Soil & Tillage Research最新文献

{"title":"Maize/soybean intercropping with nitrogen reduction: A pathway for improved nitrogen efficiency and reduced environmental impact in Northwest China","authors":"Bo Jing,&nbsp;Wenjuan Shi,&nbsp;Tao Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106696","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106696","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Soybean intercropping holds promise for improving maize productivity and nitrogen use efficiency; however, comprehensive studies on the impacts of reduced nitrogen topdressing on system productivity, nitrogen dynamics, and environmental outcomes are still limited. In this study, field experiments were conducted from 2023 to 2024 in Northwest China, comparing traditional maize and soybean monoculture with maize/soybean intercropping that included reduced nitrogen topdressing at 25 %, 50 %, 75 %, and 100 % of the conventional rate (240 kg ha^–1) for maize. The study revealed that while maize/soybean intercropping reduced crops yield due to decreased planting density, it significantly improved maize nitrogen status (nitrogen nutrient index closer to 1) compared to traditional monoculture. Although soybean nitrogen fixation and accumulation were inhibited, the intercropping maintained a yield advantage (land equivalent ratio &gt; 1). Notably, intercropping reduced soil nitrate nitrogen residue by approximately 10 % and NH₃ volatilization by over 20 % compared to maize monoculture. The intercropping improved nitrogen balance and environmental sustainability, enhancing maize nitrogen partial factor productivity by 26.76 % (2023) and 23.63 % (2024). Furthermore, reducing nitrogen topdressing effectively minimized nitrogen residue and ammonia volatilization without compromising intercropping yield or nitrogen efficiency, despite partial inhibition of soybean nitrogen fixation. These findings suggest that maize/soybean intercropping combined with moderate reduction of nitrogen topdressing can support more sustainable nutrient management practices in Northwest China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"253 ","pages":"Article 106696"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144204906","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dynamic soil hydraulic properties in regenerative agriculture: Effects of crop and forest integration in livestock systems","authors":"Vanessa Silva Romanoski ,&nbsp;Leandro Bittencourt de Oliveira ,&nbsp;Getulio Coutinho Figueiredo ,&nbsp;Marco Antonio Mayer ,&nbsp;Karina Maria Vieira Cavalieri-Polizeli","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106680","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106680","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Regenerative agriculture has been enhanced worldwide to improve the environmental, social and economic dimensions of sustainable food production. This study aimed to compare three different integrated livestock systems against a single livestock system under regenerative agriculture practices, investigating how the integrations affect soil structure, emphasizing soil hydraulic properties. The experiment was established in 2012 on clayey soil at the Canguiri Experimental Station, Pinhais municipality, PR, Brazil. The experimental design was a randomized block with three blocks and four treatments: Livestock (L), Crop-Livestock (CL), Livestock-Forest (LF) and Crop-Livestock-Forest (CLF). All systems are managed pesticide-free and according to conservation tillage principles. The samples were collected in 2022, down to 0.30 m. Soil attributes analyzed included saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), intrinsic air permeability of soil (Ka) at matric potentials −3 kPa and −10 kPa, soil bulk density (BD), total porosity, porosity of large macropores (MAC; ∅&gt;100 μm), macroporosity (MaP; ∅&gt;30 μm), microporosity (MIC; ∅&lt;30 μm), plant-available water (PAWC), air-filled porosity, organization and connectivity indexes and soil carbon stock (Cst). Integrated systems such as Crop-Livestock (CL) and Crop-Livestock-Forest (CLF) exhibit better soil hydraulic properties compared to Livestock (L). The L and LF systems showed similarities and maintained adequate structural characteristics. The analysis revealed the formation of two clusters: the first, consisting of the CL (Crop-Livestock) and CLF (Crop-Livestock-Forest) systems, demonstrated a positive association among Ks, Ka_(MAC), Ka_(MaP), Cst and MIC. The second cluster, which includes the L (Livestock) and LF (Livestock-Forest) systems, suggested a possible relationship between BD and Map. The quality of the cluster analysis was considered robust, with a cophenetic correlation of 0.75. The statistical tests indicated that these differences were significant (p &lt; 0.05). These findings highlight that integrating cropland with livestock, as in CL and CLF systems, enhances soil structure and pore functionality, while maintaining carbon stocks contributes to long-term sustainability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"253 ","pages":"Article 106680"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144204905","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Erratum to “Predicting bulk density of soils with varying degree of structural degradation using single and multi-parameter based pedotransfer functions” [Soil Tillage Res. 250 (2025) 106503]","authors":"Lin Lin ,&nbsp;Frank Van der Bolt ,&nbsp;Wim Cornelis","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106693","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106693","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"253 ","pages":"Article 106693"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144261605","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluation of soil water evaporation and condensation using stable water isotopes under plastic mulching","authors":"Mohammad Abdul Kader ,&nbsp;Yumi Yoshioka ,&nbsp;Mikiya Tabuchi ,&nbsp;Kimihito Nakamura","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106678","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106678","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The understanding of soil evaporation is crucial for optimizing water management in agriculture to improve ecohydrological modeling and increase crop yields. Stable isotope ratios of oxygen and hydrogen in soil water reflect phase changes owing to equilibrium and kinetic effects, which are valuable for examining water-mixing processes in soil. This study aimed to examine the effects of evaporation and condensation of water from soil wrapped in black and white films to quantify the differences in isotope ratio changes between soil columns with and without plastic mulch. A soil-column experiment was conducted to examine the isotopic fluctuation (enrichment) processes of soil water and condensed water using water stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O and δ²H) under the three treatments: black plastic mulching (BPM), white plastic mulching (WPM), and no-mulching (NM). The results showed that plastic mulching significantly reduced net soil evaporation and enhanced soil water storage compared with the NM treatment. The net evaporation ratio (net evaporation to irrigation) decreased more for plastic mulching (BPM: 23.1 %; WPM: 23.7 %) than for bare soil (75.1 %). The isotope ratios of δ¹⁸O and δ²H in soil water were lower in the mulched soil profiles than in bare soil at 0–60 cm depths, suggesting that mulching reduces evaporation because of water retention effect. The vertical profile of isotopic ratios of soil water varied among the three treatments owing to the evaporation effect on the soil surface and the addition of condensation water. Condensate under the plastic mulch exhibited higher (more enriched) δ¹⁸O and δ²H than soil water and source (irrigation) water owing to kinetic isotope fractionation during evaporation. The regression slopes of δ¹⁸O and δ²H decreased more in condensed water than in soil water under the mulching treatments. Therefore, the stable isotope techniques are effective for estimating the ratio of evaporated water that escapes to the atmosphere versus the water that returns to the soil as condensate. In addition, isotopic analysis of condensate reveals the moisture exchange between the topsoil and mulch, particularly vapor exchange obtained using various mulching methods.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"253 ","pages":"Article 106678"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144194823","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Managing soils for sustainable agriculture – Present situation and future challenges","authors":"Bal Ram Singh,&nbsp;Ryusuke Hatano,&nbsp;Damien Field,&nbsp;Erika Micheli","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106685","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106685","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"253 ","pages":"Article 106685"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144261603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Present state of soil structure: A comparison of cropland and grassland soils in North Germany","authors":"Conrad Wiermann ,&nbsp;Malin Hanne Bockwoldt ,&nbsp;Daniel Uteau ,&nbsp;Stephan Peth ,&nbsp;Anneka Mordhorst ,&nbsp;Heiner Fleige","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106681","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106681","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The objectives of this study are to analyse soil structure of representative crop (45 sites) and grassland (58 sites) soils and furthermore to identify differences in soil structure features between these sites in Northern Germany. Using the Compaction Verification Tool (CVT), published by Zink et al. (2011), the present state of soil structure was investigated. Additionally, the orientation of the pore system was analysed by combining the vertical and horizontal hydraulic conductivity. Finally, the influence of soil structure features on crop yield of different arable plants was determined according