News tagged with soil fertility

A genetic alternative to fertilizer

Several studies have shown that a lack of nitrogen in soils adversely affects crop yields. The modern use of nitrogen fertilizers has improved yields to meet expanding global food demand, but in some cases ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 01, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Plant diversity is key to maintaining productive vegetation

Vegetation, such as a patch of prairie or a forest stand, is more productive in the long run when more plant species are present, a new University of Minnesota study shows. The unprecedented long-term study of plant biodiversity ...

Biology / Ecology

created May 03, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Spring nitrogen fertilizing for optimal wheat production

With longer and warmer days, wheat seeding and fertilizing has begun across the state. Using the right fertilizer source, rate, timing and placement is important for optimal production. Montana State University Extension ...

Biology / Other

created Apr 24, 2012 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Analysis raises atmospheric, ecologic and economic doubts about forest bioenergy

A large, global move to produce more energy from forest biomass may be possible and already is beginning in some places, but scientists say in a new analysis that such large-scale bioenergy production from ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Apr 18, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Drastic changes needed to curb N2O, most potent greenhouse gas: study

Meat consumption in the developed world needs to be cut by 50 per cent per person by 2050 if we are to meet the most aggressive strategy, set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to reduce one of the ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Apr 12, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 6

Determining total fertility in strip-tilled fields

Band fertilizer placement may cause non-uniform distribution in the soil. Why does this matter?

Space & Earth / Environment

created Apr 12, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Natural levels of nitrogen in tropical forests may increase vulnerability to pollution

(PhysOrg.com) -- Waterways in remote, pristine tropical forests located in the Caribbean and Central America contain levels of nitrogen comparable to amounts found in streams and rivers flowing through polluted forests in ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Biodiversity enhances ecosystems global drylands: researchers

An international team of researchers including Dr. Bertrand Boeken of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev suggest in a new study that plant biodiversity preservation is ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Findings prove Miscanthus x giganteus has great potential as an alternative energy source

Concerns about the worldwide energy supply and national, environmental and economic security have resulted in a search for alternative energy sources. A new University of Illinois study shows Miscanthus x ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 19, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 3

Diverse ecosystems are crucial climate change buffer

Preserving diverse plant life will be crucial to buffer the negative effects of climate change and desertification in in the world's drylands, according to a new landmark study.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 12, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Improved rainwater harvesting system promising

Ridge and furrow rainwater-harvesting (RFRH) systems with mulches were first researched in the flat, lowland, semiarid conditions of northwest China to improve water availability and to increase crop production. ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 13, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Calculating fussiness

How fussy is a plant? A new measurement method developed by Alterra, part of Wageningen UR, gives the answer in a simple number.

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 07, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Nitrogen fertilizers' impact on lawn soils

Nitrogen fertilizers from farm fields often end up in aquatic ecosystems, resulting in water quality problems, such as toxic algae and underwater 'dead zones'. There are concerns that fertilizers used on lawns may also contribute ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 04, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

New study finds 400,000 farmers in southern Africa using 'fertilizer trees' to improve food security

On a continent battered by weather extremes, famine and record food prices, new research released today from the World Agroforestry Centre documents an exciting new trend in which hundreds of thousands of poor farmers in ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 14, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Nitrogen in the soil cleans the air

Eutrophication harms the environment in many ways. Unexpectedly, nitrogen fertilizer may also be positive for the environment. And even acidic soils, promoting the destruction of forests, can have a positive ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Aug 19, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast