Phosphorus availability and farm structural factors: examining scarcity and oversupply in north‐east Germany

Assessing factors influencing phosphorus (P) availability in soils is important in preventing its overexploitation and excessive application in agricultural systems. Despite high historical P applications in the federal state of Brandenburg (Germany), county data on soil test P (STP) reveal considerable disparities in soil available P. In addition, negative soil balances as a result of small mineral P and manure inputs have been observed, raising questions about the factors leading to this situation. Our work focused on identifying possible causes operating at the farm management level by conducting a letter survey in two administrative districts of Brandenburg, the counties Barnim and Uckermark, linking farm management factors (ownership type, farm size, land tenure, animal husbandry with or without grassland and its intensity, presence of a biogas plant and organic production) to farmers’ self‐indicated levels of STP. Small‐ to medium‐sized individual farms tended to have (very) high STP, while large partnership farms and companies/cooperatives were sensitive to factors resulting in low STP. Farms with low shares of land ownership, the presence of grassland, extensive cattle farming and stockless organic farming had lower STP. On the other hand, biogas plants, partly in combination with intensive livestock (cattle) farming, were associated with larger STP. It was concluded that more care should be devoted to the design of agricultural policies and that further (inter‐ and transdisciplinary) research on this topic is needed.     

Organic input quality is more important than its quantity: C turnover coefficients in different cropping systems

Annual C input to soil is a major factor affecting soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics. However different types of C-sources can have different behaviour, in relation to their chemical characteristics and how they interact with soil. Root-derived C, in particular, should be more efficient than other organic materials as a result of the physicochemical and biological characteristics of the surrounding environment, leading to a reduction in the C decomposition rate.To test this hypothesis, we considered a long-term experiment underway in Northern Italy since 1962, comparing permanent meadow and 6 different crop rotations over a wide range of nutrient inputs, in both organic and inorganic forms. C inputs from amendments were measured and those from crops were calculated using allometric functions and crop and residues yields. The time evolution of SOC was studied through a single-pool, first-order kinetic model, allowing the estimation of humification coefficients for residues, roots, farmyard manure and cattle slurries.The highest value of the humification coefficient was estimated for farmyard manure, which confirmed its high efficiency in stabilising SOC content. Root C presented a humification coefficient 1.9 times higher than above-ground plant materials while slurries were intermediate, with a humification coefficient roughly half that of farmyard manure and even lower that of roots.The quality of C input thus seems of fundamental importance for evaluating the sustainability of different cropping systems in terms of SOC dynamics.     

Strong functional stability of soil microbial communities under semiarid Mediterranean conditions and subjected to long-term shifts in baseline precipitation

We investigated the effect of soil microclimate on the structure and functioning of soil microbial communities in a Mediterranean Holm-oak forest subjected to 10 years of partial rain exclusion manipulations, simulating average drought conditions expected in Mediterranean areas for the following decades. We applied a high throughput DNA pyrosequencing technique coupled to parallel measurements of microbial respiration (R_H) and temperature sensitivity of microbial respiration (Q₁₀). Some consistent changes in the structure of bacterial communities suggest a slow process of community shifts parallel to the trend towards oligotrophy in response to long-term droughts. However, the structure of bacterial communities was mainly determined by short-term environmental fluctuations associated with sampling date (winter, spring and summer) rather than long-term (10 years) shifts in baseline precipitation. Moreover, long-term drought did not exert any chronic effect on the functioning of soil microbial communities (R_H and Q₁₀), emphasizing the functional stability of these communities to this long-term but mild shifts in water availability. We hypothesize that the particular conditions of the Mediterranean climate with strong seasonal shifts in both temperature and soil water availability but also characterized by very extreme environmental conditions during summer, was acting as a strong force in community assembling, selecting phenotypes adapted to the semiarid conditions characterizing Mediterranean ecosystems. Relations of climate with the phylogenetic structure and overall diversity of the communities as well as the distribution of the individual responses of different lineages (genera) to climate confirmed our hypotheses, evidencing communities dominated by thermotolerant and drought-tolerant phenotypes.     

