No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The size and composition of the weed seedbank after 5 years of maize (Zea mays

No abstract

Summary• We investigated the functional significance of extraradical mycorrhizal networks produced by geographically different isolates of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) species Glomus mosseae and Glomus intraradices .• A two-dimensional experimental system was used to visualize and quantify intact extraradical mycelium (ERM) spreading from Medicago sativa roots. Growth, phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) nutrition were assessed in M. sativa plants grown in microcosms.• The AMF isolates were characterized by differences in extent and interconnectedness of ERM. Phenotypic fungal variables, such as total hyphal length, hyphal density, hyphal length per mm of total or colonized root length, were positively correlated with M. sativa growth response variables, such as total shoot biomass and plant P content.• The utilization of an experimental system in which size, growth rate, viability and interconnectedness of ERM extending from mycorrhizal roots are easily quantified under realistic conditions allows the simultaneous evaluation of different isolates and provides data with a predictive value for selection of efficient AMF.

Summary• Inoculation of crop plants by non-native strains of arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi as bio-enhancers is promoted without clear evidence for symbiotic effectiveness and fungal persistence. To address such gaps, the forage legume Medicago sativa was inoculated in an agronomic field trial with two isolates of Funneliformis mosseae differing in their nuclear rDNA sequences from native strains.• The inoculants were traced by PCR with a novel combination of the universal fungal NS31 and Glomeromycota-specific LSUGlom1 primers which target the nuclear rDNA cistron. The amplicons were classified by restriction fragment length polymorphism and sequencing.• The two applied fungal inoculants were successfully traced and discriminated from native strains in roots sampled from the field up to 2 yr post inoculation. Moreover, field inoculation with inocula of non-native isolates of F. mosseae appeared to have stimulated root colonization and yield of M. sativa.• Proof of inoculation success and sustained positive effects on biomass production and quality of M. sativa crop plants hold promise for the role that AM fungal inoculants could play in agriculture.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest from retailers, industries and environmental associations in estimating the life cycle of greenhouse gases emitted in the atmosphere from everyday products and services, also known as carbon footprint (CF). Life cycle assessment (LCA) is the most common methodology used to evaluate the environmental impact of a product. This approach was largely used in many industrial sectors and was also recently applied to quantify the environmental impact of the agri-food chain. Within agri-food products, wine is one of the most analysed, both for its importance in economic production and in the world distribution market. The present study is a part of the Carbon Label Project carried out in the wine production chain in the Maremma rural district (Tuscany, Italy). The project assessed the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from wine production for labelling purposes. Here, we evaluated the environmental performances of four high quality wines for carbon labelling. The international standards ISO 14040, ISO 14044, and the Product Category Rules (PCR) Wine from Fresh Grapes (except sparkling wine) and Grape Must for the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) certification, specifically for Climate Declaration, were used in order to carry out our analyses. The functional unit (FU) used here was one 0.75 L bottle of wine. The system boundaries were set from the vineyard planting to the distribution and waste disposal. The global warming potential (GWP) of four investigated wines was found to lie between 0.6 and 1.3 kg CO2-eq./bottle, showing a value comparable with literature. With all the four wines analysed, the agricultural phase covered, on average, 22% of the total GWP/bottle, while the main impact was in the production of the glass bottle. The results showed that the vineyard-planting phase has a significant impact on the wine CF, thus it has to be considered in the life cycle, while in literature it is frequently omitted. On the contrary, the pre-production phase did not present a relevant impact. The use of nitrogen fertilisers, the grapes' yield and N2O emissions were the parameters that mostly affected the carbon footprint in the agricultural phase, as underlined by the sensitivity analysis.