Spontaneous Plants Improve the Inter-Row Soil Fertility in a Citrus Orchard but Nitrogen Lacks to Boost Organic Carbon
The inter-row soils in conventionally run citrus orchards in Eastern Spain lose fertility, either physically, chemically, or biologically, as a consequence of machinery traffic and the use of herbicides. In order to regain inter-row soil fertility, two grass-cover management alternatives to the comm...
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| Formato: | article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
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MDPI
2023
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/8500 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/9/12/151 |
| _version_ | 1855032801268596736 |
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| author | Visconti, Fernando Peiró, Enrique Baixauli, Carlos De-Paz, José M. |
| author_browse | Baixauli, Carlos De-Paz, José M. Peiró, Enrique Visconti, Fernando |
| author_facet | Visconti, Fernando Peiró, Enrique Baixauli, Carlos De-Paz, José M. |
| author_sort | Visconti, Fernando |
| collection | ReDivia |
| description | The inter-row soils in conventionally run citrus orchards in Eastern Spain lose fertility, either physically, chemically, or biologically, as a consequence of machinery traffic and the use of herbicides. In order to regain inter-row soil fertility, two grass-cover management alternatives to the commonly used herbicide-kept bare management, namely, spontaneous plants and fescue, were established and left for four years until their effects on several physical, chemical, and biological parameters were monitored for two years more. The fescue ground cover exhibited lower average and maximum soil temperatures due to higher evapotranspiration rates but also higher annual soil water content on average and, additionally, higher rhizodeposition. Despite the fact that these new beneficial conditions helped enhance the soil’s biological fertility under fescue, the physical or chemical fertilities did not improve and neither did the organic carbon (SOC). The spontaneous plants also enhanced the biological fertility, but in this case, beneficial conditions were reflected by improvements in the chemical fertility, particularly the exchangeable potassium, and in the physical fertility by increasing the surface hydraulic conductivity and decreasing the bulk density. In the
inter-rows of this citrus orchard, a seeded grass cover does not seem able to provide any soil fertility enhancement in comparison to a spontaneous one; rather the opposite. However, a lack of natural or man-driven nitrogen inputs poses a constraint to SOC gains. For this aim, the annual surface application of organic nitrogen-rich materials or even better, the fostering of N-fixing organisms would be recommended. |
| format | article |
| id | ReDivia8500 |
| institution | Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA) |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | MDPI |
| publisherStr | MDPI |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ReDivia85002025-04-25T14:49:02Z Spontaneous Plants Improve the Inter-Row Soil Fertility in a Citrus Orchard but Nitrogen Lacks to Boost Organic Carbon Visconti, Fernando Peiró, Enrique Baixauli, Carlos De-Paz, José M. Soil quality CO2 emission Carbon sequestration Hordeum murinum P35 Soil fertility F07 Soil cultivation F08 Cropping patterns and systems H60 Weeds P33 Soil chemistry and physics Cover crops Enzymatic activity Mediterranean climate Bulk density (soil) Hydraulic conductivity The inter-row soils in conventionally run citrus orchards in Eastern Spain lose fertility, either physically, chemically, or biologically, as a consequence of machinery traffic and the use of herbicides. In order to regain inter-row soil fertility, two grass-cover management alternatives to the commonly used herbicide-kept bare management, namely, spontaneous plants and fescue, were established and left for four years until their effects on several physical, chemical, and biological parameters were monitored for two years more. The fescue ground cover exhibited lower average and maximum soil temperatures due to higher evapotranspiration rates but also higher annual soil water content on average and, additionally, higher rhizodeposition. Despite the fact that these new beneficial conditions helped enhance the soil’s biological fertility under fescue, the physical or chemical fertilities did not improve and neither did the organic carbon (SOC). The spontaneous plants also enhanced the biological fertility, but in this case, beneficial conditions were reflected by improvements in the chemical fertility, particularly the exchangeable potassium, and in the physical fertility by increasing the surface hydraulic conductivity and decreasing the bulk density. In the inter-rows of this citrus orchard, a seeded grass cover does not seem able to provide any soil fertility enhancement in comparison to a spontaneous one; rather the opposite. However, a lack of natural or man-driven nitrogen inputs poses a constraint to SOC gains. For this aim, the annual surface application of organic nitrogen-rich materials or even better, the fostering of N-fixing organisms would be recommended. 2023-01-23T13:17:54Z 2023-01-23T13:17:54Z 2022 article publishedVersion Visconti, F., Peiró, E., Baixauli, C. & de-Paz, J. M. (2022). Spontaneous Plants Improve the Inter-Row Soil Fertility in a Citrus Orchard but Nitrogen Lacks to Boost Organic Carbon. Environments, 9(12), 151. 2076-3298 https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/8500 10.3390/environments9120151 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/9/12/151 en info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ESF/POCV 2014-2020 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EAFRD/AG_COOP_A%2F2018%2F036 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EAFRD/AG_COOP_A%2F2021%2F015 This research was funded by the European Rural Development Fund (EAFRD), grant numbers AG_COOP_A/2018/036 and AG_COOP_A/2021/015. The participation of Enrique Peiró was funded by the Operative Program of the European Social Fund of the Valencian Community 2014–2020 and the IVIA through a specialization scholarship. Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ openAccess MDPI electronico |
| spellingShingle | Soil quality CO2 emission Carbon sequestration Hordeum murinum P35 Soil fertility F07 Soil cultivation F08 Cropping patterns and systems H60 Weeds P33 Soil chemistry and physics Cover crops Enzymatic activity Mediterranean climate Bulk density (soil) Hydraulic conductivity Visconti, Fernando Peiró, Enrique Baixauli, Carlos De-Paz, José M. Spontaneous Plants Improve the Inter-Row Soil Fertility in a Citrus Orchard but Nitrogen Lacks to Boost Organic Carbon |
| title | Spontaneous Plants Improve the Inter-Row Soil Fertility in a Citrus Orchard but Nitrogen Lacks to Boost Organic Carbon |
| title_full | Spontaneous Plants Improve the Inter-Row Soil Fertility in a Citrus Orchard but Nitrogen Lacks to Boost Organic Carbon |
| title_fullStr | Spontaneous Plants Improve the Inter-Row Soil Fertility in a Citrus Orchard but Nitrogen Lacks to Boost Organic Carbon |
| title_full_unstemmed | Spontaneous Plants Improve the Inter-Row Soil Fertility in a Citrus Orchard but Nitrogen Lacks to Boost Organic Carbon |
| title_short | Spontaneous Plants Improve the Inter-Row Soil Fertility in a Citrus Orchard but Nitrogen Lacks to Boost Organic Carbon |
| title_sort | spontaneous plants improve the inter row soil fertility in a citrus orchard but nitrogen lacks to boost organic carbon |
| topic | Soil quality CO2 emission Carbon sequestration Hordeum murinum P35 Soil fertility F07 Soil cultivation F08 Cropping patterns and systems H60 Weeds P33 Soil chemistry and physics Cover crops Enzymatic activity Mediterranean climate Bulk density (soil) Hydraulic conductivity |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11939/8500 https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3298/9/12/151 |
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