Search results for "Soil Science"
showing 10 items of 1336 documents
Biochemical Quality of Crop Residues and Carbon and Nitrogen Mineralization Kinetics under Nonlimiting Nitrogen Conditions
2000
International audience; Statistical relationships were established between the fate of C and N from 47 types of crop residues and their biochemical characteristics during a soil incubation at 15°C. The incubations were carried out under nonlimiting N in order to differentiate the effects of biochemical characteristics of residues from those of soil N availability. Depending on the residue, the apparent mineralization of residue C after 168 d varied from 330 to 670 g kg−1 of added C. Mineralization kinetics were described using a two-compartment decomposition model that decomposes according to first-order kinetics. Amounts of C mineralized after 7 d and the decomposition rate coefficient of …
Growth stimulation of seventeen fallow leguminous plants inoculated with Glomus aggregatum in Senegal
2001
Abstract Tropical legumes from fallowed areas in Senegal were inoculated with a tropical strain of Glomus aggregatum to test their relative mycorrhizal dependency in a greenhouse experiment. Twelve species among the seventeen tested showed a significant growth increase when mycorrhizal. Their mycorrhizal dependency varied from 92.7% for Indigofera stenophylla to 26.2% for Prosopis julifora . A significant positive correlation was found between mycorrhizal dependency and root hair length. The results confirm the high mycorrhizal dependency of legumes which are economically very important in the restoration of soil fertility of fallowed areas in the Sahelian and Soudano-Sahelian zones.
Variations in soil-water use by grapevine according to plant water status and soil physical-chemical characteristics - A 3D spatio-temporal analysis.
2016
14 pages; International audience; Understanding plant and soil-water relationships is crucial to optimise agricultural management. In this multidisciplinary work, soil geophysics and plant physiological measurements are coupled and a statistical method is proposed to visualising plant soil-water uptake in space and time. The method is applied in a vineyard context and shows differences in the use of tranpirable soil water by grapevine according to the type of soil and the time of the day (day/night).During two years the water stress experienced by a single Chardonnay/SO4 grapevine clone was monitored both at pre-dawn and midday by leaf water potentials in two field plots exclusively differe…
Comparative study of the efficiency of buffer zones and harvest discarding on gene flow containment in oilseed rape. A modelling approach
2009
International audience; Oilseed rape (OSR) genes can escape fields in space via pollen and seeds and in time via volunteers resulting from seeds lost before or during oilseed rape harvests. Previous simulation studies and field observations showed that co-existence at the landscape level of contrasting OSR varieties such as genetically modified (GM) and non-GM varieties require costly measures that are difficult to implement, such as isolation distances between OSR fields and stringent volunteer control in all fields and road margins. In the present study, two local strategies, non-GM buffer zones aroundGMfields and discarding the harvest of boundary plants of non-GM fields, were tested in …
Modelling vertical and lateral seed bank movements during mouldboard ploughing
2000
Abstract The vertical distribution of weed seeds in the soil is of fundamental importance because seedling emergence depends on seed depth. The lateral displacement of the earth during mouldboard ploughing contributes to the dispersal of the weeds inside the tilled field. In order to model vertical and lateral seed displacements during ploughing, an existing model describing soil particle movements for different ploughing characteristics (depth and width) and soil structures was tested on a multilocal field trial. The trials were carried out in 1996 and 1997 and comprised two soil textures and three soil structures; tillage was performed with a mouldboard plough at varying ploughing widths …
Relation of lenacil metabolism with growth inhibition of acer pseudoplatanus cell suspension
1983
Abstract The action of lenacil, a herbicide which inhibits photosynthesis, was studied on Acer pseudoplatanus cell suspensions. The compound was quickly and thoroughly metabolized by cells into two major chloroform-extractable metabolites, but cell growth was temporarily inhibited while some cells were killed. As cell suspensions were non-photosynthetic, the data suggest that lenacil has site(s) of action other than that of photosynthesis. However, as the effects on photosynthesis occur at much lower concentrations (Hilton et al., Weeds, 12 (1964) 129), the effects on cell growth may be considered as secondary.
Priorities for research in soil ecology
2017
The ecological interactions that occur in and with soil are of consequence in many ecosystems on the planet. These interactions provide numerous essential ecosystem services, and the sustainable management of soils has attracted increasing scientific and public attention. Although soil ecology emerged as an independent field of research many decades ago, and we have gained important insights into the functioning of soils, there still are fundamental aspects that need to be better understood to ensure that the ecosystem services that soils provide are not lost and that soils can be used in a sustainable way. In this perspectives paper, we highlight some of the major knowledge gaps that shoul…
Modelling vertical and lateral weed seed movements during mouldboard ploughing with a skim-coulter
2001
Abstract The vertical distribution of weed seeds in soil is crucial because seedling emergence varies with seed depth, whereas lateral soil displacement during mouldboard ploughing contributes to weed dispersal within the tilled field. In order to model vertical and lateral seed displacements during ploughing, an existing model describing soil particle movements for different ploughing characteristics (depth and width) and soil structures was adapted to integrate the effect of a skim-coulter. This model was tested in two field trials, in Northern France, using coloured plastic beads to imitate weed seeds. The trial in Dijon was set up on an eutric cambisol and comprised both compacted and u…
Soil properties and tree growth along an altitudinal transect in Ecuadorian tropical montane forest
2008
In tropical montane forests, soil properties change with increasing altitude, and tree-growth decreases. In a tropical montane forest in Ecuador, we determined soil and tree properties along an altitudinal transect between 1960 and 2450 m asl. In different vegetation units, all horizons of three replicate profiles at each of eight sites were sampled and height, basal area, and diameter growth of trees were recorded. We determined pH and total concentrations of Al, C, Ca, K, Mg, Mn, N, Na, P, S, Zn, polyphenols, and lignin in all soil horizons and in the mineral soil additionally the effective cation-exchange capacity (CEC). The soils were Cambisols, Planosols, and Histosols. The concentrati…
Unpredicted ecological and ecosystem services of biodiversity. Spontaneous vegetation, hedgerows, and maple trees as useful landscape components to i…
2020
Abstract Rural landscapes have been dramatically simplified and reduced. Large mechanical machinery was adopted and most of the natural helps such as living tutors in the vineyards disappeared or were replaced by cement or steel pillars. In the same way, field margins and hedgerows have also become restricted and simplified. The vegetation in the rural landscape mosaic provides alternative food and overwintering places, maintaining the inestimable importance of biodiversity in providing unexpected ecological services in agroecosystems. An important example could be predatory mites both as species and population density, providing ecological service for biological control such as the two-spo…