Search results for "Soil"
showing 10 items of 3493 documents
Seasonal dynamics of the bacterial community in forest soils under different quantities of leaf litter
2010
International audience; Soil microbial communities play an important role in soil carbon functioning, particularly in forest ecosystems. Their variation in response to climate change may affect soil carbon processes, highlighting the importance of understanding how environmental factors affect microbial communities. This study aimed to determine to what extent an increase in the quantity of fresh litter may affect heterotrophic mineralization of organic carbon and bacterial community structure in soil and litter. A litter manipulation experiment was performed in situ in a temperate deciduous forest. Three treatments of fresh litter inputs were considered: litter exclusion, natural condition…
Characterization of field isolates of Trichoderma antagonistic towards Rhizoctonia solani
2009
Rhizoctonia solani AG 2-2 is a phytopathogenic fungus causing damping off and root rot in sugar beet. The disease occurs in the form of patches. In monoculture, these patches are highly mobile and never occur at the same place where they were observed the previous year. The soil from within patches was found more suppressive towards the disease than soil from healthy area. Comparison of the microbial genetic structures between the different soil samples suggested that Trichoderma spp. were involved in the increased suppressiveness. Trichoderma spp. are well known for their antagonistic activities. The aim of the present study was to characterize sixteen Trichoderma isolates isolated from wi…
Ultrafiltration as a Means to Investigate Copper Resistance Mechanisms in Soil Bacteria
1999
Copper is a trace element of major concern for agricultural soils. It exhibits a high toxicity against microorganisms and is widely introduced into soils as a component of pesticide treatments or urban wastes such as sewage sludges or refuse composts. In most French vineyards, “Bordeaux mixture” (copper sulfate) has been applied for more than a century, sometimes leading to copper concentrations in soils much higher than the threshold values (100 mg kg−1 in France). Microorganisms exposed to high concentrations of copper or other trace elements are known to develop resistance mechanisms and represent a suitable material for the study of such processes, both at a physiological and molecular …
Straw mulch as a sustainable solution to decrease runoff and erosion in glyphosate-treated clementine plantations in Eastern Spain. An assessment usi…
2019
[EN] In many Mediterranean areas, citrus orchards exhibit high soil loss rates because of the expansion of drip irrigation that allows cultivation on sloping terrain and the widespread use of glyphosate. To mitigate these non-sustainable soil losses, straw mulch could be applied as an efficient solution but this has been poorly studied. Therefore, the main goal of this paper was to assess the use of straw mulch as a tool to reduce soil losses in clementine plantations, which can be considered representative of a typical Mediterranean citrus orchard. A total of 40 rainfall simulation experiments were carried out on 20 pairs of neighbouring bare and mulched plots. Each experiment involved app…
Differential Responses of Nitrate Reducer Community Size, Structure, and Activity to Tillage Systems
2009
ABSTRACT The main objective of this study was to determine how the size, structure, and activity of the nitrate reducer community were affected by adoption of a conservative tillage system as an alternative to conventional tillage. The experimental field, established in Madagascar in 1991, consists of plots subjected to conventional tillage or direct-seeding mulch-based cropping systems (DM), both amended with three different fertilization regimes. Comparisons of size, structure, and activity of the nitrate reducer community in samples collected from the top layer in 2005 and 2006 revealed that all characteristics of this functional community were affected by the tillage system, with increa…
Comparative effect of inorganic N on plant growth and N2 fixation of ten legume crops
2018
International audience; [pas de résumé]
Spécificité des besoins de recherche sur la qualité des sols en Agriculture Biologique. Bilan d’un séminaire transdisciplinaire INRA-ITAB
2023
In November 2018, ITAB (Institute of Agriculture and Organic Food) and INRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research) organized a transdisciplinary seminar to bring together stakeholders to: i) share issues associated with soil management in Organic Farming (OF) systems, ii) collectively define the main research questions to be addressed; and iii) facilitate the construction of networks or projects. More than 150 participants attended the seminar, which was designed using the method of citizen facilitation of the community forum type (Town Hall Meeting) allowing all parties to express themselves and a live summary by experts. The seminar identified important knowledge gaps on soils in OF …
Copper Dynamics and Impact on Microbial Communities in Soils of Variable Organic Status
2008
International audience; The effect of soil organic status on copper impact was investigated by means of a microcosm study carried out on a vineyard soil that had been amended with varying types of organic matter during a previous long-term field experiment. Soil microcosms were contaminated at 250 mg Cu kg−1 and incubated for 35 days. Copper distribution and dynamics were assessed in the solid matrix by a sequential extraction procedure and in the soil solution by measuring total and free exchangeable copper concentrations. Copper bioavailability was also measured with a whole-cell biosensor. Modifications of microbial communities were assessed by means of biomass-C measurements and charact…
Cadmium availability at different soil pH to transgenic tobacco overexpressing ferritin
2003
International audience; Knowledge on physiological mechanisms and plant metabolism can be used to enhance metal uptake. The capacity to uptake metals of transgenic tobaccos overexpressing ferritin in plastids (P6) or in cytoplasm (C5) and a control tobacco (A) is assessed in three polluted soils from the same soil series, with a similar Cd content, but displaying pH from 5.8 to 7 (8b2, 8b3, S11). Differences in dry leave weight were not significant between the three tobaccos growing on each soil. Iron concentration in ferritin overexpression either in P6 or in C5 tobaccos increased only on the S11 soil, which had a soil pH 7, in comparison to A tobacco. In both 8b2 and 8b3 soils at pH lower…
Soil as a Support of Biodiversity and Functions
2014
The soil is a major reservoir of biological diversity on our planet. It also shelters numerous biological and ecological processes and therefore contributes to the production of a considerable number of ecosystem services. Among the ecological, social and economic services identified, the role of soil as a reservoir of diversity has now been well established, along with its role in nutrient cycling, supporting primary productivity, pollution removal and storing carbon. Since the development of industrialization, urbanization and agriculture, soils have been subjected to numerous variations in environmental conditions, which have resulted in modifications of the diversity of the indigenous m…