Soil carbon stock research has gained prominence in environmental studies amidst climate change concerns,especially given that soil is one of the largest terrestrial carbon reserves.Accurate predictions necessitate co...Soil carbon stock research has gained prominence in environmental studies amidst climate change concerns,especially given that soil is one of the largest terrestrial carbon reserves.Accurate predictions necessitate comprehensive soil profile measurements,which are resource-intensive to obtain.To address this,depth functions are employed to derive continuous estimates,aligning with standardized depths.However,global datasets employing depth functions in raster format have not been widely utilized,which could lower financial costs and improve accuracy in data-scarce regions.Furthermore,research into aggregating depth functions for realistic carbon stock estimations remains limited,offering opportunities to streamline cost and time.The aim of this study was to apply equal-area splines to estimate soil carbon stocks,utilizing SoilGrids and iSDAsoil datasets in a 317-km^(2) Quaternary catchment(30°48′E,29°18′S)in KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa.Both datasets were resampled to a 250-m resolution,and the splines were interpolated to a depth of 50 cm per pixel.Various aggregation methods were employed in calculation,including the cumulative sum(definite integral),discrete sum(sum of 1-cm spline predictions),and the mean carbon stock(mean to 50 cm).Quantitative evaluation was performed with 310 external soil samples.SoilGrids showed higher predictions(100–546 kg m^(-2))than iSDAsoil(66.9–225 kg m^(-2))for the cumulative sum.The discrete sum also exhibited higher prediction values for SoilGrids(293–789 kg m^(-2))compared to iSDAsoil(228–557 kg m^(-2)).SoilGrids aggregated with the discrete sum closely matched previous studies,estimating total carbon stock for the catchment at 7126 t,albeit with spatial inconsistencies.However,when evaluating with an external dataset,the results were not satisfactory for any method according to Lin's concordance correlation coefficient(CCC,correlation of a 1:1 line),with all models obtaining a CCC below 0.01.Similarly,all models had a root mean squared error larger than 59 kg m^(-2).It was concluded that SoilGrids and iSDAsoil were spatially inaccurate in the catchment but can still provide information about the total carbon stock.This method could be improved by obtaining more soil samples for the datasets,incorporating local data into the spline,making the method more computationally efficient,and accounting for discrete horizon boundaries.展开更多
Tomato is an important field crop,and nutritional imbalances frequently reduce its yield.Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System(DRIS),uses ratios for nutrient deficiency diagnosis instead of absolute concentra...Tomato is an important field crop,and nutritional imbalances frequently reduce its yield.Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System(DRIS),uses ratios for nutrient deficiency diagnosis instead of absolute concentration in plant tests.In this study,local DRIS norms for the field tomatoes were established and the nutrient(s)limiting tomatoes yield were determined.Tomato leaves were analyzed for nutrients,to identify nutritional status using the DRIS approach.One hundred tomatoes fields were selected from Chatter Plain Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Sheikupura Punjab Pakistan.The first fully matured leaf was sampled,rinsed,dried and ground for analyzing P,K,Ca,Mg,Cu,Fe,Mn and Zn using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrophotometer(ICP AES).Plant tissue N and S were measured by the combustion method.The tomatoes yields were recorded at each location.The data were divided into high-yielding(≥3.79 kg/10 plant)and low-yielding(<3.79 kg/10 plant)populations and norms were computed using standard DRIS procedures.High-yielding plant population had a statistically greater mean S and Fe than the low-yielding population.The average balance index,the sum of functions,for S and Fe were−11.04 and−5.17 which reflected deficiency of S and Fe.Plant nutrients norms established may optimize plant nutrition in field tomatoes for high yield.展开更多
Payments for Environmental Services(PES)are relatively novel mechanisms whereby the adoption of sustainable management practices by a stakeholder is rewarded by incentives linked to external markets.Adoption of PES fo...Payments for Environmental Services(PES)are relatively novel mechanisms whereby the adoption of sustainable management practices by a stakeholder is rewarded by incentives linked to external markets.Adoption of PES for conservation agricultural practices(CAPS)by smallholder farmers may provide opportunities to increase household income or cover the technology costs of adoption if the carbon sequestration benefits of CAPS are quantifiable,adoption rates are accelerated and maintained,a mechanism exists whereby carbon sequestration services can be compensated,and carbon offset exchange markets are viable.This research suggests a methodology to examine a PES market for carbon offsets generated by the adoption of CAPS by farmers in Mozambique.Assuming a cumulative adoption of 60%over a 20-year period,revenue from PES market participation to CA adopters was two times higher than revenue earned when disadoption occurred midway through the simulation.Lower adoption targets are associated with higher per household returns when fertilizer rates typical to the region are increased.Establishing and maintaining a sustainable PES system in the study region would require significant investment in time and resources.The lack of on-the-ground institutions or local support for such a program would also challenge successful implementation.Finally,the programs where participant success depends on external markets,such as the hypothetical one suggested here,are subject to the ebb and flow of foreign demand for carbon offsets.Addressing these three broad constraints to a PES/CAPS program in the region would require grass-roots driven policy initiatives with buy-in at multiple social,economic,and political levels.展开更多
