Journal ArticleDOI
Effects of residue quality and climate on plant residue decomposition and nutrient release along the transect from humid forest to Sahel of West Africa
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TLDR
In this article, a decomposition equation that could be used to predict the decomposition rate of plant residues with various qualities across agro-eco-zones in West Africa was obtained from a field litterbag study conducted in the 2000 rainy season and the 2000/2001 dry season along the transect of West African major agroecological zones (agro-cooperative zones).Abstract:
Field litterbag studies were conducted in the 2000 rainy season and the 2000/2001 dry season along the transect of West African major agroecological zones (agroeco-zones) to measure the decomposition of, and N and P release from 5 plant residues (leaves of woody species) with increasing quality: Dactyladenia barteri, Pterocarpus santalinoides, Alchornea cordifolia, Senna siamea and Gliricidia sepium. The decomposition rate constant (wk−1) ranged from 0.034 (Dactyladenia, subhumid zone) to 0.49 (Gliricidia, humid zone) in the rainy season, and from 0.01 (Dactyladenia, subhumid zone) to 0.235 (Pterocarpus, arid zone) in the dry season. The direct correlation between the decomposition rate of plant residues and their quality was only valid in agroeco-zones where there is not moisture stress. Similarly, the direct correlation between the decomposition rate of plant residues and moisture availability was only valid for plant residues with high quality. The decomposition rate of the low quality plant residue could increase from humid to arid zone in West Africa. In the arid zone, the low quality plant residue could also decompose faster than high quality plant residue. The climate-residue quality interactive effects on plant residue decomposition in West Africa were attributed to the feedback of low quality plant residue’s mulching effect, soil fauna and appreciable photodegradation in dry regions. A decomposition equation that could be used to predict the decomposition rate of plant residues with various qualities across agroeco-zones in West Africa was obtained from this study. The equation was expressed as follow: k = 0.122 − 0.000747*PRQI2− 0.0233*PRQI*CI + 0.00337*CI* PRQI2, in which k is the decomposition rate constant (wk−1), PRQI the plant residue quality index, and CI the climate index (ratio of rainfall to sunshine hours cumulative during the entire decomposition). The response of N and P release from plant residues to residue quality and climate was similar to that of residue decomposition. At the late stage of the dry season decomposition, the high C/N and C/P ratio plant residue (Dactyladenia leaves) that immobilized N and P in wet zones showed a release of N and P in the dry zone.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Role of organic amendment application on greenhouse gas emission from soil.
Ramya Thangarajan,Ramya Thangarajan,Nanthi Bolan,Nanthi Bolan,Guanglong Tian,Ravi Naidu,Ravi Naidu,Anitha Kunhikrishnan +7 more
TL;DR: The future research needs in relation to nitrogen and carbon dynamics in soil to broaden the use of OAs in agriculture to maintain soil health with minimum impact on GHG emission from agriculture are emphasized.
Journal ArticleDOI
Does the combined application of organic and mineral nutrient sources influence maize productivity? a meta analysis
TL;DR: The combined application of organic resources (ORs) and mineral fertilizers is increasingly gaining recognition as a viable approach to address soil fertility decline in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) as discussed by the authors, where the authors conducted a meta-analysis to provide a comprehensive and quantitative synthesis of conditions under which ORs, N fertilizers, and combined ORs with N fertilizer positively or negatively influence Zea mays (maize) yields, agronomic N use efficiency and soil organic C (SOC) in SSA.
Journal ArticleDOI
Protective shade, tree diversity and soil properties in coffee agroforestry systems in the Atlantic Rainforest biome
H.N. de Souza,R.G.M. de Goede,Lijbert Brussaard,Irene Maria Cardoso,Edivânia Maria Gourete Duarte,Raphael Bragança Alves Fernandes,Lucas Carvalho Gomes,Mirjam M. Pulleman +7 more
TL;DR: Coffee agroforestry offers a promising strategy for the conservation of biodiversity and its capacity to adapt coffee production to future climate change, according to evaluated farmers’ criteria for tree species selection.
Journal ArticleDOI
Structural convergence of maize and wheat straw during two-year decomposition under different climate conditions.
TL;DR: Overall, the results indicated that the chemical compositions of the two types of straw became similar after 2-year decomposition under different climate conditions.
Journal ArticleDOI
Does light exposure make plant litter more degradable
Bente Foereid,Bente Foereid,Jessica Bellarby,Wolfram Meier-Augenstein,Wolfram Meier-Augenstein,Helen F. Kemp +5 more
TL;DR: In this article, a study was conducted to test the hypothesis that light exposure makes plant litter more degradable than direct light-induced mass loss, and the results indicated that increasing litter degradability is a more important mechanism for photodegradation than directly light induced mass loss.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
A Critique of the Analytical Methods Used in Examining Decomposition Data Obtained From Litter Bags
R. Kelman Wider,Gerald E. Lang +1 more
TL;DR: Two general analytical approaches to the examination of decomposition data are reviewed and single and double exponential models best describe the loss of mass over time with an element of biological realism.
Book
Driven By Nature: Plant Litter Quality and Decomposition
Georg Cadisch,Ken E. Giller +1 more
TL;DR: Pathways and processes in decomposition foraging, feeding and feedback manipulation of plant litter quality synchrony and soil organic matter - theory into practice?
Journal ArticleDOI
Plant litter decomposition in a semi-arid ecosystem controlled by photodegradation.
Amy T. Austin,Lucía Vivanco +1 more
TL;DR: It is concluded that photodegradation is a dominant control on above-ground litter decomposition in this semi-arid ecosystem and future changes in radiation interception due to decreased cloudiness, increased stratospheric ozone depletion, or reduced vegetative cover may have a more significant effect on the carbon balance in these water-limited ecosystems than changes in temperature or precipitation.