Diversifying with grain legumes amplifies carbon in management-sensitive soil organic carbon pools on smallholder farms

Regis Chikowo Sieglinde Snapp (2023, [Artículo])

Crop diversification with grain legumes has been advocated as a means to increase agroecological resilience, diversify livelihoods, boost household nutrition, and enhance soil health and fertility in cereal-based cropping systems in sub-Saharan Africa and around the world. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is a primary indicator of soil health and there is limited data regarding SOC pools and grain legume diversification on smallholder farms where soils are often marginal. In Malawi, a range of legume diversification options are under investigation, including rotations and a doubled-up legume rotation (DLR) system in which two compatible legumes are intercropped and then rotated with a cereal. The impact of the DLR system on SOC has not yet been determined, and there is a lack of evidence regarding SOC status over a gradient of simple to complex grain legume diversified systems. We address this knowledge gap by evaluating these systems in comparison to continuous sole maize (Zea mays L.) at three on-farm trial sites in central Malawi. After six years of trial establishment, we measured SOC in bulk soils and aggregate fractions and in faster cycling SOC pools that respond more rapidly to management practices, including water extractable organic carbon (WEOC), particulate organic matter carbon (POM-C), potentially mineralizable carbon (C), and macroaggregate C. Cropping treatment differences were not seen in bulk SOC or total N, but they were apparent in SOC pools with a shorter turnover time. The DLR system of intercropped pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.) and groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) rotated with maize had higher WEOC, POM-C, potentially mineralizable C, macroaggregate and microaggregate C values than continuous maize. Of the single legume rotations, the pigeonpea-maize rotation had more mineralizable C and microaggregate C compared to continuous maize, while the groundnut-maize rotation had similar C values to the maize system. Overall, this study shows the potential for crop rotations diversified with grain legumes to enhance C in management sensitive SOC pools, and it is one of the first reports to show this effect on smallholder farm sites.

Crop Diversification Water Extractable Organic Carbon CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA DIVERSIFICATION LEGUMES PARTICULATE ORGANIC MATTER SOIL ORGANIC CARBON

Soil moisture content and maize grain yield under conventional and conservation agriculture practices - results of short term field tests in liselo, Namibia

Christian Thierfelder (2023, [Artículo])

This article focuses on the results from trials developed to monitor the short-term effects of conventionally tilled systems versus CA on soil quality and crop productivity under conditions of the major cropping systems in central, north-central and north-eastern regions of Namibia. Conventional tillage (CT), Minimum tillage (MT), Minimum tillage, mulch (MT-M), Minimum tillage, rotation (MT-R) and Minimum tillage, mulch and rotation (MT-MR) were the primary treatments tested. Significant differences (p≤0.000) among the treatments were observed in the 0-60 cm soil profiles where MT-M plots had the highest soil moisture content (39.8 mm, Standard Error of Mean 0.2815) over the study period. A significant difference (p=0.0206) in grain yield was observed in the second season with CT plots yielding the highest grain yield (3852.3 kg ha-1, standard error of mean 240.35). Results suggest that CA has the potential to increase water conservation and contribute to reduction of the risk of crop failure. Climate change driven degradation under conventional tillage necessitate alternative sustainable tillage methods. Conservation tillage methods and conservation agricultural practices that minimize soil disturbance while maintaining soil cover need to be adopted more locally as viable alternatives to conventional tillage.

Grain Yield Soil Moisture Content CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE CONVENTIONAL TILLAGE GRAIN YIELDS SOIL WATER CONTENT MAIZE

Changes in soil organic carbon pools after 15 years of Conservation Agriculture in rice (Oryza sativa)-wheat (Triticum aestivum) cropping system of eastern Indo-Gangetic plains

C.M. Parihar Mahesh Gathala ML JAT (2023, [Artículo])

The present study was carried out at Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Samastipur, Bihar during 2021-2023 to focus on examining alterations in SOC pools resulting from conservation agriculture (CA) practices in R-W system in the eastern IGP, following the collection of soil samples from a long-term trial that was initiated in rainy (kharif) season 2006. The trial included eight combinations, namely: conventional tilled rice (Oryza sativa L.) and wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (CTR-CTW); CT rice and zero till wheat (CTR-ZTW); direct seeded rice (DSR) and wheat on permanent raised beds (PBDSR-PBW); ZTDSR and CT Wheat (ZTDSR-CTW); ZTDSR and ZT wheat without residue (ZTDSR-ZTW-R); ZTDSR-ZT wheat with residue (ZTDSR-ZTW +R); unpuddled transplanted riceZTW (UpTR-ZTW) and ZTDSR-sesbania brown manure-ZTW (ZTDSR-S-ZTW). Results revealed that implementing zero tillage (ZT) combined with residue retention in rice and wheat cultivation led to enhanced levels of soil organic carbon (SOC) across all four fractions, namely very labile (CVL), labile (CL), less labile (CLL), and non-labile (CNL), in comparison to the continuous and rotational tillage practices. The tillage and residue management options significantly affected the lability index (LI) and C pool index (CPI), with zero-tillage and residue retention leading to lower LI and higher CPI values. The management practices significantly affected the C management index (CMI), with zero-tillage and residue retention showing the highest CMI values. Findings showed the potential of CA practices for enhancing soil C quality as well as C sequestration in soil of the Eastern IGP of India.

