Microbial residues as indicators of soil restoration in South African secondary pastures

Lauer, Franziska; Kösters, Raimund; Preez, C. C. du; Amelung, Wulf

doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2010.12.012

Cited by 64 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Several other studies conducted under similar and different climates and soil conditions (Bach et al, 2010; Preger et al, 2010; Lauer et al, 2011; Kösters et al, 2013; Baer et al, 2015; Wang et al, 2016; Kiani et al, 2017) conform with our results that revealed possible reversal of historic SOC and SIC after croplands were reverted to perennial pastures (Fig. 2).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Exclusion of intensive cultivation in the secondary grasslands reduced SOC decomposition rates and stabilized SIC dissolution‐precipitation processes (Wang et al, 2016; Kiani et al, 2017; Li et al, 2018). Minimum decomposition under secondary grassland management is a benefit in sandy soils with low C protective capacity (Preger et al, 2010; Lauer et al, 2011; Kösters et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, it is often used as an indicator of soil degradation. Therefore, replacement of cultivation with secondary grassland management can reverse degradation processes, including a decline in soil C, which is tipped to be the most basic and serious threat to environmental and agricultural sustainability across the globe (Janzen, 2006; Lauer et al, 2011; Kösters et al, 2013; Baer et al, 2015; Lal et al, 2015). Reversion of cultivated landscapes to perennial pastures is also poised to turn soils into a sink rather than a source for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) which is, however, an interactive function of management and other site‐specific conditions such as soil and meteorological conditions (Janzen, 2005, 2006; Kotzé et al, 2016; Wang et al, 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Dynamics of Soil Carbon Concentrations and Quality Induced by Agricultural Land Use in Central South Africa

Loke

Kotzé

Twigge³

2019

Soil Science Soc of Amer J

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Converting grasslands to cropland deprives soils of C regardless of lability or recalcitrant nature. Reversion into secondary grasslands can reverse soil C losses in semiarid agro‐ecosystems. Secondary grassland management improves SOC quality to resemble primary grasslands. Relative losses and gains of soil C fractions are modulated by climatic and soil conditions. Prolonged soil cultivation has been identified as a major cause of land degradation and a threat to soil quality in drought‐prone environments. This study evaluated land use effects on soil carbon (C) fractions and organic C (SOC) quality across three semiarid agro‐ecosystems (Harrismith, Tweespruit, and Kroonstad) in central South Africa. Soil samples were collected from croplands, primary and secondary grasslands at the 0‐ to 200‐mm layer in each agro‐ecosystem and analyzed for various soil C fractions. The SOC structure was characterized with 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. All analyses were done on bulk soil samples. Conversion of primary grasslands into croplands decreased C fractions by 27 to 90% across the three agro‐ecosystems, with highest losses recorded in Harrismith and Tweespruit and lowest in Kroonstad, suggesting site‐specific conditions acted together with cultivation to effect C losses. The 13C NMR spectra revealed a slight change in SOC structural composition when O‐alkyl C decreased with concomitant increase in aromatic and alkyl C due to cultivation, with differences in the range of 1 to 11%. O‐alkyl C remained almost the same in Harrismith, suggesting that lignin‐derived methoxy groups were probably more dominant than easily decomposable carbohydrates as opposed to O‐alkyl C in Tweespruit and Kroonstad. Meanwhile, reversion of cultivated soils into perennial pastures restored and even increased some soil C fractions (by 3–129%) to represent primary grasslands, especially in Kroonstad. Organic C decomposition was lower in the cultivated soils relative to virgin and restored soils. This underscores the importance of determining plant biomass composition because these unusual responses were probably related to vegetation differences. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential of secondary grassland management to rehabilitate degraded cultivated soils with implications for restoration of agro‐ecosystem functions and services.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dynamics of Soil Carbon Concentrations and Quality Induced by Agricultural Land Use in Central South Africa

