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70 Results Found

  • Review
  • Open Access
19 Citations
5,195 Views
17 Pages

A Standardized Morpho-Functional Classification of the Planet’s Humipedons

  • Augusto Zanella,
  • Jean-François Ponge,
  • Bernard Jabiol,
  • Bas Van Delft,
  • Rein De Waal,
  • Klaus Katzensteiner,
  • Eckart Kolb,
  • Nicolas Bernier,
  • Giacomo Mei and
  • Herbert Hager
  • + 44 authors

It was time to take stock. We modified the humipedon classification key published in 2018 to make it easier and more practical. This morpho-functional taxonomy of the topsoil (humipedon) was only available in English; we also translated it into Frenc...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,087 Views
14 Pages

11 December 2024

This study investigates the effects of the 2018 Vaia windstorm on the evolution of humus profiles in forest soils of the north-eastern Italian Alps five years after the disturbance. The humipedon in five soil conditions was compared: intact forest (I...

  • Article
  • Open Access
421 Views
19 Pages

Adaptive Cultivation System as a Factor That Increases the Fertility and Productivity of Marginal Soils

  • Adolfs Rucins,
  • Volodymyr Bulgakov,
  • Dainis Viesturs,
  • Olexander Demydenko,
  • Mycola Tkachenko,
  • Mykhailo Ptashnik and
  • Oleh Chernysh

10 November 2025

Modern agricultural production faces challenges, caused by soil degradation, declining natural fertility, and a lack of organic matter and productive moisture in the arable layer, which is especially relevant in the context of global climate change a...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,782 Views
17 Pages

Humus Forms and Organic Matter Decomposition in the Swiss Alps

  • Sarah Semeraro,
  • Maud Fazzari,
  • Pascal Kipf,
  • Sergio Rasmann and
  • Renée-Claire Le Bayon

2 August 2023

Humus forms and organic matter decomposition are influenced by climate, plants and soil decomposers. Yet, whether different humus forms could be experimentally linked to litter decomposition has still to be fully assessed. To assess the link between...

  • Review
  • Open Access
4 Citations
4,003 Views
17 Pages

Humus Forms of Moist and Wet Forest Stands. A Review

  • Tina Frank,
  • Hans-Jörg Brauckmann and
  • Gabriele Broll

14 August 2023

The organic layer of forest soils (forest floor) provides important ecosystem functions and serves as a habitat for soil organisms. This review provides an overview of research on humus forms of moist and wet forest stands based on a systematic liter...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,602 Views
18 Pages

7 September 2024

The ecological impact of windthrow disturbance on humipedons and soil microarthropod communities is examined in two areas of the Italian Alps (Val di Fassa and Cansiglio) five years after the Vaia Storm. The following soil coverage conditions were id...

  • Article
  • Open Access
12 Citations
4,211 Views
16 Pages

Plant Microbial Biostimulants as a Promising Tool to Enhance the Productivity and Quality of Carrot Root Crops

  • Virgilija Gavelienė,
  • Božena Šocik,
  • Elžbieta Jankovska-Bortkevič and
  • Sigita Jurkonienė

The interest in studies focused on applying probiotic microorganisms is increasing due to sustainable agriculture development. In this research, we aimed to evaluate the impact of two commercial plant probiotics—ProbioHumus and NaturGel on carrot gro...

  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
3,963 Views
14 Pages

8 January 2022

Forest restoration has become one of the most important challenges for restoration ecology in the recent years. In this regard, soil fungi are fundamental drivers of forest ecosystem processes, with significant implications for plant growth and survi...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2,368 Views
13 Pages

27 November 2023

The Hercules beetle larvae grow by feeding on humus, and adding a thermophile-fermented compost to the humus can upregulate the growth of female larvae. In this study, the effects of compost on the intestinal environment, including pH, cation concent...

  • Technical Note
  • Open Access
6 Citations
3,265 Views
14 Pages

Detection of Changes in Arable Chernozemic Soil Health Based on Landsat TM Archive Data

  • Igor Savin,
  • Elena Prudnikova,
  • Yury Chendev,
  • Anastasia Bek,
  • Dmitry Kucher and
  • Petr Dokukin

19 June 2021

When soils are used for a long period of time as arable land, their properties change. This can lead to soil degradation and loss of fertility, as well as other important soil biosphere functions. Obtaining data on the trends in arable soil condition...

