Soil engineering by macroinvertebrates: controls on soil organic matter storage across land use change

Franco, André L.C.

doi:10.11606/t.11.2015.tde-26052015-165800

Cited by 4 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 96 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…High AGS values are typically reported in studies on weathered Brazilian soils (e.g., Madari et al, 2005;Barthès et al, 2008), being associated primarily with a clay mineral composition dominated by Fe and Al oxides and 1:1 mineral layering in these soils (Six et al, 2000). In addition, Franco (2015) verified that soil macrofauna abundance plays important role in the soil aggregation processes in tropical soils; therefore, greater AGS under native vegetation and pasture are consistent with a greater abundance of soil engineering invertebrates (i.e., earthworms and termites) in these areas (Franco, 2015). The SMAF scoring curves for AGS (more-is-better sigmoidal shapes) takes into account differences in SOM, texture, and Fe oxide content (Andrews et al, 2004).…”

Section: Soil Physical Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 87%

A Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) Evaluation of Brazilian Sugarcane Expansion on Soil Quality

Cherubin

Karlen

Franco

et al. 2016

Soil Science Soc of Amer J

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) was developed to evaluate impacts of land use and management practices on soil quality (SQ), but its suitability for Brazilian tropical soils was unknown. We hypothesized that SMAF would be sensitive enough to detect SQ changes associated with sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) expansion for ethanol production. Field studies were performed at three sites across the south-central region of Brazil, aiming to quantify the impacts of a land use change sequence (i.e., native vegetation-pasture-sugarcane) on SQ. Eight soil indicators were individually scored using SMAF curves developed primarily for North American soils and integrated into an overall Soil Quality Index (SQI) and its chemical, physical, and biological sectors. The SMAF scores were correlated with two other approaches used to assess SQ changes, soil organic C (SoC) stocks and Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS) scores. our findings showed that the SMAF was an efficient tool for assessing land use change effects on the SQ of Brazilian tropical soils. The SMAF scoring curves developed using robust algorithms allowed proper assignment of scores for the soil chemical, physical, and biological indicators assessed. The SQI scores were significantly correlated with SoC stocks and VESS scores. Long-term transition from native vegetation to extensive pasture promoted significant decreases in soil chemical, physical, and biological indicators. overall SQI suggested that soils under native vegetation were functioning at 87% of their potential capacity, while pasture soils were functioning at 70%. Conversions of pasture to sugarcane induced slight improvements in SQ, primarily because of improved soil fertility. Sugarcane soils are functioning at 74% of their potential capacity. Based on this study, management strategies were developed to improve SQ and the sustainability of sugarcane production in Brazil.Abbreviations: AGS, macroaggregate stability; BD, bulk density; BG, b-glucosidase activity; MBC, microbial biomass carbon; SMAF, Soil Management Assessment Framework; SQ, soil quality; SQI, soil quality index; SOC, soil organic carbon; VESS, Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure. S oil quality or health is a key factor required to achieve sustainable agricultural systems that will meet our increasing demands for food, feed, fiber, and fuels. Therefore, in recent decades SQ has been discussed worldwide and become a major agenda item for the scientific community (Karlen et al., , 2014a. Soil quality was defined as the capacity of a specific kind of soil to function, within natural or managed ecosystem boundaries, to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and support human health and habitation (Karlen et al., 1997 Core Ideas:• The SMAF efficiently detected soil quality changes under Brazilian tropical conditions.• Soil Quality Index was 0.87 (native vegetation), 0.70 (pasture), and 0.74 (sugarcane).• Sugarcane expansion improves soil quality, mainly due to increasing so...

show abstract

Section: Soil Physical Indicatorsmentioning

confidence: 87%

A Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) Evaluation of Brazilian Sugarcane Expansion on Soil Quality

Cherubin

Karlen

Franco

et al. 2016

Soil Science Soc of Amer J

100

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In this study, higher densities of macrofauna animals were specially related to the wide dominance of termites in the communities of pasture soils at Lat_17S and Lat_23S (FRANCO, 2015). It was clearly the cause of the negative relationships between macrofauna density and the all the others biological variables.…”

