Effects of afforestation of agricultural land with grey alder(Alnus incana(L.) Moench)on soil chemical properties, comparing two contrasting soil groups

Background: Natural afforestation of former agricultural lands with alder species is common in Europe. Symbiotic nitrogen fixation by actinomycetes associated with alder species has been widely used for improvement of soil properties of abandoned agricultural lands, but relatively little is known of the interactions of these processes with soil type and chemical composition. We conducted a space-for time study with soil sampling under and outside grey alder tree canopies on two different soil groups to explore effects of colonisation of former agricultural lands by alder on soil properties.Results: The results were analysed using analysis of variance. During the first 25 years after afforestation of former agricultural lands there was a significant increase in content of Ctot, Ntot, K+, Fe3+, Mn2+and available P in the topsoil(0–10 cm and 11–20 cm) of Dystric Arenosols soils, which are deficient in organic matter. Such trends were not evident in organic matter rich Endostagnic Umbrisols soils, in which exchangeable K+concentration decreased and exchangeable Fe3+and Al3+concentration increased.Conclusions: The results show that the effects of grey alder on soil chemical properties depend on initial soil properties. The invasion of agricultural land by grey alder leads to spatial variability of soil chemical properties creating a mosaic pattern.

Increased phosphorus availability to corn resulting from the simultaneous applications of phosphate rock, calcareous rock, and biochar to an acid sandy soil

Phosphorus(P)deficiency is one of the main constraints on crop production in Arenosols(acid sandy soil).The high cost of P fertilizers may represent an insurmountable obstacle in many poor countries,leaving the exploitation of their own calcareous and phosphate rocks as the only low-cost and long-term alternative.Biochar is suggested to have positive effects on soil properties;however,there is no published research on the synergistic effects of biochar and rocky materials in modifying soil properties.The aim of this study was to investigate the chemical and biochemical responses of an acid Arenosol treated with phosphate rock(PR),calcareous rock(CR),and biochar(BC),and the implications for corn yield.A soil from Marracuene District,Mozambique was used,where corn was grown for 90 d with the soil treated with:no addition(control),water-soluble zinc phosphite fertilizer(WSP),PR,WSP+CR,WSP+BC,WSP+CR+BC,PR+BC,and PR+CR+BC.Biochar was produced by pyrolysis of babycorn peels for 4 h at 450?C and applied at 11 g kg-1.The soil pHH2 Oincreased from about 4.54 in the control to 7.38 in the PR+CR+BC treatment.Easily oxidizable organic carbon,cation exchange capacity,and available P were higher in the treatments containing BC than in the control.The treatments containing CR and/or BC led to the highest activities of alkaline phosphomonoesterase,phosphodiesterase,andα-glucosidase,which increased P availability and gave the greatest biomass and yields.We suggest that biochar provides additional soluble P and supplies adsorption sites for phosphate,preventing its evolution to unavailable forms.Thus,PR applied together with BC contributed to an 840%yield increase compared to the control.The treatments containing WSP and BC facilitated phosphite oxidation to phosphate and increased crop yield.