Soil quality assessments in integrated crop–livestock–forest systems: A review

Integrated crop–livestock–forest is a promising strategy to improve soil quality. It comprises four different integrated farming systems: crop–livestock, crop–forest, forest–livestock and crop–livestock–forest. This work systematically reviewed studies about integrated crop–livestock–forest systems and soil quality. A total of 92 papers were retrieved from the Web of Science—Clarivate Analytics platform, and the following information was analysed: publication year, institution, region of the studied site, type of integrated system, soil type, tillage system, maximum soil depth and the soil quality indicators assessed. Most studies were published in the second half of the 2010s. Brazil is a prominent focus of research about soil quality and integrated crop–livestock–forest systems, with significant contribution from its central and southern regions. The Embrapa was the main publishing institution, present in over one‐third of the studies. Crop–livestock was the most common integrated system, Ferralsols was the most common soil group, and most of the studied soils were clayey. No tillage was the main tillage system. Most studies focused on the topsoil, assessing physical and/or chemical soil quality indicators. More emphasis on biological indicators of soil quality is required, as well as assessments integrating biological, physical and chemical indicators of soil quality. Future works should compare different integrated systems, including assessments deeper in the soil profile, especially in systems with the forest component, and also in sandy and silty soils. Soil quality indicators that have been rarely used should be further tested. Novel indicators should be added to better understand the promotion of soil quality by integrated crop–livestock–forest systems.     

Investigation of environmental and land use impacts in forested permafrost headwaters of the Selenga-Baikal river system,Mongolia - Effects on discharge,water quality and macroinvertebrate diversity

Headwater streams play a major role for provision of ecosystem services, e.g. drinking water. We investigated a high-altitude headwater catchment of the Kharaa River (including 41 1st-order rivers) to understand the impact of land cover (especially forest cover), environment and human usage on runoff, chemical water quality and macroinvertebrate fauna in a river basin under discontinuous permafrost conditions in an arid, sparsely populated region of Mongolia. To verify our hypotheses that different landuses and environmental impacts in permafrost headwaters influence water quality, we investigated 105 sampling sites, 37 of them at intermittent stream sections without water flow. Discharge was positively impacted by land cover types steppe, grassland and forest and negatively by shrubland, forest burnt by wild fires (indicating a reduction of permafrost) and slope. Water quality was affected by altitude, longitude and latitude, shrub growth and water temperature. Shannon diversity of macroinvertebrates was driven by water temperature, iron content of the water, flow velocity, and subbasin size (adjusted R² = 0.54). Sample plots clustered in three groups that differed in water chemistry, macroinvertebrate diversity, species composition and bio-indicators. Our study confirms that steppes and grasslands have a higher contribution to runoff than forests, forest cover has a positive impact on water quality, and diversity of macroinvertebrates is higher in sites with less nutrients and pollutants. The excellent ecological status of the upper reaches of the Kharaa is severely threatened by forest fires and human-induced climate change and urgently needs to be conserved.     

土壤氮素内循环对生态覆被变化响应的研究进展

随着人口增长对粮食需求的不断提高,人类对自然生态系统扰动频繁,生态覆被/土地利用变化伴随着土壤活性氮库、氮形态组分及氮素内循环过程的改变,直接影响生态系统的持续与稳定,进而引起全球气候变暖,生物多样性减少等诸多生态环境问题。生态覆被/土地利用变化是全球生态系统变化的重要内容。本综述探讨了活性氮的基本概念及其引发的环境效应,国内外自然生态系统中森林与草地间转换、自然生态系统开垦为农田、弃耕撂荒或退耕还林还草、城市化发展等生态覆被/土地利用变化对土壤氮库消长、氮矿化产物形态变化以及影响氮循环的关键土壤微生物影响等,并探讨了制约氮循环的土壤微生物研究进展。指出农业开垦或农田弃耕撂荒会导致土壤全氮大幅度下降,同时引起土壤硝态氮(NO3--N)增加,造成环境活性氮增加的风险;退耕还林修复生态覆被过程中氮库完全恢复需要漫长的时间;运用现代微生物分子生态学的前沿技术是研究土壤氮循环对生态覆被/土地利用变化响应机理的关键。本综述为自然生态系统的保护与开发利用、退化生态系统的修复与重建以及人工生态系统的科学规划等提供了理论依据。     

Soil Organic Carbon and Soil Physical Characteristics as Affected by Land Uses under Semiarid Irrigated Conditions

ABSTRACT

Rice-Wheat rotation is the dominant land use in the state of Punjab, resulting in over exploitation of ground water resources. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate other land uses that requires less water and are sustainable. The present investigation was planned with four land uses viz., fallow (FLU), rice-wheat (ALU), grasses (GLU) and pear (PLU) with respect to their effect on soil organic carbon and soil physical characteristics in surface and subsurface depth in district Ludhiana, Punjab. The soil organic carbon (SOC) content was higher by 10, 30.9 and 24.9% under rice-wheat, grasses, and pear than that under fallow. The grasses showed higher soil moisture characteristics curve (SMCC) and lower bulk density (Db) than that under rice-wheat. The larger mean weight diameter (MWD) were observed under pear, grasses and fallow than that under rice-wheat by 0.21, 0.51 and 0.41 mm, respectively. The saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_s) was higher in magnitude by 56.1, 55.4 and 28%, respectively under PLU, GLU and FLU over ALU. Of the evaluated land uses, pear and grasses proved to be more sustainable by retaining more moisture, maintaining better soil physical characteristics and SOC under semiarid irrigated conditions in the state on long term gradual response.     

