Jordbrugsvidenskab

This book focuses on drylands such as arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas where they form the main part of ecosystems, e.g., in Iran, but also around the world. Mismanagement and improper exploitation of these areas lead to more degradation day by day. Besides an introduction to the role and importance of vegetation cover in conserving soil against wind and water erosion, this book gives a scope of appropriate techniques and methods for vegetation establishment and maintenance, indicators for suitable plants selection for soil  conservation, and soil erosion prevention and combat. It provides methods of soil erosion prevention and combating through the application of plants, using bioengineering systems for soil erosion control and the role of agroforestry in soil erosion prevention.This book can be helpful to those with an interest in countries with similar climates to Iran. In particular, this includes Dubai, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

The introduction of contaminants, due to rapid urbanisation and anthropogenic activities, into the environment causes unsteadiness, distress to the physico-chemical systems including living organisms, which possibly is threatening the dynamics of nature as well as the soil biology by producing certain xenobiotics. Hence, there is an immediate global demand for the diminution of such contaminants and xenobiotics which can otherwise adversely affect the living organisms. Some toxic xenobiotics include synthetic organochlorides such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and some fractions of crude oil and coal. The advancements in microbiology and biotechnology has lead to the launch of microbial biotechnology as a separate area of research and contributed dramatically to the development of the areas like agriculture, environment, biopharmaceutics, fermented foods, etc. The evolution of new metabolic pathways from natural metabolic cycles has enabled the microorganisms to degrade almost all different complex and resistant xenobiotics found on Earth. Hence, microbes stand an imperative, efficient, green and economical alternative to conventional treatment technologies. This book comprises chapters dealing with various bioremediation strategies with the help of different groups of microorganisms along with detailed graphical/ diagrammatical representations. It also focuses on the use of microbial biotechnology and highlights the recent developments in microbial biotechnology in the area of agriculture and environment.  Furthermore, it contains a detailed comprehensive account for the microbial treatment technologies from unsustainable to sustainable which includes chapters prepared by professionals, several researchers, scientists, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows across the world with expertise in environmental microbiology, biotechnology, bioremediation, and environmental engineering. The research presented also highlights some of the significantly important microbial species involved in remediation, the physiology, biochemistry and the mechanisms of remediation by various microbes, and suggestions for future improvement of bioremediation technology. This book would serve as a quick reference book for graduate and postgraduate students pursuing their study in any branch of life sciences, microbiology, health sciences and environmental biotechnology as well as researchers and scientists working in laboratories and industries involved in research related to microbiology, environmental biotechnology and allied researches.

This book will address the major subsoil physical and chemical constraints and their implications to crop production; Plant growth is often restricted by adverse physical and chemical properties of subsoils yet these limitations are not revealed by testing surface soils and hence their significance in crop management is often overlooked. The major constraints can be physical or chemical. Physical limitations such as poor/nil subsoil structure, sandy subsoils that do not provide adequate water or gravelly subsoils and, etc. On the other hand, chemical constraints include acidity/alkalinity, high extractable Al or Mn, low nutrient availability, salts, boron toxicity and pyritic subsoils. Some of these constraints are inherent properties of the soil profile while others are induced by crop and soil management practices. This aim of this book is to define the constraints and discuss amelioration practices and benefits for crop production. This book will be of interest to readers involved with agriculture and soil sciences in laboratory, applied or classroom settings.  

This book covers the wider aspects of the microbiology of hot desert soil ecosystems, compiling disparate information from a range of relevant desert soil microbial fields.The reader learns about microbial ecology of the more dominant and possibly most important desert habitats, detailing the phylogenetic and functional diversity of these different habitats as well as their potential role in desert ecosystem ecology. Particular attention is also given to microbial stress adaptation in hot desert soils. Furthermore, it is the first volume in this particular field to cover modern metagenomics technologies that can be applied to studies of all aspects of desert microbial communities. Additionally, the book explores viruses and viral communities, which are among the least studied (and little understood) components of desert soil microbial communities. Particular attention is also given to the roles of desert microbial communities in biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus. Through this book the reader discovers how desert microbiology has been at the forefront of Astrobiology and how it may be used conceptually in future terraforming strategies. Desert ecosystems are increasingly coming into focus given the impacts of climate change and desertification trends, making this volume particularly timely. Each of the chapters is authored by leading international researchers and is a must-read for microbial ecologists. 

