Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: X. Liu Author-Workplace-Name: KeyLaboratory of Black Soil Ecology, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin, PR China Author-Name: S.J. Herbert Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA Author-Name: A.M. Hashemi Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Plant, Soil and Insect Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA Author-Name: X. Zhang Author-Workplace-Name: KeyLaboratory of Black Soil Ecology, Northeast Institute of Geography and Agroecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Harbin, PR China Author-Name: G. Ding Author-Workplace-Name: Chemistry Department, Northern State University, Aberdeen, USA Title: Effects of agricultural management on soil organic matter and carbon transformation - a review Abstract: Soil organic carbon (SOC) is the most often reported attribute and is chosen as the most important indicator of soil quality and agricultural sustainability. In this review, we summarized how cultivation, crop rotation, residue and tillage management, fertilization and monoculture affect soil quality, soil organic matter (SOM) and carbon transformation. The results confirm that SOM is not only a source of carbon but also a sink for carbon sequestration. Cultivation and tillage can reduce soil SOC content and lead to soil deterioration. Tillage practices have a major effect on distribution of C and N, and the rates of organic matter decomposition and N mineralization. Proper adoption of crop rotation can increase or maintain the quantity and quality of soil organic matter, and improve soil chemical and physical properties. Adequate application of fertilizers combined with farmyard manure could increase soil nutrients, and SOC content. Manure or crop residue alone may not be adequate to maintain SOC levels. Crop types influence SOC and soil function in continuous monoculture systems. SOC can be best preserved by rotation with reduced tillage frequency and with additions of chemical fertilizers and manure. Knowledge and assessment of changes (positive or negative) in SOC status with time is still needed to evaluate the impact of different management practices. Keywords: soil organic carbon, crop rotation, soil tillage, fertilization, monoculture, agricultural management Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 531-543 Volume: 52 Issue: 12 Year: 2006 DOI: 10.17221/3544-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/3544-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-200612-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:52:y:2006:i:12:id:3544-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: J. Pavlíčková Author-Workplace-Name: Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: J. Zbíral Author-Workplace-Name: Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: M. Smatanová Author-Workplace-Name: Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: P. Habarta Author-Workplace-Name: Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: P. Houserová Author-Workplace-Name: Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: V. Kubáň Author-Workplace-Name: Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, Czech Republic Title: Uptake of thallium from artificially contaminated soils by kale (Brassica oleracea L., var. acephala) Abstract: A pot experiment focused on the study of factors influencing thallium transfer from contaminated soils into kale (green cabbage, Brassica oleracea L. var. acephala, variety Winterbor F1) was evaluated. Three different types of topsoils with naturally low content of thallium (heavy, medium and medium-light soil) were used for pot experiments. The soils were contaminated with thallium sulfate to achieve five levels of contamination (0, 0.52, 2.10, 4.20 and 5.88 mg/kg). There were six replicates for each combination (90 pots in the experiment). The first part of the experiment started in the year of contamination (2001) and continued in 2003. The soil samples and the samples of kale (leaves and stalks were sampled separately) were collected and analysed. Kale was found to be able to accumulate Tl without any influence on yield. The highest thallium concentration was found in the leaves of kale in the first year of the experiment and reached 326 mg/kg dry matter. Bioaccumulation factor (Biological Absorption Coefficient - BAC) was found to be over 80 during the first year of the experiment. In the third year the BAC was around 3 for the soil with the highest pH and the highest organic matter content but as high as 15 for an acid soil with the lowest content of organic matter and the lowest Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) of soils. The content of thallium in the leaves of kale was found to be 7 to 10 times higher than in the stalks in the third year. In the first year this ratio was up to 18. From these findings it can be concluded that the ability of some plants of Brassicacea family, that are planted as common vegetables, to accumulate thallium is very high and can be a serious danger for food chains. Neutral soils high in CEC and organic matter are able to bind thallium more effectively than poor acid soils and the transfer of Tl into plants from these soils is substantially lower. The uptake of Tl from contaminated soils into kale can be very high and without any negative effect on the plant growth. The transfer of Tl into kale decreases with the time necessary to reach the equilibrium between the added Tl and the soil (ageing of a sample). Keywords: thallium uptake, soil contamination, kale Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 544-549 Volume: 52 Issue: 12 Year: 2006 DOI: 10.17221/3545-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/3545-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-200612-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:52:y:2006:i:12:id:3545-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: E. Hiller Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University Bratislava, Slovak Republic Author-Name: M. Khun Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University Bratislava, Slovak Republic Author-Name: L. Zemanová Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University Bratislava, Slovak Republic Author-Name: Ľ. Jurkovič Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Geochemistry, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University Bratislava, Slovak Republic Author-Name: M. Bartaľ Author-Workplace-Name: National Water Reference Laboratory for Slovakia, Water Research Institute Bratislava, Slovak Republic Title: Laboratory study of retention and