Effect of conservation agriculture on soil organic and inorganic carbon sequestration and lability: A study from a rice–wheat cropping system on a calcareous soil of the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains

Increasing soil carbon (C) in arable soils is an important strategy to achieve sustainable yields and mitigate climate change. We investigated changes in soil organic and inorganic carbon (SOC and SIC) under conservation agriculture (CA) in a calcareous soil of the eastern Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. The treatments were as follows: conventional-till rice and wheat (CT-CT), CT rice and zero-till wheat (CT-ZT), ZT direct seeded rice (DSR) and CT wheat (ZT-CT), ZTDSR and ZT wheat without crop residue retention (ZT-ZT), ZT-ZT with residue (ZT-ZT+R), and DSR and wheat both on permanent beds with residue (PB-PB+R). The ZT-ZT+R had the highest total SOC in both 0–15 and 15–30 cm soil layers (20% and 40% higher (p < .05) than CT-CT, respectively), whereas total SIC decreased by 11% and 15% in the respective layers under ZT-ZT+R compared with CT-CT. Non-labile SOC was the largest pool, followed by very labile, labile and less labile SOC. The benefits of ZT and residue retention were greatest for very labile SOC, which showed a significant (p < .05) increase (~50%) under ZT-ZT+R compared with CT-CT. The ZT-ZT+R sequestered ~2 Mg ha⁻¹ total SOC in the 0–15 cm soil layer in 6 years, where CT registered significant losses. Thus, the adoption of CA should be recommended in calcareous soils, for C sequestration, and also as a reclamation technique.     

Asystole associated with cerebrospinal fluid collection in a 3-month-old foal under general anaesthesia

A 3-month-old colt foal presented to the Philip Leverhulme Equine Hospital for investigation of progressive neurological signs. Diagnostic investigation included cerebrospinal fluid collection, which was performed under general anaesthesia. During this procedure, severe bradycardia which progressed to asystole occurred. Initial resuscitation was successful; however, the foal had clinical signs consistent with cerebral hypoxia post-resuscitation and was euthanased the following day due to deterioration of neurological function. Asystole was presumed due to a Cushing-type reflex as a result of changes in intracranial pressure during the sampling procedure.     

Random-effects linear model application to herd-level assessment of bovine hepatic trace mineral concentrations

To evaluate the utility of random-effects linear modeling for herd-level evaluation of trace mineral status, we performed a retrospective analysis of the results for trace mineral testing of bovine liver samples submitted to the Michigan State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory between 2011 and 2017. Our aim was to examine random-effects models for their potential utility in improving interpretation with minimal sample numbers. The database consisted of 1,658 animals distributed among 121 herds. Minerals were assayed by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectroscopy, and included cobalt, copper, iron, molybdenum, manganese, selenium, and zinc. Intraclass correlation coefficients for each mineral were significantly different (p < 0.001) from zero and ranged from 0.38 for manganese to 0.82 for selenium, indicating that the strength of herd effects, which are presumably related to diet, vary greatly by mineral. Analysis of the distribution and standard errors of best linear unbiased predictor (BLUP) values suggested that testing 5–10 animals per herd could place herds within 10 percentile units across the population of herds with 70–95% confidence, the confidence level varying among minerals. Herd means were generally similar to BLUPs, suggesting that means could be reasonably compared to BLUPs with respect to the distributions reported here. However, caution in interpreting means relative to BLUPs should be exercised when animal numbers are small, the standard errors of the means are large, and/or the values are near the extremes of the distribution.     

Policy options for Agriculture Green Development by farmers in China

Farmers are the key agents who manage land and water. Agriculture Green Development (AGD) requires a transformation in farming from high resource consumption and environmental cost to sustainable intensification with high productivity, high resource use efficiency and low environmental risk. This paper analyzes the public policy challenge of AGD and makes the case for a location-sensitive policy mix made up of regulation, advice provision, voluntarism and targeted incentives. The public agricultural extension service in China is a key resource, but one that requires reorientation and reform with the aim of better balancing high farm productivity with environmental protection.     

Assessing seed desiccation responses of native trees in the Caribbean

New Forests - Native trees from the Caribbean were tested for seed desiccation responses, by adapting the “100-seed test” protocol. Ninety-seven seed lots of 91 species were collected...     

Dynamics of Soil Properties and Carbon Stocks Structure in Postagrogenic Ecosystems of Southern Taiga during Natural Reforestation

Eurasian Soil Science - The dynamics of some soil properties and carbon stocks in the main components of postagrogenic ecosystems were studied during natural reforestation in dependence on the...     

Modeling of the Contour Water Flooding Technology in Microcosms

Eurasian Soil Science - The results are presented of modeling the “contour water flooding” biotechnology aimed at cleaning heavily petroleum-polluted agrosoddy-podzolic soils (Albic...     

Specific Features of Chernozemic Soils in the Area of the Khoper Deep Fault in the Earth Crust

Eurasian Soil Science - Chernozemic soils (Voronezh oblast, Russia) are affected by the endogenous hydrogen fluid. The chemical properties of ordinary chernozems (Haplic Chernozems) are shown to be...     

Tritium Distribution in Soil in the Area of “Atomic” Lake near the Semipalatinsk Test Site

Eurasian Soil Science - Data on concentrations and distribution of tritium in soils of the “Atomic” Lake excavation explosion area of Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (Kazakhstan, East...