Carbon Management Index Soil Organic Carbon Fractions CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE SOIL ORGANIC CARBON ZERO TILLAGE

Advancing the science and practice of ecological nutrient management for smallholder farmers

Sieglinde Snapp (2022, [Artículo])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA AGROECOLOGY DEGRADATION NUTRIENT CYCLES NUTRIENT USE EFFICIENCY SOIL ORGANIC MATTER SMALLHOLDERS

Nepal Seed And Fertilizer Project

Dyutiman Choudhary (2021, [Objeto de congreso])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SEED SEED INDUSTRY PRIVATE SECTOR MAIZE RICE INTEGRATED SOIL FERTILITY MANAGEMENT COVID-19

Discovery of genomic regions associated with grain yield and agronomic traits in Bi-parental populations of maize (Zea mays. L) under optimum and low nitrogen conditions

Noel Ndlovu Vijay Chaikam Berhanu Tadesse Ertiro Biswanath Das Yoseph Beyene Charles Spillane Prasanna Boddupalli Manje Gowda (2023, [Artículo])

Grain Yield Low Soil Nitrogen CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA GRAIN NITROGEN SOIL CHEMICOPHYSICAL PROPERTIES MAIZE QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI

Nepal Seed And Fertilizer Project

Dyutiman Choudhary (2022, [Objeto de congreso])

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SEED FERTILIZERS SEED INDUSTRY PRIVATE SECTOR MAIZE RICE INTEGRATED SOIL FERTILITY MANAGEMENT COVID-19

Mulch application as the overarching factor explaining increase in soil organic carbon stocks under conservation agriculture in two 8-year-old experiments in Zimbabwe

Regis Chikowo Christian Thierfelder Marc Corbeels (2024, [Artículo])

Conservation agriculture (CA), combining reduced or no tillage, permanent soil cover, and improved rotations, is often promoted as a climate-smart practice. However, our understanding of the impact of CA and its respective three principles on top- and subsoil organic carbon stocks in the low-input cropping systems of sub-Saharan Africa is rather limited. This study was conducted at two long-term experimental sites established in Zimbabwe in 2013. The soil types were abruptic Lixisols at Domboshava Training Centre (DTC) and xanthic Ferralsol at the University of Zimbabwe farm (UZF). The following six treatments, which were replicated four times, were investigated: conventional tillage (CT), conventional tillage with rotation (CTR), no tillage (NT), no tillage with mulch (NTM), no tillage with rotation (NTR), and no tillage with mulch and rotation (NTMR). Maize (Zea mays L.) was the main crop, and treatments with rotation included cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp.). The soil organic carbon (SOC) concentration and soil bulk density were determined for samples taken from depths of 0–5, 5–10, 10–15, 15–20, 20–30, 30–40, 40–50, 50–75 and 75–100 cm. Cumulative organic inputs to the soil were also estimated for all treatments. SOC stocks at equivalent soil mass were significantly (p<0.05) higher in the NTM, NTR and NTMR treatments compared with the NT and CT treatments in the top 5 cm and top 10 cm layers at UZF, while SOC stocks were only significantly higher in the NTM and NTMR treatments compared with the NT and CT treatments in the top 5 cm at DTC. NT alone had a slightly negative impact on the top SOC stocks. Cumulative SOC stocks were not significantly different between treatments when considering the whole 100 cm soil profile. Our results show the overarching role of crop residue mulching in CA cropping systems with respect to enhancing SOC stocks but also that this effect is limited to the topsoil. The highest cumulative organic carbon inputs to the soil were observed in NTM treatments at the two sites, and this could probably explain the positive effect on SOC stocks. Moreover, our results show that the combination of at least two CA principles including mulch is required to increase SOC stocks in these low-nitrogen-input cropping systems.

CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA SOIL ORGANIC CARBON CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE EXPERIMENTATION CROP MANAGEMENT

Variación espacio-temporal del ensamblaje de peces criptobentónicos y conspicuos en dos áreas naturales protegidas, Bahía de los Ángeles y Huatulco

Spatial and temporal variation of the assemblage of cryptobenthic and conspicuous reef fish in two protected natural areas, Bahía delos Ángeles and Huatulco

Rodrigo Daniel Chiriboga Ortega (2023, [Tesis de maestría])

Los peces arrecifales desempeñan roles ecológicos muy importantes manteniendo la salud de los arrecifes siendo limpiadores, recicladores de materia orgánica y además fuente de alimento entre eslabones de la cadena trófica. El presente trabajo busca describir el ensamblaje de peces arrecifales crípticos y conspicuos, y evaluar los patrones espaciales y temporales del ensamblaje de peces arrecifales en Bahía de Los Ángeles, Baja California (BLA) y el Parque Nacional Huatulco (PNH), Oaxaca. Utilizamos dos métodos de muestreo censos visuales y estaciones cerradas. Para evaluar a los peces conspicuos, se realizaron censos visuales empleando transectos de banda de 20x4 m. Para cuantificar la biodiversidad de peces crípticos, se realizaron estaciones cerradas (0.4 m2 ) en donde se utilizó aceite de clavo como anestésico para recolectar los peces arrecifales criptobentónicos (PACr). Las dos metodologías se realizaron en dos gradientes de profundidad (somero; < 5 m y profundo; > 5 m) y en dos estaciones (cálida y fría). Se realizaron curvas de acumulación de especies y un análisis del número efectivo de especies para describir la riqueza y diversidad de cada zona de estudio. Finalmente, para determinar patrones espacio temporales se realizaron análisis nMDS, PERMANOVAS y SIMPER. La riqueza total fue de 43 especies para BLA y 62 para el PNH representando el 80% y 79% del promedio de los estimadores no paramétricos respectivamente. Se aumentó el número de especies registradas a 94 para BLA y 209 para el PNH utilizando las estaciones cerradas. Se observaron diferencias significativas entre estaciones y profundidad en el ensamblaje de PACs de BLA, pero no para los PACr. En el PNH se observaron diferencias significativas para la riqueza y abundancia de los PACr y variación temporal de la biomasa de los PACs. En conclusión se demostró que el uso de métodos de muestreo complementarios mejora la calidad de los inventarios de especies y permite detectar variaciones espacio temporales en la estructura de la comunidad íctica.

Reef fishes perform important ecological roles in maintaining reef health by cleaning and recycling organic material, and by providing a source of food between trophic linkages. The thesis describes cryptic and conspicuous reef fish assemblages and estimates their spatial and temporal patterns of in two sites, Bahía de Los Ángeles (BLA) in the state of Baja California and Huatulco National Park (PNH), in the state of Oaxaca. We used two sampling methods: visual census using SCUBA (band transects of 4x20m) for conspicuous reef fish (PAC) and enclosed stations (0.4 m2) using clove oil to anesthetize and collect the cryptobenthic reef fish (PACr). Sampling was conducted at two depth strata (shallow; < 5 m and deep; > 5m) and during two seasons (warm and cold). We used species accumulation curves and analysis of effective number of species to describe the richness and diversity of reef fish. Finally, nMDS, PERMANOVAS and SIMPER were performed to determine spatial and temporal patterns. The total species richness was 43 species for BLA and 62 species for the PNH, representing 80% and 79%, respectively, of the average of the non-parametric estimators. The number of species increased to 94 for BLA and 209 for PNH using enclosed stations. Significant differences between seasons and depth strata were found for the PACs assemblage at the BLA site, but not for the PACr assemblage. At the PNH site, significant differences were found for the richness and abundance of the PACr assemblage for depth as well as for the seasonal variation of the biomass of the PACs assemblage. In conclusion we demonstrated that the use of complementary sampling methods improves the quality of species inventories and allows for the detection of both spatial and temporal variations in the structure of the reef fish community.

diversidad, peces arrecifales, criptobentónico, biomasa, espacio-temporal biodiversity, reef fishes, cryptobenthic, biomass, spatial-temporal CIENCIAS AGROPECUARIAS Y BIOTECNOLOGÍA CIENCIAS AGRARIAS PECES Y FAUNA SILVESTRE DINÁMICA DE LAS POBLACIONES DINÁMICA DE LAS POBLACIONES

Variación fenotípica de caracteres vegetativos y reproductivos de Hesperoyucca whipplei (Asparagaceae) en Baja California, México

