Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: B. Wang Author-Workplace-Name: College of Environmental Science and Resources, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A and F University, Yangling, P.R. China Author-Name: W. Liu Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A and F University, Yangling, P.R. China Author-Name: Q. Xue Author-Workplace-Name: Texas A & M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Amarillo, USA Author-Name: T. Dang Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Soil Erosion and Dryland Farming on the Loess Plateau, Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Northwest A and F University, Yangling, P.R. China Author-Name: C. Gao Author-Workplace-Name: Changwu Centre of Agricultural Technology Extension, Changwu, P.R. China Author-Name: J. Chen Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Construction Engineering, University of Québec, Montreal, Canada Author-Name: B. Zhang Author-Workplace-Name: College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Xuzhou Normal University, Xuzhou, Title: Soil water cycle and crop water use efficiency after long-term nitrogen fertilization in Loess Plateau Abstract: The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of nitrogen (N) management on soil water recharge, available soil water at sowing (ASWS), soil water depletion, and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield and water use efficiency (WUE) after long-term fertilization. We collected data from 2 experiments in 2 growing seasons. Treatments varied from no fertilization (CK), single N or phosphorus (P), N and P (NP), to NP plus manure (NPM). Comparing to CK and single N or P treatments, NP and NPM reduced rainfall infiltration depth by 20-60 cm, increased water recharge by 16-21 mm, and decreased ASWS by 89-133 mm in 0-300 cm profile. However, crop yield and WUE continuously increased in NP and NPM treatments after 22 years of fertilization. Yield ranged from 3458 to 3782 kg/ha in NP or NPM but was 1246-1531 kg/ha in CK and single N or P. WUE in CK and single N or P treatments was < 6 kg/ha/mm but increased to 12.1 kg/ha/mm in a NP treatment. The NP and NPM fertilization provided benefits for increased yield and WUE but resulted in lower ASWS. Increasing ASWS may be important for sustainable yield after long-term fertilization. Keywords: available soil water, soil water depletion, soil water recharge, wheat, Triticum aestivum L Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 1-7 Volume: 59 Issue: 1 Year: 2013 DOI: 10.17221/207/2012-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/207/2012-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201301-0001.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:59:y:2013:i:1:id:207-2012-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Y. Tao Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Process and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: College of Urban and Environmental Science, Northeast Normal University, Author-Name: W. Gu Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Process and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: J. Chen Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Process and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Workplace-Name: Academy of Disaster Reduction and Emergency Management, Ministry of Civil Affairs and Ministry of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: J. Tao Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Process and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: Y.J. Xu Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Process and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P.R. China Author-Name: H. Zhang Author-Workplace-Name: State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Process and Resource Ecology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, P.R. China Title: The influence of land use practices on earthworm communities in saline agriculture soils of the west coast region of China's Bohai Bay Abstract: The effects of land use practices on soil fauna, especially earthworms, are poorly known in coastal saline agricultural soils. Here we compare earthworm communities in six types of land use practice in the coastal region of China's Bohai Bay, namely uncultivated saline soil, two orchard (pear and winter jujube) lands, man-made forests (chinese ash), vegetable land and cropped land (maize). In addition, we recorded selected physicochemical properties of the soil. Soil organic matter content and total N were significantly higher under pear orchard and vegetable land than under the other land use practices, and their lowest values were observed from uncultivated saline soil. Vegetable land and pear orchard land showed a significantly higher abundance of earthworms than the other land use practices, whereas no earthworm was found in uncultivated saline soil. The sites under individual practices supported one to three earthworm species. Aporrectodea trapezoides species was present under four types of land use practice, and the biomass of this species accounted for more than 60% of the community. Vegetable land and pear orchard land supported richer earthworm community than the other land use practices, dominated by Aporrectodea trapezoides and Drawida japonica. These preliminary results indicated that land use practices have substantial effects on the abundance and composition of earthworm communities in saline soils. Keywords: soil fauna, community structure, biological environment, salt-affected agricultural soils Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 8-13 Volume: 59 Issue: 1 Year: 2013 DOI: 10.17221/374/2012-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/374/2012-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201301-0002.