Novel soil quality indicators for the evaluation of agricultural management practices: a biological perspective

TitleNovel soil quality indicators for the evaluation of agricultural management practices: a biological perspective
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2020
AuthorsBongiorno G.
JournalFrontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering
Volume7
Pagination257-274
Date PublishedSep
Type of ArticleArticle
ISBN Number2095-7505
Accession NumberWOS:000600559000007
KeywordsAgriculture, CONSERVATION TILLAGE, Ecosystem services, functional land management, labile carbon, litter decomposition, Long-term field experiments, microbial communities, no-till, organic matter addition, organic-matter quality, permanganate-oxidizable carbon, residue management, soil biological indicators, term field experiments, tillage
Abstract

Developments in soil biology and in methods to characterize soil organic carbon can potentially deliver novel soil quality indicators that can help identify management practices able to sustain soil productivity and environmental resilience. This work aimed at synthesizing results regarding the suitability of a range of soil biological and biochemical properties as novel soil quality indicators for agricultural management. The soil properties, selected through a published literature review, comprised different labile organic carbon fractions [hydrophilic dissolved organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC), hot water extractable carbon and particulate organic matter carbon], soil disease suppressiveness measured using a PythiumLepidium bioassay, nematode communities characterized by amplicon sequencing and qPCR, and microbial community level physiological profiling measured with MicroRespTM. Prior studies tested the sensitivity of each of the novel indicators to tillage and organic matter addition in ten European long-term field experiments (LTEs) and assessed their relationships with pre-existing soil quality indicators of soil functioning. Here, the results of these previous studies are brought together and interpreted relative to each other and to the broader body of literature on soil quality assessment. Reduced tillage increased carbon availability, disease suppressiveness, nematode richness and diversity, the stability and maturity of the food web, and microbial activity and functional diversity. Organic matter addition played a weaker role in enhancing soil quality, possibly due to the range of composition of the organic matter inputs used in the LTEs. POXC was the indicator that discriminated best between soil management practices, followed by nematode indices based on functional characteristics. Structural equation modeling shows that POXC has a central role in nutrient retention/supply, carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, erosion control and disease regulation/suppression. The novel indicators proposed here have great potential to improve existing soil quality assessment schemes. Their feasibility of application is discussed and needs for future research are outlined.

