Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment最新文献

C. Guerra, N. Eisenhauer, C. C. Tebbe, et al. “Foundations for a National Assessment of Soil Biodiversity,” Journal of Sustainable Agriculture and Environment 3, (2024): e12116. http://doi.org/10.1002/sae2.12116.

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Reducing N₂O emissions from farmlands is crucial to mitigate climate change. A recent scientific breakthrough employed an innovative method to inoculate farmland soil with a bacterium, resulting in a significant reduction of N₂O emissions. This commentary identifies promising environments and practices for further emission reduction.

Potash is essential for plant growth and global food production. However, its distribution and access are uneven, creating significant economic and geopolitical challenges. We here explore the complexities of the global potash market, focusing on the impacts of mine location, ownership, and the oligopolistic structure of the market on food security. Through historical analysis and the development of potash vulnerability indexes, the research highlights the risks associated with concentrated production and the implications for countries with varying levels of economic power. The findings underscore the potential for market manipulation and the exacerbation of food insecurity, particularly in lower-income nations. As potash resources become scarcer, strategic management by producers may lead to higher prices, further widening global inequalities. This study suggests a reevaluation of the current situation to address these emerging threats to global food security.

The role of plant diversity and biomass in ecosystem functioning and management is well recognized. However, the structural drivers of aboveground biomass (AGB) and their influence across savanna ecosystems remain understudied, particularly in semi-arid regions. Here, we hypothesized that (i) species richness and structural diversity would positively influence AGB across vegetation strata and (ii) environmental factors would play a secondary role compared to diversity metrics. We tested these hypotheses using data from 160 systematically established plots (0.1 ha each) in two savanna sites (Cassou and Kongoussi) in Burkina Faso. We examined how taxonomic diversity, structural diversity (CV-DBH, CV-height) and environmental factors contribute to AGB and aboveground carbon (AGC) stocks. A total of 97 woody species from 66 genera and 26 families were identified. Species richness had a significant positive effect on AGB in both strata, with a more pronounced influence in shrub layers. Structural diversity, particularly CV-DBH and CV-height, also contributed significantly to AGB, especially in Cassou. Elevation negatively influenced AGB at both sites, while NDVI and EVI2 were positively correlated with AGC in Kongoussi but not in Cassou. Species richness and structural diversity, especially in shrub strata, were the primary drivers of AGB, underscoring their importance for carbon sequestration. The study highlights the important role of structural diversity and taxonomic richness in determining AGB, particularly in shrub-dominated savannas. Management strategies focusing on the conservation of species diversity and enhancement of structural diversity are essential to optimize biomass accumulation and ecosystem functioning in semi-arid savanna ecosystems.

Multitrophic interactions in the soil food web represent an important factor in shaping the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functions (BEF) under the changing environmental conditions. Despite some recent advancements, the relative contribution, and mechanisms by which multitrophic interactions affect ecosystem functions and stability, however, remain poorly understood. Here, we provide an overview of the current understanding of the role of multitrophic interactions in BEF and explore mechanistic pathways that may underpin their role in ecosystem functions and stability. We also discuss potential approaches to quantify the contribution of the multitrophic interactions in the soil food web. Specifically, we highlight the need for improvements in empirical frameworks and analytical tools for quantifying the strength of these interactions in the soil food web. We argue that addressing the key knowledge gaps in current understanding, BEF research requires integration of multitrophic interactions as a key factor when predicting the rate and stability of ecosystem multifunctionality under changing climatic conditions.

Ongoing climate change is negatively impacting crop productivity globally. Past research has highlighted that a diverse soil microbial community and variation in plant traits for resource acquisition can mitigate the negative impacts of climate change factors on crop productivity. This study investigates the effects of two major environmental stressors—drought and salinity stress, on plant productivity, biomass allocation, and root and leaf trait responses under distinct soil microbial diversities. Our results showed that salinity stress had stronger negative impacts on plant productivity than drought stress. Shoot biomass decreased by 30% and 32.5% under drought and salinity stress, respectively, whereas the root biomass decreased by 32% only under salinity stress. Soil microbial diversity did not affect plant productivity. Next, root traits were mainly impacted by drought and salinity stress, whereas leaf traits were impacted by both environmental stresses and soil microbial diversity. Specific root length and specific root area decreased under drought, and root tissue density was minimal under salinity stress. Root traits were not affected by soil microbial communities. In contrast, the leaf nitrogen content increased, whereas pheophytin content (a breakdown product of chlorophyll) decreased when plants were grown in diverse microbial communities under environmental stresses, especially drought. These results highlight the importance of soil microbial diversity in impacting plant traits in response to environmental stresses. We showed that the soil microbial diversity influences both aboveground and belowground plant traits, indicating the need for better management practices to conserve and promote soil microbial diversity.

High microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE) in agricultural soils can limit the return of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) from organic matter mineralisation and potentially increase soil organic carbon (SOC) accumulation through the formation of microbial biomass and necromass. Therefore, soil management practices that increase microbial CUE are relevant for sustainable agriculture and climate change mitigation. We conducted an exploratory literature review and evidence synthesis to compare microbial CUE between conventional tillage (CT) and low-intensity tillage systems (reduced tillage, RT and no-tillage, NT). The synthesis of 50 paired observations from 11 studies showed an overall increase in microbial CUE of 12% in soils under low-intensity tillage compared to CT (p = 0.02). Separate tillage contrasts of RT and NT versus CT (i.e., RT/CT and NT/CT) also showed higher microbial CUE for soils under low-intensity tillage with p = 0.06 and p = 0.05, respectively. The increase in CUE is likely due to improved substrate availability for microbial growth and/or changes in the microbial community induced by the contrasting tillage systems. However, the limited availability of quantitative data linking tillage-induced changes in these drivers to microbial CUE constrains further analysis. We also extracted available SOC data from the eligible studies, but this data did not provide evidence that increases in microbial CUE were correlated with increases in SOC content. Future studies should extend the emerging empirical data set and clarify the abiotic and biotic drivers through which tillage practices can be refined for better SOC management and climate change mitigation strategies. Further studies should also aim to better understand the link between microbial CUE and SOC dynamics, which is important for the representation of CUE in global SOC models.

Microbial volatile organic compounds (mVOCs) are crucial to the ecological interactions of plants and microbes, playing pivotal roles in plant defence, communication, and growth promotion. The classification, biosynthesis, and emission processes of mVOCs, and their multifaced functions and activities within plant ecosystems have been extensively studied. Moreover, the signalling pathways that enable mVOCs-mediated communication between plants and their surrounding environment are explored. The mVOCs are critical in mediating interactions with biotic and abiotic stressors, including plant pathogens and environmental changes. These interactions contribute to enhanced plant resilience and foster beneficial ecological interactions. Biotechnological mVOCs have great potential in sustainable agriculture, especially natural pest management and crop protection. These applications include various disease control strategies, such as biosensors, highlighting the crucial role of mVOCs in promoting natural pest control and supporting sustainable development growth. In this review, we explored the functions of mVOCs, mechanisms of action, and the types of interactions. We also discussed recent developments in their use and the challenges involved. We discussed the ethical and regulatory issues related to using mVOCs in agriculture biotechnology and their potential effects on human health and the environment. Finally, we highlight research gaps to fully leverage mVOC functions for sustainable plant production and ecological health.

Most rice production is conducted in flooded (anaerobic) soil conditions, but aerobic rice cultivation presents several potential benefits: increased grain water use efficiency (gWUE), reduced methane emissions, and minimised loss of phosphorus (P). Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi are more effective at colonising and functioning in rice under aerobic soil conditions, and this rice-AM fungi association could increase both gWUE and P acquisition efficiency (PAE). We used a precision irrigation platform to apply watering treatments (60% or 80% of soil field capacity) throughout the experiment. Four commercial Australian rice varieties were grown with or without inoculation with Rhizophagus irregularis, and with addition of P fertiliser at 10 or 25 mg P kg^–1 soil. Plants were grown to maturity (134–188 days after planting), after which grain yield, plant water use, gWUE, and PAE were determined. Overall, R. irregularis inoculation increased gWUE in all four rice varieties (by a mean of 14.4%), and increased grain yield and PAE in two varieties. Grain yields were primarily constrained by low water availability (mean 48.4% reduction), but P availability also limited yield in two varieties. Of the four, Topaz showed the greatest response to AM fungal inoculation, with increased qWUE and PAE. There is potential for AM fungal inoculation to increase the water use and P acquisition efficiencies of aerobically grown rice. However, the extent of these benefits depends on the specific rice variety, which highlights the importance of variety selection in transitioning to aerobic rice production in temperate regions and in enhancing the resilience of rice cultivation to climate change.