Soil Quality Indicators in Relation to Land Use and Topography in a Small Catchment on the Loess Plateau of China

Better understanding of how the loess soils respond to topography and land use under catchment‐scale vegetation restoration is needed to enable science‐based land management interventions for the policy‐driven “Grain‐for‐Green” eco‐restoration program in the Loess Plateau of China. The objective of this study was to characterize the relationships of four selected soil quality indicators to land use under vegetation restoration and topography for a small catchment (0·58 km²) in the Loess Plateau. The major land uses established in the catchment are cropland, fallow (i.e., natural revegetation), grassland, and jujube orchard. The four soil quality indicators were soil organic carbon (SOC), soil total nitrogen (STN), soil total phosphorus (STP), and mean root zone soil water content during the wet season (MRZSWwet). SOC, STN, and MRZSWwet were significantly different (p < 0·05) for different land uses. Grassland showed the highest values for these three properties, whereas cropland had relatively low values for SOC and STN. Land use had no effect on STP, although the lowest value was observed in grassland. Spatial analysis showed that various relations between soil quality indicators and topography (slope and elevation) were observed. These relations were generally weak for most of them, and they varied with land uses. Further analyses indicated that land uses, slope, and elevation had significant effects on the relations between different soil quality indicators. The results here should provide useful information for the further development of “Grain‐for‐Green” program. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Changes in Physical Properties of Soils with Land Use Time in the Brazilian Savanna Environment

Soils from central Brazil have been intensively used over the last decades because of the rapid conversion of savannas ( Cerrado ) into corn/soybean fields. The objective of this work is to study modifications in the physical properties of soils in the Rio Verde watershed, as a function of the land use time for agriculture, determined from classification of Landsat satellite images between 1980 and 2010. Soil samples were collected at surface (0–20 cm) and subsurface (20–40 cm) horizons for the different classes of land use time (<10, 10–20, 20–30, and >30 years). The following physical properties were measured: bulk density (BD), air permeability (K_a), penetration resistance (PR), microporosity (MI), macroporosity (MA), and total porosity (TP). Results showed a strong expansion with time of agriculture that occupied 35·3% (1980), 37·4% (1990), 51·3% (2000), and 60·9% (2010) of the watershed area. When properties were compared with those from the reference areas (preserved soils under native vegetation), significant differences were observed for all the physical attributes of soils for a land use time higher than 20 years. Overall, BD and PR increased with land use time, and the opposite was verified for K_a, MA, and TP. Some physical properties presented values (e.g., 1·54 g cm⁻³ for BD and 0.06 cm³ cm⁻³ for MA) close to the critical ones reported to affect crop development, but they were not still impacting on local soybean yield. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Carbon Depletion by Plowing and its Restoration by No‐Till Cropping Systems in Oxisols of Subtropical and Tropical Agro‐Ecoregions in Brazil

The continuous use of plowing for grain production has been the principal cause of soil degradation. This project was formulated on the hypothesis that the intensification of cropping systems by increasing biomass‐C input and its biodiversity under no‐till (NT) drives soil restoration of degraded agro‐ecosystem. The present study conducted at subtropical [Ponta Grossa (PG) site] and tropical regions [Lucas do Rio Verde, MT (LRV) site] in Brazil aimed to (i) assess the impact of the continuous plow‐based conventional tillage (CT) on soil organic carbon (SOC) stock vis‐à‐vis native vegetation (NV) as baseline; (ii) compare SOC balance among CT, NT cropping systems, and NV; and (iii) evaluate the redistribution of SOC stock in soil profile in relation to soil resilience. The continuous CT decreased the SOC stock by 0·58 and 0·67 Mg C ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ in the 0‐ to 20‐cm depth at the PG and LRV sites, respectively, and the rate of SOC sequestration was 0·59 for the PG site and ranged from 0·48 to 1·30 Mg C ha⁻¹ y⁻¹ for the LRV site. The fraction of C input by crop residues converted into SOC stock was ~14·2% at the PG site and ~20·5% at the LRV site. The SOC resilience index ranged from 0·29 to 0·79, and it increased with the increase in the C input among the NT systems and the SOC sequestration rates at the LRV site. These data support the hypothesis that NT cropping systems with high C input have a large potential to reverse the process of soil degradation and SOC decline. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimation of Runoff,Peak Discharge and Sediment Load at the Event Scale in a Medium‐Size Mediterranean Watershed Using the Annagnps Model

