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Topic Review
Factors Affecting Pedogenic Carbonate Formation and Recrystallization
As a principal part of the atmosphere–lithosphere interface, soil plays a key role in regulating the atmospheric CO2 concentration and global climate. Comprising two major pools (carbonate in soils and bicarbonate in groundwater), soil inorganic carbon (SIC) is deemed as the primary carbon (C) sink and source in areas with low mean annual rainfall. SIC may originate from soil parent material or from the formation of secondary carbonate when divalent cations from an extraneous source are supplied. The latter may result in pedogenic carbonate (PC) formation, increasing soil C content and sequestering atmospheric carbon. Since the sequestration of atmospheric CO2 through formation of pedogenic carbonate is gaining popularity as a method to support climate change mitigation efforts and to claim carbon credits, the mechanisms influencing the formation and migration of pedogenic carbonate need to be well understood.
  • 933
  • 06 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Dripping Rainfall Simulators for Soil Research
Rainfall simulators represent often-used equipment for soil research. Depending on their performance, they could be appropriate for some soil research or not. Dripping rainfall simulators (DRS) can provide rainfall that corresponds to natural rainfall, except in terms of the drop size distribution and wetted area. However, usually there are more factors that do not correspond to natural rainfall, such as the median drop size, volume and kinetic energy. The sizes of the drops generated by the simulator drippers are mostly in the range between 2 and 6 mm, while the number of drops smaller than 2 mm is relatively small. The intensity and duration of the simulated rain can be successfully produced to match natural values, with the most frequently simulated short-term rainfall of a high intensity. Most simulations were conducted at a fall height of up to 2 m, and then their number gradually decreases as the height gets closer to 5 m. Most simulations (58.6%) occur in the range between 20–90% KE, then 33.0% in a range of 90–100%, with only 8.4% lower than 20% KE.
  • 924
  • 15 May 2023
Topic Review
Chemical Analysis of Organochlorine Pesticide in Agricultural Soils
Soil constitutes the central environmental compartment that, primarily due to anthropogenic activities, is the recipient of several contaminants. Among these are organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), which are of major concern, even though they were banned decades ago due to their persistence and the health effects they can elicit. A plethora of methods have been developed and applied for OCP analysis in environmental matrices (i.e., soil and sediment). The entire chemical analysis involves several crucial stages such as sample preparation and analyte chromatographic separation, including detection, quantification, and data analysis. Among them, the sample preparation step is considered as the most critical point to be made prior to instrumental analysis. In particular, the development of methodologies for determining pesticides in soil is a challenging task. As a result of the complexity and the physicochemical characteristics of such types of samples, two main factors should be considered: (a) the extremely low concentration of banned OCPs in soil samples. This is the reason why extremely sensitive analytical methods (including, in many cases, enrichment techniques) are required for the detection and quantification of these analytes at such levels, and (b) the strong binding of OCPs to soil.
  • 921
  • 31 May 2022
Topic Review
Mangrove Blue Carbon Stocks
Mangrove forests play an important role in mitigating climate change but are threatened by aquaculture expansion (shrimp ponds). The change of land use from natural environments to productive uses, generates a change in the balance and carbon sequestration and storaging. In mangrove forest the carbon stocks are larger than in other tropical forest. Addtionally, soil mangrove forest represent 40-80% of Cardon stocks.  These reasons are the evidence of mangrove forest need to be included in REED programs and conservation strategies.
  • 908
  • 06 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Potential and Field Measurements of Soil Carbon Sequestration
Soil carbon sequestration (SCS) is a key priority in the Australian government’s Long-Term Emissions Reduction Plan. Under the government’s Emission Reduction Fund (ERF), farmers are encouraged to change to a management practice that will increase their soil carbon (C) stock and earn Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs).
  • 870
  • 19 May 2022
Topic Review
Soil Carbon Sequestration
Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing, securing, and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Carbon is sequestered in soil by plants through photosynthesis and can be stored as soil organic carbon (SOC). The amount of SOC accumulated in RMS was mostly influenced by the restoration age, vegetation type, and substrate or type of reclamation used.
  • 837
  • 20 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Mechanism of Remediation of Contaminated Soil by Nanoparticles
The varied sources of soil pollution include the application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, industrial discharge, and transformed products of these accumulated chemical residues. These processes may hamper the composition and soil ecosystem. Different types of methodologies ranging from physical, chemical, and biological approaches have been exploited to tackle this challenge. Nanomaterials (NMs) research has contributed to a new dimension for the remediation of polluted soils.