Soil conditions and land use intensification effects on soil microbial communities across a range of European field sites

Intensive land use practices necessary for providing food and raw materials are known to have a deleterious effect on soil. However, the effects that such practices have on soil microbes are less well understood. To investigate the effects of land use intensification on soil microbial communities we used a combined T-RFLP and pyrosequencing approach to study bacteria, archaea and fungi in spring and autumn at five long term observatories (LTOs) in Europe; each with a particular land use type and contrasting levels of intensification (low and high). Generally, due to large gradients in soil variables, both molecular methods revealed that soil microbial communities were structured according to differences in soil conditions between the LTOs, more so than land use intensity. Moreover, variance partitioning analysis also showed that soil properties better explained the differences in microbial communities than land use intensity effects. Predictable responses in dominant bacterial, archaeal and fungal taxa to edaphic conditions (e.g. soil pH and resource availability) were apparent between the LTOs. Some effects of land use intensification at individual field sites were observed. However, these effects were manifest when land use change affected soil conditions. Uniquely, this study details the responses of different microbial groups to soil type and land use intensification, and their relative importance across a range of European field sites. These findings reinforce our understanding of drivers impacting soil microbial community structure at both field and larger geographic scales.     

Soil biodiversity and DNA barcodes: opportunities and challenges

Soils encompass a huge diversity of organisms which mostly remains to be characterized due to a number of methodological and logistical issues. Nonetheless, remarkable progress has been made in recent years toward developing strategies to characterize and describe soil biodiversity, especially thanks to the development of molecular approaches relying on direct DNA extraction from the soil matrix.Metabarcoding can be applied to DNA from any environment or organism, and is gaining increasing prominence in biodiversity studies. This approach is already commonly used to characterize soil microbial communities and its application is now being extended to other soil organisms, i.e. meso- and macro-fauna.These developments offer unprecedented scientific and operational opportunities in order to better understand soil biodiversity distribution and dynamics, and to propose tools and strategies for biodiversity diagnosis. However, these opportunities also come with challenges that the scientific community must face. Such challenges are related to i) clarification of terminology, (ii) standardisation of methods and further methodological development for additional taxonomic groups, (iii) development of a common database, and (iv) ways to avoid waste of information and data derived from metabarcoding. In order to facilitate common application of metabarcoding in soil biodiversity assessment, we discuss these opportunities and challenges and propose solutions towards a more homogeneous framework.     

甘肃民乐栽培当归的品质与土壤相关性分析

本研究通过对民乐县种植的当归药材和种植土壤分别进行采样测定,结果表明民乐县人工种植当归的质量稳定,受重金属污染的风险低,符合药典标准规定。相关性分析结果表明:浸出物与土壤pH值呈极显著正相关,与有机质呈极显著负相关;阿魏酸与土壤pH值呈极显著正相关,与全磷呈显著负相关。挥发油与测定的土壤因子之间无显著相关性。灰色关联度分析结果表明:土壤pH是影响当归浸出物、挥发油的重要因子,土壤有机质是影响当归阿魏酸含量的重要因子;且磷、全氮和有机质对浸出物、挥发油、阿魏酸的影响程度不同。综上所述,本研究结果揭示了土壤因子对民乐县种植当归品质的影响规律,可为民乐县规范化种植当归药材提供理论依据。     

离子交换纤维对麦田土壤铅污染的修复效果

为探讨土壤Pb污染的治理方法,通过盆栽试验,比较了离子交换纤维的两种不同放置方式(分层放置与混匀放置)对麦田土壤Pb污染的修复效果。结果表明,在土壤1 000 mg·kg~(-1) Pb污染水平下,Pb污染处理(T1:Pb胁迫;T2:Pb+在土壤中分三层放置纤维;T3:Pb+在土壤中混匀剪碎的纤维)的土壤pH值、总有机碳含量较对照(CK:未添加Pb和离子交换纤维)有所降低。在小麦成熟期,T2、T3处理下土壤和植株各部位的Pb含量均低于T1处理,其中T3处理变化显著;T2、T3处理中纤维吸附的Pb含量则分别达到115.01和128.26 mg·kg~(-1)。T2、T3处理的Pb富集系数低于T1处理及CK。由此说明,离子交换纤维能够有效吸附土壤中的Pb,降低Pb从土壤向植株的转运能力,且离子交换纤维混匀放置方式的修复效果较好。     

Effects of Oyster Shell Soil Amendmenton Fruit Auality and Soil Chemical Properties in Greenhouse Tomato Acidic Soils

[Objective]The aim was to explore the feasibility of applying oyster shell soil amendment for tomato production in order to determine proper quantity of the soil conditional.[Method]Field tests were performed to research effects of the soil conditioner on tomato yield,quality and soil p H.[Result]The results showed that tomato yield increased in the treatment groups with oyster shell soil amendment.The group SC50 increased the most by 16.5%than the control group.Based on normal fertilization,tomato growth was promoted by the soil amendment,and per tomato weight and lycopene content both improved during peak-fruiting period.Besides,soil p H value was enhanced by the soil amendment also.[Conclusion]It can be concluded that the effect was the best when soil conditioner was applied at 750 kg/hm2.     