This volume discusses innovative advancements in soil and crop microbiome technology and methods to support agricultural sustainability and reduce soil degradation. As climate change impacts agricultural productivity and soil health in impacted regions throughout the world, potential alternatives to find balance between soil health and crop yield are increasingly needed. Therefore, this book provides a timely, global perspective with a collection of expert authors to address how microbiomes can be used to achieve agricultural sustainability in threatened and degraded areas, while also covering related matters including soil health, pest management, waste disposal, environmental contamination, biofertilizer production, composting, and microbial engineering. The book is meant to serve as a reference for agriculturalists, environmentalists, graduate and post-graduate students, researchers, and professors of sustainability and agricultural management.

This book presents an important contribution to the knowledge of the banana soils of Venezuela. Banana, the edible fruit of Musaceae, is a staple food for more than 400 million people worldwide due to their nutritional and energy attributes. This makes Musaceae a crop of worldwide relevance, particularly in tropical regions, highlighting the impact of improved Musaceae cropping systems in the current efforts worldwide oriented towards a new agricultural revolution based on sustainable intensification. To achieve this, better practices for food production based on scientific and technical research capable to consider the complexity and variability within the agri-food sector are necessary. The research presented in this book is oriented towards providing answers to the causes of two aspects considered of high relevance for banana production, both affecting productivity and sustainability, always addressed for the Venezuelan conditions, one of the world¿s largest producing countries: 1- The impact of phytosanitary risks related to Fusarium Wilt (FW) and the influence of the soil on the incidence of Banana Wilt (BW); and 2- An observed trend towards loss of productivity and decline of soil quality in some commercial farms of Aragua and Trujillo states in Venezuela. The book presents a pioneering study in the application of categorical regression (CATREG) in the characterization of banana soils and analyses soil morphological variables, such as texture, dry consistency, biological activity, reaction to HCl, and type of structure to characterize soil productivity for growing healthy bananas. It develops, for the first time in Venezuela, risk analysis and climatic suitability maps for lethal wilt disease in bananas caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Foc) Tropical Race 4 (TR4) (syn. Fusarium odoratissimum). Innovative machine learning techniques are used to predict BW so that future crop development can be done more efficiently and sustainably.

This book introduces key concepts in modeling and risk assessments of vapor intrusion, a process by which the subsurface volatile contaminants migrate into the building of concern. Soil vapor intrusion is the major exposure pathway for building occupants to chemicals from the subsurface, and its risk assessments determine the criteria of volatile contaminants in soil/groundwater in brownfield redevelopment. The chapters feature the recent advances in vapor intrusion studies and practices, including analytical and numerical modeling of vapor intrusion, statistical findings of United States Environmental Protection Agency's Vapor Intrusion Database and Petroleum Vapor Intrusion Databases, the challenges of preferential pathways, and the application of building pressure cycling methods, and field practices of vapor intrusion risk assessments at developed contaminated sites and in brownfield redevelopment. This volume also summarizes the advantages and limits of current applications in vapor intrusion risk assessment, laying the groundwork for future research of better understanding in risk characterization of soil vapor intrusion using models.            Written by experts in this field, Vapor Intrusion Simulations and Risk Assessments will serve as an invaluable reference for researchers, regulators, and practitioners, who are interested in perceiving the basic knowledge and current advances in risk assessments of soil vapor intrusion.

This book describes the environment in Galicia (NW Spain), with researchers and professors presenting their own photographs of relevant aspects. This richly illustrated book explains atmospheric, geologic, water, soils, landscapes, and environmental issues and treatments for a broad audience, including students and the general public, to raise awareness and effectively develop strategies to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

This book presents an important discussion on land tenure rights for the effective implementation of sustainable soil management provisions. It investigates a variety of aspects, such as the clash of modern and traditional tenure concepts, forms of illegal or illegitimate land acquisition, and the preconditions for legal and legitimate investments. In addition, the book analyses the challenges to ensuring secure land tenure rights in Africa and in Germany. Lastly, it provides information on the role of women in this context.This fifth volume of the International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy is divided into four parts, the first of which deals with various aspects of the theme "e;Land Tenure Rights and Sustainable Soil Management"e;. The second part covers recent international developments, the third part presents regional and national reports, and the fourth discusses overarching issues. Given the range of key topics covered, the book offers an indispensable tool for all academics, legislators and policymakers working in this field.The "e;International Yearbook of Soil Law and Policy"e; series discusses central questions in law and politics with regard to the protection and sustainable management of soil and land - at the international, national, and regional level.

