The benefits of conservation practices increased the interest of farmers in the cultivation of cover crops (CCs). This review aims to present and analyze the state of the art on the cultivation of legume CCs, including their importance in protecting crops against weeds, as well as their effects on organic matter and nitrogen content in the soil, physical and biological properties of the soil, and its erosion. The multi-purpose character of legume CCs is visible in their positive effect on reducing weed infestation, but also on the soil: reducing its compaction and erosion, improving its structural and hydraulic properties, increasing the content of organic matter and activity of soil microorganisms, or increasing its nitrogen content due to symbiotic N2 fixing. This review demonstrates that a wider use of legume CCs in organic farming is needed. The benefits of legume CCs for successive crops in these cultivation conditions, both in terms of inhibiting weed populations and improving fertility and soil properties, also need to be identified. Further research is also needed to determine the potential impact of legume CCs on the improvement of the quality of degraded soils, or those with less favorable physicochemical properties.
The ongoing discourse on air quality and climate changes positions walkability as a pivotal point of sustainable urban planning. Urban studies examine a city’s walkability in terms of pedestrian flows, design qualities, and street network topology, leaving walkability comparative frameworks under development. Building on the space syntax theory, this research introduces a “walkability compass”, a four spatial indicator-designed tool for city walkability assessment and comparison. The tools are being tested on eight Baltic region cities: Vilnius, Kaunas (LT), Malmö (SE), Riga (LV), Tallinn (ES), Gdansk, Bialystok, Lublin (PL). The nine-step method framework integrates four indexes: Gravity (Gr), Reach (Re), Straightness (St), and Population density (Pop). The “walkability compass” results reveal significant Re and St correlations; thus, visual and cultural aspects become the main factors in pedestrian-friendly cities. The spatial pattern typology has matched similar cities (Malmö and Kaunas) to work closely on sustainable urban planning development. In all case studies, specific walkability zones were mapped, but the Gr zones turned out to be the most compact ones (the Z-score of Gr was ranged from 355.4 to 584; other indexes oscillated between 209.4 and 542.6). The walkability mapping results are publicly shared via WebMap to stimulate the participatory discussion on case studies cities further development.
Soil is a unique laboratory of transformations and energy flow, and in particular of biological sorption and synthesis of mineral components that can originate from various sources. The introduction of biomass or sewage into soil contributes to its nutrient enrichment. This can lead to periodical excess of these elements in soil and cause their migration from the soil system to underground waters, and eventually to open waters. Grass communities belong to a group of plants that make excellent use of nutrients present in soil and perform a very important role in additional purification of sewage after its mechanical purification. Grasses demonstrate resistance to the presence of large quantities of harmful compounds in sewage; they accumulate and neutralise them physiologically, thus preventing their dissemination.
A b s t r a c t. One unintended consequence of nitrogen use in agriculture is an increase in nitrate content in ground waters. Nitrogen content was evaluated in soil samples from specific hydrographic regions of Poland from the 60-90 cm soil layer, in which this nutrient is not readily available to the main root mass of crop plants and may negatively affect the environment. It was revealed that N min content in specific hydrographic regions was highly dependent on both the soil type and land use. Notably higher values of N min content were observed for organic soils. The highest N contents were found in the grasslands of the northwestern area of Poland, while they were slightly lower in several regions of the main Odra River catchment and west of the Vistula River. The area with a high N min content in soils under maize was significantly larger compared to the grasslands area and primarily included the hydrographic regions of the Odra River basin in its south-western stretch, and of the Vistula River on its western and south-eastern side. With regard to the arable land under mixed cereals, the soils with the highest N min content in the non-root layer were predominantly located in hydrographic regions belonging to the main Odra catchment and to the catchment of the Vistula River in its upper course.K e y w o r d s: nitrogen, spatial distribution, hydrographic areas, land use, grassland
The allelopathic effect of plants is one of the least known factors determining the stability of lawn swards. Leaves are a rich source of allelopathic substances. Washed out by rain or dew drops, or released during biomass decomposition, these substances can impact plants. In practice, cut sward is often left on the lawn surface and can have an allelopathic effect on regrowing plants. The effect of released allelochemicals depends on many factors, including their concentration. Hence, in order to maintain the high functional properties of the lawn, information is needed on the critical concentrations of allelochemicals inhibiting plant growth and development. Laboratory research was thus undertaken (on Petri dishes) to evaluate the effect of various water extracts of leaves of selected lawn grass cultivars. The following cultivars were the donors: 'Areta', 'Nimba', 'Olivia' (Festuca rubra); 'Espro', 'Pintor' (F. ovina),and 'Asterix' (F. arundinacea), while the acceptors were: 'Niwa' (Agrostis capillaris), 'Asterix' (Festuca arundinacea), 'Espro' (F. ovina), 'Areta' (F. rubra), 'Stadion' (Lolium perenne), and 'Bila' (Poa pratensis) – the species frequently sown in lawns. In the control treatments, distilled water was applied to the substrate. The experiment revealed that the effect of water extracts of leaves varied depending on their concentration and donor variety as well as the sensitivity of the acceptor (the test plant). In comparison with the control treatments, the strongest negative impact was caused by the cultivars 'Olivia' (F. rubra)and 'Pintor' (F. ovina), followed by 'Asterix' (F. arundinacea). Among the acceptors, the greatest sensitivity to the presence of allelochemicals was shown by A. capillaris, and the smallest by F. arundinacea.
<p>The aim of the study was to assess the impact of cut vegetative shoots of chosen lawn grass cultivars of <em>Festuca</em> being left on the lawn sward surface on the species composition, sodding and appearance, and over-wintering of the lawn. The influence of decomposing biomass was studied in a field experiment between 2008 and 2014. Each cultivar was sown as a monoculture on microplots with an area of 1 m<sup>2</sup>. The control consisted of sites from which the cut sward had been removed immediately after cutting.</p><p>The results obtained may indicate an allelopathic effect of the cut sward of the cultivars left on the lawn surfaces. The following had the most negative effects on the species composition of the lawn sward (from greater to lesser negative impact): <em>F. ovina</em> ‘Espro’, <em>F. rubra</em> ‘Areta’, <em>F. arundinacea</em> ‘Asterix’, and <em>F. ovina</em> ‘Pintor’. With the exception of ‘Espro’, these cultivars also limited the presence of dicotyledonous plants in the lawn sward. The cover of dicotyledonous plants and other unsown grasses was also recorded on the sites with <em>F. rubra</em> ‘Olivia’ and ‘Nimba’. The greatest negative influence on the sodding of the lawn swards was demonstrated by the latter <em>F. rubra</em> cultivar, whereas <em>F. ovina</em> ‘Espro’ had the greatest negative influence on the appearance. However, no differences were found in assessments of over-wintering of the cultivars at the study sites. However, taking into account the scale of these impacts on the characteristics evaluated, the cultivars of <em>Festuca</em> species tested can be recommended for extensive use, where a cut sward can be left on the surface of the lawn. Some caution in this respect is recommended when it comes to <em>F. ovina</em> ‘Espro’ and <em>F. rubra</em> ‘Areta’ and ‘Nimba’.</p>
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