Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment最新文献

{"title":"Wheat cultivar replacement drives soil microbiome and microbial cooccurrence patterns","authors":"Jie Lu ,&nbsp;Xiaogang Yin ,&nbsp;Kangcheng Qiu ,&nbsp;Robert M. Rees ,&nbsp;Matthew Tom Harrison ,&nbsp;Fu Chen ,&nbsp;Xinya Wen","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108774","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108774","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>While wheat domestication is reported to influence the soil microbial community, few studies have evaluated the influence of cultivar replacement in modern breeding on both bacterial and fungal communities. Especially, few studies reported the bacterial-fungal interkingdom association by analysis of taxa co-occurrence or co-exclusion between different wheat growth stages. In this study, we selected major wheat cultivars from different decades to investigate their genetic relatedness, plant traits, soil bacterial and fungal communities in the rhizosphere and proximal root zone, and the relationships between them. Our results indicated that host selection had the greatest impact on bacterial and fungal communities compared to growth stage and sampling location (<em>P</em>&lt;0.001). At flowering, the soil microbial community in the genotype group consisting of the 1950 s (W_50 s) and 1960 s (W_60 s) cultivars could be clearly distinguished from those in later genotype groups. Plant traits explained the largest source of variation in microbial <em>β</em>-diversity (12.8–20.6%) (<em>P</em>=0.01), with plant height, aboveground dry matter, leaf area per plant and specific root length being associated with the divergence in microbial composition or quantity among cultivars. The cultivar from the 1970 s (W_70 s) enriched a greater number of microbial taxa with the highest relative abundance, suggesting that old cultivar could be considered as a source of cultivar-microbe interaction. The cultivar from the 2000 s (W_00 s) enriched taxa from the bacterial genus <em>Nocardioides</em> and increased the fungal phylum Glomeromycota in the rhizosphere. At three growth stages, W_00 s root-zone exhibited the highest bacteria/fungi ratio (B/F) and contained more phosphorus cycle-related bacterial <em>phoD</em>-genes than W_50 s and W_60 s. The co-occurrence network revealed more operational taxonomic units (OTUs) from the bacterial order <em>Rhizobiales</em> in the largest module of W_00 s. The increased B/F ratio and the aforementioned taxa are reported to be involved in soil nitrogen and phosphorus availability, suggesting that contemporary cultivar may recruit beneficial bacteria and fungi while weaken the association with other fungi. These findings contribute to the development of microbiome-based breeding strategies for sustainable wheat farming.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"360 ","pages":"Article 108774"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49732897","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":"Five years nitrogen reduction management shifted soil bacterial community structure and function in high-yielding ‘super’ rice cultivation","authors":"Juanjuan Wang ,&nbsp;Ruqing Xie ,&nbsp;Nanan He ,&nbsp;Wanlu Wang ,&nbsp;Guiliang Wang ,&nbsp;Yanju Yang ,&nbsp;Qing Hu ,&nbsp;Haitao Zhao ,&nbsp;Xiaoqing Qian","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108773","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108773","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Integrated nitrogen (N) management has been adopted for the cultivation of ‘super’ rice to achieve high yield while minimizing environmental risks. How soil microbial communities respond to integrated N management in ‘super’ rice production remains unclear. Five years of field experiment was conducted under a wheat–rice system, with four treatments: conventional farming practices (300 kg ha^–1 N), reduced (270 kg ha^–1) and increase N (360 kg ha^–1) application coupled with increased planting density and accurate irrigation, and a non-N control. The results showed that after five years of treatment, the predominant bacterial phyla shifted from Proteobacteria (22.99%), Acidobacteria (17.04%), and Chloroflexi (14.43%), to Proteobacteria (30.83%), Chloroflexi (20.9%), and Actinobacteria (16.07%). The structure of soil bacterial community differed among the treatments, with available phosphorus contents and pH as key drivers in the first year and NO₃^--N content in the fifth year. The highest soil N content was detected in the treatment with increased N application, whereas the reduction of N application led to a 32% decrease in soil NO₃^–-N content. A greater difference was detected in N functional groups in the fifth year than the first year. Following reduced N application, there was also an increased proportion of N-transforming groups, including those involved in aerobic ammonia oxidation, aerobic nitrate oxidation, nitrate denitrification, and nitrite denitrification. Collectively, N fertilizer reduction coupled with accurate irrigation was most effective in regulating soil bacterial communities, especially those associated with N transformation in ‘super’ rice cultivation.