introduction: fao aquacrop model (raes et al., 2009a; steduto et al., 2009) is a user-friendly and practitioner oriented type of model, because it maintains an optimal balance between accuracy, robustness, and simplicity; and it requires a relatively small number of model input parameters. the fao aquacrop model predicts crop productivity, water requirement, and water use efficiency under water...

Plant diversity has been shown to determine the composition and functioning of soil biota. Although root-derived organic inputs are discussed as the main drivers of soil communities, experimental evidence is scarce. While there is some evidence that higher root biomass at high plant diversity increases substrate availability for soil biota, several studies have speculated that the quantity and ...

Background Image-based high-throughput phenotyping technologies have been rapidly developed in plant science recently and they provide a great potential to gain more valuable information than traditionally destructive methods. Predicting plant biomass is regarded as a key purpose for plant breeders and ecologist. However, it is a great challenge to find a predictive biomass model across experim...

plant biomass harvested after heavy-metal phytoremediation must be considered as a hazardous waste that should be contained or treated appropriately before disposal or reuse. this study provides an evaluation of extractants for the removal of lead from abutilon theophrastus biomass. the research was carried out a leaching study to determine the lead-extraction efficiency of the different leacha...

Decreasing lignin content of plant biomass by genetic engineering is believed to mitigate biomass recalcitrance and improve saccharification efficiency of plant biomass. In this study, we compared two different pretreatment methods (i.e., dilute acid and cellulose solvent) on transgenic plant biomass samples having different lignin contents and investigated biomass saccharification efficiency. ...

Soil microbial biomass is a key determinant of carbon dynamics in the soil. Several studies have shown that soil microbial biomass significantly increases with plant species diversity, but it remains unclear whether plant species diversity can also stabilize soil microbial biomass in a changing environment. This question is particularly relevant as many global environmental change (GEC) factors...

1 Soil microbial biomass is a key determinant of carbon dynamics in the soil. Several studies have 2 shown that soil microbial biomass significantly increases with plant species diversity, but it 3 remains unclear if plant species diversity can also stabilize soil microbial biomass in a changing 4 environment. This question is particularly relevant as many global environmental change (GEC) 5 fa...

BACKGROUND A major obstacle, and perhaps the most important economic barrier to the effective use of plant biomass for the production of fuels, chemicals, and bioproducts, is our current lack of knowledge of how to efficiently and effectively deconstruct wall polymers for their subsequent use as feedstocks. Plants represent the most desired source of renewable energy and hydrocarbons because th...

In this study, the structures of external costs are built in line with coal-fired and biomass power plant life cycle activities in Northeast China. The external cost of coal-fired and biomass power plants was compared, using the lifecycle approach. In addition, the external costs of a biomass power plant are calculated for each stage for comparison with those of a coal-fired power plant. The re...

Marginal croplands, such as those in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), have been suggested as a source of biomass for biofuel production. However, little is known about the composition of plant species on these conservation grasslands or their potential for ethanol production. Our objective was to assess the potential of CRP and other conservation grasslands for biofuel production, descri...