EURASIAN JOURNAL OF SOIL SCIENCE

84 - 88

Authors: Kofi Agyarko, Akwasi Adutwum Abunyewa, Emmanuel Kwasi Asiedu, Emmanuel Heva

A study was conducted in pots on the field to assess the effect of different quantities of poultry manure (PM), cattle manure (CM) and pig manure (PG) on the release of available phosphorus from Togo rock phosphate (RP) and lettuce growth. There were eleven (11) treatments which were: Control (soil only); 2.5g RP; 2.5g CM; 2.5gRP + 2.5g CM; 2.5gRP + 5gCM; 2.5gPM; 2.5gRP + 2.5gPM; 2.5gRP + 5gPM; 2.5gPG; 2.5gRP + 2.5gPG; 2.5gRP + 5gPG, applied per kg soil, using the Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Available phosphorus and other parameters were assessed using standard methods. Results were statistically analyzed using the the GenStat (11th Edition) statistical software package. The amount and type of animal manure in the amendment affected the amount of the available P released. The addition of 2.5g manure to 2.5g RP in a kg of soil significantly (P<0.05) increased available P by 4 to 7 times over the sole 2.5g RP/kg soil treatment. Doubling the amount of manure in the amendment (5g manure + 2.5g RP) almost doubled the amount of P released, with the poultry manure combinations being more significant. The amount of available P in the soil positively related to the plant height (R2=63), leaf area (R2=0.55), dry weight (R2=0.73) and the percentage P in the leaf (R2=0.88) of lettuce. The PM at 2.5gRP + 5gPM recorded the highest significant (P<0.05) values. The study has provided further basis for manure selection and quantities to be used in enhancing the release of P from rock phosphate. However, investigations need to be continued using nuclear techniques.

97 - 104

Authors: Milad Mirzaei Aminiyan, Farzad Mirzaei Aminiyan, Rouhollah Mousavi, Amin Heydariyan

The excessive input of trace elements into urban soil has become one of the most important concerns in industrial and crowded cities all over the world. The contamination of urban soils can affect the health of people living in urban areas, and the surrounding ecosystems. Current study was conducted to assess the effects of human activities as well as different land-use on accumulation of trace elements in urban topsoil and also identify the potential risks to human health in Rafsanjan (Iran). A total of 100 topsoil samples were taken from different localities of Rafsanjan City and analyzed for Zn, Pb, Cu and Cr using the atomic absorption spectrophotometric method. Pollution index (PI) was calculated for each trace element to identify the rate of trace element accumulation with respect to the background values. Land-use map and geochemical maps were also created for evaluating of spatial distribution of pollution index and trace elements concentration in the studied area. Overlapping the concentrations map and land-use map revealed that the highest values of pollution index and trace elements concentration were located in central part of the city and highways with a great vehicle traffic load and also in the vicinity of industrial factories that increased potential health hazards to the local community. On the other hand, lowest values of trace elements were located in green-lands with strict vehicle traffic laws. These results indicated that different land-use and human activities have affected quality of urban topsoil of Rafsanjan resulting in great apprehensions regarding public health in crowded parts of the city.

113 - 120

Authors: Suleiman Usman, Samaila Sani Noma, Abbakar Musa Kudiri

Land and vegetation are important components of soil and provides many benefits to surface soil including protection against erosion, climate change impact and unacceptable degradation of soil particles. Visual Soil Assessment was used as a mechanism to assess and classify the land and vegetation types of some agricultural sites in Kebbi State, Nigeria. The aim was to get better understanding of the environmental soil function for sustainable crop production in dryland and fadama areas of the State. The assessment was able to put together combinations of different vegetation types and land age classes. It is valued that the land age classes possessed the characteristics of Holocene-natural, Holocene-anthropogeomorphic, Holocene-young-natural, young-anthropogeomorphic, very-young anthropogeomorphic and very-young natural. However, the vegetation types could be related to evergreen forest, short medium forest (scattered clustered), dwarf vegetation (scattered isolated), grass vegetation, thick vegetation, stony-grass vegetation (scattered sparse) and short-length vegetation. The assessment provides an improve understanding of the current status of land and vegetation conditions of the study area and suggested regular soil management for sustainable crop production in the State.

132 - 138

Authors: Sezai Delibacak, Ali Rıza Ongun

The use of organic wastes in agriculture, forestry and land reclamation has been increasingly identified as an important issue for soil fertility, soil conservation and residue disposal. Using organic wastes in agriculture helps not only to dispose these materials economi¬cally, but also reduces negative effects on the envi¬ronment. In the present study, composted tobacco waste (CTW) combined with farmyard manure (FM) at different ratios was applied to Typic Xerofluvent soil, and the influence of these amendments on the yield and nutrient composition of butter head letttuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. capitata) were investigated. The experiment was conducted in 18 parcels in a randomized-block design with three replications at the Agriculture Faculty’s Research Farm of Ege University in Menemen plain, in the Western Anatolia Region of Turkey (38°58′35.51″-38°58′36.03″N; 27°03′84.56″-27°03′89.81″E). Organic materials were applied to the soil after composting. The treatments were (1) control, (2) 12.5 t ha-1 FM + 37.5 t ha-1 CTW, (3) 25 t ha-1 FM + 25 t ha-1 CTW, (4) 50 t ha-1 FM, (5) 50 t ha-1 CTW, and (6) 37.5 t ha-1 FM + 12.5 t ha-1 CTW. The maximum yield was obtained during the 1st vegetation period (62,7 t ha-1) in the 100 % CTW application. On account of the 2nd vegetation period’s coinciding with winter and the coldness of the months December, January and February, there happened a slowdown in the lettuce yield. The highest total yield of lettuce in both vegetation periods (102.7 t ha-1) was determined in 100% CTW application parcels. The lower lettuce yields were determined in the control parcels. CTW and FM applications raised N, P, K Ca, Mg, Na, Fe, Zn and Mn contents of the lettuce. According to the results obtained, it can be said that CTW can be used in agricultural fields just like FM.

146 - 154

Authors: Nadezhda D. Ananyeva, Sofia V. Rogovaya, Kristina V. Ivashchenko, Vyacheslav I. Vasenev, Dmitriy A. Sarzhanov, Оleg V. Ryzhkov, Valeriy N. Kudeyarov

The total soil CO2 emission (EM) and portion of microbial respiration were measured (in situ; May, June, July 2015) in Chernozems typical of virgin steppe, oak forest, bare fallow and urban ecosystems (Kursk region, Russia). In soil samples (upper 10 cm layer), the soil microbial biomass carbon (Cmic), basal respiration (BR) and fungi-to-bacteria ratio were determined and the specific microbial respiration (BR / Cmic = qCO2) was calculated. The EM was varied from 2.0 (fallow) to 23.2 (steppe) g СО2 m-2 d-1. The portion of microbial respiration in EM was reached in average 83, 51 and 60% for forest, steppe and urban, respectively. The soil Cmic and BR were decreased along a gradient of ecosystems transformation (by 4 and 2 times less, respectively), while the qCO2 of urban soil was higher (in average by 42%) compared to steppe, forest and fallow. In urban soil the Cmic portion in soil Сorg and Сfungi-to-Сorg ratio were by 2.6 and 2.4 times less than those for steppe. The relationship between microbial respiration and BR values in Chernozems of various ecosystems was significant (R2 = 0.57).