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Full-Text Articles in Soil Science

The Use Of Biological Soil Health Indicators To Quantify The Benefits Of Cover Crops, Alexander Wu Apr 2023

The Use Of Biological Soil Health Indicators To Quantify The Benefits Of Cover Crops, Alexander Wu

Masters Theses

Soils provide many essential functions that support the world. With a decline in soil health, these functions also decrease in efficiency, and can threaten the health of billions of people around the world. Typically, soil health tests do not use biological indicators, however microbes drive and perform vital functions to increase soil health. One way to increase soil health is through the use of cover crops to reduce soil erosion during fallow periods, increasing soil organic matter, as well as collecting nutrients from soil into their biomass. These cover crops are then terminated through various methods such as herbicides, disk …


Determining The Effects Of Elevated Carbon Dioxide On Soil Acidification, Cation Depletion, And Soil Inorganic Carbon And Mapping Soil Carbons Using Artificial Intelligence, Jannatul Ferdush Aug 2022

Determining The Effects Of Elevated Carbon Dioxide On Soil Acidification, Cation Depletion, And Soil Inorganic Carbon And Mapping Soil Carbons Using Artificial Intelligence, Jannatul Ferdush

Theses and Dissertations

Soil carbon is the largest sink and source of the global carbon cycle and is disturbed by several natural, anthropogenic, and environmental factors. The global increase of atmospheric CO2 affects soil carbon cycling through varied biogeochemical processes. The first chapter is a compilation of current information on potential factors triggering soil acidification and weathering mechanisms under elevated CO2 and their consequences on soil inorganic carbon (SIC) pool and quality. Soil water content and precipitation were critical factors influencing elevated CO2 effects on the SIC pool. The second chapter examines a detailed column experiment in which six soils …


Response Of Soil Properties To 23-25 Years Of Diverse Crop Rotations And Tillage Systems In South Dakota, Usa, Abdullah H. Alhameid Jan 2017

Response Of Soil Properties To 23-25 Years Of Diverse Crop Rotations And Tillage Systems In South Dakota, Usa, Abdullah H. Alhameid

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Diverse cropping systems and no-till (NT) are beneficial in improving soil organic carbon (SOC) and other soils properties. The present study was conducted to evaluate the interactions and impacts of long-term tillage and diverse crop rotation systems on soil quality indicators that include a range of soil chemical, physical, hydrological, and microbial properties. The study was established in 1991 at Beresford, South Dakota and included three crop rotation systems [2-yr; maize (Zea mays L.)-soybean (Glycine max L.), 3-yr; maize-soybean-oat (Avena sativa L.), and 4-yr; maize-soybean-oat-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)] managed under two tillage systems (NT and CT; conventional- tillage). Soil sampling …


Interactive Effects Of Cover Crops, Invertebrate Communities And Soil Health In Corn Production Systems, Claire Lacanne Jan 2017

Interactive Effects Of Cover Crops, Invertebrate Communities And Soil Health In Corn Production Systems, Claire Lacanne

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The adoption of regenerative farming practices is gaining traction, but the costs and benefits are not often considered on a systems level. Encouraging biodiversity and soil health is the goal of many agricultural practices used in regenerative farming; regenerative systems employ practices which abide by the two main principles of increasing biodiversity and decreasing disturbance, with the goal of encouraging ecosystem functioning to minimize inputs and maximize the productivity of a farm. I examined the management of corn (Zea mays) fields across four states in the Upper Midwest region of the United States. Regenerative systems in this study …


Assessing Kiln-Produced Hardwood Biochar For Improving Soil Health In A Temperate Climate Agricultural Soil, Emily J. Cole Nov 2015

Assessing Kiln-Produced Hardwood Biochar For Improving Soil Health In A Temperate Climate Agricultural Soil, Emily J. Cole

Doctoral Dissertations

Soil quality has become a major factor used in assessing sustainable land management and the overall environmental quality, food security, and economic viability of agricultural lands. Recently, biochar has been touted as having many potential uses as a soil amendment for improving soil quality, specifically improving cation exchange capacity, pH and nutrient availability. However, soil biology also plays a significant role in biogeochemical processes that influence soil health and should be included in a more comprehensive study of soil health. This dissertation describes 4 projects within the same 3-year field study with the cumulative purpose of better understanding the effect …