建德市公益林生态系统服务价值评价

对公益林生态系统服务功能和价值评估进行研究,为建德市公益林保护、规划和管理提供科学指导和理论依据。本文依据《生态系统服务功能评估规范》,结合涵养水源、保育土壤等8项指标,评价建德市公益林生态系统服务价值。结果表明,建德市公益林生态系统服务总价值81.64亿元,其中涵养水源效益25.22亿元,固土保肥效益4.43亿元,固碳释氧效益12.53亿元,积累营养效益0.48亿元,森林游憩效益22.19亿元,净化大气效益3.21亿元,生物多样性保护效益12.13亿元,森林防护效益1.45亿元。公益林生态系统服务价值远高于其直接利用价值,表明应继续实施生态补偿政策,努力提高生态补偿标准。     

生态系统服务权衡最新研究进展

生态系统服务权衡研究对协调生态环境保护和社会经济发展至关重要。为推动生态系统服务管理和提升人类福祉,本文以Web of Science核心合集(WOS)和中国科学引文数据库(CSCD)为数据源,运用文献计量分析法,系统梳理和总结生态系统服务权衡研究的学科知识基础、科学领域结构和热点变化等发展现状以及最新研究进展。研究表明:1)不同研究层面上,生态系统服务间的权衡关系受外部风险和人类需求、参数选取和服务提供者及区域差异性和不均衡性的影响。2)研究方法主要有基于关系识别和具体表征的权衡分析、权衡模拟和预测的模型量化分析和生态系统服务权衡管理优化的多准则分析3类。3)生态系统服务权衡关键驱动因子为城市化、生态工程和气候变化。基于此,我们认为把握生态系统服务权衡不同研究层面的关联特征、创新和优化生态系统服务权衡研究方法、准确甄别生态系统服务权衡关键驱动因子以及充分整合多维生态系统服务权衡资源搭建数据共享平台是未来研究的重点。     

传统农业回顾与稻渔产业发展思考

对传统农业的深入理解无疑有助于对农业现代化的推进。稻渔共生产业作为优秀传统农业的典范，对于推进中国农业现代化进程与可持续发展和世界稻渔共生产业的健康发展具有重要的启迪作用。本文从人类文明发展历程，尤其是中国传统农业文明发展历程的回顾切入，简要介绍了重要农业文化遗产的概念、内涵、实施及意义，并以传统稻鱼共生系统为例，深刻分析其传衍数千年的科学机制，讨论了稻渔共生产业发展面临的技术挑战及未来发展战略。研究指出，农耕文明的核心理念在华夏文明发展过程中具有重大的现实意义，而于20世纪60年年代初期兴起并不断强化的石油农业则可能存在包括农业生物多样性简化、农用化学品依赖、生产成本增高、资源竞争激烈、环境压力增大以及这些工业化的现代农业对发展中国家传统农业产生的不对等的利益竞争和负面影响显而易见。在政府政策激励以及来自科技工作者、技术人员和从农者的共同努力下，从中国优秀传统农业的典范传统稻鱼共生系统逐渐衍生、演变形成的稻渔共生生态种养产业在提高水土资源利用效率、丰富稻田产出、提高农民收入、减少面源污染等方面独具优势。研究表明，相关从业人员需要高度关注现阶段稻渔共生产业发展过程中所遇到的诸如模式选用、景观与农业生物多样性布设、种养协调、肥力调控、产品营销等技术细节问题并加以用心对待、科学掌握。因此提出，未来稻渔共生产业的发展还需要解决农艺机械化、投施精准化、农事省力化等新挑战，并呼吁学界、业界和政策制定部门等聚焦合力解决。     

