Legume cover crops can serve as important sources of nitrogen (N) in sustainable agriculture and can be economically beneficial when fertilizer inputs are reduced without a yield reduction. Synchronizing N mineralization from organic materials with the needs of the subsequent crop is a challenge for organic growers.
Predicting plant available...
The link between aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) and resource gradients generated by complex terrain (solar radiation, nutrients, and moisture) has been established in the literature. Belowground ecosystem stocks and functions, such as soil organic carbon (SOC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and belowground productivity have also been related to the...
Changes in the type and amount of plant inputs can occur gradually, as with succession, or rapidly, as with harvesting or wildfire. With global change it is anticipated that both gradual and immediate scenarios will occur at increasing frequency. Changes in vegetation inputs alter the quality and quantity of soil...
Successful ecosystem restoration requires an understanding of the ecological processes directing succession. One of the challenges in the semi-arid grasslands of western United States is replacement of native species by invasive annual grasses. Solutions to this problem require identifying and manipulating ecological processes that direct succession to favor desired vegetation....