written by Douglas L. Karlen and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2018-07-06 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue "Enhancing Soil Health to Mitigate Soil Degradation" that was published in Sustainability
Download or read book Managing Soil Quality written by P. Schjønning and published by CABI. This book was released on 2004 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In-depth treatments of the soil quality concept, its history, and its applicability in research and in developed and developing societiesAll 18 chapters are written by well-established experts from Europe, North America and AustraliaSoil quality is a concept that allows soil functions to be related to specific purposes. Managing soil quality takes a management oriented approach by identifying key issues in soil quality and management options to enhance the sustainability of modern agriculture. Topics covered include major plant nutrients (N, P, K), soil acidity, soil organic matter, soil biodiversity, soil compaction, erosion, pesticides and urban waste.
