Microbiology of Tropical Soils and Plant Productivity
Microbiology of Tropical Soils and Plant Productivity

Author: Y.R. Dommergues

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 1982-11-30

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 9789024726240

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It is an established fact that we must continually increase and improve agricultural production if we are to meet even the minimum requirements of a growing popu lation for food, shelter, and fuel. In recent years, the introduction of new plant varieties and the extensive use of fertilizers have effectively increased crop yields, but intensifying agricultural methods has often led to depleting soil fertility. Two examples of the harmful consequences of intensive farming practices are the loss of up to 2.5 cm of topsoil every 15 years in the United States through erosion and the alarming rise in environmental pollution through widespread use of pesticides. Countless other processes affecting the activity of soil micro flora and the inter actions between microorganisms and plants may pose an equal danger to soil equilibrium, but their potential hazards are often overlooked because of an insufficient understanding of soil microbiology on the part of scientists. In the first published study of its kind, the authors of this book have attempted to address major aspects of the microbial activity of soil in the tropics. Tropical conditions serve as an ideal context for a discussion of soil microbiology, since biological processes in the soil are particularly active in tropical environments in comparison to other settings and in relation to physical and chemical processes.

Legume Nitrogen Fixation in Soils with Low Phosphorus Availability
Legume Nitrogen Fixation in Soils with Low Phosphorus Availability

Author: Saad Sulieman

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2017-06-10

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 3319557297

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This thoughtful and provocative book provides a concise, up-to-date presentation of how current and projected future phosphorus scarcity will affect legume growth and their symbiotic nitrogen-fixing capabilities. It is a timely examination of the physiological and molecular responses of nodules to phosphorous deficiency in attempt to identify common principles. Students and researchers in the many disciplines related to crop productivity will find this title an exciting contribution in the area of plant stress physiology. The knowledge in this volume can also aid plant breeders, particularly through new methods of genetic engineering, in developing unique and adaptive cultivars with higher symbiotic efficiency. The awareness of the rapidly rising world population must translate into a parallel increase in agricultural production in order to sustain the growing population both now and in the future. Hence, the demand for food crops to produce proteins and vegetable oil for human consumption is going to increase considerably during the coming years. The essential role of legumes in agriculture is well-recognized, given the abundant levels of proteins and oils found in plants along with their enormous contribution to the sustainability of agricultural systems and human health. The capacity of legumes to fix nitrogen (N2) in partnership with rhizobia provides an input-saving and resource-conserving alternative, thereby reducing the need for chemical fertilizers while enhancing overall crop productivity. The use of N2-fixing legumes to produce plant proteins results in a substantial decrease in the consumption of fossil fuels and therefore also in the agricultural effects to global warming. However, a major constraint to legume production is low soil phosphorus (P) availability, considering that an overwhelming majority of the world’s soils are classified as P-deficient. Low-P availability is especially problematic for legumes, since legume nodules responsible for N2 fixation have a high P requirement. Therefore, this book explains how nodule N2 fixation responds to low P availability, which is crucial for improving legume production and maintaining agricultural sustainability in the context of the global P crisis.

Soil Organic Phosphorus
Soil Organic Phosphorus

Author: A. F. Harrison

Publisher: C.A.B. International

Published: 1987

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13:

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Methodology. Relationships between total organic P and other soil propeties. Effects of climate and soil drainage. Effects of land class and vegetation type. Seasonal variation. Variation with soil type. Variation with soil parent material. Distribution in soil profiles. prediction of content in surface soils. Effects of land-management practices. Mobility in soils. Weathering and pedogenesis. Total quantity in the soil profile. Chemical nature. Association with organic matter. Importance in plant nutrition. Mineralization in soils. The release of inorganic P from organic detritis.

Environmental Impacts of Soil Component Interactions
Environmental Impacts of Soil Component Interactions

Author: P. M. Huang

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 1995-03-29

Total Pages: 472

ISBN-13:

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V. 1 - Natural and anthropogenic organics; v. 2 - Metals, other inorganics, and microbial activities. General soil quality as influenced by interactions of soil minerals with organics and microorganisms: Organic-inorganic interections in soils and their effects on soil quality; Sorption phenomena between inorganic and organic compounds in soils: impacts on transformation processes; Role of aluminium and iron in the accumulation of organic matter in soils with variable charge; Sorption of ions by soil organic matter and clay-organics at low ionic strength; Water potential, soil microhabitats, and microbial development; Effect of citric acid on interlayer adsorption of hydroxy-aluminosilicate ions by montmorillonite; Microbial oxidation of pyrites in relation to its efficiency in alkali soil reclamation; Modification of gelation properties of colloidal solids from oil sands: extraction impact on fine tailings formation; Position paper of part I; Transformations of natural and anthropogenic organic compounds as affected by soil minerals and microorganisms: Natural organics; Recent advances in organomineral interactions: implications for carbon cycling and soil structure; The role of short-range ordered mineral colloids in abiotic transformations of organics components in the environment; Influence of pyrogallol on the catalytic action of iron and managenese oxides in amino acid transformation; Photochemical effect on the abiotic transformations of polyphenolics as catalyzed by Mn(IV) oxide; Potential of the supercitical fluid extraction technique for characterizing organic-inorganic interactions in soils; Dissolution and fractionation of calcium-bound and iron-and aluminium-bound humus in soils; Rhe quality of soil organic matter as characterized by soil CPMAS C-NMR, and Py-FIMS; Extracellular polysaccharides: an interface between microorganisms and soil constituents; Low-molecular-weigh aliphatic carboxylic acids in some andisols of Japan; Relationship between organic acids and microorganisms on a kong-term cropping site in southeastern Australia; Effect of the addition of plant residues on the mineralization of sulfur in Costa Rican soils; Anthropogenic organics: Sorption and biodegradation of organic contaminants in soils: conceptual representations of process coupling; The role of dissolved metals and metal-containing surfaces in catalyzing the hydrolysis of organic pollutants; The role of abiotic and biotic catalysts in the transformation of phenolic compounds; The role of abiotic interections with humic substances on the environmental impact of organic pollutants; Adsorption mechanisms and abiotic catalytic transformations of some agrochemicals by clay minerals; Interactions between manganese oxides and multiple ringed aromatic compounds; Mobility and persistence of metolachlor and terbuthylazine in field lysimeters; Soil-pesticide interactions and their impact on the volatilization process; Factors affecting the movements, reactions, and biotransformations ox xenobiotics; Effect of soil minerals on the microbial formation of enzymes and their possible use in remediation of chemically polluted sites; Position paper of part II; Effect of microorganisms on mobility of heavy metals in soils; Interactions of copper with soil humic substances; Adsorption of phosphate on variable charge minerals: competitive effect of organic ligands; Cadmium adsorption on the hydroxyaluminum-montmorillonite complex as influencend by oxalate; Influence of citrate on selenite sorption-desorption on short-range ordered aluminum hydroxides; Role of amorphous fe oxides in controlling retention of heavy metal elements in soils; Effect of natural organic matter and pH on the bioavailability of metal ions in soils; Seasonal changes of organic matter, pH, nitrogen and some metals in forest topsoils in Austria: a case study of two soils with and whithout a litter layer; Substituion of rock phosphate and legumes for commercial fertilizers; Effect of single and combined inoculation with azotobacter and VA mycorrhizal fungi on growth and mineral nutrient contents of maize and wheat plants; Position paper of part I; Interactions of clays with microorganisms and bacterial survival in soil: a physicochemical perspective; Enumeration, survival, and beneficial activities of microorganisms introduced into soil; Effects of clay minerals, oxyhydroxides, and humic matter on microbial communities of soil, sediment, and water; Activity, stability, and kinetc properties of enzymes immobilized on clay minerals and organomineral complexes; Influence of site conditions and heavy metals on enzyme activities of forest topsoils; Aluminum toxicity: a major stress for microbes in the environment; Biological response to contamination with pentachlorophenol and mercuric chloride in a high organic matter soil; Ecology of 2,4-D degradation in three palouse silt loam soils.