Comparison of organic and conventional stockless arable systems: A multidisciplinary approach to soil quality evaluation

Abstract

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Effectiveness of the GAEC cross compliance standard Rational management of set aside (weed control through mowing) in assuring a minimum level of habitats maintenance

“…BSQar index uses the biological form approach to separate the organisms into morphological classes according to their different levels of adaptation to a soil environment. To date, few applications of BSQar have been published in Italy (Parisi, 2001;Gardi et al, 2002;D'Avino, 2002;Parisi et al, 2005;Biaggini, 2005;Biaggini et al, 2007;Ferrazzi et al, 2007;Menta et al, 2008;Tabaglio et al, 2009;Aspetti et al, 2010;Mazzoncini et al, 2010).…”

Agro-Industrial Waste Management: A Case Study of Soil Fauna Responses to the Use of Biowaste as Meadow Fertiliser in Galiza, Northwestern Spain

“…The sensitivity of the soil fauna to environmental disturbances and the roles played by the fauna in physical, chemical, and biological processes are attributes that allow the fauna to be used as an indicator of soil quality [23][24][25][26][27][28][29] The response of the soil fauna to the addition of fertiliser is variable. Generally, the effects of fertiliser application in moderate doses are positive, originating from the modification of microclimatic conditions or from resource availability [4,[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38].…”

Changes in soil quality following poplar short-rotation forestry under different cutting cycles

“…So far, less attention has been focused on the evaluation of soil quality changes under SRF management (Tolbert et al, 2002;Kahle et al, 2007;Zornoza et al, 2009;Mao and Zeng, 2010), while many studies were performed on the impact of alternative cropping systems, such as the organic and biodynamic farming, in comparison with high-and low-input conventional managements (Wood and Edwards, 1992;Schjønning et al, 2002;Hamer et al, 2008;Lagomarsino et al, 2009;Mazzoncini et al, 2010). As regard to soil quality evaluation, Doran and Parkin (1996) proposed a minimum data set of sensitive physical, chemical and biological indicators.…”

“…As regard to soil quality evaluation, Doran and Parkin (1996) proposed a minimum data set of sensitive physical, chemical and biological indicators. Firstly, most studies on soil quality changes under alternative farming utilised chemical and biochemical indicators (Dick, 1983;Kingery et al, 1996;Omay et al, 1997;Carter, 2002), then the biological parameters became more and more impor-N o n -c o m m e r c i a l u s e o n l y tant in evaluating such changes (Saviozzi et al, 2001;Bending et al, 2004;Parisi et al, 2005;Piotrowski and Rillig, 2008;Mazzoncini et al, 2010). Similarly, evaluating soil quality and health under SRF or following the conversion from food to biomass crops, physical and chemical indicators were largely used (Sartori et al, 2006;Berthrong et al, 2009;Laganière et al, 2010), while recently the attention has been also focused on the biochemical and biological parameters (Makeschin et al, 1994;Guo and Han, 2008;Zornoza et al, 2009;Kahle et al, 2007;Mao and Zeng, 2010).…”