Nitrogen in Soils of China


Book Description

The study of soil nitrogen has long been an active field, but it was generally pivoted on agricultural and forestry production, and animal husbandry. With the rapid increase in the use of fertilizer nitrogen, more attention has been paid to the rela tionship between nitrogen management and environmental quality and human of soil nitrogen has become more comprehensive with health. In addition, the study the development of related sciences. The quantitative study of the processes in nitrogen cycling and their interrelationships has been an important part of this project and has attracted the attention of scientists allover the world. Nitrogen is one of the most important nutrients for plant growth and the applica tion of fertilizer nitrogen is playing an important role in agricultural production. The annual consumption of fertilizer nitrogen in the world has reached 70 million tons, and China has an annual consumption of more than 15 million tons and is the largest fertilizer nitrogen consumer in the world. However, the efficiency of nitro gen fertilizer is low and losses are large. It is estimated that nitrogen losses from agriculture in our country can be as high as 40-60% of the nitrogen applied. Some of the lost nitrogen enters the atmosphere and contributes to the greenhouse effect and some enters water bodies to pollute the water.




The Red Soils of China


Book Description

The red soils of China are typical in their chemical, physical and mineralogical characteristics of red soils in other tropical and sub-tropical areas of the world, particularly in South America, Africa and south-east Asia. For the most part, these soils are highly weathered and inherently infertile. They are acidic, nutrient deficient, poor in organic matter and have a low water-holding and supplying capacity. They cannot sustain arable cropping systems without the most careful management and are highly susceptible to soil erosion, particularly on sloping land. It is the purpose of this book to present recent research showing how the problems associated with using the red soils in China for sustainable agricultural production can be overcome, using a variety of traditional and novel approaches. In principle, these approaches should be useful in other tropical and sub-tropical countries faced with the problem of making the best use of their fragile red soil resources. The term "in principle" is used deliberately because, of course, the different red soil countries invariably operate within dissimilar socio-economic frameworks. At the present time, China may be considered to be in the process of an "industrial revolution", rather like that that took place in Britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.







The Nitrogen Fixation and its Research in China


Book Description

Nitrogen Fixation by symbiotic organisms is considered an important contribution to the solution of food problems throughout the world. For manyyears, Chinese scientists have focused their research in this area. Today more than half of the total nitrogen fertilizers applied are from biological fixation sources. The editor is an international renowned scientist at the Chinese Academy of sciences. He has brought together contributions from various research fields in China and Europe.Together they present the state-of-the-art in nitrogen-fixation research. The studies range from actino- mycete fixation induced in various genera andspecies of plants, mechanisms and chemical modeling of enzyme systems togenetical engineering of organisms.




Biochar Application


Book Description

Biochar Application: Essential Soil Microbial Ecology outlines the cutting-edge research on the interactions of complex microbial populations and their functional, structural, and compositional dynamics, as well as the microbial ecology of biochar application to soil, the use of different phyto-chemical analyses, possibilities for future research, and recommendations for climate change policy. Biochar, or charcoal produced from plant matter and applied to soil, has become increasingly recognized as having the potential to address multiple contemporary concerns, such as agricultural productivity and contaminated ecosystem amelioration, primarily by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and improving soil functions. Biochar Application is the first reference to offer a complete assessment of the various impacts of biochar on soil and ecosystems, and includes chapters analyzing all aspects of biochar technology and application to soil, from ecogenomic analyses and application ratios to nutrient cycling and next generation sequencing. Written by a team of international authors with interdisciplinary knowledge of biochar, this reference will provide a platform where collaborating teams can find a common resource to establish outcomes and identify future research needs throughout the world. Includes multiple tables and figures per chapter to aid in analysis and understanding Includes a comprehensive table of the methods used within the contents, ecosystems, contaminants, future research, and application opportunities explored in the book Includes knowledge gaps and directions of future research to stimulate further discussion in the field and in climate change policy Outlines the latest research on the interactions of complex microbial populations and their functional, structural, and compositional dynamics Offers an assessment of the impacts of biochar on soil and ecosystems




The Nitrogen Fixation and Its Research in China


Book Description

Nitrogen Fixation by symbiotic organisms is considered an important contribution to the solution of food problems throughout the world. For manyyears, Chinese scientists have focused their research in this area. Today more than half of the total nitrogen fertilizers applied are from biological fixation sources. The editor is an international renowned scientist at the Chinese Academy of sciences. He has brought together contributions from various research fields in China and Europe.Together they present the state-of-the-art in nitrogen-fixation research. The studies range from actino- mycete fixation induced in various genera andspecies of plants, mechanisms and chemical modeling of enzyme systems togenetical engineering of organisms.




Properties and Management of Soils in the Tropics


Book Description

Long-awaited second edition of classic textbook, brought completely up to date, for courses on tropical soils, and reference for scientists and professionals.




Atmospheric Ammonia


Book Description

Anthropogenic emissions of ammonia cause a host of environmental impacts, including loss of biodiversity, soil acidification and formation of particulate matter in the atmosphere. Under the auspices of the UNECE Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution, around 80 international experts met to review the state of scientific knowledge. This book reports their analysis. It concludes that threshold levels for ammonia effects have been underestimated and sets new values, it assesses the independent evidence to verify reported reductions in regional ammonia emissions, and it reviews the uncertainties in modelling ammonia, both in "hot spots" and at the regional scale.







Shifting Ground


Book Description

Peter Lindert evaluates environmental concerns about soil degradation in two very large countries—China and Indonesia—where anecdotal evidence has suggested serious problems. In this book Peter Lindert evaluates environmental concerns about soil degradation in two very large countries—China and Indonesia—where anecdotal evidence has suggested serious problems. Lindert does what no scholar before him has done: using new archival data sets, he measures changes in soil productivity over long enough periods of time to reveal the influence of human activity. China and Indonesia are good test cases because of their geography and history. China has been at the center of global concerns about desertification and water erosion, which it may have accelerated with intense agriculture. Most of Indonesia's lands were created by volcanoes and erosion, and its rapid deforestation and shifting slash-burn agriculture have been singled out for international censure. Lindert's investigation suggests that human mismanagement is not on average worsening the soil quality in China and Indonesia. Human cultivation lowers soil nitrogen and organic matter, but has offsetting positive effects. Economic development and rising incomes may even lead to better soil. Beyond the importance of Lindert's immediate findings, this book opens a new area of study—quantitative soil history—and raises the standard for debating soil trends.