Phenotypic variation of vegetative and reproductive traits of Hesperoyucca whipplei (Asparagaceae) in Baja California, Mexico

Melissa Michelle Alvarez Mexia (2024, [Tesis de maestría])

La variación fenotípica hereditaria de diferentes órganos de las plantas se ha relacionado con adaptaciones para tolerar el ambiente abiótico y mantener relaciones ecológicas. Específicamente se ha planteado que los órganos vegetativos de las plantas están bajo selección por disponibilidad de agua o luz, mientras que la variación de rasgos florales en especies con polinización zoocórica está fuertemente influenciada por sus polinizadores. Esto sugiere que la fortaleza de la covariación fenotípica entre órganos vegetativos y florales puede ser diferente dependiendo del estrés ambiental considerado. Según la hipótesis de Berg, las plantas con sistemas de polinización especializados desvinculan la morfología floral de la variación fenotípica en los caracteres vegetativos debido a la presión selectiva del polinizador. Se probó esto en la yuca de chaparral, Hesperoyucca whipplei, ya que se distribuye en diferentes ambientes a lo largo de la península de Baja California, y es polinizada únicamente por la polilla Tegeticula maculata. Esperamos que la heterogeneidad ambiental afecte principalmente a los niveles de variación fenotípica de los órganos vegetativos de las poblaciones de H. whipplei, causando cambios en la morfología entre poblaciones. Sin embargo, dada la polinización obligada, esperamos que la variación de los rasgos florales sea menor que la variación de sus rasgos vegetativos. Para probarlo, se tomaron datos morfométricos vegetativos y reproductivos de 202 individuos en 16 localidades. Los resultados mostraron amplia variación fenotípica en los caracteres vegetativos y reproductivos no florales y una menor variación fenotípica en los caracteres florales, especialmente el pistilo, con el cual interactúa directamente el polinizador. La temperatura y precipitación influyeron significativamente en la variación de la altura total de la planta y sobre los pétalos y pistilo en las flores. Se detectó una asociación entre los caracteres vegetativos y los reproductivos no florales, mientras que no se encontró una relación con los caracteres florales. A partir de esto se identificaron dos módulos fenotípicos altamente integrados, uno vegetativo y uno floral, lo que respalda la hipótesis de Berg y sugiere que experimentan presiones de selección diferentes. Nuestros hallazgos resaltan como la variación fenotípica en poblaciones de plantas es modulada por condiciones ambientales e interacciones ecológicas.

Hereditary phenotypic variation of different plant organs has been related to adaptations that allow them to tolerate the abiotic environment and maintain ecological relationships with other organisms. Specifically, it has been proposed that the vegetative organs of the plants are under selection due to the availability of water or sunlight, while the variation of floral traits in species with zoochoric pollination is strongly influenced by their pollinators. This suggests that the strength of the phenotypic co-variation between vegetative and floral organs may be different depending on the environmental stress considered. According to Berg's hypothesis, plants with specialized pollination systems dissociate floral morphology from phenotypic variation in vegetative traits due to selective pressure from the pollinator. The chaparral yuca, Hesperoyucca whipplei, is a good model to test this, since it is distributed in different environments along the Baja California peninsula, and this plant is pollinated only by the Tegeticula maculata moth. We expect that environmental heterogeneity primarily affects the levels of phenotypic variation of the vegetative organs of H. whipplei populations, causing changes in morphology between populations. However, given the obligatory pollination by the moth, we expect that the variation in the floral traits will be lesser than the variation in their vegetative traits. To test this, vegetative and reproductive morphometric data were taken from 202 individuals in 16 locations. The results showed wide phenotypic variation in vegetative and non-floral reproductive traits and lower phenotypic variation in floral traits, especially the pistil, which directly interacts with the pollinator. Temperature and precipitation significantly influenced the variation of the total height of the plant and on the petals and pistil in the flowers. An association was detected between vegetative and non-floral reproductive characters, while no relationship was found with floral characters. From this, two highly integrated phenotypic modules, one vegetative and one floral, were identified, which supports Berg's hypothesis and suggests that they experience different selection pressures. Our findings highlight how phenotypic variation in plant populations is modulated by environmental conditions and ecological interactions.

Baja California, Hesperoyucca whipplei, hipótesis de Berg, variación fenotípica Baja California, Berg’s hypothesis, Hesperoyucca whipplei, phenotypic variation BIOLOGÍA Y QUÍMICA CIENCIAS DE LA VIDA BIOLOGÍA VEGETAL (BOTÁNICA) ECOLOGÍA VEGETAL ECOLOGÍA VEGETAL