  • 821
  • 12 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Antimicrobial Resistance in Agricultural Soils
Excessive use of antibiotics in the healthcare sector and livestock farming has amplified antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as a major environmental threat in recent years. Abiotic stresses, including soil salinity and water pollutants, can affect AMR in soils, which in turn reduces the yield and quality of agricultural products.
  • 819
  • 28 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Seasonal Changes in Soil Microbial Community
Hazelnut is one of the four major nuts in the world and has high nutritional and economic value. This study employed Illumina sequencing of ITS rDNA and 16S rRNA genes to identify the seasonal changes in soil microbial community, the predominant environmental factors driving microbial community composition, and the differences in soil microbial composition among different species of the genus Corylus. We found that the soil microbial community composition of species of Corylus changed significantly with the change in seasons. Corylus heterophylla and Corylus kweichowensis had more ectomycorrhiza in their soil compared to Corylus avellane. The main factor influencing fungal community composition in soil was the available potassium, while that of bacteria was the total phosphorus content.
  • 801
  • 02 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Optimizing Sustainability Opportunities for Biochar
Biochar is most commonly considered for its use as a soil amendment, where it has gained attention for its potential to improve agricultural production and soil health. Twenty years of near exponential growth in investigation has demonstrated that biochar does not consistently deliver these benefits, due to variables in biochar, soil, climate, and cropping systems. While biochar can provide agronomic improvements in marginal soils, it is less likely to do so in temperate climates and fertile soils. Here, biochar and its coproducts may be better utilized for contaminant remediation or the substitution of nonrenewable or mining-intensive materials. 
  • 799
  • 18 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Glyphosate Pollution Treatment
Glyphosate (N-Phosphonomethyl-glycine) is a broad-spectrum herbicide extensively used worldwide to eliminate weeds in agricultural areas, control vegetation in urban areas, and accelerate the harvest of several crops. Recently was classified as a potentially carcinogenic compound, due to this several countries banned or are in the process of banning its use.
  • 789
  • 24 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Soil Fungal Diversity of the Aguarongo Andean Forest
Fungi represent an essential component of ecosystems, functioning as decomposers and biotrophs, and they are one of the most diverse groups of Eukarya. In the tropics, many species are unknown. In this work, high-throughput DNA sequencing was used to discover the biodiversity of soil fungi in the Aguarongo forest reserve, one of the richest biodiversity hotspots in Ecuador. The rDNA metabarcoding analysis revealed the presence of seven phyla: Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, Mortierellomycota, Mucoromycota, Glomeromycota, Chytridiomycota, and Monoblepharomycota. A total of 440 identified species were recorded. They mainly belonged to Ascomycota (263) and Basidiomycota (127). In Mortierellomycota, 12 species were recorded, among which Podila verticillata is extremely frequent and represents the dominant species in the entire mycobiota of Aguarongo. 
  • 788
  • 20 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soils
Population growth and increasing food demand have led to an intensification of agricultural production systems, putting stress on soils and increasing soil contaminants. Some human-induced contaminants, such as heavy metals (HMs), are well-known and have been present in agricultural soils for a long time. In order to provide an overview of HMs in agricultural soils, it is important to investigate agriculturally related sources of contamination with HMs, behaviour of HMs in agricultural soils, as well as their interactions with soil microorganisms, fauna, and plants.
  • 776
  • 08 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Agro-Industrial Waste Composting Process Enhancement via Microbial Inoculation
Composting is an important technology used to treat and convert organic waste into value-added products. Recently, several studies have been done to investigate the effects of microbial supplementation on the composting of agro-industrial waste. According to these studies, microbial inoculation is considered to be one of the suitable methods for enhancing the biotransformation of organic materials during the composting process.
  • 774
  • 19 Jan 2022
Topic Review Video
Morpho-Functional Classification of the Planet’s Humipedons
A morpho-functional classification of the humipedons could be defined as this: 1) Classification: ordering things = summarizing the complexity of reality = putting nature in boxes, to "possess" nature, to "enumerate", divide, understand nature, get to know our home (oikos) = putting a name on things (just like names for people); 2) Type of classification: Morpho-functional; not objects  but "machines" has to be classified, "running systems", "natural clocks" full of interconnected cogwheels and that may indicate the time, systems that inform us about how they live; morpho stays for visible forms that characterize each "machine" and which communicate with us: if there are those visible forms, then we are facing that type of "system"; 3) Some soil scientists classify (morpho-functionally) only humipedons (not all the soil profiles), only the organic (H and O) and organo-mineral (A) horizons of the soil profile. Because they think these horizons are highly connected to the present day evolution of the ecosystems. The other parts of the soil are very important too, but they don't work at the speed that interests present day evolution, from one to 100 years.