Loke

Kotzé

Twigge³

2019

Soil Science Soc of Amer J

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“…The ratio of soil carbon to nitrogen was 5.39 in cropland and 5.85 in grassland, and the ratio of root carbon to nitrogen was 38 in cropland and 61 in grassland, respectively. There were more fungi in grassland than in cropland (Lauer et al, 2011), and the biochemically recalcitrant substrates would be more depleted in this case (Djukic et al, 2010). Q 10 was larger in relatively labile substrates than in biochemically recalcitrant substrates (Guntinas et al, 2013).…”

Section: Land-use Conversions Influenced Temperature Sensitivity Of Smentioning

confidence: 90%

Responses of soil respiration to land use conversions in degraded ecosystem of the semi-arid Loess Plateau

Zhang

Guo

Liu

et al. 2015

Ecological Engineering

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“…We found distinct responses of physical, physicochemical, and biological indicators to grazing management. Soils in the focal SES's piospheres were highly degraded, indicated by soil compaction attributable to animal trampling, aggregate disruption, and associated decomposition of soil organic carbon, and a decoupling of biological soil processes (Lauer et al 2011). Physico-chemical and biological degradation were most likely caused by low litter production due to the removal of biomass (Angassa et al 2012).…”

Section: Soil Resiliencementioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the resilience of a real-world social-ecological system: lessons from a multidisciplinary evaluation of a South African pastoral system

Linstädter¹,

Kuhn²,

Naumann³

et al. 2016

E&S

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. Assessing the resilience of a real-world social-ecological system: lessons from a multidisciplinary evaluation of a South African pastoral system. Ecology and Society 21(3):35. http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-08737-210335 SynthesisAssessing the resilience of a real-world social-ecological system: lessons from a multidisciplinary evaluation of a South African pastoral system ABSTRACT. In the past decades, social-ecological systems (SESs) worldwide have undergone dramatic transformations with often detrimental consequences for livelihoods. Although resilience thinking offers promising conceptual frameworks to understand SES transformations, empirical resilience assessments of real-world SESs are still rare because SES complexity requires integrating knowledge, theories, and approaches from different disciplines. Taking up this challenge, we empirically assess the resilience of a South African pastoral SES to drought using various methods from natural and social sciences. In the ecological subsystem, we analyze rangelands' ability to buffer drought effects on forage provision, using soil and vegetation indicators. In the social subsystem, we assess households' and communities' capacities to mitigate drought effects, applying agronomic and institutional indicators and benchmarking against practices and institutions in traditional pastoral SESs. Our results indicate that a decoupling of livelihoods from livestockgenerated income was initiated by government interventions in the 1930s. In the post-apartheid phase, minimum-input strategies of herd management were adopted, leading to a recovery of rangeland vegetation due to unintentionally reduced stocking densities. Because current livelihood security is mainly based on external monetary resources (pensions, child grants, and disability grants), household resilience to drought is higher than in historical phases. Our study is one of the first to use a truly multidisciplinary resilience assessment. Conflicting results from partial assessments underline that measuring narrow indicator sets may impede a deeper understanding of SES transformations. The results also imply that the resilience of contemporary, open SESs cannot be explained by an inward-looking approach because essential connections and drivers at other scales have become relevant in the globalized world. Our study thus has helped to identify pitfalls in empirical resilience assessment and to improve the conceptualization of SES dynamics.

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Microbial residues as indicators of soil restoration in South African secondary pastures

Cited by 64 publications

References 52 publications

Dynamics of Soil Carbon Concentrations and Quality Induced by Agricultural Land Use in Central South Africa

Dynamics of Soil Carbon Concentrations and Quality Induced by Agricultural Land Use in Central South Africa

Responses of soil respiration to land use conversions in degraded ecosystem of the semi-arid Loess Plateau

Assessing the resilience of a real-world social-ecological system: lessons from a multidisciplinary evaluation of a South African pastoral system

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