News tagged with soil nitrogen

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

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

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

Fertilization by invasive species threatens nutrient-poor ecosystems

They can estimate whether native plants in the neighbourhood of invasive species incorporate the nitrogen fixed by the latter. The biologists examined the Sydney Golden Wattle (Acacia longifolia), an Australian shrub that ...

Biology / Ecology

created Mar 13, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | 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

Wood chips help curb nitrate leaching

(PhysOrg.com) -- Wood chips can significantly stem nitrate flow from crop fields into the surrounding watershed, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) study.

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 20, 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

Acid rain poses a previously unrecognized threat to Great Lakes sugar maples

(PhysOrg.com) -- The number of sugar maples in Upper Great Lakes forests is likely to decline in coming decades, according to University of Michigan ecologists and their colleagues, due to a previously unrecognized ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jan 16, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Soil microbiologists discover Aberdeen microbe of global agricultural significance

(PhysOrg.com) -- Organisms that oxidise ammonia were first discovered in 1890. Although a natural process, a major consequence of the activities of such organisms in soil is the transformation and loss of ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 10, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Seeing the forest under the trees

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists recently discovered nitrogen that falls from the atmosphere in acid rain can influence large tracts of sugar maples in North America.

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 08, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | 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

Tropical forests are fertilized by air pollution

Scientists braved ticks and a tiger to discover how human activities have perturbed the nitrogen cycle in tropical forests. Studies at two remote Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatory sites in Panama ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

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

Nitrogen loss expected with heavy rainfall

After 2 to 6 inches of rain fell on most of central South Dakota - and more in isolated areas - in the last couple weeks; South Dakota State University Extension Soil Specialist, Ron Gelderman, says some fields may experience ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jul 06, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Nitrogen guidelines for cereal forages

Cereal grains such as wheat and barley are viable alternative hay crops and can provide valuable grazing opportunities. Due to drought resistance, good yields and ability to break pest cycles of perennial crops, annual forages ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jun 24, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0