Land-use intensification and agroforestry in the Kenyan highland: Impacts on soil microbial community composition and functional capacity

Lagerlöf, Jan; Adolfsson, Lena; Börjesson, Gunnar; Ehlers, Knut; Vinyoles, Glòria Palarès; Sundh, Ingvar

doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2014.05.015

Cited by 55 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…The structure of the SWAT model allows only one plant or crop type per HRU. The most typical systems of agroforestry in the watershed are: (1) intercropping sparsely distributed trees with different crops, (2) trees along the hedges and borders, and (3) woodlots (Lagerlöf et al, 2014;Nyaga et al, 2015). The first two agroforestry systems posed a challenge to be explicitly implemented in SWAT because of the model structure.…”

Section: Simulation Of Agroforestrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Practising of intensive agricultural cultivation, as is the case currently in the upper Mara, continually degrades the soil and reduces its capacity to absorb rainwater mainly because of compaction of lower soil horizons, decrease in organic carbon and porosity (Bruijnzeel, 2004;Recha et al, 2012). Trees on the other hand, aid in the recovery of degraded lands Lagerlöf et al, 2014). High organic matter, presence of live and dead roots, increased soil microfauna and enhanced macro-pore flow are some of the factors that improve soil infiltration after establishment of agroforestry Ketema and Yimer, 2014).…”

Section: Impact Of Agroforestry On Catchment Water Balancementioning

confidence: 99%

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Modelling the impact of agroforestry on hydrology of Mara River Basin in East Africa

Mwangi

Jülich

Patil

et al. 2016

Hydrological Processes

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Land‐use change is one of the main drivers of watershed hydrology change. The effect of forestry related land‐use changes (e.g. afforestation, deforestation, agroforestry) on water fluxes depends on climate, watershed characteristics and spatial scale. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model was calibrated, validated and used to simulate the impact of agroforestry on the water balance in the Mara River Basin (MRB) in East Africa. Model performance was assessed by Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) and Kling–Gupta Efficiency (KGE). The NSE (and KGE) values for calibration and validation were: 0.77 (0.88) and 0.74 (0.85) for the Nyangores sub‐watershed, and 0.78 (0.89) and 0.79 (0.63) for the entire MRB. It was found that agroforestry in the watershed would generally reduce surface runoff, mainly because of enhanced infiltration. However, it would also increase evapotranspiration and consequently reduce baseflow and overall water yield, which was attributed to increased water use by trees. Spatial scale was found to have a significant effect on water balance; the impact of agroforestry was higher at the smaller headwater catchment (Nyangores) than for the larger watershed (entire MRB). However, the rate of change in water yield with an increase in area under agroforestry was different for the two and could be attributed to the spatial variability of climate within the MRB. Our results suggest that direct extrapolation of the findings from a small sub‐catchment to a larger watershed may not always be accurate. These findings could guide watershed managers on the level of trade‐offs that might occur between reduced water yields and other benefits (e.g. soil erosion control, improved soil productivity) offered by agroforestry. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Simulation Of Agroforestrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Impact Of Agroforestry On Catchment Water Balancementioning

confidence: 99%

Modelling the impact of agroforestry on hydrology of Mara River Basin in East Africa

Mwangi

Jülich

Patil

et al. 2016

Hydrological Processes

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“…Although previous studies have reported that land-use conversion could alter soil microbial communities [17,18], the mechanisms of the effects of land-use conversion on soil microbial communities are poorly understood. It is commonly believed that the land-useconversion-induced changes in soil physical and chemical properties result in the transformation of soil microbial communities, but no consistent relationships have been observed among various studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Responses of microbial community structure to land-use conversion and fertilization in southern China

Yuan

Dai

et al. 2015

European Journal of Soil Biology

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a b s t r a c tA short-term experiment was carried out in southern China to investigate the effects of land-use conversion from rice paddies to vegetable fields and fertilization on soil microbial community structure by analyzing soil phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiles. A split-plot design with four replicates was adopted, in which land use (paddy and vegetable field) was the first-level treatment and fertilization (conventional fertilization and no fertilization) was nested as the second level. Our results showed that both land-use conversion and fertilization had significant effects on microbial community structure. After 2 years of land-use conversion, the total amount of PLFAs were 3.54 and 2.97 nmol g À1 for fertilized (VeF) and unfertilized (VeNF) vegetable fields, respectively, and 3.19 and 2.32 nmol g À1 for fertilized (R eF) and unfertilized (ReNF) rice paddies, respectively. Soil fungal PLFAs were 1.04 and 0.87 nmol g À1 for VeF and VeNF, respectively, which were significantly increased by 13.9 and 11.4 times compared with those of ReF and ReNF, respectively. The ratio of fungal to bacterial PLFAs significantly increased in vegetable fields compared with rice paddies. No significant differences were found in the total, bacterial, and actinomycetic PLFAs between vegetable fields and rice paddies. The application of fertilizer significantly increased the amount of total PLFAs and bacterial PLFAs. With land-use conversion and fertilization, soil physicochemical properties also changed, and microbial community structure showed a significant relationship with soil water content, NH 4 þ -N, and pH, which explained the land-use conversion and fertilization effects on soil microbial community composition.

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“…Otros procesos como la fragmentación física de la broza causada por el viento, la lluvia y las heladas también podrían afectar el proceso de descomposición en ecosistemas áridos y semiáridos (Steinberger et al 1990;Vanderbilt et al 2008). Por otro lado, trabajos realizados en otros ecosistemas con distintos usos de la tierra han encontrado una disminución de la comunidad de microorganismos en los suelos de comunidades vegetales con usos de la tierra más intensos (Lagerlöf et al 2014;Hortal et al 2015;Smith et al 2015). No se puede descartar la posibilidad que, dados los cambios en el ambiente local encontrados en el presente trabajo, se produzca un cambio en la comunidad de microorganismos que pueda relacionarse con la diferencia en la descomposición de los materiales comunes en las configuraciones vegetales.…”

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Uso de la tierra y ambiente local de descomposición en el Chaco Semiárido de Córdoba, Argentina

et al. 2017

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R��.El cambio en el uso de la tierra es un proceso clave debido a sus efectos directos sobre la identidad y la estructura de la vegetación. En el Chaco Semiárido se conoce poco acerca del impacto de los cambios en la vegetación sobre los procesos relacionados con el ciclado de nutrientes (e.g., la descomposición). En este trabajo analizamos si las modificaciones en la vegetación, producto de distintas intensidades en el uso de la tierra, producen cambios en las condiciones del ambiente local, y si estos cambios afectan el patrón de descomposición de dos materiales comunes. En las configuraciones vegetales analizadas encontramos que el cambio en el uso de la tierra tiene un impacto evidente sobre la cobertura vegetal, aunque no se traduce en cambios consistentes en el ambiente local de descomposición. Específicamente, encontramos que el incremento en la intensidad de uso se asoció a la disminución de la cobertura vegetal, de la altura de esa cobertura y de la cantidad de broza depositada sobre el suelo. Estas modificaciones estuvieron vinculadas a una disminución del contenido total de C y N en el suelo. Sin embargo, los cambios en la estructura de la vegetación no se relacionaron con los cambios en las condiciones ambientales locales (temperatura y humedad), pese a que se detectaron diferencias en esas variables ambientales entre las distintas configuraciones vegetales. Por su parte, la descomposición fue mayor en aquellos sitios con menor cobertura vegetal, que a su vez, presentaron menor temperatura del aire. Estos resultados sugieren que el cambio en el uso de la tierra tiene un impacto muy evidente sobre la cobertura de la vegetación, pero este impacto no se traduce en cambios consistentes en el ambiente local de descomposición. En estudios futuros será interesante evaluar la contribución de los procesos de degradación abiótica (fotodegradación y fragmentación física) sobre la descomposición y el ciclado de nutrientes.[Palabras clave: controles de descomposición, materiales comunes, carbono, configuraciones vegetales, estructura de la vegetación, clima local] A��. Land use and local decomposition environment in the Semiarid Chaco of Córdoba, Argentina.Land use change is a key process due to its direct effects on the identity and structure of vegetation. In semiarid Argentinean Chaco, there is scarse information about the consequences of vegetation changes on processes related to nutrient cycling (e.g., decomposition). In this work, we analyse if changes in local climatic conditions due to changes in vegetation structure, related to different land use types, affect decomposition pa�ern of two common materials. We found that land use change has a clear impact on vegetation cover, but this impact is not reflected into a consistent change in local decomposition environment. Specifically, we found that more intensive land use types were related to a decrease in vegetation cover and height and also to less li�er quantity. These changes were associated with lower soil C and N. However, changes in vegetatio...

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Land-use intensification and agroforestry in the Kenyan highland: Impacts on soil microbial community composition and functional capacity

Cited by 55 publications

References 26 publications

Modelling the impact of agroforestry on hydrology of Mara River Basin in East Africa

Modelling the impact of agroforestry on hydrology of Mara River Basin in East Africa

Responses of microbial community structure to land-use conversion and fertilization in southern China

Uso de la tierra y ambiente local de descomposición en el Chaco Semiárido de Córdoba, Argentina

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