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"360 ","pages":"Article 108773"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49696319","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":"Factors shaping insectivorous farmland bird abundance in intensively cultivated arable fields: Insights through the former Iron Curtain","authors":"Adriana Hološková ,&nbsp;Jiří Reif","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108772","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108772","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The decline of farmland bird populations is a well-documented phenomenon that has primarily been attributed to agricultural intensification. However, the specific mechanisms that make intensively used farmland unsuitable for breeding birds have not yet been satisfactorily elucidated, particularly for insectivorous ground-nesting species. To bridge this knowledge gap, we studied the breeding abundance, invertebrate food supply and habitat characteristics of the Yellow Wagtail (<em>Motacilla flava</em>) in arable fields in the lowlands of south-western Slovakia. This region is characterized by the largest field sizes in the European Union, with conditions that are typical for high-intensity farmland areas in parts of Central and Eastern Europe where farmland underwent collectivization. Since Central and Eastern European farmland is considered one of the strongholds of the Yellow Wagtail in Europe, we tested the capacity of winter wheat, rapeseed and maize to support its local population. The Yellow Wagtail abundance was best predicted by habitat characteristics: birds chose fields without woody plants in their surroundings and with suitable crop height and coverage, while the effect of invertebrate food supply was insignificant. Focussing on individual crops, we found that the birds did not prefer the maize and rapeseed fields despite these having a richer food supply, likely because these crops had an unsuitable vegetation structure. The low overall abundance of the studied species indicates that farmland consisting of large fields creates unsuitable conditions for breeding. Therefore, agricultural policy instruments leading to a reduction of field size or the creation of herbaceous field edges should be supported.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"360 ","pages":"Article 108772"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49696343","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":"Integration crop-livestock system increases the sustainability of soybean cultivation through improved soil health and plant physiology","authors":"João Antônio Gonçalves e Silva ,&nbsp;Eduardo Habermann ,&nbsp;Kátia Aparecida de Pinho Costa ,&nbsp;Luciana Maria da Silva ,&nbsp;Eduardo da Costa Severiano ,&nbsp;Adriano Carvalho Costa ,&nbsp;Fabiano Guimarães Silva ,&nbsp;Thales Caetano de Oliveira ,&nbsp;Bruno Matheus Mendes Dário ,&nbsp;Lourival Vilela ,&nbsp;João Victor Campos Pinho Costa ,&nbsp;Carlos Alberto Martinez","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108770","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108770","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This study aimed to evaluate how different cultivation systems in integration crop-livestock regimes affect soybean growth and physiology and understand how integrated systems change soil characteristics and soil CO₂ flux. We conducted a comparative analysis of the plant physiology, growth, and soil characteristics of a conventional soybean monoculture (traditional cultivation method without any plant residues on the soil surface from the previous crop) and soybean cultivated in soil containing maize residues. Moreover, we conducted experiments to assess the effect of plant residues derived from maize intercropped within or between forage grasses on the effectiveness of integrating crop-livestock systems. Our main results indicated that when soybean was cultivated in all integration crop-livestock systems tested, soybean net photosynthesis rate and leaf chlorophyll content greatly increased, resulting in increased aboveground biomass production. Moreover, the integrated system decreased soil temperature and increased soil organic carbon content, total organic carbon content, and enzymatic activity, with no concomitant increase in soil respiration. However, fewer differences were observed between the sowing methods (maize in consortium with forages within and between rows). We conclude that all tested integrated crop-livestock systems greatly improved soybean physiology by increasing the amount of carbon assimilated into the ecosystem through photosynthesis, improving carbon sink potential, soil health, and maintaining a sustainable production system.