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:59:y:2013:i:1:id:374-2012-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: L. Bohdálková Author-Workplace-Name: Czech Geological Survey, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Workplace-Name: Global Change Research Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno, Czech Republic Author-Name: J. Čuřík Author-Workplace-Name: Czech Geological Survey, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: A.A. Kuběna Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Prague, Czech Republic Author-Name: F. Bůzek Author-Workplace-Name: Czech Geological Survey, Prague, Czech Republic Title: Dynamics of methane fluxes from two peat bogs in the Ore Mountains, Czech Republic Abstract: Methane fluxes were studied at two high-elevation oligotrophic peat bogs in the Ore Mts., Czech Republic. The Bukova dolina Bog was drained 15 years ago and 2 years ago was partly restored, whereas the Brumiste Bog is an intact peatland. Draining led to a change of vegetation structure, dominated by Molinia caerulea, Carex sp., and forestation by Norway spruce. Methane fluxes were measured monthly from April to November 2011 using a closed chamber. Temperature and presence of Carex were significant controls on methane fluxes. Peat depth, water table and the presence of other plant species had no significant effect on CH4 emissions. Methane emissions ranged from 9 to 2700 mg/m2/day at the degraded and from 3 to 260 mg/m2/day at the intact bog. In general, the degraded peat bog emitted three times more methane compared to the intact peat bog, likely due to vegetation changes after long-term artificial draining. Keywords: restoration, peatland, climate change, Sphagnum, Carex Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 14-21 Volume: 59 Issue: 1 Year: 2013 DOI: 10.17221/330/2012-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/330/2012-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201301-0003.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:59:y:2013:i:1:id:330-2012-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: B. Kramberger Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture and Live Sciences, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia Author-Name: A. Gselman Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture and Live Sciences, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia Author-Name: M. Podvršnik Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture and Live Sciences, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia Author-Name: J. Kristl Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture and Live Sciences, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia Author-Name: M. Lešnik Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agriculture and Live Sciences, University of Maribor, Maribor, Slovenia Title: Environmental advantages of binary mixtures of Trifolium incarnatum and Lolium multiflorum over individual pure stands Abstract: To investigate the environmental advantages of using grass-clover binary mixtures over pure stands as winter cover crops, a serial of five field experiments (each designed as randomized complete blocks with four replicates) was carried out in eastern Slovenia. Trifolium incarnatum L. and Lolium multiflorum Lam. were sown in late summer as pure stands and binary mixtures. Pooled data calculated from all the experiments revealed that the soil mineral N in spring and accumulation of N by plants decreased with decreasing proportion of T. incarnatum in the binary mixtures, while the C:N ratio of cover crop organic matter increased. C accumulation was the highest when the seeding ratio of the binary mixture of T. incarnatum and L. multiflorum was 50:50. In the C and N environmentally sustainable management efficiency coefficients, three important traits of winter cover crops for environmental pro-tection were given equal importance (low soil mineral N content in spring, high C accumulation in plants, and high N accumulation in plants). The coefficient was higher for binary mixtures of T. incarnatum and L. multiflorum than for pure stands of these crops, proving the complex environmental advantages of binary mixtures over pure stands. Keywords: carbon accumulation, cover crops, field rotation, nitrogen accumulation, soil mineral nitrogen Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 22-28 Volume: 59 Issue: 1 Year: 2013 DOI: 10.17221/223/2012-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/223/2012-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201301-0004.