Leaf lifespan varies widely among plant species, from a few weeks to >40 years. This variation is associated with differences in plant form and function, and the distribution of species along resource gradients. Longer leaf lifespans increase the residence time of nutrients and are one mechanism by which plants conserve nutrients; consequently, leaf lifespan should increase within species with ...

Agar medium (SME) prepared from aqueous soil extract was used to examine genetic transformation of Pseudomonas stutzeri JM302 (his-1) by homologous his DNA in a plate transformation assay. Growth studies indicated that SME was strongly limited in carbon and nitrogen sources. Transformation was observed on SME supplemented with pyruvate, phosphate, and ammonium. A 25-fold increase of the transfo...

Effects of biodiversity on productivity are more likely to be expressed when there is greater potential for niche complementarity. In soil, chemically complex pools of nutrient resources should provide more opportunities for niche complementarity than chemically simple pools. Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungal genotypes can exhibit substantial variation in nutrient acquisition traits and are key comp...

In order to help farmers to understand soil nutrients, use effectively our soil and protect our environment, at the same time to improve sustainable development of the agricultural system, the topsoil samples were collected form yushu city .The ways of combining Geostatistics with GIS were applied to analyze the spatial variability of soil nutrients, such as Alkaline hydrolysis nitrogen, availa...

Legume cover crops have various important effects on nutrient cycling in tropical fruit tree production: they (i) fix atmospheric N2 and may amend the soil and trees with N, (ii) recycle nutrients, and (iii) affect soil nutrient availability. Aboveground N accumulation usually is very large in legume cover crops as seen from Pueraria phaseoloides being 8 to 14 times higher than in intercropped ...

Soil organic matter (SOM) is known to play vital roles in the maintenance and improvement of many soil properties and processes. These roles, which largely influence soil functions, are a pool of specific contributions of different components of SOM. The soil functions, in turn, normally define the level of soil degradation, viewed as quantifiable temporal changes in a soil that impairs its qua...

BiofertiJizers are microbial preparations containing living cells of different microorganisms which have the ability to mobilize plant nutrients in soil from unusable to usable form through biological process. They are environmental friendly and play significant role in crop production. Previollsly it is mainly used for field crops but now-a-days it is used for fruit crops also. Biofertilizers ...

15/35 Abstract Crop production on smallholder agricultural land must increase considerably if the growing world population is to be fed. To achieve this, affordable soil testing methods, fertilizer recommendations and the accessibility of optimal fertilizers containing the required nutrients are required. The SoilCares mobile laboratory offers affordable soil testing using infrared spectroscopy...

Nutrient management for production, profit, and environmental protection: Striking the balance Strategies to manage nutrients in crop production were first designed to maximize crop yields, an objective that became increasingly possible with the development of inorganic fertilizers during the past century. Later, as economic analysis of farm profitability became more sophisticated, strategies s...