文摘Soil carbon stock research has gained prominence in environmental studies amidst climate change concerns,especially given that soil is one of the largest terrestrial carbon reserves.Accurate predictions necessitate comprehensive soil profile measurements,which are resource-intensive to obtain.To address this,depth functions are employed to derive continuous estimates,aligning with standardized depths.However,global datasets employing depth functions in raster format have not been widely utilized,which could lower financial costs and improve accuracy in data-scarce regions.Furthermore,research into aggregating depth functions for realistic carbon stock estimations remains limited,offering opportunities to streamline cost and time.The aim of this study was to apply equal-area splines to estimate soil carbon stocks,utilizing SoilGrids and iSDAsoil datasets in a 317-km^(2) Quaternary catchment(30°48′E,29°18′S)in KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa.Both datasets were resampled to a 250-m resolution,and the splines were interpolated to a depth of 50 cm per pixel.Various aggregation methods were employed in calculation,including the cumulative sum(definite integral),discrete sum(sum of 1-cm spline predictions),and the mean carbon stock(mean to 50 cm).Quantitative evaluation was performed with 310 external soil samples.SoilGrids showed higher predictions(100–546 kg m^(-2))than iSDAsoil(66.9–225 kg m^(-2))for the cumulative sum.The discrete sum also exhibited higher prediction values for SoilGrids(293–789 kg m^(-2))compared to iSDAsoil(228–557 kg m^(-2)).SoilGrids aggregated with the discrete sum closely matched previous studies,estimating total carbon stock for the catchment at 7126 t,albeit with spatial inconsistencies.However,when evaluating with an external dataset,the results were not satisfactory for any method according to Lin's concordance correlation coefficient(CCC,correlation of a 1:1 line),with all models obtaining a CCC below 0.01.Similarly,all models had a root mean squared error larger than 59 kg m^(-2).It was concluded that SoilGrids and iSDAsoil were spatially inaccurate in the catchment but can still provide information about the total carbon stock.This method could be improved by obtaining more soil samples for the datasets,incorporating local data into the spline,making the method more computationally efficient,and accounting for discrete horizon boundaries.
基金supporting current work by Taif University Researchers Supporting Project No.(TURSP–2020/288),Taif University,Taif,Saudi Arabia.
文摘Tomato is an important field crop,and nutritional imbalances frequently reduce its yield.Diagnosis and Recommendation Integrated System(DRIS),uses ratios for nutrient deficiency diagnosis instead of absolute concentration in plant tests.In this study,local DRIS norms for the field tomatoes were established and the nutrient(s)limiting tomatoes yield were determined.Tomato leaves were analyzed for nutrients,to identify nutritional status using the DRIS approach.One hundred tomatoes fields were selected from Chatter Plain Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Sheikupura Punjab Pakistan.The first fully matured leaf was sampled,rinsed,dried and ground for analyzing P,K,Ca,Mg,Cu,Fe,Mn and Zn using an Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrophotometer(ICP AES).Plant tissue N and S were measured by the combustion method.The tomatoes yields were recorded at each location.The data were divided into high-yielding(≥3.79 kg/10 plant)and low-yielding(<3.79 kg/10 plant)populations and norms were computed using standard DRIS procedures.High-yielding plant population had a statistically greater mean S and Fe than the low-yielding population.The average balance index,the sum of functions,for S and Fe were−11.04 and−5.17 which reflected deficiency of S and Fe.Plant nutrients norms established may optimize plant nutrition in field tomatoes for high yield.
文摘Payments for Environmental Services(PES)are relatively novel mechanisms whereby the adoption of sustainable management practices by a stakeholder is rewarded by incentives linked to external markets.Adoption of PES for conservation agricultural practices(CAPS)by smallholder farmers may provide opportunities to increase household income or cover the technology costs of adoption if the carbon sequestration benefits of CAPS are quantifiable,adoption rates are accelerated and maintained,a mechanism exists whereby carbon sequestration services can be compensated,and carbon offset exchange markets are viable.This research suggests a methodology to examine a PES market for carbon offsets generated by the adoption of CAPS by farmers in Mozambique.Assuming a cumulative adoption of 60%over a 20-year period,revenue from PES market participation to CA adopters was two times higher than revenue earned when disadoption occurred midway through the simulation.Lower adoption targets are associated with higher per household returns when fertilizer rates typical to the region are increased.Establishing and maintaining a sustainable PES system in the study region would require significant investment in time and resources.The lack of on-the-ground institutions or local support for such a program would also challenge successful implementation.Finally,the programs where participant success depends on external markets,such as the hypothetical one suggested here,are subject to the ebb and flow of foreign demand for carbon offsets.Addressing these three broad constraints to a PES/CAPS program in the region would require grass-roots driven policy initiatives with buy-in at multiple social,economic,and political levels.
