Restoring Soil Quality to Mitigate Soil Degradation
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TLDR
In this paper, the authors proposed a strategy to minimize soil erosion, create positive organic carbon (SOC) and N budgets, enhance activity and species diversity of soil biota (micro, meso, and macro), and improve structural stability and pore geometry.Abstract:
Feeding the world population, 7.3 billion in 2015 and projected to increase to 9.5 billion by 2050, necessitates an increase in agricultural production of ~70% between 2005 and 2050. Soil degradation, characterized by decline in quality and decrease in ecosystem goods and services, is a major constraint to achieving the required increase in agricultural production. Soil is a non-renewable resource on human time scales with its vulnerability to degradation depending on complex interactions between processes, factors and causes occurring at a range of spatial and temporal scales. Among the major soil degradation processes are accelerated erosion, depletion of the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool and loss in biodiversity, loss of soil fertility and elemental imbalance, acidification and salinization. Soil degradation trends can be reversed by conversion to a restorative land use and adoption of recommended management practices. The strategy is to minimize soil erosion, create positive SOC and N budgets, enhance activity and species diversity of soil biota (micro, meso, and macro), and improve structural stability and pore geometry. Improving soil quality (i.e., increasing SOC pool, improving soil structure, enhancing soil fertility) can reduce risks of soil degradation (physical, chemical, biological and ecological) while improving the environment. Increasing the SOC pool to above the critical level (10 to 15 g/kg) is essential to set-in-motion the restorative trends. Site-specific techniques of restoring soil quality include conservation agriculture, integrated nutrient management, continuous vegetative cover such as residue mulch and cover cropping, and controlled grazing at appropriate stocking rates. The strategy is to produce “more from less” by reducing losses and increasing soil, water, and nutrient use efficiency.read more
Citations
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Waste to phosphorus: A transdisciplinary solution to P recovery from wastewater based on the TRIZ approach.
TL;DR: The TRIZ approach as discussed by the authors identifies sewage sludge (SS) as waste with a large potential for P recovery (up to 90%). Successful selection and application of SS management and P recovery require a transdisciplinary approach to overcome the various socioeconomic, environmental, technical, and legal aspects.
Integrating bioenergy and food production on degraded landscapes in Indonesia
Syed Ajijur Rahman,Himlal Baral +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors assess the socioeconomic and environmental benefits of agroforestry systems based on nyamplung (tamanu) (Calophyllum inophyllium L.) in the Wonogiri district of Central Java, Indonesia.
Journal ArticleDOI
Microbial biomass carbon and enzyme activities as influenced by tillage, crop rotation and residue management in a sweet sorghum cropping system in marginal soils of South Africa.
Mashapa E. Malobane,Adornis D. Nciizah,Patrick Nyambo,Fhatuwani N. Mudau,Fhatuwani N. Mudau,Isaiah I.C. Wakindiki +5 more
TL;DR: Tillage and residue management were the main factors influencing soil biological indicators under bioenergy sweet sorghum in South African marginal soils in the short-term.
Journal ArticleDOI
Effect of grassland degradation on soil quality and soil biotic community in a semi-arid temperate steppe
TL;DR: In this paper, the influence of degradation on soil quality and soil biotic communities was investigated on a temperate steppe with different levels of degradation and the results showed that grassland degradation significantly decreased soil quality, with lower values of soil quality index observed in the degraded grassland than the meadow steppe and the grassland from the forest-steppe ecotone.
Journal ArticleDOI
Soil and nutrients losses under different crop covers in vertisols of Central India
R. K. Singh,R. S. Chaudhary,J. Somasundaram,Nishant K. Sinha,M. Mohanty,K. M. Hati,I. Rashmi,Ashok K. Patra,Suresh Kumar Chaudhari,Rattan Lal +9 more
TL;DR: A field experiment was conducted to evaluate if different crop cover combinations would have greater impact on reducing soil and nutrient losses compared to control plots in a vertisol of Central India and demonstrated that the runoff and soil loss were significantly higher than expected.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Soil carbon sequestration impacts on global climate change and food security.
TL;DR: In this article, the carbon sink capacity of the world’s agricultural and degraded soils is 50 to 66% of the historic carbon loss of 42 to 78 gigatons of carbon.
Journal ArticleDOI
Organic matter and water-stable aggregates in soils
Judith. Tisdall,J.M. Oades +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the effectiveness of various binding agents at different stages in the structural organization of aggregates is described and forms the basis of a model which illustrates the architecture of an aggregate.
Journal ArticleDOI
Environmental and Economic Costs of Soil Erosion and Conservation Benefits
David Pimentel,Celia A. Harvey,P. Resosudarmo,K. Sinclair,D. Kurz,M. McNair,S. Crist,L. Shpritz,L. Fitton,R. Saffouri,R. Blair +10 more
TL;DR: With the addition of a quarter of a million people each day, the world population's food demand is increasing at a time when per capita food productivity is beginning to decline.
Journal ArticleDOI
Soil Quality: A Concept, Definition, and Framework for Evaluation (A Guest Editorial)
Douglas L. Karlen,Maurice J. Mausbach,John W. Doran,R. G. Cline,R. F. Harris,Gerald E. Schuman +5 more
TL;DR: The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Ad Hoc Committee on Soil Quality (S-581) as mentioned in this paper defined soil quality as "the capacity (of soil) to function".
Journal ArticleDOI
持続可能性(Sustainability)の要件
TL;DR: The Bachelor of Science in Sustainability as discussed by the authors provides the broad fundamental knowledge, skills and competencies needed to drive sustainable outcomes that address today's urgent environmental, economic and social challenges.
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