0000000000177442
AUTHOR
Fuensanta García-orenes
Effects of agricultural management on surface soil properties and soil–water losses in eastern Spain
Abstract In Spain, agriculture triggers soil degradation and erosion processes. New strategies have to be developed to reduce soil losses and recover or maintain soil functionality in order to achieve a sustainable agriculture. An experiment was designed to evaluate the effect of different agricultural management on soil properties and soil erosion. Five different treatments (ploughing, herbicide, control, straw mulch and chipped pruned branches) were established in “El Teularet experimental station” located in the Sierra de Enguera (Valencia, Spain). Soil sampling was conducted prior to treatment establishment, and again after 16 months, to determine soil organic matter content (OM), aggre…
Soil structural stability and erosion rates influenced by agricultural management practices in a semi-arid Mediterranean agro-ecosystem
Unsuitable agricultural practices can cause loss in soil quality and erodibility to thus increase or trigger desertification under Mediterranean conditions. A field experiment was performed at the El Teularet-Sierra de Enguera Experimental Station (eastern Spain) to assess the influence during a 5-yr period of different agricultural practices on physical and chemical indicators of soil quality (total and water-soluble carbohydrates, glomalin-related soil proteins (GRSP), total organic carbon, aggregate stability (AS), vegetation cover and soil erosion). The management practices included residual herbicide use, ploughing, ploughing + oats, addition of oat straw mulch and a control (land aban…
Organic Fertilization in Traditional Mediterranean Grapevine Orchards Mediates Changes in Soil Microbial Community Structure and Enhances Soil Fertility
Soil microbial populations and their functions related to nutrient cycling contribute substantially to the regulation of soil fertility and the sustainability of agroecosystems. A field experiment was performed to assess the medium-term effect of a mineral fertilizer and two organic fertilization systems with different nitrogen sources on the soil microbial community biomass, structure, and composition (phospholipid fatty acids, pattern, and abundance), microbial activity (basal respiration, dehydrogenase, protease, urease, β-glucosidase, and total amount of phosphomonoesterase activities), and physical (aggregate stability) and chemical (total organic C, total N, available P and water-solu…
The impact of the farming, abandonment and agricultural intensification on loss of water and soil. The example of the northern slopes of the Serra Grossa, Eastern Spain
Land abandonment throughout the twentieth century led to an intense landscape transformation in the mountain areas of the Iberian Peninsula. In some cases, and after 50 years of abandonment, agriculture returned with the development of commercial farms and the intensification of the agrarian activities. In the Easter Iberian Peninsula, following the abandonment of olive groves, vineyards and cereals during the 50's, has been in the past two decades the expansion of intensive citrus production on sloping terrain. Geomorphological transects and simulated rainfall experiments have quantified the impact of traditional rainfed cultivation of the 50's, abandonment, and the intensification of farm…
Changes in soil microbial community structure influenced by agricultural management practices in a mediterranean agro-ecosystem.
Agricultural practices have proven to be unsuitable in many cases, causing considerable reductions in soil quality. Land management practices can provide solutions to this problem and contribute to get a sustainable agriculture model. The main objective of this work was to assess the effect of different agricultural management practices on soil microbial community structure (evaluated as abundance of phospholipid fatty acids, PLFA). Five different treatments were selected, based on the most common practices used by farmers in the study area (eastern Spain): residual herbicides, tillage, tillage with oats and oats straw mulching; these agricultural practices were evaluated against an abandon…
Relationships between soil water repellency and microbial community composition under different plant species in a Mediterranean semiarid forest
Abstract Soil water repellency (SWR) can influence many hydrological soil properties, including water infiltration, uneven moisture distribution or water retention. In the current study we investigated how variable SWR persistence in the field is related to the soil microbial community under different plant species (P. halepensis, Q. rotundifolia, C. albidus and R. officinalis) in a Mediterranean forest. The soil microbial community was determined through phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA). The relationships between microbiological community structure and the soil properties pH, Glomalin Related Soil Protein (GRSP) and soil organic matter (SOM) content were also studied. Different statistical …
Soil microbial biomass and activity under different agricultural management systems in a semiarid Mediterranean agroecosystem
Abstract A field experiment was carried out in a semiarid agricultural Mediterranean area located at the “El Teularet” experimental field in the Enguera Sierra (Valencia, southeast Spain) to assess the influence of different agricultural management systems on indicators of soil biological quality and activity (microbial biomass C, basal respiration, C mineralization coefficients, metabolic quotient (qCO2), respiratory quotient (RQ: moles CO2 evolved/moles O2 consumed), soluble C and dehydrogenase, urease, protease-BAA, phosphatase and β-glucosidase activities), one year after treatment establishment. The management practices assayed were as follows: application of the herbicides paraquat, g…
Effect of land management on soil properties in flood irrigated citrus orchards in Eastern Spain
Abstract. Agricultural land management greatly affects soil properties. Microbial soil communities are the most sensitive and rapid indicators of perturbations in land use and soil enzyme activities are sensitive biological indicators of the effects of soil management practices. Citrus orchards frequently have degraded soils and this paper evaluates how land management in citrus orchards can improve soil quality. A field experiment was performed in an orchard of orange trees (Citrus Sinensis) in the Alcoleja Experimental Station (Eastern Spain) with clay-loam agricultural soils to assess the long-term effects of herbicides with inorganic fertilizers (H), intensive ploughing and inorganic fe…
Changes in soil microbial activity and physicochemical properties in agricultural soils in Eastern Spain
Agricultural land management greatly affects soil properties. Microbial soil communities are the most sensitive and rapid indicators of perturbations in land use and soil enzyme activities are sensitive biological indicators of the effects of soil management practices. Citrus orchards frequently have degraded soils and this paper evaluates how land management in citrus orchards can improve soil quality. A field experiment was performed in an orchard of orange trees (<em>Citrus Sinensis</em>) in the Alcoleja Experimental Station (Eastern Spain) with clay-loam agricultural soils to assess the long-term effects of herbicides with inorganic fertilizers (H), intensive ploughing and i…