Article
Agronomy
Pilar Andres, Enrique Doblas-Miranda, Alex Silva-Sanchez, Stefania Mattana, Francesc Font
Summary: The study demonstrates the potential of regenerative and minimum impact viticulture strategies in improving soil quality and biodiversity. Compared to intensive viticulture, regenerative and minimum impact vineyards significantly increase soil carbon stocks and enhance soil biota. These findings suggest that ecological intensification of agricultural practices can effectively restore degraded agricultural soils.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Samira Hemmati, Nafiseh Yaghmaeian, Mohammad Bagher Farhangi, Atefeh Sabouri
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate soil quality in rice fields in northern Iran and identify the main indicators and their critical limits for rice yield. By analyzing 60 topsoil samples, four key indicators (soil organic carbon, urease activity, bulk density, and available Zn) were selected to assess soil quality. The results showed that high productivity fields had significantly higher soil quality index compared to low productivity fields, and the selected indicators had specific upper and lower limits. The study highlights the importance of managing and addressing soil limiting factors for sustainable rice production.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Fengkui Qian, Yuanjun Yu, Xiuru Dong, Hanlong Gu
Summary: Soil quality is closely related to food security and human survival and development. In recent years, the quality of topsoil in Tieling County, northeast China, has deteriorated due to urbanization and abandoned land. A minimum data set (MDS) was constructed through principal component analysis (PCA) to evaluate topsoil quality, and a soil quality index (SQI) was calculated to analyze its spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors. The MDS included indicators such as total potassium, clay, zinc, soil organic matter, soil water content, cation exchange capacity, pH, and copper. The evaluation results showed a trend of low soil quality in the east and high quality in the west, gradually increasing from hilly to plain areas. The proportion of Grade-II and grade-III soil quality was the largest, while grade-V was the smallest. These findings can serve as a reference for future topsoil quality evaluations and provide a basis for soil quality improvement measures.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Jiuxin Guo, Ziwei Luo, Jingxia Tao, Jun Zhang, Zengguang Gan, Feng Lin, Lijuan Luo, Wenqiang Liao, Li-Song Chen, Yan Li
Summary: The study evaluated the soil quality in pomelo orchards and found that mature orchards had higher soil quality index than young orchards. The study also identified unfavorable soil quality indicators such as soil acidification, high altitude, and deficiencies in certain nutrients, which are considered limiting factors for pomelo production. Integrated management practices including controlling acidification, reducing planting altitude, regulating fertilization, and monitoring soil properties are required for sustainable pomelo production.
JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Xiaopeng Shi, Xin Song, Guibin Zhao, Qifeng Yang, Lynette K. Abbott, Fengmin Li
Summary: Building level terraces is a crucial strategy for agriculture development in mountainous areas. This study conducted a long-term experiment to investigate the effects of fertilization treatments on soil quality and crop yield in a newly built terrace. The results showed that fertilization treatments significantly increased soil quality and crop yield, with the application of manure playing a key role in the rapid increase of soil quality.
Article
Soil Science
Jian Li, Lan Xiao, Jonathan D. Bakker, Qinghu Luo, Hang Yu, Jianzhao Wu, Songyang Li, Loretta Pedersen, Can Chen, Tao Hong, Han Lin, Daojie Wang, Yongming Lin
Summary: Understanding the effects of natural disasters on soil quality and recovery is crucial for soil management improvement. A study was conducted on the 2010 Nanping landslides in China to assess the impacts on soil quality. Results showed that the landslide strongly affected all aspects of soil quality, but after seven years of natural recovery, most aspects were significantly improved yet still lower than undisturbed sites.
SOIL & TILLAGE RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Soil Science
Douglas Monteiro Cavalcante, Ana Paula Fonseca e Silva, Brivaldo Gomes de Almeida, Fernando Jose Freire, Talmo Henrique dos Santos Silva, Fagna Maria Silva Cavalcante
Summary: A study in the Araripe Gypsum District in Brazil developed a soil quality index (SQI) for physical indicators of Oxisols under different land uses, showing that eucalyptus cultivation system performs well in terms of soil quality, but preservation of Caatinga still reflects the best soil quality.
