Sustainability of maize-based cropping systems is a major challenge for southern Africa, yet the demand for maize as staple food and animal feed in the region continues to increase. A study was conducted on a sandy clay loam (220 g clay kg-1 soil) at Domboshawa in Zimbabwe to investigate the long-term effects of organic resource quality and application rate, and nitrogen (N) fertilization on so...

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide has the potential to alter leaf litter chemistry, potentially affecting decomposition and rates of carbon and nitrogen cycling in forest ecosystems. This study was conducted to determine whether growth under elevated atmospheric CO2 altered the quality and microbial decomposition of leaf litter of a widely distributed northern hardwood species at sites of low a...

Many people consider earthworms to be an indicator of soil quality because they respond to and contribute to healthy soil. For earthworms to be abundant, a field must meet several conditions that are also associated with soil quality and agricultural sustainability: moderate pH, surface residue for food and protection, and soil that is not waterlogged, compacted, droughty, or excessively sandy....

Soil quality (SQ) assessment has numerous applications for managing sustainable soil function. Airborne imaging spectroscopy (IS) is an advanced tool for studying natural and artificial materials, in general, and soil properties, in particular. The primary goal of this research was to prove and demonstrate the ability of IS to evaluate soil properties and quality across anthropogenically induce...

Soil quality has been defined as the “continued capacity of soil to function a vital living system, within ecosystem and land use boundaries, sustain biological productivity, promote air water environments, maintain plant, animal human health” [...]

Soil salt content is a key factor that determines soil chemical quality together with soil reaction, charge properties and nutrient reserves (Lal et al., 1999). An adequate salt supply is essential for an optimum development of photosynthetic mechanism and other biochemical processes in plants (Sitte et al., 1994). Soil salt content constitutes an environmental problem when salt accumulation ge...