to the concept of the Muencheberg Soil Quality Rating (Müller et al., 2013). While (sub-) soil compaction within the transition layer, connecting top- and subsoil, was identified on 15 % of the on arable sites, on grassland sites in contrast only a negligible small proportion showed these features. Regarding the correlation of soil quality and crop yield, the results also show differences between arable and grassland sites: on arable soils a correlation was found with a coefficient of determination of nearly 50 % (R²=0.46), on grassland sites in contrast this correlation could not be identified. The conclusions of this study are the overriding importance of soil structure on arable soils regarding plant yield and management efficiency. In contrast, plant growth and yield on grassland soils are more likely determined by management practices (e.g. fertilisation, number of cuts) and the influencing groundwater than by soil structure features. Furthermore, the results show investigation methods should be adapted to grassland soils in order to analyse the complex interactions of soil, sward (including the dense rooting system) and environmental conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"253 ","pages":"Article 106681"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144194795","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Responses of crop yield and soil quality to organic material application in the black soil region of Northeast China","authors":"Ying Song ,&nbsp;Zhijie Li ,&nbsp;Hanwen Chen ,&nbsp;Jiayu Sun ,&nbsp;Xiaoling He ,&nbsp;Jinxia Fu ,&nbsp;Fenli Zheng ,&nbsp;Zhi Li","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106690","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106690","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The application of organic materials is an effective approach to mitigate the conflict between soil degradation and agricultural production. Therefore, it is important to optimize the organic material addition by assessing their influence on crop yield and soil quality (<em>SQI</em>) under various environmental and agronomic conditions. This meta-analysis, utilizing 1289 comparisons from 154 publications, evaluated the influence of organic material application on crop yield and <em>SQI</em> under various climates, soils, and agronomic practices (type, application rate, substitution rate of inorganic nitrogen fertilizer, tillage, and rotation) in Northeast China. Results demonstrate that organic material significantly increases crop yield by 14 % and improves <em>SQI</em> by 6 %. For climate, the regions with mean annual temperature &lt; 2 ℃ and annual precipitation of 500–600 mm show optimal effects on crop yield and <em>SQI</em>. For soil conditions, organic material application increases yield by 3 %-10 % and <em>SQI</em> by 9 %–19 % in soils with SOM&lt; 40 g·kg⁻¹. In areas with severe soil erosion, organic amendments lead to greater improvement in soil quality by enhancing soil structure, increasing water retention, and promoting plant growth. Agronomic practices, such as crop rotation and longer experimental durations (3–6 years), result in the most significant improvement, while deep plowing has no significant effect. Replacing chemical fertilizers with organic materials improves <em>SQI</em> by 1 %-38 %, but substitution rates above 60 % decline crop yield. An Extreme Gradient Boosting model reveals that the experimental duration and organic material type are primary factors affecting the changes in crop yield and soil quality. Extending the experimental duration can mitigate the negative impacts of high pH or use of single organic fertilizer on crop yield and significantly enhance soil quality in regions with high soil erosion rates. These findings provide valuable insights for optimizing organic amendment strategies to balance yield and soil quality, promoting sustainable agricultural practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"253 ","pages":"Article 106690"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144195011","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Seasonal dynamics of prokaryotic nitrogen cycling genes in cropland soils: Effects of soil texture, tillage, and environmental factors","authors":"Jingjing Yang ,&nbsp;Damien R. Finn ,&nbsp;Haotian Wang ,&nbsp;Joachim Brunotte ,&nbsp;Christoph C. Tebbe","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106694","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106694","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In cropland, prokaryotic microbiomes mediate the biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen (N), which is typically supplied at large amounts for plant growth promotion. While genes encoding for key enzymes of the N cycle in soil have been identified, little is known about their seasonal variation along cropping cycles. Here, we followed over a period of two years at 2-week intervals with quantitative PCR the abundance of seven N-functional genes on three neighboring fields at an operational farm in Northern Germany. The fields differed in soil texture (clay or loam) and soil management (soil conservation vs. conventional tillage). Total N (TN) was the main factor driving temporal dynamics of all seven N-functional genes, while total carbon, temperature, fertilization events and soil tillage were less important. Precipitation, and thus soil moisture, negatively affected gene abundances, and this effect was more pronounced in loam than in clay. Clear differences could be detected for the abundance of archaeal and bacterial <em>amoA</em> and also, though less stringent, for <em>nirS/K</em> but not for <em>nosZI/nosZII</em>. The contrasting responses of the two former suggests distinct preferences in response to different textures and tillage regimes. Overall, this study demonstrates that in cropland, the seasonal dynamics of N functional genes depends on the TN contents, which is variable in response to soil moisture, texture and tillage. The coexistence of alternative prokaryotic genes encoding for the same enzymatic reactions reflects their specific adaptations to different environmental conditions, which can result in high, but also low correlations between them.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"253 ","pages":"Article 106694"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144189325","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Recycling fishery waste into biobased fertilizers: Agronomic performance and soil health impacts","authors":"Jingsi Zhang ,&nbsp;Liina Edesi ,&nbsp;Tiina Talve ,&nbsp;Çağrı Akyol ,&nbsp;Birgit Koll ,&nbsp;Ireene Roman ,&nbsp;Merili Toom ,&nbsp;Marta Aranguren ,&nbsp;Susana Virgel Mentxaka ,&nbsp;Annely Kuu ,&nbsp;Stefaan De Neve ,&nbsp;Erik Meers","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106686","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106686","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study evaluated the agronomic performance and soil impact of biobased fertilizers derived from fishery waste and by-products as circular alternatives to synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizers in short-term field experiments with broccoli. Four biobased fertilizers — bokashi pellet (BP), nutrient solution with amino acids (NPKA), fish sludge pellet (FSP), and protein fraction (PF) — were obtained from pilot installations across Europe. The evaluation focused on soil mineral N (SMN) dynamics, N use efficiency (NUE), crop yield, and soil biological responses. One week after transplanting and fertilization, SMN levels in the topsoil (0–10 cm) were the highest in the NPKA (253 ± 94 kg ha⁻¹) and PF (181 ± 45 kg ha⁻¹) treatments, comparble to the mineral fertilizer (MF; 237 ± 5 kg ha⁻¹). In contrast, FSP (68 ± 17 kg ha⁻¹) and BP (30 ± 11 kg ha⁻¹) did not significantly differ from the unfertilized soil (40 ± 5 kg ha⁻¹). Early SMN availability showed a strong positive correlation with broccoli yield and N uptake. Crop yields ranged from 8594 to 14,842 kg ha⁻¹ among the organic treatments, with NPKA and PF performing comparably to MF (14,726 kg ha⁻¹) and substantially better than FSP and BP. The control treatment (CON) yielded 9252 kg ha⁻¹ . NPKA and PF also demonstrated the highest NUE values (108 % and 84.8 %, respectively), with estimated mineral fertilizer equivalents of 79.5 % and 62.7 %. Soil biological activity showed treatment-specific responses. Dehydrogenase activity, microbial biomass carbon, and phospholipid fatty acid profiles in the 0–10 cm soil layer were significantly affected by fertilizer treatments, though most microbial indicators returned to baseline levels post-harvest. Soil fauna responses were variable: Springtail abundance declined under MF, whereas mite populations were more sensitive to organic treatments. Overall, the findings suggest that certain biobased fertilizers, particularly NPKA and PF, can effectively replace mineral N fertilizers, maintaining crop productivity while enhancing soil health indicators. These results support the integration of fish waste-based biobased fertilizers into sustainable agricultural practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"253 ","pages":"Article 106686"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144185273","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Erratum to “Multiyear crop residue cover mapping using narrow-band vs. broad-band shortwave infrared satellite imagery” [Soil Tillage Res. 251 (2025) 1–19]","authors":"Brian T. Lamb ,&nbsp;W. Dean Hively ,&nbsp;Jyoti Jennewein ,&nbsp;Alison Thieme ,&nbsp;Alexander M. Soroka ,&nbsp;Leticia Santos ,&nbsp;Daniela Jones ,&nbsp;Steven Mirsky","doi":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106692","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.still.2025.106692","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":49503,"journal":{"name":"Soil & Tillage Research","volume":"253 ","pages":"Article 106692"},"PeriodicalIF":6.1,"publicationDate":"2025-05-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144261604","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}