SOIL & TILLAGE RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Subash Dahal, Dorcas H. Franklin, Anish Subedi, Miguel L. Cabrera, Laura Ney, Brendan Fatzinger, Kishan Mahmud
Summary: The study examined interrelationships among soil health indicators in pastures, revealing links between active carbon and nitrogen/nitrate levels, and identifying a threshold for soil health assessment. Differences in soil microbial biomass between inorganic and broiler litter-fertilized pastures were also detected.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Wuping Huang, Mingming Zong, Zexin Fan, Yuan Feng, Shiyu Li, Changqun Duan, Haixia Li
Summary: Forests globally converted to agricultural land to meet human demands. Research found that soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, potassium, and free iron are the most important indicators of soil quality in tropical acidic red soils. Land-use change related to significant decreases in SQI.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jiaqiong Zhang, Fenli Zheng, Zhi Li, Zhizhen Feng
Summary: This study assessed soil quality under soil erosion degradation using two approaches (ODS and MDS) to derive soil quality indices (SQIs). The results showed that SQIs varied significantly between erosion and deposition sites, reflecting the impact of soil erosion on soil quality. The ODS approach, which uses a strict indicator selection procedure, can theoretically obtain more reliable results compared to MDS.
LAND DEGRADATION & DEVELOPMENT
(2022)
Article
Agronomy
Zijia Wang, Lizhi Jia, Linyan Yang, Zihao Guo, Weiguo Sang, Lu Lu, Chunwang Xiao
Summary: Fencing enclosures have a significant impact on improving soil quality in Biru County of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, China. The length of time for fencing enclosure positively influences soil water content, non-capillary porosity, soil organic matter, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen, while decreasing soil bulk density. The minimum data set comprised of soil organic matter, capillary porosity, total potassium, and non-capillary porosity can effectively evaluate soil quality in the fencing enclosure project area.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Erjuan Yang, Xiaoli Zhao, Wei Qin, Jian Jiao, Jianqiao Han, Man Zhang
Summary: Assessing the temporal impacts of dryland-to-paddy conversion on soil quality is important for sustainable land use. A study in Sanjiang Plain evaluated the soil quality with different durations of conversion using principal component analysis and soil quality index method. The results showed that the soil quality varied over time and was influenced by factors such as soil organic carbon and available potassium. This finding can contribute to soil quality diagnosis and sustainable development in similar regions.
Review
Biodiversity Conservation
Santiago Bonilla-Bedoya, Kevin Valencia, Miguel Angel Herrera, Magdalena Lopez-Ulloa, David A. Donoso, Jose Eduardo Macedo Pezzopane
Summary: Biological indicators of soil quality are important for evaluating the capacity of soil to maintain its ecosystem functions and services. The development of these indicators was limited until a few decades ago due to various reasons, but recent research has made significant progress in the theoretical and methodological aspects of soil quality evaluation. This study provides an overview of the scientific contributions and identifies the most influential indicators.
ECOLOGICAL INDICATORS
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Liang Wei, Yonghua Li, Zhenke Zhu, Feng Wang, Xiaoxia Liu, Wenju Zhang, Mouliang Xiao, Gang Li, Jina Ding, Jianping Chen, Yakov Kuzyakov, Tida Ge
Summary: Reclamation has been widely used to alleviate land degradation and support increased grain demand. However, the impact of reclamation on soil ecosystem functioning and soil health in coastal wetlands is still uncertain. Through analyzing a chronosequence of reclaimed soils in Hangzhou Bay, China, over a 1000-year period, two key approaches for evaluating soil health were assessed. The findings suggest that even small changes in sensitivity indicators can have significant impacts on improving soil quality.
AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Yiran Li, Sijia Hu, Shanxin Lang, Yulin Pu, Shirong Zhang, Ting Li, Xiaoxun Xu, Yongxia Jia, Guiyin Wang, Dagang Yuan, Yun Li
Summary: This study investigates the comprehensive effects of soil and vegetation properties on the restoration of desertified grassland. The results show that the restoration measures significantly improve soil quality and ecological benefits. The enclosure plus sand-barrier and shrub-grass restoration pattern is the most effective, particularly after 5 years of restoration.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Stephanus J. Haarhoff, Elmi Lotze, Pieter A. Swanepoel
Summary: The effects of maize plant population on root morphology are mainly influenced by season and soil depth in a semi-arid environment. Dry seasons reduce the impact of plant population on maize root morphology.
Article
Soil Science
C. MacLaren, J. Labuschagne, P. A. Swanepoel
Summary: Reduced tillage practices are generally considered more sustainable than conventional tillage practices, but controlling weeds remains a challenge for many producers. Crop rotation is often recommended for weed management in reduced tillage systems, but uncertainties exist about how different tillage practices and crop rotations interact. Our study in South Africa's winter rainfall region found that different tillage practices did not significantly affect weed density in wheat monoculture. Both crop rotations generally had lower weed densities and reduced dominance of grass weeds compared to monoculture, but zero tillage with crop rotation showed similar weed seed bank densities to monoculture, suggesting an antagonistic relationship in this system. Producers seeking to reduce tillage in the region should opt for minimum tillage over zero tillage and avoid wheat monoculture, while weed researchers and agronomists should be cautious of potential antagonistic interactions between weed management practices in different systems.
SOIL & TILLAGE RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Agronomy
Ernst H. Smit, Johann A. Strauss, Pieter A. Swanepoel
Summary: The study found that using cover crops as hay or for grazing did not have a significant impact on subsequent wheat yield, while legume-based cover crop mixtures increased wheat grain protein content regardless of utilization method. Soil quality and nitrogen content improved when cover crops were grazed.
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Motsedisi P. Phohlo, Pieter A. Swanepoel, Stefan Hinck
Summary: The response of crop yields to fertilizers is an important topic in agricultural production. A study conducted in dairy-pasture systems in South Africa found that high nitrogen fertilizer rates did not necessarily lead to higher pasture yields. Additionally, the nitrogen use efficiency of pastures improved with reduced fertilizer application rates.
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Johann Strauss, Karen Truter, Pieter Swanepoel
Summary: This study investigated the influence of three seed-drills on seeding depth, crop emergence, biomass production, and yield. By planting barley, canola, and wheat under different climatic conditions, it was found that seed-drills have an impact on crop emergence and biomass production. Crops established with the double disc seed-drill had higher biomass production and showed better adaptation to semi-arid small grain production regions.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF PLANT AND SOIL
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Stephanus J. Haarhoff, Pieter A. Swanepoel
Summary: This study investigated the impact of maize population density and row spacing on yield in a semi-arid environment. The results showed that different row spacing had different effects on light interception and leaf canopy cover, while the impact of plant population density on yield was related to rainfall distribution.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Chloe MacLaren, Andrew Mead, Derk van Balen, Lieven Claessens, Ararso Etana, Janjo de Haan, Wiepie Haagsma, Ortrud Jaeck, Thomas Keller, Johan Labuschagne, Asa Myrbeck, Magdalena Necpalova, Generose Nziguheba, Johan Six, Johann Strauss, Pieter Andreas Swanepoel, Christian Thierfelder, Cairistiona Topp, Flackson Tshuma, Harry Verstegen, Robin Walker, Christine Watson, Marie Wesselink, Jonathan Storkey
Summary: Ecological intensification (EI) practices, such as increasing crop diversity and adding organic matter, have generally positive effects on long-term crop yields. This meta-analysis found that EI practices have a substitutive interaction with nitrogen fertilizer, increasing yield at low doses but having minimal or no effect at high doses. Tillage intensity did not strongly affect yields.