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"359 ","pages":"Article 108770"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49710841","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":"Understory vegetation had important impact on soil microbial characteristics than canopy tree under N addition in a Pinus tabuliformis plantation","authors":"Hang Jing ,&nbsp;Jing Wang ,&nbsp;Guoliang Wang ,&nbsp;Guobin Liu ,&nbsp;Yi Cheng","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108763","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108763","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Forest ecosystem is a complex community, and its soil microbes play a vital role in global matter cycling. However, the patterns of rhizosphere soil microbial characteristics among tree-shrub-grass and their responses to nitrogen (N) deposition are still unclear. This study evaluated the microbial biomasses, processes (gas fluxes), and enzyme activities in the rhizosphere soils of tree (<em>Pinus tabuliformis</em>), shrub (<em>Rosa xanthina</em>), and grass (<em>Carex lanceolata</em>) and their responses to N addition (0, 3, 6, 9 g N m⁻² y⁻¹ corresponding to N0, N3, N6, N9) in a <em>P. tabuliformis</em> plantation. (1) Microbial biomass carbon (MBC), microbial biomass nitrogen (MBN), microbial biomass phosphorus (MBP) contents, as well as CO₂, CH₄ flux rates in the rhizosphere soil of <em>C. lanceolata</em> were significantly higher than those in the rhizosphere soils of <em>P. tabuliformis</em> and <em>R. xanthina</em> (<em>P</em> &lt; 0.05). The activities of alkaline phosphatase (ALT), leucine aminopeptidase (LAP), β-glucosidase (BG), <span>D</span>-cellulosidase (CBH), N-acetyl-glucosaminidase (NAG), and xylosidase (XYL) in the rhizosphere soils of <em>C. lanceolata</em> and <em>R. xanthina</em> were significantly higher than those in the rhizosphere soil of <em>P. tabuliformis</em>. (2) Soil MBC content, N₂O, and CH₄ flux rates increased after N addition, while the CO₂ flux rate decreased. MBP content initially increased and then reduced with N additions, and the maximum values observed in N3 or N9 treatments. (3) In the rhizosphere soil of <em>P. tabuliformis</em>, N addition enhanced the NAG, BG, CBH, and XYL activities. While low N increased and high N decreased these enzyme activities in the rhizosphere soils of <em>C. lanceolata</em> and <em>R. xanthina</em>, with the maximum values obtained in N3 treatment. (4) N addition directly reduced the CO₂ flux rate and indirectly enhanced the gas flux rate by increasing soil MBC and MBP contents. Species change indirectly affected the microbial biomass and enzyme activity by altering soil chemical properties, which eventually affected gas flux rates. Our study emphasizes the effects of tree-shrub-grass on soil microbial characteristics, which can improve the evaluation of soil ecological processes and responses to N deposition in forest ecosystems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"360 ","pages":"Article 108763"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49696344","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":"Effects of a field-sprayed antibiotic on bee foraging behavior and pollination in pear orchards","authors":"Laura Avila ,&nbsp;Christopher McCullough ,&nbsp;Annie Schiffer ,&nbsp;JoMari Moreno ,&nbsp;Neha Ganjur ,&nbsp;Zachary Ofenloch ,&nbsp;Tianna DuPont ,&nbsp;Louis Nottingham ,&nbsp;Nicole M. Gerardo ,&nbsp;Berry J. Brosi","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108757","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108757","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span><span>Broadcast spraying of antibiotics in crops is widely used for controlling bacterial plant pathogens. The effects of antibiotics on non-target (and especially beneficial) organisms in cropping systems, however, are not well studied. </span>Pollinators are of particular concern because in pear and apple crops, antibiotics for controlling fire blight (</span><span><em>Erwinia amylovora</em></span><span>) are sprayed during bloom, likely exposing pollinators. This is especially relevant as laboratory evidence suggests that antibiotics could have sublethal effects on bee<span> foraging behavior and colony health. But to our knowledge these potential impacts have not been studied in field settings. Here, we compared the effects of two fire blight control methods, a single spray of an antibiotic (oxytetracycline) and a biological antagonist (</span></span><span><em>Aureobasidium pullulans</em></span>), on honey bee (<span><em>Apis mellifera</em></span>) foraging, pollination, and fruit set in pear orchards. Complementing these field assessments, we conducted laboratory experiments to examine the effects of these treatments on locomotion and foraging behavior of a bumble bee species, <span><em>Bombus</em><em> vosnesenskii</em></span>. We found that honey bees visited fewer flowers and foraged longer on each flower in orchards sprayed with antibiotics than with a biological product, but there were no differences in crop pollination and seed set. The pear cultivars we worked in, however, can self-pollinate. In the lab, we found that feeding on high doses of either the antibiotic or the biological antagonist reduced bumble bee foraging relative to controls. The limited impact of antibiotics on pear pollination observed in this study suggest that antibiotics pose a low economic risk to pear growers, especially for self-compatible cultivars. Still, crops with higher pollinator dependence may be affected by reductions in bee visitation. Future studies should examine the impacts of multiple antibiotic sprays within a season, which are common during warm springs, and their long-term health impacts on both individual bees and colonies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"359 ","pages":"Article 108757"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49697229","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":"Double-cropping, tillage and nitrogen fertilization effects on soil CO2 and CH4 emissions","authors":"Jesús Fernández-Ortega ,&nbsp;Jorge Álvaro-Fuentes ,&nbsp;Carlos Cantero-Martínez","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108758","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108758","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Double-cropping is increasingly embraced for its economic advantages in irrigated crops within the Ebro Valley region. However, the implications of this practice for soil carbon dioxide (CO</span>₂) and methane (CH₄) emissions remain poorly understood. This study aimed to assess the impact of legume-maize double-cropping on soil CO₂ and CH₄<span><span> emissions and to identify optimal tillage systems and nitrogen fertilization rates for enhancing soil carbon budget. Conducted in Agramunt (NE Spain), the research transformed a long-term tillage and nitrogen fertilization field experiment initiated in 1996 under rainfed conditions. It transitioned into a maize monocrop system in 2015 and a diversification experiment in 2018. Maize monocrop was compared to a legume-maize double-cropping with two tillage systems (conventional tillage and no-tillage) and three mineral nitrogen fertilization rates (zero, medium and high). The legumes used were pea for grain (2019), </span>vetch<span> for green manure (2020) and vetch for forage (2021). The use of legumes in the double-cropping system had a significant impact on CO</span></span>₂ fluxes. CO₂ emissions in the double-cropping ranged from 250 to 8070 mg CO₂-C m⁻² day⁻¹, while in the monocropping, the fluxes were in the range of 150–5790 mg CO₂-C m⁻² day⁻¹<span>. Due to the higher biomass production and extended crop cycle in the double-cropping, along with increased residue decomposition due to the higher amount of residue provided, the cumulative CO</span>₂ emissions were higher in the double-cropping. Within the double-cropping, the response of cumulative soil CO₂<span> emissions to tillage depended on the legume used and residue management. For legumes with a low nitrogen content, conventional tillage resulted in lower cumulative CO</span>₂<span> emissions, while for legumes with a high nitrogen content, the lowest emissions were observed in the no-tillage system. The increased incorporation of crop residues in the combined approach of double-cropping and no-tillage led to a greater net ecosystem carbon budget, reaching 1960 kg C ha</span>⁻¹. However, the use of high or medium nitrogen fertilization rates did not have a significant impact on CO₂ emissions or the net ecosystem carbon budget. Cumulative soil CH₄<span> emissions were only affected by soil tillage in 2019 and 2021, with greater net CH</span>₄ uptake under no-tillage compared with conventional tillage. This work underlines the importance of using legume-maize double-cropping together with no-tillage and N fertilization reduction to control the soil CO₂ and CH₄ emission yields, while maintaining crop yields under Mediterranean conditions.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"359 ","pages":"Article 108758"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49697228","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":"Traditional ploughing is critical to the conservation of threatened plants in Mediterranean olive groves","authors":"Ana Júlia Pereira ,&nbsp;Miguel Porto ,&nbsp;Otília Correia ,&nbsp;Pedro Beja","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108775","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108775","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Arable plant diversity has been dramatically declining due to agriculture intensification, with several arable species currently included in national Red Lists. This is particularly relevant in the case of plant communities of the traditional Mediterranean agricultural systems. Despite the current knowledge about the factors affecting this diversity, it is not clear how these communities, which have likely evolved under the pressure of ploughing for millennia, depend on this regular soil disturbance. This is an important issue nowadays, because current management practices focused on the conservation of the ground vegetation cover, to protect soil and other biological groups, often exclude ploughing. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that traditional ploughing is favourable to more specialist arable plants, predictably more dependent on the regular soil disturbance. We address this issue in a Mediterranean agricultural system, the traditional olive groves of Southern Portugal, which is characterized by the annual ploughing of soil. A total of 90 plots containing 1350 sampling quadrats were sampled, and all plant species identified. We categorized plants in four target groups of conservation interest, and then used a joint species distribution model to model their occurrence in relation to three management practices: ploughing, cultivation and low-intensity grazing, using abandoned olive groves as reference level. Results suggest that ploughing is a key factor for the maintenance of arable plant diversity. Ploughing had a positive effect on the occurrence of rare arable plants, archaeophytes and on several Red listed species. In order to conserve these high value plant communities and endangered plant species, we recommend incentivizing ploughing using reduced tillage techniques (e.g. chisel ploughing) on these traditional Mediterranean agricultural systems.