  • Review
  • Open Access
6 Citations
3,170 Views
22 Pages

Soil, Humipedon, Forest Life and Management

  • Roberto Zampedri,
  • Nicolas Bernier,
  • Augusto Zanella,
  • Raffaello Giannini,
  • Cristina Menta,
  • Francesca Visentin,
  • Paola Mairota,
  • Giacomo Mei,
  • Gabriele Zandegiacomo and
  • Jean-François Ponge
  • + 1 author

In recent years, three sections (Humipedon, Copedon and Lithopedon) were recognized in the soil profile. It was then possible to link the first and most biologically active section to the characteristics of the environment and soil genesis. In partic...

  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
4,108 Views
15 Pages

Yield and Antioxidant Quality of Habanero Chili Pepper by Supplementing Potassium with Organic Products

  • Areli González-Cortés,
  • Valentín Robledo-Torres,
  • Laura Raquel Luna-García,
  • Rosalinda Mendoza-Villarreal and
  • Miguel Ángel Pérez-Rodríguez

Habanero chili pepper has great economic importance in Mexico, but its production is limited due to different factors that affect quality. Given the high demand and prices of the fruit, the production of this crop is spreading to other regions in sea...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
2,134 Views
18 Pages

Study of the Sustainability of Ecological and Chemical Indicators of Soils in Organic Farming

  • Vladimir Ivanovich Trukhachev,
  • Sergey Leonidovich Belopukhov,
  • Marina Grigoryeva and
  • Inna Ivanovna Dmitrevskaya

12 January 2024

Organic farming is often seen as a sustainable alternative to intensive agricultural systems. The studies conducted in this direction analyze various factors, as well as their assemblies, and show contradictory results. In order to assess the impact...

  • Article
  • Open Access
46 Citations
7,284 Views
16 Pages

20 July 2020

In agriculture, the farming system significantly affects chemical soil properties. The organic system, which is based among others on the use of natural (organic) fertilizers, promotes increased soil contents of humus, organic C, and micronutrients....

  • Article
  • Open Access
7 Citations
2,876 Views
22 Pages

The exploitation of mineral resources associated with human mining activities leads to the degradation of both terrestrial and aquatic biocenotic systems. The drastic disturbance of water relations as a result of the relocation of the riverbed of the...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,295 Views
24 Pages

24 April 2025

Understanding soil properties that govern physicochemical and biological processes is essential for achieving high crop quality and yield. Organic matter is an important element of soil fertility and fertility in vegetable cultivation. In the process...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,357 Views
30 Pages

Multi-Source Data Integration for Sustainable Management Zone Delineation in Precision Agriculture

  • Dušan Jovanović,
  • Miro Govedarica,
  • Milan Gavrilović,
  • Ranko Čabilovski and
  • Tamme van der Wal

30 July 2025

Accurate delineation of within-field management zones (MZs) is essential for implementing precision agriculture, particularly in spatially heterogeneous environments. This study evaluates the spatiotemporal consistency and practical value of MZs deri...

  • Communication
  • Open Access
9 Citations
4,133 Views
8 Pages

Trace Metal Levels and Nutrient Characteristics of Crude Oil-Contaminated Soil Amended with Biochar–Humus Sediment Slurry

  • Nnanake-Abasi O. Offiong,
  • Edu J. Inam,
  • Helen S. Etuk,
  • Godwin A. Ebong,
  • Akwaowo I. Inyangudoh and
  • Francis Addison

23 June 2021

Biochar utilization for environmental remediation applications has become very popular. We investigated the trace metal levels and soil nutrient characteristics of a biochar–humus sediment slurry treatment of a simulated crude oil-contaminated soil i...

  • Article
  • Open Access
15 Citations
4,321 Views
17 Pages

26 September 2021

The latest international climate documents emphasize the great importance of protective forest stands in ensuring the sustainable development of agriculture, and the main requirement is the use of the forest-forming factor by landowners in the intere...

