Georg Cadisch

Driven by nature : plant litter quality and decomposition

Pathways and processes in decomposition foraging, feeding and feedback manipulation of plant litter quality synchrony and soil organic matter - theory into practice? building soil organic matter modelling - providing the framework.

Organic inputs for soil fertility management in tropical agroecosystems: application of an organic resource database

Organic resources play a critical role in both short-term nutrient availability and longer-term maintenance of soil organic matter in most smaller holder farming systems in the tropics. Despite this importance, there is little predictive understanding for the management of organic inputs in tropical agroecosystems. In this paper, an organic resource database (ORD) is introduced that contains information on organic resource quality parameters including macronutrient, lignin and polyphenol contents of fresh leaves, litter, stems and/or roots from almost 300 species found in tropical agroecosystems. Data on the soil and climate from where the material was collected are also included, as are decomposition and nutrient release rates of many of the organic inputs. Examples of uses of ORD are provided in the paper: (1) nutrient contents (including median values and ranges) and other resource quality parameters of farmyard manure and crop residues are compared to that of alternative nutrient sources such as different plant parts and plant types; (2) nutrient stocks found in farm boundary hedges are estimated and evaluated as a source of nutrients for soil fertility management; (3) hypotheses regarding the indices and critical values of N, lignin, and polyphenol contents for predicting N release rates are tested; (4) organic materials for soil fertility management experiments are selected. This database, when coupled with models and decision support tools, will help advance organic matter management for soil fertility improvement from an empirical to a predictive practice.

Nitrous oxide emissions following application of residues and fertiliser under zero and conventional tillage

Emissions of N2O were measured following combined applications of inorganic N fertiliser and crop residues to a silt loam soil in S.E. England, UK. Effects of cultivation technique and residue application on N2O emissions were examined over 2 years. N2O emissions were increased in the presence of residues and were further increased where NH4NO3 fertiliser (200 kg N ha−1) was applied. Large fluxes of N2O were measured from the zero till treatments after residue and fertiliser application, with 2.5 kg N2O-N ha−1 measured over the first 23 days after application of fertiliser in combination with rye (Secale cereale) residues under zero tillage. CO2 emissions were larger in the zero till than in the conventional till treatments. A significant tillage/residue interaction was found. Highest emissions were measured from the conventionally tilled bean (Vicia faba) (1.0 kg N2O-N ha−1 emitted over 65 days) and zero tilled rye (3.5 kg N2O-N ha−1 over 65 days) treatments. This was attributed to rapid release of N following incorporation of bean residues in the conventionally tilled treatments, and availability of readily degradable C from the rye in the presence of anaerobic conditions under the mulch in the zero tilled treatments. Measurement of 15N-N2O emission following application of 15N-labelled fertiliser to microplots indicated that surface mulching of residues in zero till treatments resulted in a greater proportion of fertiliser N being lost as N2O than with incorporation of residues. Combined applications of 15N fertiliser and bean residues resulted in higher or lower emissions, depending on cultivation technique, when compared with the sum of N2O from single applications. Such interactions have important implications for mitigation of N2O from agricultural soils.

ISOTOPIC (13C) FRACTIONATION DURING PLANT RESIDUE DECOMPOSITION AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR SOIL ORGANIC MATTER STUDIES

Carbon isotopic fractionations in plant materials and those occurring during decomposition have direct implications in studies of short-and longer-term soil organic matter dynamics. Thus the products of decomposition, the evolved CO(2) and the newly formed soil organic matter, may vary in their (13)C signature from that of the original plant material. To evaluate the importance of such fractionation processes, the variations in (13)C signatures between and within plant parts of a tropical grass (Brachiaria humidicola) and tropical legume (Desmodium ovalifolium) were measured and the changes in (13)C content (signatures) during decomposition were monitored over a period of four months. As expected the grass materials were less depleted in (13)C (-11.4 to -11.9 per thousand) than those of the legume (-27.3 to -25.8 per thousand). Root materials of the legume were less (1.5 per thousand) depleted in (13)C compared with the leaves. Plant lignin-C was strongly depleted in (13)C compared with the bulk material by up to 2.5 per thousand in the legume and up to 4.7 per thousand in the grass. Plant materials were subsequently incubated in a sand/nutrient-solution/microbial inoculum mixture. The respiration product CO(2) was trapped in NaOH and precipitated as CaCO(3), suitable for analysis using an automated C/N analyser coupled to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. Significant depletion in (13)C of the evolved CO(2) was observed during the initial stages of decomposition probably as a result of microbial fractionation as it was not associated with the (13)C signatures of the measured more decomposable fractions (non-acid detergent fibre and cellulose). While the cumulative CO(2)-(13)C signatures of legume materials became slightly enriched with ongoing decomposition, the CO(2)-C of the grass materials remained depleted in (13)C. Associated isotopic fractionation correction factors for source identification of CO(2-)C varied with time and suggested errors of 2-19% in the estimation of the plant-derived C at 119 days of incubation in a soil of an intermediate (-20.0 per thousand) (13)C signature. Analysis of the residual material after 119 days of incubation showed little or no change in the (13)C signature partly due to the incomplete decomposition at the time of harvesting. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Implications of livestock feeding management on soil fertility in the smallholder farming systems of sub-Saharan Africa

