Search results for " monoculture"
showing 3 items of 3 documents
Long-term effects of contrasting tillage systems on soil C and N pools and on main microbial groups differ by crop sequence
2021
Abstract Determining the best conservation agriculture practices for increasing soil organic carbon (C) and hence soil quality is of paramount importance in the semi-arid Mediterranean environment, where soils are experiencing a continuous decline in organic matter. Therefore, the aim of this long-term study was to assess the combined effects of tillage system and crop sequence on soil organic C and biochemical properties of soil generally used as indicators of soil quality. After 23 years of continuous application of contrasting tillage systems (conventional tillage [CT], vs. no tillage [NT]) and crop sequences (wheat monoculture vs. wheat-faba bean rotation), soil samples were collected f…
Kinetic parameter determination in monoculture and monosubstrate biological reactors
1982
The kinetic parameters of a biological reactor, operating under monoculture and monosubstrate conditions, have been determined. Pure cultures of Nocardia corallina and Pseudomonas fluorescens species have been used with phenol as the only organic carbon source. The experimental runs have been carried out both in a batch and in a continuous stirred reactor. The batch results have been interpreted by zero order kinetics in phenol and first order kinetics in biomass. The kinetic-constants have also been calculated. The activation energy has been determined only for the Nocardia species. Using this strain, the continuous reactor, working without biomass recycle, has confirmed the first order ki…
Soil carbon dynamics as affected by long-term contrasting cropping systems and tillages under semiarid Mediterranean climate
2014
Abstract In a dryland Mediterranean agrosystem (Sicily, Italy) a comparative study was carried out among two crop systems (wheat/wheat and wheat/bean) after 19 years under three most used tillage managements (conventional, dual layer and no-tillage), in order to ascertain the effects of those experimental factors, single and combined, on various soil organic C pools (total and extractable organic C, microbial biomass C, basal respiration). Field CO 2 fluxes from soil, throughout a year, were also determined. Moreover, C input and output were assessed, as well as microbial and metabolic quotients. Tillage management more than cropping system affected the soil organic C stored in the first 15…