European Journal of Soil Science最新文献

Soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration in agricultural soils is an important tool for climate change mitigation within the EU soil strategy for 2030 and can be achieved via the adoption of soil management strategies (SMS). These strategies may induce synergistic effects by simultaneously reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and/or nitrogen (N) leaching. In contrast, other SMS may stimulate emissions of GHG such as nitrous oxide (N₂O) or methane (CH₄), offsetting the climate change mitigation gained via SOC sequestration. Despite the importance of understanding trade-offs and synergies for selecting sustainable SMS for European agriculture, knowledge on these effects remains limited. This review synthesizes existing knowledge, identifies knowledge gaps and provides research recommendations on trade-offs and synergies between SOC sequestration or SOC accrual, non-CO₂ GHG emissions and N leaching related to selected SMS. We investigated 87 peer-reviewed articles that address SMS and categorized them under tillage management, cropping systems, water management and fertilization and organic matter (OM) inputs. SMS, such as conservation tillage, adapted crop rotations, adapted water management, OM inputs by cover crops (CC), organic amendments (OA) and biochar, contribute to increase SOC stocks and reduce N leaching. Adoption of leguminous CC or specific cropping systems and adapted water management tend to create trade-offs by stimulating N₂O emissions, while specific cropping systems or application of biochar can mitigate N₂O emissions. The effect of crop residues on N₂O emissions depends strongly on their C/N ratio. Organic agriculture and agroforestry clearly mitigate CH₄ emissions but the impact of other SMS requires additional study. More experimental research is needed to study the impact of both the pedoclimatic conditions and the long-term dynamics of trade-offs and synergies. Researchers should simultaneously assess the impact of (multiple) agricultural SMS on SOC stocks, GHG emissions and N leaching. This review provides guidance to policymakers as well as a framework to design field experiments and model simulations, which can address knowledge gaps and non-intentional effects of applying agricultural SMS meant to increase SOC sequestration.

Film mulching and biochar have been applied as effective measures for increasing crop yields in arid and semi-arid areas for many years. However, the effects of the temporal and spatial distributions of soil hydrothermal properties on crop yields are still unclear under film mulching and biochar addition. Thus, we conducted a field experiment with winter wheat on the Loess Plateau of China for two years (2020–2022) with three treatments: control, film mulching, and biochar. The results demonstrated that film mulching and biochar addition increased the average soil temperature in the 0–50 cm soil depth throughout the whole growth period and the influence depth exceeded 50 cm. Biochar addition only significantly increased soil temperature in the overwintering stage (p < 0.05). Film mulching increased the maximum and minimum temperatures in the 0–50 cm soil depth at seedling stage. Film mulching and biochar increased average ≥10°C accumulated soil temperature by increasing the ≥10°C accumulated soil temperature in the daytime and nighttime, and the number of days with a daily soil temperature ≥10°C during the whole growth period. Film mulching improved soil water storage in the 0–300 cm soil depth in each growth stage during both years, and also increased the wheat grain yield, aboveground biomass, and water use efficiency. Biochar addition increased the wheat grain yield and aboveground biomass of two years compared with control, but the increases were not significant (p > 0.05). In addition, correlation analysis showed that adequate temperatures in the 0–50 cm soil depth during the seedling and overwintering stages, and suitable soil moisture conditions in the 0–300 cm soil depth before sowing, jointing, and filling stages were important factors for increasing wheat grain yields under film mulching. In summary, film mulching mainly regulated the soil temperature in the 0–50 cm soil depth and moisture conditions in the 0–300 cm soil depth during different growth stages to increase grain yields. Film mulching has more obvious effects on moisture regulation, temperature regulation, and yield increases than biochar addition. Some environmentally friendly measures (such as conservation agriculture) with the same yield improving effect as mulching are also recommended to explore and promote in theLoess Plateau region.

Healthy soils are essential for sustainable food production, achieving climate neutrality and halting the loss of biodiversity. The European Commission turned the spotlights on these vital aspects of soils with the launch of the EU Soil Observatory (EUSO) in 2021 to support the European Green Deal. Also, the EU Soil Strategy for 2030 and the proposed Soil Monitoring Law marked a major milestone for soil protection. This article provides an overview of the functioning of the EUSO within this policy context. Through its activities, the EUSO supports an EU-wide soil monitoring system and provides policy support to a wide range of policy areas. Moreover, the EUSO monitors the state of soil health in the EU through the EUSO Soil Health Dashboard. This comprehensive and easy understandable tool shows, for the first time, where current scientific evidence converges to indicate areas in the EU likely to be affected by soil degradation. Furthermore, the EUSO supports soil research and innovation, enhances the capacity and functionality of the European Soil Data Centre and supports citizen engagements regarding soil matters. Overall, since 2021, the EUSO has successfully taken up its role to be the principal knowledge hub for soil information and data to underpin EU policy development and implementation. Also in the next years, EUSO will continue to provide data and knowledge to monitor, safeguard and restore soils in the EU.