The role of livestock in nitrogen cycling in mixed crop‐livestock farming systems of sub-Saharan Africa was explored. Cattle were fed a range of diets to investigate the effects on partitioning of nitrogen between urine and faeces and on the chemical composition of the manures produced. The trade-offs in efficiency between using the feed resources as a direct soil amendment for crop production compared with feeding to livestock and use of the manure as a fertiliser are discussed. Increased dry matter (DM) and nitrogen intake of a poor quality basal diet (barley straw) was achieved by supplementation with 15 and 30% of DM offered as Calliandra calothyrsus, Macrotyloma axillareor poultry manure. Urinary-N excretion for the basal diet (0.5 mg kg 1 liveweight (W) per day) was similar to C. calothyrsus at 15 and 30% supplementation (1.3 and 0.8 mg kg 1 W per day, respectively) and M. axillare at 15 and 30% supplementation (0.4 and 0.6 mg kg 1 W per day, respectively). In contrast, feeding poultry manure, a supplement containing highly degradable N, resulted in larger excretions of excess rumen ammonia as N in the urine, 17.5 and 23.2 mg kg 1 W per day for 15 and 30% supplementation, respectively. Diets containing the largest rate of C. calothyrsus supplementation had the lowest digestibility of N in the acid detergent fibre (ADF) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) fractions. This was reflected in faeces from cattle fed diets supplemented with C. calothyrsus, which had substantially greater amounts of N bound to fibre (ADF and NDF) fractions than faeces from the other diets. When incubated in leaching tubes prunings of C. calothyrsus showed net N mineralisation from week 2, whereas barley straw, M. axillare and poultry manure immobilised N for >28, 24 and >28 weeks, respectively. Faeces derived from supplementation with C. calothyrsusand M. axillare resulted in shorter nitrogen immobilisation in leaching tubes (16 weeks) than supplementation with poultry manure (24 weeks) when compared with faeces derived from animals fed straw only (28 weeks). Similarly, reduced N uptake from 10-week-old maize plants was observed in pots to which faeces had been added compared with the control treatment. A second crop of maize had increased N uptake. Feeding poor quality crop residues like barley straw to animals produces manures with a decreased capacity to immobilise mineral N in the soil. This was shown

Testing the safety-net role of hedgerow tree roots by 15N placement at different soil depths

Trees which root below crops may have a beneficial role in simultaneous agroforestry systems by intercepting and recycling nutrients which leach below the crop rooting zone. They may also compete less strongly for nutrients than trees which root mainly within the same zone as crops. To test these hypotheses we placed highly enriched 15N-labelled ammonium sulphate at three depths in the soil between mixed hedgerows of the shallow-rooting Gliricidia sepium and the deep rooting Peltophorum dasyrrhachis. A year after the isotope application most of the residual 15N in the soil remained close to the injection points due to the joint application with a carbon source which promoted 15N immobilization. Temporal 15N uptake patterns (two-weekly leaf sub-sampling) as well as total 15N recovery measurements suggested that Peltophorum obtained more N from the subsoil than Gliricidia. Despite this Gliricidia appeared to compete weakly with the crop for N as it recovered little 15N from any depth but obtained an estimated 44–58% of its N from atmospheric N2-fixation. Gliricidia took up an estimated 21 kg N ha–1 and Peltophorum an estimated 42 kg N ha–1 from beneath the main crop rooting zone. The results demonstrate that direct placement of 15N can be used to identify N sourcing by trees and crops in simultaneous agroforestry systems, although the heterogeneity of tree root distributions needs to be taken into account when designing experiments.