Short TitleFront. Agric. Sci. Eng.Front. Agric. Sci. Eng.
Alternate JournalFront. Agric. Sci. Eng.
stdClass Object
(
    [vid] => 591
    [uid] => 11
    [title] => Novel soil quality indicators for the evaluation of agricultural management practices: a biological perspective
    [log] => 
    [status] => 1
    [comment] => 0
    [promote] => 1
    [sticky] => 0
    [nid] => 513
    [type] => biblio
    [language] => und
    [created] => 1616411793
    [changed] => 1616411793
    [tnid] => 0
    [translate] => 0
    [revision_timestamp] => 1616411793
    [revision_uid] => 11
    [biblio_type] => 102
    [biblio_number] => 3
    [biblio_other_number] => 
    [biblio_sort_title] => Novel soil quality indicators for the evaluation of agricultural
    [biblio_secondary_title] => Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering
    [biblio_tertiary_title] => 
    [biblio_edition] => 
    [biblio_publisher] => 
    [biblio_place_published] => 
    [biblio_year] => 2020
    [biblio_volume] => 7
    [biblio_pages] => 257-274
    [biblio_date] => Sep
    [biblio_isbn] => 2095-7505
    [biblio_lang] => English
    [biblio_abst_e] => Developments in soil biology and in methods to characterize soil organic carbon can potentially deliver novel soil quality indicators that can help identify management practices able to sustain soil productivity and environmental resilience. This work aimed at synthesizing results regarding the suitability of a range of soil biological and biochemical properties as novel soil quality indicators for agricultural management. The soil properties, selected through a published literature review, comprised different labile organic carbon fractions [hydrophilic dissolved organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon, permanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC), hot water extractable carbon and particulate organic matter carbon], soil disease suppressiveness measured using a PythiumLepidium bioassay, nematode communities characterized by amplicon sequencing and qPCR, and microbial community level physiological profiling measured with MicroRespTM. Prior studies tested the sensitivity of each of the novel indicators to tillage and organic matter addition in ten European long-term field experiments (LTEs) and assessed their relationships with pre-existing soil quality indicators of soil functioning. Here, the results of these previous studies are brought together and interpreted relative to each other and to the broader body of literature on soil quality assessment. Reduced tillage increased carbon availability, disease suppressiveness, nematode richness and diversity, the stability and maturity of the food web, and microbial activity and functional diversity. Organic matter addition played a weaker role in enhancing soil quality, possibly due to the range of composition of the organic matter inputs used in the LTEs. POXC was the indicator that discriminated best between soil management practices, followed by nematode indices based on functional characteristics. Structural equation modeling shows that POXC has a central role in nutrient retention/supply, carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, erosion control and disease regulation/suppression. The novel indicators proposed here have great potential to improve existing soil quality assessment schemes. Their feasibility of application is discussed and needs for future research are outlined.
    [biblio_abst_f] => 
    [biblio_full_text] => 0
    [biblio_url] => 
    [biblio_issue] => 
    [biblio_type_of_work] => Article
    [biblio_accession_number] => WOS:000600559000007
    [biblio_call_number] => 
    [biblio_notes] => ISI Document Delivery No.: PH6ZV
Times Cited: 1
Cited Reference Count: 133
Bongiorno, Giulia
EU Horizon 2020 project Interactive Soil Quality Assessment in Europe and China for agricultural productivity and environmental resilience (iSQAPER) [635750]
This work was funded by the EU Horizon 2020 project Interactive Soil Quality Assessment in Europe and China for agricultural productivity and environmental resilience (iSQAPER), grant number 635750 (mediated through the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation). The University of Ljubljana, University of Trier, University Miguel Hernandez, and the long-term field experiment owners provided samples and data, and Lijbert Brussaard, Ron de Goede, Else BunemannKonig and Paul Mader provided constructive feedback on earlier versions of the manuscript.
1
8
Higher education press
Beijing
2095-977x [biblio_custom1] => [biblio_custom2] => [biblio_custom3] => [biblio_custom4] => [biblio_custom5] => [biblio_custom6] => [biblio_custom7] => [biblio_research_notes] => [biblio_number_of_volumes] => [biblio_short_title] => Front. Agric. Sci. Eng.Front. Agric. Sci. Eng. [biblio_alternate_title] => Front. Agric. Sci. Eng. [biblio_original_publication] => [biblio_reprint_edition] => [biblio_translated_title] => [biblio_section] => [biblio_citekey] => 513 [biblio_coins] => [biblio_doi] => [biblio_issn] => [biblio_auth_address] => [Bongiorno, Giulia] Wageningen Univ & Res, Soil Biol Grp, NL-6700 AA Wageningen, Netherlands. [Bongiorno, Giulia] Res Inst Organ Agr FiBL, Dept Soil Sci, Ackerstr 113, CH-5070 Frick, Switzerland.
Bongiorno, G (corresponding author), Wageningen Univ & Res, Soil Biol Grp, NL-6700 AA Wageningen, Netherlands.; Bongiorno, G (corresponding author), Res Inst Organ Agr FiBL, Dept Soil Sci, Ackerstr 113, CH-5070 Frick, Switzerland.
giulia.bongiorno@wur.nl [biblio_remote_db_name] => [biblio_remote_db_provider] => [biblio_label] => [biblio_access_date] => [biblio_refereed] => [biblio_md5] => 246e317cf71bf23db7b5a86d4289e6b0 [biblio_formats] => Array ( [biblio_abst_e] => full_html [biblio_abst_f] => full_html [biblio_notes] => full_html [biblio_research_notes] => full_html [biblio_custom1] => full_html [biblio_custom2] => full_html [biblio_custom3] => full_html [biblio_custom4] => full_html [biblio_custom5] => full_html [biblio_custom6] => full_html [biblio_custom7] => full_html [biblio_coins] => full_html [biblio_auth_address] => full_html ) [biblio_type_name] => Journal Article [biblio_contributors] => Array ( [0] => Array ( [nid] => 513 [vid] => 591 [cid] => 1193 [auth_type] => 1 [auth_category] => 1 [rank] => 0 [merge_cid] => 0 [aka] => 0 [alt_form] => 0 [drupal_uid] => [name] => Bongiorno, G. [lastname] => Bongiorno [firstname] => G. [prefix] => [suffix] => [initials] => [affiliation] => [literal] => 0 [md5] => 7a5f423817f266de8a6974d703a461cc ) ) [biblio_keywords] => Array ( [421] => Agriculture [827] => CONSERVATION TILLAGE [764] => Ecosystem services [1597] => functional land management [1046] => labile carbon [164] => litter decomposition [319] => Long-term field experiments [29] => microbial communities [1600] => no-till [1594] => organic matter addition [1598] => organic-matter quality [1596] => permanganate-oxidizable carbon [151] => residue management [1595] => soil biological indicators [1599] => term field experiments [1145] => tillage ) [body] => Array ( ) [rdf_mapping] => Array ( [rdftype] => Array ( [0] => sioc:Item [1] => foaf:Document ) [title] => Array ( [predicates] => Array ( [0] => dc:title ) ) [created] => Array ( [predicates] => Array ( [0] => dc:date [1] => dc:created ) [datatype] => xsd:dateTime [callback] => date_iso8601 ) [changed] => Array ( [predicates] => Array ( [0] => dc:modified ) [datatype] => xsd:dateTime [callback] => date_iso8601 ) [body] => Array ( [predicates] => Array ( [0] => content:encoded ) ) [uid] => Array ( [predicates] => Array ( [0] => sioc:has_creator ) [type] => rel ) [name] => Array ( [predicates] => Array ( [0] => foaf:name ) ) [comment_count] => Array ( [predicates] => Array ( [0] => sioc:num_replies ) [datatype] => xsd:integer ) [last_activity] => Array ( [predicates] => Array ( [0] => sioc:last_activity_date ) [datatype] => xsd:dateTime [callback] => date_iso8601 ) ) [name] => clare.cameron [picture] => 0 [data] => a:13:{s:16:"ckeditor_default";s:1:"t";s:20:"ckeditor_show_toggle";s:1:"t";s:14:"ckeditor_width";s:4:"100%";s:13:"ckeditor_lang";s:2:"en";s:18:"ckeditor_auto_lang";s:1:"t";s:19:"biblio_show_profile";i:0;s:19:"biblio_my_pubs_menu";i:0;s:21:"biblio_contributor_id";s:1:"0";s:22:"biblio_id_change_count";s:1:"0";s:17:"biblio_user_style";s:6:"system";s:18:"biblio_baseopenurl";s:0:"";s:18:"biblio_openurl_sid";s:0:"";s:19:"biblio_crossref_pid";s:0:"";} [entity_view_prepared] => 1 )