In this paper, the Annualized Agricultural Non‐Point Source (AnnAGNPS) model has been used to estimate runoff, peak discharge and sediment load at the event scale in a Mediterranean watershed. The study area is the Carapelle torrent, Southern Italy (area = 506 km²), where continuous rainfall, streamflow and sediment load data are available. Nineteen flood events have been registered in the period 2007–2009 and were used for the application of the model. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the predictive accuracy of the model at the event scale, in a medium‐size watershed, given the specific conditions of the semi‐arid environments. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out to assign the correct parameterization: the mean normalized output variation of the most meaningful input parameters pointed out the influence of the curve number on runoff, peak discharge and sediment load predictions (values greater than 1); the MN Manning's roughness coefficient and K, C and P factors of the universal soil loss equation showed a moderate influence on sediment load simulations (values between 0·5 and 1). The selection of the Soil Conservation Service synthetic storm types has been based on the observed storm events analysis to improve the peak discharge simulations. The model prediction has proved to be good for runoff (R² = 0·74, NSE = 0·75, W = 0·92) and peak discharge (R² = 0·85, NSE = 0·70, W = 0·94), and satisfactory for sediment yield (R² = 0·70, NSE = 0·63, W = 0·91). The relative error is lower for high events; this result is quite interesting in semi‐arid environments, where most of the annual sediment yield is concentrated in a few, severe events. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial Distribution of Surface Soil Acidity,Electrical Conductivity,Soil Organic Carbon Content and Exchangeable Potassium,Calcium and Magnesium in Some Cropped Acid Soils of India

Land degradation is a global problem. Best management of degraded land can be done by evaluating the spatial variability of soil properties including chemical properties of degraded land and mapping such variations. Since, a significant portion of arable land in India is chemically degraded due to soil acidity; the present study was conducted to study the spatial variability of soil acidity (pH), electrical conductivity (EC), soil organic carbon (OC) content, exchangeable potassium (K⁺), calcium (Ca²⁺) and magnesium (Mg²⁺) contents in some cropped acid soils of India. A total of four hundred (one hundred from each series) representative surface (0–0.15 m depth) soil samples were collected from arable soils representing four soil series namely Hariharapur, Debatoli, Rajpora and Neeleswaram situated in Orissa, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Kerala states of India, respectively, and were analyzed. Soil acidity (pH between 3.90 and 6.45) showed a low variability, in contrast to other soil properties, which showed moderate variability. The coefficients of variation varied from 32.4 to 74.3, 31.2 to 50.9, 45.6 to 100, 71.9 to 93.0 and 59.0 to 79.8% for EC (mean between 0.05 and 0.09 dS m⁻¹), OC (mean between 0.29 to 1.86%), exchangeable K⁺ (mean between 39.1 and 77.7 mg kg⁻¹), Ca²⁺ (mean between 148 and 293 mg kg⁻¹) and Mg²⁺ (mean between 111 and 191 mg kg⁻¹), respectively. Soil pH and OC content were positively and significantly correlated with exchangeable K⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ content. Geostatistical analysis revealed that the best fit models were gaussian, exponential and spherical for different soil properties with moderate to strong spatial dependency. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

农田深层土壤水利用现状与研究趋势

近年来,由于水资源短缺,节水农业是华北平原的研究热点。笔者就农田深层土壤水的意义和国内外研究现状进行了综述,并提出了农田深层土壤水的研究趋势。在华北平原,应进行亏缺灌溉条件下周年农田深层土壤水利用效率的研究。     

基于网络的鸡病防治与诊断专家系统的设计

目前中国鸡病防治中存在一些暂时无法解决的难题,如基层中鸡病诊断专家缺乏、鸡病防控不及时等。基于现状,利用计算机网络技术和人工智能技术,将SQL数据库和ASP.NET技术相结合,设计并开发了基于网络的鸡病防治与诊断专家系统。该系统将鸡病诊断和鸡病防治知识进行集成,采用基于规则的模糊化的混合推理策略,实现了鸡病诊断和防治的数字化和智能化,用户可通过网络实现鸡病诊断、鸡病防治、鸡群管理、知识查询和统计分析等功能。经验证性试验和专家评测,该系统结构合理,功能完善,可以满足广大基层用户的需求,具有一定的推广应用前景。     

枣不定芽再生体系的研究

以枣优良品种骏枣为试材,研究了多种因素对其离体叶片及大田幼嫩茎段再生效率的影响.结果表明,幼嫩茎段再生较容易.叶片再生与生长调节物质种类和浓度及叶片成熟度有关.枣叶片不定芽再生的最佳培养基为1/2MS(大量元素减半)+TDZ0.5mg/L+IBA0.2m/L.不定芽再生率以上部叶片最高.     

北方旱地土壤氮素平衡

北方大部分地区的旱地土壤中,农业氮素一般表现亏损,平衡强度约87%;园田土壤氮素略有盈余,平衡强度约123%.~(15)示踪研究表明,旱地土壤主要作物氮素利用率平均为27.04%,土壤残留24.79%,亏缺损失48.17%.园田主要蔬菜氮素和用率平均为29.11%,土壤残留22.67%,亏缺损失48.23%,其间差异很小.北方旱地施用铵态氮化肥主要损失是氨的挥发.影响氨挥发的因素有风速、温度、土壤水分、土壤质地、化肥品种.氮肥深施是防止氨挥发的有效方法.     

坝上生态农业工程生态效益监测与评价研究

利用遥感技术、地理信息系统和全球定位系统对河北坝上实施生态农业工程建设后的生态效益进行了监测与评价。定量描述了坝上生态环境的动态变化趋势，并对坝上生态农业工程的气候效益、土壤改良效益、农业水文生态效益进行了分析与评价。研究结果表明，通过工程治理，使农业生态系统的功能增强，结构合理，取得了显著的生态效益。