  • Article
  • Open Access
23 Citations
6,483 Views
13 Pages

Interaction Mechanism between Antibiotics and Humic Acid by UV-Vis Spectrometry

  • Xiaoyu Yuan,
  • Shengke Yang,
  • Jie Fang,
  • Xueli Wang,
  • Haizhen Ma,
  • Zongzhou Wang,
  • Runze Wang and
  • Yaqian Zhao

In this study, the interaction between the humus and two antibiotics was studied by UV-Vis spectroscopy to describe the interaction mechanism and the effects of different environmental factors on the mechanism. Results showed that humic acid (HA) con...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
3,853 Views
20 Pages

Effect of Seed Dressing and Soil Chemical Properties on Communities of Microorganisms Associated with Pre-Emergence Damping-Off of Broad Bean Seedlings

  • Katarzyna Gleń-Karolczyk,
  • Elżbieta Boligłowa,
  • Janina Gospodarek,
  • Jacek Antonkiewicz and
  • Lidia Luty

21 September 2021

Combating soil pathogens that disable plant emergence is among the most difficult challenges of global agriculture. Legumes, preferred in sustainable cultivation systems, are particularly sensitive to pre-emergence damping-off of seedlings. Seed dres...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
2,668 Views
14 Pages

Emissions Released by Forest Fuel in the Daxing’an Mountains, China

  • Heng Zhang,
  • Hui Li,
  • Xinyuan Liu,
  • Yunjia Ma,
  • Qing Zhou,
  • Rula Sa and
  • Qiuliang Zhang

2 August 2022

The large amounts of emissions released by forest fires have a significant impact on the atmospheric environment, ecosystems, and human health. Revealing the main components of emissions released by forest fuel under different combustion states is of...

  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
3,638 Views
28 Pages

Exergy Analysis of a Bio-System: Soil–Plant Interaction

  • Masoomeh Bararzadeh Ledari,
  • Yadollah Saboohi,
  • Antonio Valero and
  • Sara Azamian

23 December 2020

This paper explains a thorough exergy analysis of the most important reactions in soil–plant interactions. Soil, which is a prime mover of gases, metals, structural crystals, and electrolytes, constantly resembles an electric field of charge an...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
4,148 Views
19 Pages

19 June 2022

The smart city literature states that three levels of institutional layers (regulatory, normative, and cognitive) and four typologies of actors (government, universities, citizens, and the private sector) support private initiative for developing sma...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
2,770 Views
12 Pages

Influence of Agricultural Management Practices on the Soil Properties and Mineral Composition of Potato Tubers with Different Colored Flesh

  • Nijolė Vaitkevičienė,
  • Elvyra Jarienė,
  • Jurgita Kulaitienė,
  • Honorata Danillčenko,
  • Judita Černiauskienė,
  • Jūratė Aleinikovienė,
  • Dominika Średnicka-Tober and
  • Ewa Rembiałkowska

1 November 2020

The objective of the work was to investigate and estimate the effects of conventional, organic, and biodynamic farming systems on biological and agrochemical soil properties and mineral composition of potato tubers with different colored flesh. This...

  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
3,326 Views
19 Pages

Rice–duck and rice–crayfish co-culture patterns can increase soil productivity and sustainability and reduce the use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, thereby reducing the resulting negative environmental impacts. However, most stud...

  • Article
  • Open Access
45 Citations
7,806 Views
28 Pages

5 January 2021

Soil degradation processes are widespread on agricultural land. Ground-based methods for detecting degradation require a lot of labor and time. Remote methods based on the analysis of vegetation indices can significantly reduce the volume of ground s...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,543 Views
20 Pages

Biogas Production and Evaluation of the Potential of Sargassum Digestate as an Agricultural Substrate

  • Héctor Alfredo López-Aguilar,
  • Antonino Pérez-Hernández,
  • David Quiroz-Cardoza,
  • María del Rosario Peralta-Pérez,
  • Francisco Javier Zavala-Díaz de la Serna and
  • Linda Citlalli Noperi-Mosqueda

9 October 2025

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the production of biogas and the digestate obtained by means of the anaerobic digestion of sargassum, and its anaerobic co-digestion with municipal solid waste, while considering the effect of particle size a...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
2,260 Views
10 Pages

The Sustainable Future of Carbon Farming with Virginia Fanpetals, a Carbon-Negative Species

  • Roman Molas,
  • Halina Borkowska,
  • Dominika Skiba,
  • Barbara Sawicka and
  • Ewa Skulimowska

26 July 2022

In 2016–2018, an experiment with Sida hermaphrodita L. Rusby (Virginia fanpetals) called Sida was conducted in the system of random blocks on sandy and sandy loam soil. Each year, the yields of dry aboveground mass and dried mass of roots were...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
3,100 Views
11 Pages

19 January 2023

Piggery wastewater contains high amounts of feces, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and other contaminants, introducing serious pollution into water, soil, and the atmosphere. Biological treatment technology is widely used in large-scale pig farms becau...

