Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

About: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences is a education organization based out in Uppsala, Sweden. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Soil water. The organization has 13510 authors who have published 35241 publications receiving 1414458 citations. The organization is also known as: Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet & SLU.

Relationship between N immobilization and volatile fatty acids in soil after application of pig and cattle slurry

Abstract: A laboratory study was performed to determine decomposition of fatty acids and mineralization of C and N from slurries in soil. Fatty acids present in slurries decomposed within 1–2 days at 25°C in soil. Parallel to the fatty acid decomposition, immobilization of N was measured in soil. The correlation between the initial fatty acid concentrations in the slurries and the amounts of N immobilized were found to be highly significant (R 2=0.97). It was concluded that fatty acids act as an easily decomposable C source for microorganisms and cause immobilization of N. Immobilization of N was followed by a curvilinear mineralization of N in all slurrytreated soils. Despite mineralization, only fresh pig slurry and anaerobically digested pig slurry showed a net release of N over 70 days whereas cattle slurry and anaerobically fermented pig slurry did not. The percentage of slurry C evolved during 70 days was fresh pig slurry, 65%; anaerobically fermented pig slurry, 48%; anaerobically digested pig slurry, 45%; and anaerobically fermented cattle slurry, 42%.

15N abundance of surface soils, roots and mycorrhizas in profiles of European forest soils.

Abstract: 15N natural abundances of soil total N, roots and mycorrhizas were studied in surface soil profiles in coniferous and broadleaved forests along a transect from central to northern Europe. Under conditions of N limitation in Sweden, there was an increase in δ15N of soil total N of up to 9% from the uppermost horizon of the organic mor layer down to the upper 0-5 cm of the mineral soil. The δ15N of roots was only slightly lower than that of soil total N in the upper organic horizon, but further down roots were up to 5% depleted under such conditions. In experimentally N-enriched forest in Sweden, i.e. in plots which have received an average of c. 100 kg N ha-1 year-1 for 20 years and which retain less than 50% of this added N in the stand and the soil down to 20 cm depth, and in some forests in central Europe, the increase in δ15N with depth in soil total N was smaller. An increase in δ15N of the surface soil was even observed on experimentally N-enriched plots, although other data suggest that the N fertilizer added was depleted in15N. In such cases roots could be enriched in15N relative to soil total N, suggesting that labelling of the surface soil is via the pathway: - available pools of N-plant N-litter N. Under N-limiting conditions roots of different species sampled from the same soil horizon showed similar δ15N. By contrast, in experimentally N-enriched forest δ15N of roots increased in the sequence: ericaceous dwarf shrubs

Competition among thiols and inorganic sulfides and polysulfides for Hg and MeHg in wetland soils and sediments under suboxic conditions: Illumination of controversies and implications for MeHg net production

Abstract: [1] Current research focus in mercury biogeochemistry is on the net production and accumulation of methyl mercury (MeHg) in organisms. The activity of iron- and sulfate-reducing bacteria (FeRB and SRB) has been identified as important for MeHg production. There are indications of a passive uptake of neutral Hg-sulfides by SRB, as well as of a facilitated bacterial uptake of Hg complexed by small organic molecules. In order to understand these processes, the chemical speciation of Hg and MeHg, and most important, the competition among organic thiols and inorganic sulfides and polysulfides, needs to be clarified under suboxic conditions (nM to low μM range of total sulfide concentrations) in wetland soils and sediments. In this paper the chemical speciation of Hg and MeHg is modeled at pH 4.0 and 7.0 in a conceptual wetland soil/sediment with typical concentrations of thiols, sulfides, Hg, and MeHg. Effects of precipitated HgS(s), the formation of Hg-polysulfides, and the size of the controversial stability constant for the formation of HOHgSH 0 (aq) are emphasized. The outcome of the modeling is discussed in light of chosen stability constants for Hg complexes with thiols, sulfides, and polysulfides. It is concluded that organic thiols are competitive with inorganic sulfides in the approximate total sulfide concentration range 0-1 μm. It is also concluded that increases in absolute aqueous concentrations of MeHg, or the molar ratio of dissolved MeHg/Hg, are not appropriate as indirect measures of MeHg net production, unless changes and differences in solubility of MeHg and Hg are corrected for.

A global synthesis of the effects of diversified farming systems on arthropod diversity within fields and across agricultural landscapes.

Abstract: Agricultural intensification is a leading cause of global biodiversity loss, which can reduce the provisioning of ecosystem services in managed ecosystems. Organic farming and plant diversification are farm management schemes that may mitigate potential ecological harm by increasing species richness and boosting related ecosystem services to agroecosystems. What remains unclear is the extent to which farm management schemes affect biodiversity components other than species richness, and whether impacts differ across spatial scales and landscape contexts. Using a global metadataset, we quantified the effects of organic farming and plant diversification on abundance, local diversity (communities within fields), and regional diversity (communities across fields) of arthropod pollinators, predators, herbivores, and detritivores. Both organic farming and higher in-field plant diversity enhanced arthropod abundance, particularly for rare taxa. This resulted in increased richness but decreased evenness. While these responses were stronger at local relative to regional scales, richness and abundance increased at both scales, and richness on farms embedded in complex relative to simple landscapes. Overall, both organic farming and in-field plant diversification exerted the strongest effects on pollinators and predators, suggesting these management schemes can facilitate ecosystem service providers without augmenting herbivore (pest) populations. Our results suggest that organic farming and plant diversification promote diverse arthropod metacommunities that may provide temporal and spatial stability of ecosystem service provisioning. Conserving diverse plant and arthropod communities in farming systems therefore requires sustainable practices that operate both within fields and across landscapes.