Comparing the effects of soil fauna on litter decomposition and organic matter turnover in sustainably and conventionally managed olive orchards

Sofo, Adriano; Mininni, Alba Nicoletta; Ricciuti, Patrizia

doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114393

Cited by 34 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…While soil biodiversity represents an important biological and genetic resource for biotechnological innovation with benefits to society, it is increasingly threatened by different forms of land degradation (FAO, 2015;FAO, 2017). Soil biodiversity is vulnerable to many human disturbances, including intensive and non-sustainable agricultural practices, land use, climate change, nitrogenenrichment, soil pollution, invasive species, and sealing of soil (Orgiazzi et al, 2015 (Bünemann et al, 2018), are strongly affected by the soil management (Enwall et al, 2007;Jeanbille et al, 2016;Sofo et al, 2020a). When the soil microbial biocenosis is significantly altered, cultivated plants are more susceptible to diseases and display stunted growth.…”

Section: Soil Biological Quality/fertilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil quality and fertility in sustainable agriculture, with a contribution to the biological classification of agricultural soils

Sofo

Zanella

Ponge

2021

Soil Use and Management

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HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access archive for the deposit and dissemination of scientific research documents, whether they are published or not. The documents may come from teaching and research institutions in France or abroad, or from public or private research centers. L'archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, émanant des établissements d'enseignement et de recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires publics ou privés. Public Domain

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Section: Soil Biological Quality/fertilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil quality and fertility in sustainable agriculture, with a contribution to the biological classification of agricultural soils

Sofo

Zanella

Ponge

2021

Soil Use and Management

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“…Organic materials added to soil are shredded by macrofauna into smaller particles and mixed within the soil profile (Sofo et al, 2020;van Gestel et al, 2003). Through C mineralization (CM), organic C in materials is transformed to inorganic C forms, mainly CO2.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, all the organic C is not immediately mineralized. Therefore, the time taken for complete mineralization of an added material may depend on the number of biotic and abiotic factors (Sofo et al, 2020;Bernal et al, 1998;van Gestel et al, 2003;Hossain et al, 2017). Active-C is a major component of labile-C, and it is largely comprised of polysaccharides, proteins, nucleic acids, and carboxyl carbon freely available in the soil and microbial biomass (Rovira and Vallejo, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cellulose Decomposition Potential of Soil as Affected by Vegetable Cultivation: A Case Study in Kegalle District, Sri Lanka

Wickramaarachchi¹,

Dandeniya²

2021

Trop. Agric. Res.

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The potential of microbial communities for organic C decomposition is a crucial factor determining CO2 emissions from soil, C storage, and short-term nutrient turnover. We conducted a study to assess cellulose decomposition potential (CDP) of soils as affected by vegetable cultivation. Ten sites cultivated with vegetables and five sites under natural vegetation, distributed in Atulugama and Kanangama Grama Nilaldhari divisions in Kegalle District of Sri Lanka, were selected for the study. The cultivated lands have been managed with organic fertilizers (n=4), synthetic fertilizers (n=3), or a combination of both types of fertilizers (n=3). Soils collected at 0-15 cm depth were used in a laboratory incubation experiment to assess CDP in triplicates for two weeks. The in situ CDP was studied by placing litter bags containing two types of cellulose materials, i.e. cotton wool or cellulose filter papers, separately for four and six weeks, respectively. They were placed at 5 cm depth in the field in two replicates. Vegetable cultivation had significantly (p<0.05) reduced soil organic C content. There was no significant correlation (p>0.05) between CDP observed under laboratory and field conditions. The effect of land management on CDP was significant (p<0.05) only in laboratory incubation, in which soils collected from the lands cultivated with synthetic fertilizers alone had nine-fold high CDP compared to uncultivated soils. In situ decomposition of added cellulose filter papers and cotton wool after four weeks ranged from 13-100% and 61-65%, respectively. Nearly 44% of sites exhibited values >80% for CDP. In conclusion, vegetable cultivation affected CDP differently depending on the nature of cellulose input and the history of fertilizer management.

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“…A reliable, new and relatively simple way for conducting experiments on decomposition occurring in the soil is to evaluate litter decomposition by the tea bag index (TBI) method, which measures the decay of plant material by using two types of tea bags (green and red tea) as standard plant material [ 20 , 21 ]. This method has been successfully used for evaluating early stage litter decomposition in different environments, and it was found that this parameter is affected by various factors such as soil type, land use, soil temperature, and soil moisture [ 22 , 23 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural and Functional Organization of the Root System: A Comparative Study on Five Plant Species

Sofo

Elshafie

Camele

2020

Plants

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Plants are affected by soil environments to the same extent that they affect soil functioning through interactions between environmental and genetic factors. Here, five plant species (broad bean, pea, cabbage, fennel, and olive) grown under controlled pot conditions were tested for their ability to differently stimulate the degradation of standard litter. Litter, soil C and N contents were measured for evaluating chemical changes due to plant presence, while soil microbial abundance was evaluated to assess if it had a positive or negative catalyzing influence on litter decomposition. The architecture and morphological traits of roots systems were also evaluated by using specific open-source software (SmartRoot). Soil chemical and microbiological characteristics were significantly influenced by the plant species. Variations in soil C/N dynamics were correlated with the diversity of root traits among species. Early stage decomposition of the standard litter changed on the basis of the plant species. The results indicated that key soil processes are governed by interactions between plant roots, soil C and N, and the microbial metabolism that stimulate decomposition reactions. This, in turn, can have marked effects on soil chemical and microbiological fertility, both fundamental for sustaining crops, and can promote the development of new approaches for optimizing soil C and N cycling, managing nutrient transport, and sustaining and improving net primary production.

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Comparing the effects of soil fauna on litter decomposition and organic matter turnover in sustainably and conventionally managed olive orchards

Cited by 34 publications

References 45 publications

Soil quality and fertility in sustainable agriculture, with a contribution to the biological classification of agricultural soils

Soil quality and fertility in sustainable agriculture, with a contribution to the biological classification of agricultural soils

Cellulose Decomposition Potential of Soil as Affected by Vegetable Cultivation: A Case Study in Kegalle District, Sri Lanka

Structural and Functional Organization of the Root System: A Comparative Study on Five Plant Species

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