Straw preservation reduced total N2O emissions from a sugarcane field

Post‐harvest biomass can be used as feedstock for energy production and alter N₂O emissions from the soil, which is among the main issues determining bioethanol sustainability. To assess the effects of sugarcane straw return on gas emissions, we established a field experiment in which 0, 50, 75 or 100% (0, 5.65, 8.47 and 11.30 Mg/ha dry biomass, respectively) of the crop residues (straw) was left in the field during the first two ratoon crops. As fertilizer is applied in bands to sugarcane, we also investigated the contribution of different positions to the N₂O emissions within the field. There was an interactive effect between straw and inorganic fertilizer, leading to a nonlinear effect of crop residues on the fertilizer emission factor (EF). However, straw consistently reduced N₂O emissions from the field, acting mainly in the unfertilized areas in the field (P < 0.05). We observed that considering the typical EF used in the literature, the N₂O‐N emissions attributed to fertilizer ranged from 0.19 to 0.79 kg/ha, while the total emissions ranged from 3.3 to 5.2 kg/ha, from the highest amount of straw to the lowest. We conclude that overall, the fertilizer EF is not as relevant as the total emissions, based on this and other studies. Consequently, management practices might be more effective in improving the GHG balance than changing inorganic fertilizer use. We conclude that keeping up to 11 Mg/ha of straw with a large C:N ratio (>100:1) on site might increase sugarcane production sustainability by reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from the field.     

Economics of Sustainable Intensification of Aquaculture: Evidence from Shrimp Farms in Vietnam and Thailand

There is growing interest in sustainable intensification of aquaculture production. Yet little economic analysis has been done on farm‐level effects of the economic sustainability of production intensification. Data from 83 shrimp farms (43 in Vietnam and 40 in Thailand) were used to identify (through principal component and cluster analyses) 13 clusters of management practices that reflected various scales of production intensity that ranged from 0–1999 kg/ha/crop to 10,000 kg/ha/crop and above, for both Penaeus monodon and Litopenaeus vannamei in Vietnam and Thailand. The clusters identified reflected sets of management practices that resulted in differing yields despite similarities in stocking densities among some clusters. The enterprise budget analysis developed showed that the more intensively managed clusters outperformed the less intensively managed clusters in economic terms. More intensively managed farm clusters had lower costs per metric ton of shrimp produced and were more profitable. The greater yields of shrimp produced per hectare of land and water resources in more intensively managed shrimp farms spread annual fixed costs across a greater volume of shrimp produced and reduced the cost per metric ton of shrimp. Costs per metric ton of shrimp produced decreased from the lowest to the highest intensity level (from US$10,245 at lowest intensity to US$3484 at highest for P. monodon and from US$24,301 to US$5387 for L. vannamei in Vietnam and from US$8184 at the lowest intensity level to US$3817 at the highest intensity level per metric ton for L. vannamei in Thailand). Costs of pond amendments used in shrimp production were particularly high in Vietnam and largely unwarranted, whereas fixed costs associated with the value of land, production facilities, equipment, and labor were sufficiently high in Thailand so that net returns were negative in the long run. Nevertheless, economic losses in Thailand were less at greater levels of intensification. The study demonstrated a clear value proposition for shrimp farmers to use natural resources (such as land) and other inputs in an efficient manner and supports findings from corresponding research on farm‐level natural resource use efficiency. Additional research that incorporates economic analysis into on‐farm studies of sustainable intensification of aquaculture is needed to provide ongoing guidance related to sustainable management practices for aquaculture.     

Organic farming fosters agroecosystem functioning in Argentinian temperate soils: Evidence from litter decomposition and soil fauna

Benefits of organic farming on soil fauna have been widely observed and this has led to consider organic farming as a potential approach to reduce the environmental impact of conventional agriculture. However, there is still little evidence from field conditions about direct benefits of organic agriculture on soil ecosystem functioning. Hence, the aims of this study were to compare the effect of organic farming versus conventional farming on litter decomposition and to study how this process is affected by soil meso- and macrofauna abundances. Systems studied were: (1) organic farming with conventional tillage (ORG), (2) conventional farming with conventional tillage (CT), (3) conventional farming under no-tillage (NT), and (4) natural grassland as control system (GR). Decomposition was determined under field conditions by measuring weight loss in litterbags. Soil meso- and macrofauna contribution on decomposition was evaluated both by different mesh sizes and by assessing their abundances in the soil. Litter decomposition was always significantly higher after 9 and 12 months in ORG than in CT and NT (from 2 to 5 times in average), regardless decomposer community composition and litter type. Besides, mesofauna, macrofauna and earthworm abundances were significantly higher in ORG than in NT and CT (from 1.6 to 3.8, 1.7 to 2.3 and 16 to 25 times in average, respectively for each group). These results are especially relevant firstly because the positive effect of ORG in a key soil process has been proved under field conditions, being the first direct evidence that organic farming enhances the decomposition process. And secondly because the extensive organic system analyzed here did not include several practices which have been recognized as particularly positive for soil biota (e.g. manure use, low tillage intensity and high crop diversity). So, this research suggests that even when those practices are not applied, the non-use of agrochemicals is enough to produce positive changes in soil fauna and so in decomposition dynamics. Therefore, the adoption of organic system in an extensive way can also be suggested to farmers in order to improve ecosystem functioning and consequently to achieve better soil conditions for crop production.