Plant, Soil and Environment, 2009 (vol. 55), issue 8
Greenhouse gas inventory of agriculture in the Czech Republic
Z. Exnerová, E. Cienciala
Plant Soil Environ., 2009, 55(8):311-319 | DOI: 10.17221/2528-PSE 
As a part of its obligations under the Climate Convention, the Czech Republic must annually estimate and report its anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. This also applies for the sector of agriculture, which is one of the greatest producers of methane and nitrous oxide emissions. This paper presents the approaches applied to estimate emissions in agricultural sector during the period 1990-2006. It describes the origin and sources of emissions, applied methodology, parameters and emission estimates for the sector of agriculture in the country. The total greenhouse gas emissions reached 7644 Gg CO2 eq. in 2006. About 59% (4479 Gg CO2...
Effects of putrescine and low temperature on the apoplastic antioxidant enzymes in the leaves of two wheat cultivars
T. Çakmak, Ö. Atici
Plant Soil Environ., 2009, 55(8):320-326 | DOI: 10.17221/1037-PSE
The effects of putrescine (a polyamine), low temperature and their combinations on the activities of apoplastic antioxidant enzymes were studied in the leaves of two wheat cultivars, winter (Dogu-88) and spring (Gerek-79). Fifteen-day-old wheat seedlings were treated with putrescine solutions (0.1, 1 and 10mM) prior to cold treatment (5/3°C). The activities of apoplastic catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase were determined in the leaves both under normal and cold conditions at 1, 3 and 5 days. The results indicate that cold treatment significantly increased the activities of apoplastic catalase, peroxidase and superoxide dismutase in winter...
Effects of conservation tillage on soil porosity in maize-wheat cropping system
N. Tangyuan, H. Bin, J. Nianyuan, T. Shenzhong, L. Zengjia
Plant Soil Environ., 2009, 55(8):327-333 | DOI: 10.17221/25/2009-PSE
A study was conducted on the effect of two single practices, including soil tillage and returning straw to soil, and their interaction on soil porosity of maize-wheat cropping system. Field experiments involved four tillage practices, including conventional tillage (C), zero-tillage (Z), harrow-tillage (H) and subsoil-tillage (S), with straw absent (A) or straw present (P). Total porosity, capillary porosity and non-capillary porosity of soil were investigated. The results showed that the soil total porosity of 0-10 soil layer was mostly affected; conventional tillage can increase the capillary porosity of soil, but the non-capillary porosity of S...
Interannual dynamics of available potassium in a long-term fertilization experiment
M. Madaras, J. Lipavský
Plant Soil Environ., 2009, 55(8):334-343 | DOI: 10.17221/34/2009-PSE
Dynamics of the plant-available potassium (K) has been studied in polyfactorial long-term fertilization experiments since 1980. The fertilization scheme includes 10 combinations of K muriate and farmyard manure application rates (annually 0-230 kg K/ha). At medium treatment (annually 153 kg K/ha), the K balance within an 8-year crop rotation reflected crop specific K application rates with positive annual balances in years of growing silage maize and sugar beet (high K input), and negative in two years of growing alfalfa. Available K clearly corresponded to the dynamics of the K balance, with statistically significant fluctuations from 88 to 149 mg...
Differences in soil sulfur fractions due to limitation of atmospheric deposition
J. Balík, M. Kulhánek, J. Černý, J. Száková, D. Pavlíková, P. Čermák
Plant Soil Environ., 2009, 55(8):344-352 | DOI: 10.17221/101/2009-PSE
The aim of this work was to estimate the changes in contents of different sulfur (S) fractions in soils under conditions of lowering inputs of S from emissions together with the influence of application of manure and mineral fertilizers. Soil samples from long-term field experiments were used for this purpose. The samples were taken from 10 sites from precise long-term field experiments with different soil-climatic conditions in the Czech Republic. The samples were analyzed using the following fractionation: (i) water soluble S (H2O extracts), (ii) sorbed S (0.032M NaH2PO4 extracts) and (iii) S occluded with carbonates...
Cadmium balance in soils under different fertilization managements including sewage sludge application
K. Čásová, J. Černý, J. Száková, J. Balík, P. Tlustoš
Plant Soil Environ., 2009, 55(8):353-361 | DOI: 10.17221/142/2009-PSE
Simple balance of Cd input by different treatments and removal by agricultural crops was investigated in an ongoing precise long-term field experiment with application of sewage sludge (SS), farmyard manure (FYM), and mineral fertilizers (NPK). Potatoes, wheat and barley were grown in a rotation at 4 experimental sites of the Czech Republic with the aim to assess the risk of Cd accumulation in soil and plants under different soil and climate conditions. The results showed significant differences in Cd content of the input materials used, and in Cd inputs to soils under different fertilization managements. Three applications of sewage sludge during...