  • Review
  • Open Access
9 Citations
3,335 Views
14 Pages

Soil Organic Matter in Urban Areas of the Russian Arctic: A Review

  • Evgeny Abakumov,
  • Alexey Petrov,
  • Vyacheslav Polyakov and
  • Timur Nizamutdinov

Polar ecosystems are the most important storage and source of climatically active gases. Currently, natural biogeochemical processes of organic matter circulation in the soil-atmosphere system are disturbed in urban ecosystems of the cryolithozone. U...

  • Feature Paper
  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
4,501 Views
18 Pages

The production of a biomass as a feedstock for biorefinery is gaining attention in many agricultural areas. The adoption of biorefinery crops (i.e., perennial cardoon) can represent an interesting option for farmers and can contribute to increase soi...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
3,090 Views
14 Pages

15 September 2022

The Maillard reaction is a type of nonenzymatic browning process and is an important pathway for the formation of humic-like substances (HLSs). Glucose is one of the three crucial precursors for the Maillard reaction, and a change in glucose concentr...

  • Article
  • Open Access
12 Citations
3,527 Views
15 Pages

14 September 2021

Sewage sludge is a very complex system, with solids and water. It is generated as waste from wastewater treatment. Sewage sludge is used to fertilize agricultural and forest areas and to rehabilitate devastated areas. It is a good organic fertilizer...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
3,177 Views
11 Pages

21 March 2022

Various research issues related to soil organic matter in permafrost soils are still poorly investigated. At the same time, numerous investigations have shown the importance of permafrost soils, as they serve as a huge reservoir of organic matter. Th...

  • Article
  • Open Access
11 Citations
5,373 Views
12 Pages

The soil exchange complex consists of colloidal materials on which ion exchange phenomena occur allowing it to attract, retain, and exchange elements that have opposite electric charges. Since their mineral constituents (clay) and organic components...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
2,331 Views
20 Pages

12 February 2025

In many sustainable agricultural systems, combining soil ameliorants with deficit irrigation is a viable strategy. However, little is known about how this approach affects soil quality, crop water productivity (CWP), and sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.)...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1,672 Views
28 Pages

Proximate Composition and Nutritional Indices of Fenugreek Under Salinity Stress: The Role of Biocyclic Vegan and Other Organic Fertilization Systems in Forage Quality

  • Antigolena Folina,
  • Ioanna Kakabouki,
  • Panteleimon Stavropoulos,
  • Antonios Mavroeidis,
  • Eleni Tsiplakou and
  • Dimitrios Bilalis

1 May 2025

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) is an emerging forage crop known for its high nutritional value and adaptability to diverse environmental conditions, making it a promising alternative in sustainable livestock feeding systems in the Mediterra...

  • Article
  • Open Access
179 Views
19 Pages

Mangrove-Derived Microbial Consortia for Sugar Filter Mud Composting and Biofertilizer Production

  • Yingying Zhang,
  • Xiongxian Zhang,
  • Yinghui Wang,
  • Xingying Tang,
  • Mengyuan Luo,
  • Shangze Li,
  • Yuyang Xue,
  • Zhijie Wang and
  • Yiming Feng

3 January 2026

To mitigate the environmental burden of sugar industry filter mud in Guangxi and unlock its resource potential, this study introduces a novel approach leveraging the unique microbial resources of mangrove ecosystems to enhance composting efficiency....

  • Article
  • Open Access
722 Views
19 Pages

Spatial Decoupling of Biological and Geochemical Phosphorus Cycling in Podzolized Soils

  • Daniel F. Petticord,
  • Benjamin T. Uveges,
  • Elizabeth H. Boughton,
  • Brian D. Strahm and
  • Jed P. Sparks

Phosphorus (P) is essential to life yet constrained by finite reserves, heterogeneous distribution, and strong chemical binding to soil minerals. Pedogenesis progressively alters the availability of P: in ‘young’ soils, P associated with...

  • Article
  • Open Access
7 Citations
4,905 Views
14 Pages

8 August 2018

Central Yakutia is in one of the most northern agricultural centers of the world. In this territory a notable area of arable land was made by removing the boreal Taiga with the primary purpose of crop cultivation. Such a method of cultivation signifi...

