Plant, Soil and Environment, 2014 (vol. 60), issue 2
Effect of long-term fertilization on soil aggregate-associated dissolved organic nitrogen on sloping cropland of purple soilOriginal Paper
K.K. Hua, B. Zhu, X.G. Wang, X.S. Guo, D.Z. Wang, Z.B. Guo
Plant Soil Environ., 2014, 60(2):51-56 | DOI: 10.17221/881/2013-PSE 
To investigate the effect of fertilization practice on dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) in aggregates, the study was conducted and involved four fertilization treatments: no fertilizer; mineral fertilizer (MF); pig manure matched with mineral fertilizer (MFP) and crop straw matched with mineral fertilizer (MFR). The results showed that DON content and storage were the highest in > 5 mm aggregates and were the lowest in < 0.25 mm aggregates. Compared with MF, MFP and MFR significantly increased DON contents in > 5 mm by 404.7% and 184.4%. In comparison with MFR, DON content and storage in > 5 mm aggregates for MFP were significantly enhanced...
Soil chemical properties as affected by tillage and crop rotation in a long-term field experimentOriginal Paper
R.W. Neugschwandtner, P. Liebhard, H.-P. Kaul, H. Wagentristl
Plant Soil Environ., 2014, 60(2):57-62 | DOI: 10.17221/879/2013-PSE
Long-term field experiments are important for explaining tillage and rotation effects on soil fertility and to develop sustainable nutrient management strategies. An experiment was established in 1996 in Raasdorf (Austria) on chernozem with four tillage treatments (mouldboard ploughing (MP); no-till; deep conservation tillage and shallow conservation tillage) and two crop rotations. Soil samples were taken in November 2003 from 10 cm soil layers down to 40 cm to assess the effects on pH, carbonate content (CaCO3), soil organic carbon (SOC), total nitrogen (Nt), potentially mineralizable N (PMN) and plant-available phosphorus (P)...
Long-term effects of continuous cropping and different nutrient management practices on the distribution of organic nitrogen in soil under rice-wheat systemOriginal Paper
J. Kaur, J.P. Singh
Plant Soil Environ., 2014, 60(2):63-68 | DOI: 10.17221/440/2013-PSE
A long-term experiment was used to evaluate the effects of different nutrient management practices on the distribution of soil organic N fractions and their contribution to N nutrition of a rice-wheat system. Continuous rice-wheat cultivation for 13 years without any fertilization was unable to maintain total soil nitrogen level to its original level and resulted in a decrease at 8.3 mg N/kg/year. Likewise, amino acid N, amino sugar N, ammonia N, hydrolysable unknown N, total hydrolysable N and non-hydrolysable N decreased by 37.2, 29.6, 33.7, 10.4, 26.6 and 20.4%, respectively over their initial status. However, application of inorganic fertilizers...
Antagonistic bacteria in the soil after cover crops cultivationOriginal Paper
E. Patkowska, M. Konopiński
Plant Soil Environ., 2014, 60(2):69-73 | DOI: 10.17221/774/2013-PSE
The purpose of the studies was to establish the quantitative composition of bacteria Bacillus spp. and Pseudomonas spp. and their antagonistic effect towards soil-borne fungi after the cultivation of oats, spring vetch and tansy phacelia as intercrop cover plants. The total population of bacteria in 1 g dry weight of the soil from the experimental combination where mulch of oats was used was larger than in the combination with spring vetch or tansy phacelia. Totally, approximately three times as much Bacillus spp. was obtained from soil samples as compared to Pseudomonas spp. Tests showed that the most isolates of...
The effect of tractor wheeling on the soil properties and root growth of smooth bromeOriginal Paper
K. Krebstein, K. von Janowsky, J. Kuht, E. Reintam
Plant Soil Environ., 2014, 60(2):74-79 | DOI: 10.17221/804/2013-PSE
The objective of this work was to evaluate the effect of tractor wheeling with a light tractor on the root growth and soil properties of smooth brome in South Estonia. Field experiment was conducted on sandy loam Haplic Luvisol in 2007. Data were collected during September 2008 in both an uncompacted and compacted area. Because of the compaction, the precompression stress increased in the upper soil layer (0-10 cm) by 12.6% and 15.2% at a depth of 10-20 cm. Compaction had only a minor effect on the bulk density, values increased 4.7% in the upper soil layer and 1.8% in the deeper layer. Differences in the saturated hydraulic conductivity (ks)...
Assessment of cadmium uptake and nutrient content in sunflower plants grown under Cd stressOriginal Paper
A.R. Rivelli, M. Puschenreiter, S. De Maria
Plant Soil Environ., 2014, 60(2):80-86 | DOI: 10.17221/520/2013-PSE
Sunflower plants were grown on soil contaminated with several levels of Cd (from 0.3 to 15 mg Cd kg/soil). Cd and nutrient (Cu, Zn, Fe, Ca, K, Mg) contents were evaluated in root and aboveground biomass during the vegetative growth period (from the emergence of the cotyledon leaves to the flower bud phase). An overall increase of Cd content was found in the plants during the growing cycle. Significant interactions were found between Cd contamination levels and phenological stages for Cu, Fe, Ca and Mg content in the whole plant. Cd levels involved significant increases of such nutrients only at the flower bud phase. At this stage, significant interactions...
Mercury distribution and mobility in contaminated soils from vicinity of waste incineration plantOriginal Paper
A. Šípková, J. Száková, P. Coufalík, O. Zvěřina, L. Kacálková, P. Tlustoš
Plant Soil Environ., 2014, 60(2):87-92 | DOI: 10.17221/634/2013-PSE
The potential bioavailability of Hg from soil might be estimated by a variety of chemical extraction procedures, differing in the extraction agent, its concentration, the sample weight, and the time of extraction. In this study, a comparative analysis of several extraction methods, commonly used for obtaining the mobile and potentially mobilizable phase of the mercury was carried out. Concentrated HNO3, 0.01 mol/L Na2S2O3, 0.05 mol/L EDTA and 0.11 mol/L CH3COOH were used as the single extraction agents. Moreover, the sequential extraction was performed. This procedure involved the following fractions:...