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Dawid J. J. du Toit, Pieter A. Swanepoel, Ailsa G. Hardie
Summary: Little information is available regarding the liming efficiency of different local lime sources and products in South Africa. This study compared the effectiveness of various local hydrated, calcitic, and dolomitic lime sources in increasing soil pH over time in two different acid soils. The results showed that micro-fine calcitic limes and hydrated limes increased pH the fastest in the first 30-60 days, but the difference between these materials and class A limes decreased over time. Chemical purity was found to be the main factor affecting liming effectiveness, while particle fineness only had a short-term impact. Granulated limes had the poorest performance due to low solubility and spatial zonation of liming effects.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF PLANT AND SOIL
(2022)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
J. R. van der Nest, A. G. Hardie, J. Labuschagne, P. A. Swanepoel
Summary: This study investigates the effects of different forms and fineness of lime on its movement in soil and the subsequent impact on crop productivity. The slow movement of lime in soil hinders the detection of crop growth responses within the first two years after liming. A strategic once-off tillage action can promote crop growth and address soil acidity and nutrient stratification issues.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF PLANT AND SOIL
(2022)
Article
Ecology
J. de Beer, P. A. Swanepoel, J. H. C. van Zyl, L. Steyn
Summary: Dairy producers are exploring alternatives to chemical fertilisers to increase pasture herbage yield. The use of biostimulants, such as fulvic acid and bioflavonoids, can help improve nutrient uptake efficiency, but their impact on yield and nutritive composition needs to be studied. The study found that biostimulant treatment reduced the ryegrass component of a mixed pasture, but did not significantly affect nutritive composition or total herbage yield. However, there was a tendency for biostimulant treatment to increase total herbage yield with additional N fertiliser. Further research is needed to confirm these findings.
AFRICAN JOURNAL OF RANGE & FORAGE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Agronomy
Johannes Stephanus Theron, Gerhardus Johannes van Coller, Lindy Joy Rose, Johan Labuschagne, Pieter Andreas Swanepoel
Summary: Fusarium crown rot (FCR) is a stubble-borne disease of wheat that limits yield in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Crop rotation with non-host crops and zero tillage can effectively manage FCR disease and improve grain yield and quality.
Review
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
G. A. Musto, P. A. Swanepoel, J. A. Strauss
Summary: Small-grain farming systems in Mediterranean climatic regions face challenges such as poor soil quality, climate variability, and rising input costs. Conservation Agriculture has improved soil quality and crop productivity, but emerging issues call for innovation. Agro-waste derived organic soil amendments and non-microbial bioeffectors offer potential solutions, while multi-species cover crops with adaptive grazing can reduce weed pressure and enhance soil functionality. More research is needed to validate the potential of these technologies in Mediterranean small-grain systems.
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Stephan le Roux, Pieter A. Swanepoel
Summary: Establishing lucerne in South Africa's Mediterranean climate region is challenging. Using wheat as a nurse crop may lead to competition between wheat and lucerne, and high crop residue levels negatively impact lucerne germination.
AFRICAN JOURNAL OF RANGE & FORAGE SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Johannes Stephanus Theron, Gerhardus Johannes van Coller, Lindy Joy Rose, Johan Labuschagne, Pieter Andreas Swanepoel
Summary: Conservation agriculture relies on residue retention, crop rotation, and reduced tillage. This study investigated the effects of crop rotation and tillage on residue decomposition and wheat response in South Africa. Results showed that crop rotation had no effect on residue decomposition but increased wheat leaf area and grain yield when rotated with certain crops. Zero tillage and minimum tillage practices increased residue decomposition compared to conventional tillage, suggesting that less soil disturbance can lead to faster residue decomposition.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF PLANT AND SOIL
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Nsovo Happiness Baloyi, Pieter Andreas Swanepoel
Summary: This study aimed to evaluate the differences in agronomic traits among landraces of Bambara groundnut with different seed coat colors. Results showed significant differences in yield parameters, pod number per plant, and growth habit among different genotypes. Anatomical assessment also revealed that some genotypes had better disease resistance. However, there was little correlation between these findings and seed coat color. Therefore, attributing genetic diversity to seed coat color is inaccurate.
SOUTH AFRICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2023)