release of weak acid herbicide MCPA by soils and sediments and leaching potential of MCPA Abstract: MCPA sorption and desorption in five surface soils (denoted as A1-5), three bottom sediments (S1-3), two river sediments (L1-2) and one subsurface soil (SS) at two initial concentrations in aqueous solution - C0 = 0.5 and 10 mg/l were studied. No significant effect of the initial concentration on MCPA equilibrium distribution between soil/sediment and aqueous solution was observed. The difference between distribution coefficient KD at C0 = 0.5 mg/l and KD at C0 = 10 mg/l was found only in the case of one bottom sediment (S2). A simple regression analysis between KD at C0 = 0.5 and 10 mg/l and soil/sediment properties indicated that the most important property which determined the variation in MCPA sorption is organic carbon (r = 0.886*** and r = 0.926***, respectively). Similarly, desorption of MCPA was inversely proportional to organic carbon content of the soils and sediments used (r = -0.862* and r = -0.842**). These observations showed that MCPA sorption and desorption in soils and sediments were primarily controlled by organic components of the geosorbents used. Overall, the percentage of MCPA sorption in soils and sediments was low (Psorp ≍ 3-53%; KD = 0.077-2.827 l/kg) and the percentage of MCPA desorbed was relatively high (Pdes ≍ 11-70%), especially in the soils and sediments with lower organic carbon content. The experimental results and calculated values of groundwater ubiquity score GUS and relative leaching potential index RLPI imply that MCPA is very mobile in all the surface soils and has a potential to contaminate groundwater. Keywords: sorption, desorption, MCPA, groundwater ubiquity score, soil, sediment Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 550-558 Volume: 52 Issue: 12 Year: 2006 DOI: 10.17221/3546-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/3546-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-200612-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:52:y:2006:i:12:id:3546-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: H. Fišerová Author-Workplace-Name: Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: J. Šebánek Author-Workplace-Name: Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: J. Hradilík Author-Workplace-Name: Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: S. Procházka Author-Workplace-Name: Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, Czech Republic Title: The effect of quercetine on leaf abscission of apple tree (Malus domestica Borkh.), growth of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) and pea (Pisum sativum L.), and ethylene production Abstract: This study compares effects of 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid (TIBA) and flavonoid quercetine (Q). In spite of the fact that both these compounds are inhibitors of the polar transport of auxin, a number of experiments demonstrated that their properties are different. If the flax seedlings were decapitated and one cotyledon was removed, the axillary bud of the remaining cotyledon grew up more intensively while TIBA (0.5% applied in the form of a lanolin paste on the remaining cotyledon) induced a correlative reversal so that axillars of removed cotyledons grew up more intensively. However, when Q (0.5%) was applied on the remaining cotyledon in the form of a lanolin paste, this inhibition was not significant. In the lamina-deprived petioles of apple trees TIBA accelerated abscission while Q caused an inhibiting effect similar to that of auxin. TIBA applied on epicotyls of pea seedlings inhibited their growth by 35% while Q only by 15%. As far as the release of ethylene by pea seedlings is concerned, both compounds showed promoting effects similar to the effect of auxin. Keywords: IAA, TIBA, Ligustrum ovalifolium, Malus domestica, growth correlations Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 559-563 Volume: 52 Issue: 12 Year: 2006 DOI: 10.17221/3547-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/3547-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-200612-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:52:y:2006:i:12:id:3547-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: E.C. Fernández Author-Workplace-Name: Czech University of Agriculture in Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: I. Viehmannová Author-Workplace-Name: Czech University of Agriculture in Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: J. Lachman Author-Workplace-Name: Czech University of Agriculture in Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: L. Milella Author-Workplace-Name: University of Basilicata, Potenza, Italy Title: Yacon [Smallanthus sonchifolius (Poeppig & Endlicher) H. Robinson]: a new cropin the Central Europe - Information Abstract: Yacon [Smallanthus sonchifolius (Poeppig Endlicher) H. Robinson, Asteraceae] is a tuber plant originated in Andes. In contrast to other root crops, which store the carbohydrates in the form of starch, yacon cumulates the carbohydrates in the form of fructooligosaccharides. They are not metabolized in the digestive tract and thus the consumption of yacon does not increase the level of glucose in the blood. This is one of the reasons why yacon is considered to be nourishment with a high potential for diabetics and overweight and obese people. As yacon leaves contain up to 25% of proteins in dry mass, it can be also used as forage. In the years 2001-2005, the meteorological conditions in the Czech Republic and their influence on biomass production (yield of root tubers, rhizomes and aboveground parts) were studied on yacon landraces originated in Bolivia, Ecuador, Germany and New Zealand. Yields of root tubers reached up to 35 t/ha, rhizomes up to 33 t/ha, and aboveground parts up to 54 t/ha. In terms of root tubers formation, the landrace with the highest yield (29.18 t/ha) was the one coming from New Zealand; in terms of overall biomass production, the landrace with the highest yield (92 t/ha) originated in Bolivia. The crucial factor for the root tubers yields is the precipitation; the length of vegetation period and the temperature are secondary. Keywords: yacon, root tubers, rhizomes, cultivation system, yields, precipitation influence, influence of the vegetation period length, temperature influence Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 564-570 Volume: 52 Issue: 12 Year: 2006 DOI: 10.17221/3548-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/3548-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-200612-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:52:y:2006:i:12:id:3548-PSE