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Showing papers in "Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment in 2007"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Evidence that it promotes C sequestration is not compelling, because in essentially all cases where conservation tillage was found to sequester C, soils were only sampled to a depth of 30 cm or less, even though crop roots often extend much deeper.

1,178 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of plant and soil biodiversity on nutrient and water use efficiencies as important ecological functions in agroecosystems are discussed, and some economic benefits of soil biodiversity to society as part of a wider strategy of conserving and using agrobiodiversity.

777 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors compared organic and conventional farming systems at reduced and normal fertilization intensity (0.7 and 1.4 livestock units, LU) in a 7-year crop rotation.

671 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, anaerobic digestion of maize and dairy cattle manures was investigated for 60 days in 1-l eudiometer batch digesters at 38°C, and the authors derived a multiple linear regression equation, the Methane Energy Value Model, that estimates methane production from the composition of maize.

665 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the constraints and barriers to implementation important for GHG mitigation in agriculture and also examine how climate and non-climate policy in different regions of the world has affected agricultural GHG emissions and how it may affect emissions and mitigation implementation in the future.

584 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the root-derived carbon (C) in these coefficients was estimated by reviewing studies reporting information on plant shoot-to-root (S:R) ratios (n = 168), which were highest for small-grain cereals (7.4), followed by corn (5.6), and lowest for forages (1.6).

508 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors consider ways that scientists from different disciplines can collaborate to determine the functions and value of agrobiodiversity for agricultural production, but within the context of understanding how biodiversity can be conserved in landscape mosaics that contain mixtures of land use types.

496 citations



Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a multivariate statistical model based on geo-physical and socio-economic variables was developed to characterize the locations in the Swiss mountains where agricultural land has been abandoned and overgrown by trees andbushes.

450 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a consistent and comprehensive framework of principles, criteria and indicators for sustainability assessment of agricultural systems, referred to as the Sustainability Assessment of Fanning and the Environment (SAFE) framework.

420 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the mechanisms of natural reforestation of abandoned areas on three levels as a prelude to determine natural re-forestation rates in four agrarian structure regions in the Alps: Innsbruck Land, Sudtiroler Berggebiet, Unterland/Uberetsch and Carnia.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Gilmanov and Wohlfahrt as mentioned in this paper used light response function analysis (LRF) to partition European grassland net ecosystem CO2 exchange into gross primary productivity and ecosystem respiration.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The need to consider soil fertility gradients and the crop and nutrient management patterns creating them when designing options to improve resource use efficiency on smallholder farms is highlighted.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Conversion of arable land to managed grassland has a positive effect on the carbon balance during the initial 3 years, but only if the system receives extra nitrogen inputs to avoid carbon losses through increased mineralization of soil organic matter.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the long-term impact of fertilizer and manure application in a soybean-wheat-maize (fodder) crop rotation on soil organic carbon status and physical properties of a vertisol (Typic Haplustert or Pellic Vertisols) in sub-humid sub-tropical India was investigated.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Soil organic matter (SOM) is a non-living product of the decomposition of plant and animal substances as mentioned in this paper and it is used as an indicator of fertility and land degradation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a study was conducted in the Vohidrazana/Beforona area, located at the margins of the Ankeniheny-Zahamena rainforest corridor.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Results suggest that the limitations on rice yield imposed by high CO2 and temperature can be mitigated, at least in part, by altering the sowing time and the selection of genotypes that possess higher fertility of spikelets at high temperatures.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the CO2, N 2O and CH4 fluxes exchanged with the atmosphere were studied in an upland semi-natural grassland site which was divided at the start of the experiment in two large paddocks continuously grazed by cattle.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors discuss the institutional issues involved in establishing market-like mechanisms for agrobiodiversity conservation, including payments/rewards for ecosystem services, direct compensation payments, land use development rights, and auctions for biodiversity conservation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of 10 fertilizer and farm yard manure (FYM) treatments applied for 31 years to a rotation that included maize (Zea mays), pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum), wheat (Triticum aestivum) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) on an Inceptisol at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in New Delhi, India.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the effects of grazing intensity were investigated by a comparison of non-grazed areas, lightly grazed area, moderately grazed, heavily grazed areas and very heavily grazing areas that received one of two fire treatments: early burning and fire protection.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a double bottom-line analysis of some of these BMPs and their potential to deliver improved water quality in the Bog Burn catchment was presented, and it was shown that a significant improvement in catchment water quality could be achieved through the implementation of targeted best management practices (BMPs) on dairy farms in the catchment.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Prospects for the future are good, as to date there has been little effort to improve the feeding value of salt tolerant plants through breeding or selection, or to select livestock that are more capable of tolerating high salt intakes.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the importance of temperature in the determination of the yield of an annual crop (groundnut; Arachis hypogaea L. in India) was assessed using a regional climate model (PRECIS) with a crop model (GLAM) to examine crop growth under simulated current (1961-1990) and future (2071-2100) climates.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present the Landscape IMAGES methodology for spatially explicit exploration of options for multifunctional agriculture in landscapes at a scale of a few km2, which provides explicit insight in the trade-off between the objectives and is implemented in a visual application that enables the comparison of alternative options.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Grapevine yield, vigour, fruit quality and vineyard dynamics were studied in the Estremadura Region of Portugal with a Mediterranean oceanic bioclimate and the two sward treatments showed a significant, favourable reduction in vine vegetative growth.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results show that insect pollinated plants benefit disproportionately from organic farming, which appeared to be related to higher pollinator densities in organic fields, whereas in the centres of conventional fields non-insect pollination plants dominate presumably due to a limitation of pollinators.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of mineral and organic N fertilizers on the nitrification and denitrification processes, and consequently on N2O and NO emissions, was evaluated on an irrigated sandy loam soil under Mediterranean conditions during the maize growing season.