Agricultural development and pro-poor economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa: potential and policy

There is widespread concern at continuing and deepening poverty and food insecurity in sub‐Saharan Africa and the lack of broad‐based economic growth. There is also debate about agricultures role in driving pro‐poor economic growth, some arguing it has a critical role while others see it is as largely irrelevant. We suggest that both sets of arguments pay insufficient attention to important institutional issues, and that agriculture has a critical role to play, largely by default, as there are few other candidates with the same potential for supporting broad‐based pro‐poor growth. There are, however, immense challenges to agricultural growth. In considering the costs and benefits of investment in agricultural growth, however, regard must also be given to the economic and social costs of rural stagnation and to providing safety nets in situations of enduring poverty. Policy needs to focus more on agriculture, and recognize and address the diversity of institutional, trade, technological and governance challenges to poverty‐reducing growth in Africa.

Influence of coastal vegetation on the 2004 tsunami wave impact in west Aceh

In a tsunami event human casualties and infrastructure damage are determined predominantly by seaquake intensity and offshore properties. On land, wave energy is attenuated by gravitation (elevation) and friction (land cover). Tree belts have been promoted as “bioshields” against wave impact. However, given the lack of quantitative evidence of their performance in such extreme events, tree belts have been criticized for creating a false sense of security. This study used 180 transects perpendicular to over 100 km on the west coast of Aceh, Indonesia to analyze the influence of coastal vegetation, particularly cultivated trees, on the impact of the 2004 tsunami. Satellite imagery; land cover maps; land use characteristics; stem diameter, height, and planting density; and a literature review were used to develop a land cover roughness coefficient accounting for the resistance offered by different land uses to the wave advance. Applying a spatial generalized linear mixed model, we found that while distance to coast was the dominant determinant of impact (casualties and infrastructure damage), the existing coastal vegetation in front of settlements also significantly reduced casualties by an average of 5%. In contrast, dense vegetation behind villages endangered human lives and increased structural damage. Debris carried by the backwash may have contributed to these dissimilar effects of land cover. For sustainable and effective coastal risk management, location of settlements is essential, while the protective potential of coastal vegetation, as determined by its spatial arrangement, should be regarded as an important livelihood provider rather than just as a bioshield.

Influence of decomposition of roots of tropical forage species on the availability of soil nitrogen

Abstract Immobilization of mineral N induced by decomposition of roots of four tropical forage species (Stylosanthes guianensis, Centrosema sp., Andropogon gayanus and Brachiaria decumbens) in an Oxisol was studied under laboratory conditions. Root materials had a high lignin content (12–20%) but total polyphenol content was small ( 0.99) a double exponential equation defining two compartments of root carbon of differing susceptibility to decomposition. The equation predicted that between 43% (Centrosema) and 62% (Brachiaria) of root carbon would not be decomposed even at infinite time under incubation conditions. Mineral N in the soil was immobilized rapidly at the start of the incubation, and the immobilization was greatest with the higher rate of application of root material. Although the C-to-N ratio of legume roots was narrower their higher degradability stimulated greater immobilization of soil mineral N than the grass roots. The results are discussed with reference to N immobilization and carbon sequestration in planted pastures of tropical South America.

Root distributions partially explain 15N uptake patterns in Gliricidia and Peltophorum hedgerow intercropping systems

The relative distributions of tree and crop roots in agroforestry associations may affect the degree of complementarity which can be achieved in their capture of below ground resources. Trees which root more deeply than crops may intercept leaching nitrogen and thus improve nitrogen use efficiency. This hypothesis was tested by injection of small doses of (15NH4)2SO4 at 21.8 atom% 15N at different soil depths within established hedgerow intercropping systems on an Ultisol in Lampung, Indonesia. In the top 10 cm of soil in intercrops of maize and trees, root length density (Lrv) of maize was greater than that of Gliricidia sepium trees, which had greater Lrv in this topsoil layer than Peltophorum dasyrrachis trees. Peltophorum trees had a greater proportion of their roots in deeper soil layers than Gliricidia or maize. These vertical root distributions were related to the pattern of recovery of 15N placed at different soil depths; more 15N was recovered by maize and Gliricidia from placements at 5 cm depth than from placements at 45 or 65 cm depth. Peltophorum recovered similar amounts of 15N from placements at each of these depths, and hence had a deeper N uptake distribution than Gliricidiaor maize. Differences in tree Lrv across the cropping alley were comparatively small, and there was no significant difference (P<0.05) in the uptake of 15N placed in topsoil at different distances from hedgerows. A greater proportion of the 15N recovered by maize was found in grain following 15N placement at 45 cm or 65 cm depth than following placement at 5 cm depth, reflecting the later arrival of maize roots in these deeper soil layers. Thus trees have an important role in preventing N leaching from subsoil during early crop establishment, although they themselves showed a lag phase in 15N uptake after pruning. Residual 15N enrichment in soil was strongly related to application depth even 406 days after 15N placement, demonstrating the validity of this approach to mapping root activity distributions.