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"359 ","pages":"Article 108775"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49697227","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":"The effect of water management and ratoon rice cropping on methane emissions and yield in Arkansas","authors":"Marguerita Leavitt ,&nbsp;Beatriz Moreno-García ,&nbsp;Colby W. Reavis ,&nbsp;Michele L. Reba ,&nbsp;Benjamin R.K. Runkle","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108652","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108652","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Sustainable intensification of rice farming is crucial to meeting human food needs while reducing environmental impacts. Rice production represents 8% of all anthropogenic emissions of CH</span>₄<span>, a potent greenhouse gas. Cultivation practices that minimize the number of days the rice fields<span> are flooded, such as irrigation using the alternate wetting and drying (AWD) technique instead of continuous flooding (DF) can potentially reduce CH</span></span>₄ emissions. Ratoon cropping, wherein a second crop of rice is grown from the harvested stubble of the first crop, can produce additional yield with minimal labor but may generate more CH₄ than single cropping. The objectives of this study were first to test different water management regimes for their impact on yield and CH₄ emissions, and second to investigate CH₄ emissions from a ratoon crop and perform an exploratory economic analysis of ratoon cropping. Two adjacent fields in Lonoke County, Arkansas were compared under different irrigation treatments from 2015 through 2020; the 2020 season also included a ratoon crop. Field-scale CH₄<span> emissions were measured using the eddy covariance method at each field. AWD reduced CH</span>₄ emissions by 79.5% on average in comparison to DF for the main seasons. Across the field-seasons, the emissions from the main crop ranged from 77.2 to 132.5 kg CH₄-C ha⁻¹ under DF and from 7.1 to 40.7 kg CH₄-C ha⁻¹ under AWD. The ratoon crop generated emissions from 39.7 to 50.7 kg CH₄-C ha⁻¹, up to a 3.6-fold increase from the main crop of the same year. CH₄ emissions from the ratoon crop in this study were much lower than those found in previous ratoon studies. The ratoon crop yield was 13% that of the main crop yield on average but there was no significant difference in yield between irrigation treatments for the main seasons.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"356 ","pages":"Article 108652"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49709487","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":"Effects of cover crops on maize establishment, root mycorrhizal colonization, plant growth and grain yield depend on their botanical family: A global meta-analysis","authors":"Alexandre Wojciechowski ,&nbsp;Célia Seassau ,&nbsp;Lucas Soerensen ,&nbsp;Lionel Alletto ,&nbsp;Jay Ram Lamichhane","doi":"10.1016/j.agee.2023.108648","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agee.2023.108648","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span><span>The current literature reports contradictory information regarding the effects of cover crops (CCs) on maize productivity. Quantifying the available information helps drawing robust conclusions that may have important implications for research and policy. Previous meta-analyses investigated the potential effects of CCs on maize biomass and grain yield but with a very narrow focus in terms of geographical areas, explanatory and response variables. A broader geographical coverage would help drawing robust conclusions regarding the effects of CCs on the subsequent maize crop performance. In light of this, we conducted a global meta-analysis to investigate whether management practices and environmental conditions related to CCs (i.e. explanatory variables) affect maize seed germination<span> and seedling emergence<span><span>, root colonization by </span>arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, plant height, biomass growth, and grain yield (i.e. response variables) compared to a no </span></span></span>CC treatment (i.e. control). Our database included 5 185 comparisons totalling 53 127 observations from 275 publications between 1967 and 2022, worldwide. Overall, CCs reduced maize seed germination and seedling emergence while they enhanced maize root colonization by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, biomass and grain yield. When data were analyzed by CC families, three different groups were identified with </span>Fabaceae<span>, Brassicaceae and Poaceae showing the most beneficial, neutral and negative effects, respectively, on most of the response variables. While CC mixtures often enhanced maize performance, higher than three-species mixtures strongly affected maize grain yield. Overall, cover cropping into maize cropping systems, especially under low nitrogen fertilization, maintains or enhances maize productivity while also providing other ecosystem services.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":7512,"journal":{"name":"Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment","volume":"356 ","pages":"Article 108648"},"PeriodicalIF":6.6,"publicationDate":"2023-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49709646","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}