Section: Implications Of Macrofauna On P Cyclingmentioning

confidence: 47%

“…The role of soil macroinvertebrates in mediating changes in P pools under the LUC scenarios was studied correlating data of soil P pools with data of macrofauna variables provided by Franco (2015) at the same site and time studied here. Briefly, at each soil sampling point macrofauna numbers were determined using the standard Tropical Soil …”

Section: Soil Attributes and Macrofauna Variablesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The conversion of natural ecosystems or pastures for agricultural purposes in tropical soils generally increases labile P pool due to low native P levels in natural ecosystem/pastures and inputs by phosphate fertilizers, as reported by Negassa and Leinweber (2009). The assumption that increasing pH increases plant-available P (HAYNES, 1984) was also confirmed by positive correlations between labile P and acidity attributes (Table 2) There was a higher contribution of organic P (58%) to the labile P pool for pasture areas (Table 1; Figure 4) representing significant P-recycling (COSTA et al, 2014;CREWS;BROOKES, 2014;STUTTER et al, 2015), where up to 85% of the P taken up by plants is returned to the soil through animal dung (NASH et al, 2014) and associated with greater soil biological activity (LAVELLE et al, 2014;FRANCO, 2015).…”

Section: Sugarcane Expansion and Its Implications On P Dynamicmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…nevertheless, lower soil biological activity in sugarcane fields (FRANCO, 2015) may result in lower turnover of soil organic P, and consequently, an insufficient P supply for the sugarcane crop. The release of P from crop residues is significantly reduced in systems where the Pstatus of crops and soils is low, requiring strong integration between organically cycled P with fertilizer management strategies (DAMON et al, 2014).…”

Section: Sugarcane Expansion and Its Implications On P Dynamicmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Soil quality response to land-use change for sugarcane expansion in Brazil

Cherubin¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ant nests effect on organic matter, carbon, and nitrogen flux in the soil under grasses tufts in Lamto savannah (Côte d'Ivoire)

Ouattara

Yeo

Kouakou

et al. 2023

Agrosystems Geosci & Env

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ants are known to contribute to the physical and chemical improvement of the soil. In this context, the hypothesis put forward is that ants improve the nitrogen (N) supplementation necessary to ensure the high primary production measured in the Lamto savannah. Recent investigations in the humid savannah ecosystem showed that ant nests’ association with perennial grasses enhances their growth, productivity, and microorganism activity. This study aimed at understanding the effect of ant nests on organic matter (OM), carbon (C), and N flux beneath grass tufts. Under each grass tuft chosen to carry out this study, soil samples were taken from the depths of 0–10 cm using an auger at shrubby, clear grassy, and transitional grassy savannah. The analytical method by incineration of the loss on fire was used to determine the OM amount. The Kjeldahl method was used to determine the total N amount in the soil under grass tufts. The results showed that these components’ amount is higher beneath grass tufts associated with ant nests than those not associated with ant nests. The presence of ant nests increases OM and C amount in the soil under Hyparrhenia diplandra tufts than Andropogon schirensis, and Loudetia simplex tufts. In contrast, N amount is higher under L. simplex tufts than A. schirensis; but mean under H. diplandra. The carbon/nitrogen ratios less than 10 indicate high OM mineralization under grass tufts associated with ant nests. This provides the plants with an adequate supply of nutrients.

show abstract

Soil engineering by macroinvertebrates: controls on soil organic matter storage across land use change

Cited by 4 publications

References 96 publications

A Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) Evaluation of Brazilian Sugarcane Expansion on Soil Quality

A Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) Evaluation of Brazilian Sugarcane Expansion on Soil Quality

Soil quality response to land-use change for sugarcane expansion in Brazil

Ant nests effect on organic matter, carbon, and nitrogen flux in the soil under grasses tufts in Lamto savannah (Côte d'Ivoire)

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About