Field-characterised soil morphological data (to 1 m depth) and modelled soil water release characteristics are recorded in the S-map database for soils covering approximately 40% of New Zealand's soil area. This paper shows the development of the Smap-Hydro database that estimates hydraulic parameters by synergising soil morphologic data recorded in S-map and soil physics. The Smap-Hydro parameters were derived using the bi-modal Kosugi hydraulic function. The validity of the Smap-Hydro parameters was tested by applying them within an uncalibrated physically based hydrological model (HyPix) and comparing results with soil water content, θ, measured with Aquaflex soil moisture probes (0–40 cm deep) at 24 sites across New Zealand. The HyPix model provided an excellent fit with observed soil water content for 25% of the sites, a good fit for 33% of the sites and a poor fit for 42% of the sites. Applying the model to all soils in the S-map database required adjustments for the occurrence of rock fragments, hydraulic discontinuities caused by soil pans and required the addition of boundary conditions for water tables and the occurrence of impermeable rock. A discussion on how we can further synergise the development of pedotransfer functions with knowledge of soil physics is provided.

Soil management strategies involving the application of organic matter (OM) inputs (crop residues, green and livestock manure, slurry, digestate, compost and biochar) can increase soil carbon storage but simultaneously lead to an increase in non-CO₂ greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as N₂O. Although multiple meta-analyses have been conducted on the topic of OM input impacts on GHG, none has focused specifically on European arable soils. This study plugs this gap and can assist policymakers in steering European agriculture in a more sustainable direction. The objective of this meta-analysis was to quantify how OM inputs of different nature and quality, but also the application strategy, can mitigate soil N₂O emissions in different pedoclimatic conditions in Europe. We quantitatively synthesised the results of over 50 field experiments conducted in 15 European countries. Diverse arable crops, mainly cereals, were cultivated in monoculture or in crop rotations on mineral soils. Cumulative N₂O emissions were monitored during periods of 30–1070 days in treatments, which received OM inputs, alone or in combination with mineral N fertiliser; and in controls fertilised with mineral N. The overall effect of OM inputs had a slight tendency to reduce N₂O emissions by 10% (n = 53). With the increasing carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of the OM inputs, this mitigation effect became more pronounced. In particular, compost and biochar significantly reduced N₂O emissions by 25% (n = 6) and 33% (n = 8) respectively. However, their effect strongly depended on pedoclimatic characteristics. Regarding the other types of OM inputs studied, a slight N₂O emission reduction can be achieved by their application alone, without mineral N fertiliser (by 16%, n = 17). In contrast, their co-application with mineral N fertiliser elevated emissions to some extent compared to the control (by 14%, n = 22). We conclude that amongst the seven OM inputs studied, the application of compost and biochar are the most promising soil management practices, clearly demonstrating N₂O emission reduction compared to mineral N fertiliser. In contrast, other OM inputs had a small tendency to mitigate N₂O emissions only when applied without mineral N fertiliser.

The aim of the 1st European Healthy Soils Conference in September 2023 in Muttenz, Switzerland, was to bring together professionals working on soil health from academia, the private sector, policymakers and students. Within the conference, a workshop ‘From Practical Issues to Indicators’ was held. In addition to flash presentations and subsequent discussion rounds, the opinions of the participants on the definition of soil health and the major soil threats were also collected. A majority of participants were in favour of the statement: ‘Healthy soils are in good chemical, biological and physical condition so that they can provide ecosystem services that are vital to humans and environment’. Of the 10 soil threats put forward for discussion, the participants voted for the four most important at European level, those being soil erosion, loss of soil organic carbon, loss of soil biodiversity and soil compaction. The need for long-term observation plots in different agro-ecosystems in Europe was emphasised in contributions to the discussion. Furthermore, methodological developments and standardisations that are simple and direct enough to be accepted and applied at the practical level by farmers and advisors were called for.

Implementing “soil health” means sustainable management of agricultural soils, avoiding toxicities, and sensible use of resources to minimize waste. In this context, the use of plastic in agriculture in form of plastic products, the application of polymers and additives in fertilizers, and plastic input through littering and tyre wear demands our special attention. Uncertainty and open questions relating to effects of plastic and its degradation products such as microplastic (MP) on the soil environment, the soil biota, and human health partly result from the lack of robust and standardized detection and measurement methods. Also, environmental, economic, and societal problems around MPs in soil cannot be adequately addressed due to lack of coordination among the various relevant players and initiatives in research and policy. NETmicroplastic (www.net-microplastic.eu) responds to the need of connecting among a fragmented research & innovation and policy landscape by creating a community-supported environment. The network fosters provision of solid data for science-based impact assessment of MP in soil together with much-needed technological innovations, including biodegradable alternatives to conventional plastic. Here, we reflect upon a number of action fields that are key to the NETmicroplastic initiative from small to large-scale perspectives. In addition, we portray the overall awareness situation around MP in soil.