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:59:y:2013:i:1:id:223-2012-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: M.R. Khaledian Author-Workplace-Name: National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture, Irstea, Montpellier, France Author-Workplace-Name: Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran Author-Name: J.C. Mailhol Author-Workplace-Name: National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture, Irstea, Montpellier, France Author-Name: P. Ruelle Author-Workplace-Name: National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture, Irstea, Montpellier, France Author-Name: C. Dejean Author-Workplace-Name: National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and Agriculture, Irstea, Montpellier, France Title: Effect of cropping strategies on the irrigation water productivity of durum wheat Abstract: The importance of irrigation for durum wheat is often questionable because of possible spring rainfalls in the south-east of France. The cropping strategies i.e. plant density (PD), sowing date and irrigation management were analysed for improving irrigation water productivity (IWP). An experiment was carried out to calibrate and validate the PILOTE model. An adaptation of the potential harvest index to PD was implemented in PILOTE. The latter satisfactorily simulates different model outputs with coefficients of efficiency greater than 0.97. The model was employed for simulating the impact of cropping strategies on IWP for a long climatic series. According to model simulations, the necessity of irrigation is questionable under our conditions. IWP was notably lower under high PD than under low PD for the same sowing date. Under low PD and without irrigation it would be possible to obtain yield similar to that obtained under high PD with irrigation. Keywords: water scarcity, plant density, harvest index, Triticum turgidum, crop model Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 29-36 Volume: 59 Issue: 1 Year: 2013 DOI: 10.17221/370/2012-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/370/2012-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201301-0005.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:59:y:2013:i:1:id:370-2012-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: R. Stanisavljević Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Forage Crops, Kruševac, Serbia Author-Name: J. Milenković Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Forage Crops, Kruševac, Serbia Author-Name: D. Djokić Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Forage Crops, Kruševac, Serbia Author-Name: D. Terzić Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Forage Crops, Kruševac, Serbia Author-Name: M. Petrović Author-Workplace-Name: Institute of Forage Crops, Kruševac, Serbia Author-Name: L. Đukanović Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Seed, High School for Agriculture, Šabac, Serbia Author-Name: D. Dodig Author-Workplace-Name: Maize Research Institute Zemun Polje, Belgrade-Zemun, Serbia Title: Drying of meadow fescue seeds of different moisture contents: Changes in dormancy and germination Abstract: In the past few years in Europe grass seed production declines. This tendency is especially pronounced in meadow fescue. Seed shedding and therefore yield losses are the problem in seed production. This can be reduced if seed of higher moisture contents is harvested. The impacts of drying temperatures of 70, 60, 50, 40 and 22°C on changes in dormancy and germination of seed harvested with moisture contents of 45, 35 and 25% were observed in the present study. The analysis was done immediately after seed drying, then three months later and eight months later. Seeds with the moisture content of 45% that were dried at 70°C were not dormant at all after harvest, but seeds were damaged, which resulted in reduced germination. Drying temperatures of 40°C and 50°C resulted in maximum germination of seed harvested with 45% moisture after three months. After eight months the best germination of all seeds was obtained at 22°C and 40°C. The seed ageing test confirmed faster deterioration of seeds harvested with higher moisture contents. Seed harvested with 25% moisture and dried at 22°C is the most suitable seed for longer storage. Keywords: Festuca pratensis, germination ability, post-harvest maturation, seed viability, seed storage Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 37-43 Volume: 59 Issue: 1 Year: 2013 DOI: 10.17221/551/2012-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/551/2012-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201301-0006.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:59:y:2013:i:1:id:551-2012-PSE Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: T. Milošević Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Fruit Growing and Viticulture, Faculty of Agronomy, University of Kragujevac, Cacak, Serbia Author-Name: N. Milošević Author-Workplace-Name: Department of Pomology and Fruit Breeding, Fruit Research Institute, Cacak, Serbia Title: Response of young apricot trees to natural zeolite, organic and inorganic fertilizers Abstract: The study focused on characterizing five apricot cultivars to acknowledge the impact of natural zeolite (Agrozel type), cattle manure, composite NPK (15-15-15) and calcium ammonium nitrate (CAN) on tree vigour, precocity, yield performance and fruit quality attributes. The results showed that Agrozel induced the highest tree growth in all cultivars, yield and cumulative yield in Vera, Harcot and Roxana and yield efficiency in Aleksandar, Vera and Roxana. The higher fruit weight of all cultivars was found after the manure application. Composite NPK plays a major role in soluble solids, total sugars and titratable acidity accumulation, whereas CAN and Agrozel applications resulted in a higher soluble solids/titratable acidity ratio and flesh firmness in most of the cultivars. Keywords: fruit size, soluble solids content, titratable acidity, tree vigour, yield efficiency Journal: Plant, Soil and Environment Pages: 44-49 Volume: 59 Issue: 1 Year: 2013 DOI: 10.17221/570/2012-PSE File-URL: http://pse.agriculturejournals.cz/doi/10.17221/570/2012-PSE.html File-Format: text/html X-File-Ref: http://agriculturejournals.cz/RePEc/caa/references/pse-201301-0007.txt Handle: RePEc:caa:jnlpse:v:59:y:2013:i:1:id:570-2012-PSE