  • 770
  • 27 Jul 2022
Topic Review
World-Wide Data of Organochlorine Pesticide in Agricultural Soils
Soil constitutes the central environmental compartment that, primarily due to anthropogenic activities, is the recipient of several contaminants. Among these are organochlorine pesticides (OCPs), which are of major concern, even though they were banned decades ago due to their persistence and the health effects they can elicit. Soil pollution by OCPs should be an essential aspect of the characterization of whole soil quality, considering that a significant percent of soils on a global scale are in the borderline of suitability for cultivation and pertinent activities. The latter, to an extent, is attributed to the presence of organic contaminants, especially those of persistent chemical natures.
  • 702
  • 30 May 2022
Topic Review
Repeated Plant Debris Reutilization as Organic Amendment
Greenhouse agriculture typically generates large amounts of waste with plant residue (agricultural biomass) being the most abundant. This residue is generated on a seasonal basis, which complicates the external management of the material. Recently, the European Union (EU) has been implementing a policy based on sustainability through the circular economy that seeks to minimize waste generation. The effect of reusing 3.5 kg·m-2 tomato plants from the previous season as the only fertilizer versus no fertilization and inorganic fertilization in 215-day tomato cycles after transplanting was studied in this trial. The study was carried out during three seasons in greenhouse agriculture in Almeria (Spain) with the repeated use of the solarization technique. The plant debris had similar production results during two of the three seasons and fruit quality parameters were similar to inorganic fertilization. In addition, some physicochemical variables improved and the biological depressive effect of solarization was mitigated. The results suggest that the reuse of the tomato plant debris as the only fertilizer could be an alternative to conventional fertilization under the conditions tested. 
  • 700
  • 22 Nov 2021
Topic Review
LISWC System in Atlantic Canada
Landscape integrated soil and water conservation (LISWC) is a system designed to conserve and reuse soil and water within the landscape by integrating multiple BMPs based on an understanding of the landscape processes and knowledge about the BMPs. On a typical sloping field in Atlantic Canada, an LISWC system can be established by integrating BMPs such as diversion terraces and grassed waterways, tile drainage, water retention structures, supplemental irrigation, conservative tillage practices and soil–landscape restoration. 
  • 683
  • 18 May 2021
Topic Review
Portable X-ray Fluorescence Analysis of Organic Amendments
Portable XRF spectrometry (pXRF) has recently undergone significant technological improvements and is being applied in a wide range of studies. Despite pXRF advantages, this technique has rarely been used to characterize organic amendments and residues. pXRF correctly measures elements such as Fe, Pb, Zn, Mn, Ca, and K but gives conflicting results for elements such as Cr, Ni, and As. Among the reasons that may cause the low performance of the technique with certain elements or under certain measurement conditions would be the inadequacy of the analytical comparison procedures used (i.e., digestion with aqua regia), the lack of knowledge of the interfering effects of organic matter, and sample moisture on the XRF signals and the need for a standardized protocol for performing the measurements. However, the speed and low cost of the procedure forecast a greater future use of this technique, especially in cooperation with other fast spectroscopic techniques based on near-infrared (NIRS) or mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopies. Chemometric procedures based on one or more of these techniques will allow the prediction of elements below the detection limit of pXRF instruments (Cd, Hg), or other properties of organic amendments (organic matter, N, electrical conductivity, cation exchange capacity).
  • 683
  • 05 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Carbon in Agricultural Soil
Carbon in agricultural soils is chemically classified as either soil organic carbon (SOC) or soil inorganic carbon (SIC). Globally, the naturally occurring SOC and SIC pools are estimated to be 1500 Gt C and 950 Gt C, respectively. The SOC includes humus, decomposed plant and animal residues, charcoal and microorganisms. The SIC pool includes primary and secondary carbonates, such as calcite (CaCO3) and dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2), and can be classified into lithogenic and pedogenic carbonates. Lithogenic carbonates are the primary carbonates that refer to the detrital particle derived from the carbonate bedrock (especially limestone) that are formed in marine environments. Pedogenic carbonates refer to the secondary carbonates formed in the soil and is further classified as calcitic pedogenic carbonates (formed by calcite remobilization) and silicatic pedogenic carbonates (formed by silicate weathering). Calcitic pedogenic carbonates are derived from pre-existing carbonates; hence, it does not result in net carbon sequestration. On the other hand, carbonation of alkaline earth elements derived from silicate minerals results in net positive sequestration through the formation of silicatic pedogenic carbonates.
  • 664
  • 07 Dec 2021
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