  • Article
  • Open Access
27 Citations
3,197 Views
14 Pages

Method of Tillage with the Factor Determining the Quality of Organic Matter

  • Bozena Debska,
  • Iwona Jaskulska and
  • Dariusz Jaskulski

25 August 2020

The aim of this paper has been to determine the importance of the strip-till method for the content of carbon and the quality of organic matter as compared with plough and ploughless tillage. The question to answer has been to what extent strip-till...

  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
3,685 Views
17 Pages

13 December 2021

Groups in dissolved organic matter (DOM) emit fluorescence information at characteristic wavelengths when irradiated by excitation waves, which can reveal the geochemical behavior of dissolved organic matter in the environment and its sources, but th...

  • Article
  • Open Access
7 Citations
2,646 Views
19 Pages

Effect of Catch Crops and Tillage Systems on the Content of Selected Nutrients in Spring Wheat Grain

  • Cezary Andrzej Kwiatkowski,
  • Elżbieta Harasim and
  • Olimpia Klikocka-Wiśniewska

28 April 2022

This paper presents the effects of catch crops (white mustard, lacy phacelia, and a mixture of legumes—faba bean + spring vetch) and two tillage systems (plough tillage and no-tillage) on some quality parameters of spring wheat grain. A field e...

  • Article
  • Open Access
4 Citations
2,067 Views
14 Pages

Evaluating the Impact of Green Manure Incorporation on Cotton Yield, Soil Fertility, and Net Eco–Economic Benefits

  • Xuewen Wei,
  • Dulin Qin,
  • Zujun Yin,
  • Guoping Wang,
  • Lin Li,
  • Lu Feng and
  • Qinqing Xu

25 February 2025

Incorporating green manure is a vital strategy for optimizing cropping systems and improving soil quality. However, it is unclear whether the effects of different types of green manure on subsequent cotton yield and soil fertility improvement are uni...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
4,226 Views
20 Pages

28 June 2018

This paper deals with crop rotation as a method to improve soil fertility and control pests from an economic point of view. It outlines a new framework for modelling of more sustainable decision-making of farmers under the auspices of ecosystem servi...

  • Article
  • Open Access
16 Citations
8,925 Views
9 Pages

Composting Used as a Low Cost Method for Pathogen Elimination in Sewage Sludge in Mérida, Mexico

  • Dulce Diana Cabañas-Vargas,
  • Emilio. De los Ríos Ibarra,
  • Juan. P. Mena-Salas,
  • Diana Y. Escalante-Réndiz and
  • Rafael Rojas-Herrera

22 July 2013

Spreading sewage sludge from municipal wastewater (MWW) treatment on land is still a common practice in developing countries. However, it is well known that sewage sludge without special treatment contains various pollutants, which are (re)introduced...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
2,643 Views
10 Pages

Agronomic Performance of Soybean with Bradyrhizobium Inoculation in Double-Cropped Farming

  • Fazliddin Namozov,
  • Sokhib Islamov,
  • Maruf Atabaev,
  • Kholik Allanov,
  • Aziz Karimov,
  • Botir Khaitov and
  • Kee Woong Park

Land degradation is a serious problem in arid regions, including in Central Asian countries. Soybean symbiosis with rhizobia microbes has an essential role in improving crop productivity and sustaining soil fertility in an arid environment. An experi...

  • Article
  • Open Access
16 Citations
2,825 Views
12 Pages

25 October 2022

China is a country dominated by agriculture, but due to its geographical reasons, the western Liaoning region has caused sandstorms, and the desertified soil has reduced crop yields and suppressed the agricultural economy. Therefore, the concept of e...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
2,097 Views
13 Pages

Sustainable Nitrogen Management in Rice Farming: Spatial Patterns of Nitrogen Availability and Implications for Community-Level Practices

  • Nobuhito Sekiya,
  • Ayaka Mae,
  • Mchuno Alfred Peter,
  • Beno Kiwale Anton,
  • Tasuku Eigen,
  • Saki Yamayoshi,
  • Masaru Sakai,
  • Kunio Watanabe and
  • Takaharu Kameoka

13 November 2024

Sustainable nitrogen management is crucial for long-term food security and environmental protection in rice farming systems. However, the spatial patterns of nitrogen availability at the community level remain poorly understood, hindering the develop...

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