Global farming is at a crucial juncture in its evolution. Over 9000 years ago, humanity shifted from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to stationary agriculture, sparking the ¿Agricultural Revolution¿ and putting soil at the forefront of agricultural focus. However, contemporary farming practices have seen an extreme shift in focus from the original revolution, that is, from tending plants to highly chemical-centric and extractive farming methods known as the ¿green revolution¿. In this process, soil has paid a heavy environmental price, with a substantial amount of land becoming unsuitable for agriculture over the past century. The 1992¿93 World Resources Report by the United Nations issued alarming conclusions, revealing that nearly 10 million hectares of the world¿s best farmlands have been destroyed by human activity, including the green revolution. Additionally, over 1.2 billion hectares of land worldwide have suffered serious damage and can only be restored at a great cost. This loss of soil capability can result in significant food shortages in the next two to three decades.One significant impact of this issue is that as usual, people in the disadvantaged nations will bear the brunt of the consequences. Approximately two-thirds of the seriously eroded land is located in Asia and Africa, with around 25% of the cropped land in Central America being moderately to severely damaged. The percentage of affected land in North America is relatively low, at only 4.4%. Soil degradation is the primary cause for the dramatic decline in food production in 80 developing countries during the past decade, with nearly 40% of global farming conducted on small parcels of land measuring 1 hectare or less. This situation is characterized by ignorance and poverty. In India alone, more than 120.40 million hectares of the total 328.73 million hectares of geographical area have suffered from degraded soils due to the green revolution. The State of Punjab, known as the ¿cradle of Indian green revolution¿ is a clear example of this environmental hazard, specifically in relation to soil resources. Thousands of hectares in this region cannot sustain plant growth without significant investment in soil reclamation, resulting in a substantial drain of national resources. All of this, proves beyond a shadow of doubt, the critical role that soil plays in human sustenance.

This volume contains 22 chapters introducing a wide range of semi-arid and geologic landscapes. Botswana, a thinly populated nation, the size of France, is a Southern African keystone country at the heart of the Kalahari, sharing some of the major sub-continental drainage basins such as the Limpopo, Zambezi, Orange, and Okavango with its neighbouring countries. The extensive Kalahari Sand surface has been sculptured by numerous past processes which have produced subtle but regional landforms consisting of extensive dunes and shorelines. Incipient rifting has created the dynamic Okavango and Makgadikgadi fan-basin systems which produces iconic wetlands with a world heritage status. Geological outcrops in particular to the east expose highly denuded basement lithologies which produces numerous inselbergs that are home to a rich archaeological heritage. The book also examines the geomorphology of mineral and water resources which sustain the economy and population and also features dedicated chapters that cover diamondiferous kimberlites, caves, pans, dams, duricrusts and wildlife.Chapter 6 is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book covers the basics of animal manure, or animal dung, and highlights its applications in agriculture and biotechnology. The reader is given a comprehensive overview of the different types of animal manure. Although animal manure can cause environmental problems, e.g., when slurry pollutes rivers or burnt dung pollutes air, the book emphasizes the fact that animal dung is by no means a waste product. Animal manure is a valuable organic fertilizer that has a positive impact on soil conditions and helps save on chemical fertilizers. It is also a source of energy and can be either be used as fuel or converted into biogas through methanization. Old-age practices such as the use of dried dung as insulating material, or burnt dung as mosquito repellent are also taken up.With the increasing focus on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), this book offers ideas and solutions related to SDG 2 Zero Hunger and SDG 15 Life on Land. The book will not only be an interesting read for students and researchers in the field of agriculture, but will also appeal to scientists working on waste management, organic manure production or in the paper industry.