Grassland ecosystems are important for the provision of food, fuel and fibre. They represent globally important carbon (C) reservoirs that are under pressure from intensive management and ongoing climate change. How these drivers of change will interact to affect grassland soil C and nitrogen (N) cycling and heterotrophic and autotrophic respiration remains uncertain. Roots and mycelia in grassland soil are important regulators of ecosystem functioning and likely to be an influential determinant of CO₂ fluxes responses to global change. The aim of this study was to investigate the interactive effect of climate warming and grassland management on soil respiration originating from roots rhizosphere, mycelia and free-living microbes. The experiment used a block design to measure the interactive effects of warming, nitrogen addition, aboveground biomass (AGB) removal on belowground respiration in a temperate grassland ecosystem. An in-growth core method using cores with different mesh sizes was used to partition belowground respiration due to its simplicity of design and efficacy. We found that basal respiration (free-living microorganisms) was the highest (58.5% of the total emissions), followed by that from roots (22.8%) and mycelia (18.7%) across all treatments. Warming reduced basal respiration whilst AGB removal increased it. An antagonistic interaction between warming and nitrogen addition reduced root respiration, and a three-way interaction between warming, nitrogen addition and AGB removal affected mycelial respiration. The results show different contributions of belowground biota to soil respiration, and how interactions between climate change and grassland management may influence effects on soil respiration.

The hillslope-gully system serves as the primary contributor to both runoff and sediment yield. The WEPP (Water Erosion Prediction Project) model is often applied to investigate erosion characteristics at hillslope scale, demonstrating a high level of accuracy in simulating water erosion. In this study, according to in situ field monitoring (2014–2020) at a Pisha sandstone hillslope on the Loess Plateau, China, a total of 50 rainfall events’ data were used as climatic data to calibrate the soil parameters, and 11 different vegetation patterns and four slope gradients of hillslope-gully systems were installed as inputs for the management and slope data, respectively. In systems A, B, C and D, the hillslope gradients were defined as 5°, 8°, 10° and 12° and the gully gradients as 15°, 20°, 25° and 30°, respectively. The results showed that the steeper the slope, the more severe the erosion. However, there was a critical value for the effect of slope on runoff. When the slope exceeded 8° and the gully exceeded 20°, the runoff no longer increased further and even decreased. The reduction in runoff in hillslope-gully systems was in the following order (in mm): system D (3.4 ± 0.14) > system C (3.4 ± 0.14) > system B (3.39 ± 0.14) > system A (3.12 ± 0.13). Increasing vegetation cover could reduce erosion. Differences in runoff between vegetation patterns were not significant (p > 0.05) and ranged from 8% to 26%. However, there were significant differences in the sediment yield reduction benefits of different vegetation patterns (p < 0.05), ranging from 17% to 66%. It was observed that vegetation located in the lower slope produced a more pronounced effect in mitigating sediment when the degree of cover was the same. We conclude that implementing watershed management strategies based on the vegetation and topographic attributes of hillslope-gully systems within the Loess Plateau, especially on Pisha sandstone hillslopes, serves as the fundamental approach to achieving sustainable watershed management.

Soil erosion represents a primary threat to soil systems with adverse implications for ecosystem services, crop production, potable water and carbon storage. While numerous studies have quantified the spatial distribution of aboveground Biomass (AGB), soil erosion and soil organic carbon (SOC) in the Yangtze River Basin (YRB), limited attention has been given to assessing the contributions of different land use types and especially crop types to AGB, soil erosion and SOC. In most studies, cropland is taken as a land use class, while detailed crop types and rotation patterns, and their effect on soil erosion and SOC, vary significantly. In this study, we used the Metronamica model to generate a detailed crop rotation and distribution map across the YRB and subsequently employed the Pan-European Soil Erosion Risk Assessment (PESERA) model to simulate the spatial distribution of AGB, soil erosion and SOC on a monthly basis. PESERA model simulations indicate an average soil erosion rate across the entire YRB of 7.7 ton/ha/yr, with erosion hotspots concentrated in the Sichuan Basin and the central-southern regions. The southwestern region and western Sichuan show elevated levels of AGB and SOC, while the eastern plains display lower levels. Erosion rates are lowest in areas designated as artificial land, pasture and grassland, whereas croplands and fruit tree plantations experience the highest erosion rates. In terms of crop types, the highest erosion rates and lowest AGB are observed under fallow and potato cultivation, while the lowest erosion rates and highest AGB are found in rice-wheat rotation fields. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study taking detailed crop types and patterns into account while evaluating their effect at a relatively large scale (i.e., YRB). These findings can help to develop sustainable soil management and (cropping) conservation strategies.