施肥对灌漠土作物产量、土壤肥力与重金属含量的影响

有机物还田是提升土壤肥力的主要措施,但也存在造成土壤金属污染的潜在风险。为查明不同有机物还田对土壤质量及作物产量的影响,本文通过长期定位试验,研究了无肥对照、常规施化肥(氮磷配施)以及70%常规化肥与牛粪、沼渣、污泥、鸡粪、菌渣和猪粪配施对土壤理化性状、有机碳和氮的固存率、氮磷钾活化系数、作物产量及重金属含量的影响。结果表明:牛粪、沼渣、污泥、菌渣、鸡粪和猪粪与70%化肥配施虽作物产量与常规施化肥相似,但6种有机物处理土壤有机质、全氮和碱解氮含量都较常规施化肥处理显著增加,污泥、鸡粪和猪粪处理土壤全磷与速效磷含量较常规施化肥处理显著增加,而且牛粪、沼渣、鸡粪和猪粪处理的速效钾、土壤磷活化系数和土壤钾活化系数较常规施化肥处理也显著提升。牛粪、沼渣、污泥、菌渣、鸡粪和猪粪处理土壤有机碳固存率为36.42%～71.61%,较常规施化肥处理都显著提高;而其氮固存率为6.47%～49.44%,仅有菌渣处理与常规施化肥处理差异不显著,而其他处理较常规施化肥处理显著增加。长期施鸡粪和菌渣处理的土壤铜含量较常规施化肥处理显著增加,增加量分别为4.17mg·kg~(-1)和14.2mg·kg~(-1);而污泥、鸡粪和菌渣处理的土壤锌含量较常规施化肥处理显著增加,增加量分别为13.53 mg·kg~(-1)、22.60 mg·kg~(-1)和49.73mg·kg~(-1)。综上,等有机质(4 500kg×hm~(-2))的牛粪、沼渣、污泥、菌渣、鸡粪和猪粪可替代30%氮磷肥,作物产量不受影响;不同有机物培肥土壤效果为污泥、鸡粪和猪粪优于牛粪和沼渣,而沼渣的培肥效果略差。为保证土壤环境质量稳定不恶化,种植小麦时有机物铜和锌的年携入量应分别低于53.01g×hm~(-2)和221.30 g×hm~(-2),而种植玉米时应分别低于153.40 g×hm~(-2)和347.04 g×hm~(-2)。     

麦秸秆和沼液配施对水稻苗期生长和土壤微生物的调控

研究了等量氮素肥料处理下小麦秸秆全量还田结合化肥(S-CF)、小麦秸秆全量还田结合沼液(S-BS)和全量化肥(CF)处理对水稻幼苗生长、氮磷积累及土壤微生物群落的影响。结果表明,不同施肥处理的水稻幼苗生长明显被促进,其中CF处理的促进效果最好,其次是S-BS处理。S-BS处理的水稻叶片可溶性糖含量明显高于其他施肥处理,其叶片含氮量也明显高于CF处理。CF处理的土壤细菌总量明显高于S-BS处理,而S-BS处理的土壤细菌总量均显著高于对照(CK,不施肥)和S-CF处理;其中CF处理变形菌门细菌相对丰度显著高于其他处理。而CK和S-CF处理的真菌总量明显高于S-BS和CF处理,S-BS处理的真菌总量最低,其中,CK土壤优势真菌子囊菌门、担子菌门的相对丰度显著高于其他处理,S-CF处理土壤的壶菌门真菌相对丰度也显著高于其他处理。S-CF和S-BS处理的细菌Chao1丰富度指数和香农(Shannon)多样性指数要明显高于CF处理和CK,而S-CF处理的土壤真菌的Chao1指数和香农指数要明显高于CK,CF处理的土壤真菌Chao1指数和香农指数最低。秸秆、沼液短期替代化肥的处理下水稻植株生长低于全化肥处理的,但秸秆、沼液、化肥结合施用对水稻幼苗的促生作用依然很明显,尤其是秸秆还田结合沼液灌溉的全量替代化肥处理。全量替代化肥处理下,即秸秆和沼液处理的土壤质量和细菌丰富度及多样性即使在短期施用条件下也被明显促进。