This book highlights recent advances in the discipline of biogeochemistry that have directly resulted from the development of critical zone (CZ) science. The earth's critical zone (CZ) is defined from the weathering front and lowest extent of freely circulating groundwater up through the regolith and to the top of the vegetative canopy. The structure and function of the CZ is shaped through tectonic, lithologic, hydrologic, climatic, and biological processes and is the result of processes occurring at multiple time scales from eons to seconds. The CZ is an open system in which energy and matter are both transported and transformed. Critical zone science provides a novel and unifying framework to consider those coupled interactions that control biogeochemical cycles and fluxes of energy and matter that are critical to sustaining a habitable planet.  Biogeochemical processes are at the heart of energy and matter fluxes through ecosystems and watersheds. They control the quantity and quality of carbon and nutrients available for living organisms, control the retention and export of nutrients affecting water quality and soil fertility, and influence the ability for ecosystems to sequester carbon. As the term implies, biogeochemical cycles, and the rates at which they occur, result from the interaction of biological, chemical, and physical processes. However, finding a unifying framework by which to study these interactions is challenging, and the different components of bio-geo-chemistry are often studied in isolation.  The authors provide both reviews and original research contributions with the requirement that the chapters incorporate a CZ framework to test biogeochemical theory and/or develop new and robust predictive models regarding elemental cycles. The book demonstrates how the CZ framework provides novel insights into biogeochemistry.

This edited volume covers all aspects of the latest research in the field of soil formation and its functioning, soil diversity, soil proteomics, the impact of anthropogenic activities on the pedosphere, plant-microbe interactions in the pedosphere, and factors influencing the formation and functioning of the soils. In the pedosphere, all forms of soils possess a particular type of structure and different organic and mineral components. Thus, the pedosphere as a whole plays a significant role in providing unique habitats for a vast diversity of life forms, developing a link between geological and biological substances circulation in the terrestrial ecosystems.  In the processes making available vital mineral elements to plants and supporting human health as various trace elements in the lithosphere are accessed by people through the formation of soils and such soils are utilized for food production. With the depth of information on different aspects of soil, this extensive volume is a valuable resource for the researchers in the area of soil science, agronomy, agriculture, scientists in academia, crop consultants, policymakers, government from diverse disciplines, and graduate and post-graduate students in the area of soil and environmental science.

This is the second of two volumes that together provide a global overview of the impact of agriculture on soil degradation, tracing the most critical drivers like the use and abuse of agrochemicals, mechanization, overgrazing, irrigation, slash and burn agriculture, and the use of plastics.Soil degradation caused by agriculture practices is a complex issue which depends on the interaction of social, economic, political, and environmental aspects. In this book, expert contributors elucidate the extension of the effects of agriculture on soil degradation in Europe, a continent with different cultures and political backgrounds that affect agricultural practices. Readers will also find in this book authoritative solutions to minimize the effects of agriculture intensification and land-use in this continent. Divided into 12 chapters, the book offers a European perspective on soil quality and sustainable management, including case studies about the impact of chemical agentslike fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and soil acidification and microplastics pollution in agriculture practices from countries such as Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, Germany, Portugal and Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Ukraine. Given the breadth and depth of its coverage, the book offers an invaluable source of information for researchers, students and environmental managers alike.Chapter ¿Agricultural Land Degradation in the Czech Republic¿ is available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This is the first of two volumes that together provide a global overview of the impact of agriculture on soil degradation, tracing the most critical drivers like the use and abuse of agrochemicals, mechanization, overgrazing, irrigation, slash and burn agriculture, and the use of plastics. This book covers the main effects of agriculture practices on soil degradation in several countries from Africa, America, Asia, and Oceania, and it elucidates the impact of chemical agents on soil quality, namely, the use of fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, soil acidification and microplastics pollution. In these continents, a large number of the population depend on agriculture, which sets an enormous pressure on the ecosystems. Divided into 13 chapters, the book offers authoritative contributions about the fundamental soil degradation problems in countries such as Argentina, Australia, Peru and Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, India, Israel, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, the United States of America. As soil degradation issues are often linked with biodiversity loss and poverty, readers will also find in this book an important discussion of the different social, economic, political, and environmental aspects contributing to soil quality and sustainable management. Given the breadth and depth of its coverage, the book offers an invaluable source of information for researchers, students, environmental managers and policymakers alike.

This book summarizes the outcomes of research results based on field works and recent studies related to soil cover of the dried Aral seabed in Kazakhstan. The purpose of the work was to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the current state of the soil cover in the dried bed of the Aral Sea in order to study the processes that are occurring in the local soils as a result of anthropogenic impacts inducing soil degradation and desertification (e.g., soil salinization and deflation). Additionally, the book analyzes morphological characteristics and chemical-physical properties of soils in the dried bottom of the Northern Aral Sea in order to know how material properties can be transported during soil deflation in dust/sand/salt storms in the region, as well as to identify changes in long-term dynamics of aridization and climatic parameters such as temperature, precipitation and evapotranspiration in the Aral Sea region.The novelty of this research is reflected in the latest information on the vertical and spatial distributions of soils and their chemical properties in the region containing the dried bed of the Aral Sea in Kazakhstan. Consequently, an updated soil map (soil salinization and salinization degree, land degradation) of the seabed was obtained according to the collected field data and satellite-derived images such as those recorded by Landsat-8. The book is mainly addressed to scientists and researchers who study soil cover in the dried Aral Seabed and its region, as well as soil degradation and desertification in the dried lake playas and aridization in other arid regions. The book will also be useful for students and planners who feel responsible for the sustainable development and sustainable use of natural resources in Central Asian countries.

This book represents the first comprehensive edition, in English, on the soils of Brazil, in the challenge of illustrating all the biomes of a country of truly continental dimension. In addition to presenting the first geosystemic view of Brazilian soils, in all geological, geomorphological and environmental aspects, the book also makes a key contribution to the discussion of current topics in Pedology, such as Anthrosols, Technosols, Soil Management trends and sustainability, Pedometrics and advanced techniques of digital soil mapping. The soils of Brazil were conveniently stratified into sectors and treated within the different biomes, without neglecting any area of the Brazilian territory. Considering the aspects of the landscape of occurrence, climates, geomorphology and geology, each pedological region was abundantly documented with soil profile data and many fine original, three-dimensional illustrations and diagrams, made with care by the authors. Among the regions, the most important are the forested Amazon, the Central Plateau with Cerrados, the Caatingas of the northeastern semi-arid region, the Atlantic Forest in all known variants; in addition, the Restingas, Mangroves, Oceanic Islands, Wetlands of the Pantanal and the subtropical regions of the Pampa and Matas de Araucaria. The book is of great importance as the first published work on Brazilian soils, but it is of great interest to geologists and geomorphologists who study the tropics and subtropics, due to the novelty and scope of the work.

Besides live biomass and decaying dead biological matter, humus constitutes an important component of organic matter in the soil. Humic substances are heterogeneous polymers formed during the process of decay and degradation of plant, animal, and microbial biomass. The humic fraction of organic matter is a stable nutrient base that serves as a slow-release source of carbon and energy for indigenous, slow-growing microorganisms in the soil. This book discusses recent advances and applications of humus and humic substances in agriculture, industry, and the environment. Chapters address such topics as the chlorination and phenanthrene sorption for humic and fulvic acids extracted from different soils, humic substances as growth promoters for farm animals, dynamics and function of humus from tropical forests, and much more.

Revisiting Plant Biostimulants focuses on recent advances in plant biostimulants (PBs), an eco-friendly sustainable technology that supports the increased agricultural production required to feed rapidly growing populations. PBs contain diverse bioactive natural substances: (i) humic and fulvic acids, (ii) animal and vegetal protein hydrolysates, (iii) macroalgae seaweed extracts, and (iv) silicon, as well as beneficial microorganisms. There are many concerns about the sustainability of current conventional methods as continued use of chemicals degrades both soil and the environment. This book explores the use of PBs, and their potential responses to current and impending environmental change.

Landscapes and Landforms of the Slovakia provides an attractive physiographical overview of the most prominent landscapes of Slovakia and the distinctive landforms associated with them. It describes the main driving factors leading to their evolution and importance for geoconservation and geotourism.The richly illustrated book provides the reader with enjoyable and informative descriptions of the selected sites within their regional geographical and geological settings range from the Tatras Mts. with glacially shaped relief as the highest region in the Carpahians to caves and lowlands taking into account fluvial, gravity-induced, karst and structural landscapes of the Slovakia.The book is organized in 3 parts: a) Introduction, which presents a general framework of the physical geography of Slovakia, b) Geomorphological landscapes, presenting papers dealing with key geomorphological areas, resp. landforms, c) Geoheritage and landscape protection, providing an updated vision on the geomorphological/geological heritage sites and landscape protection policy in Slovakia.The book will be relevant to scientists, scholars and any readers interested in geomorphology, geology,  physical geography, geoheritage, landscape tourism and environmental protection. It can be also used for undergraduate and graduate courses in Earth and environmental sciences.