Photocatalytic fixation of NO in soils.

Nitrogen oxides (NO = NO + NO) are important atmospheric pollutants that are directly harmful to human health. Recently in urban and industrial areas, synthetic materials have been developed and deployed to photocatalytically oxidize NO to nitrate (NO) in order to improve air quality. We show that the natural presence of small amounts (≤5%) of titanium oxides, such as anatase and rutile, can also drive NO oxidation to nitrate in soils under UV-visible irradiation.

Can arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and rhizobacteria facilitate P uptake in maize plants under water stress?

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) are able to provide key ecosystem services, protecting plants against biotic and abiotic stresses. Here, we hypothesized that a combination of AMF (Rhizophagus clarus) and PGPR (Bacillus sp.) could enhance P uptake in maize plants under soil water stress.

LDPE and biodegradable PLA-PBAT plastics differentially affect plant-soil nitrogen partitioning and dynamics in a Hordeum vulgare mesocosm.

Micro and macroplastics are emerging contaminants in agricultural settings, yet their impact on nitrogen (N) cycling and partitioning in plant-soil-microbial systems is poorly understood. In this mesocosm-scale study, spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was exposed to macro or microplastic produced from low density polyethylene (LDPE) or biodegradable plastic at concentrations equivalent to 1, 10 and 20 years of plastic mulch film use.

Revisiting sampling duration to estimate NO emission factors for manure application and cattle excreta deposition for the UK and Ireland.

According to the available guidelines, good practices for calculating nitrous oxide (NO) emission factors (EFs) for livestock excreta and manure application include that sampling duration should be of at least one year after the nitrogen (N) application or deposition. However, the available experimental data suggest that in many cases most emissions are concentrated in the first months following N application. Therefore resources could be better deployed by measuring more intensively during a shorter period.

Revealing soil legacy phosphorus to promote sustainable agriculture in Brazil.

Exploiting native soil phosphorus (P) and the large reservoirs of residual P accumulated over decades of cultivation, namely "legacy P", has great potential to overcome the high demand of P fertilisers in Brazilian cropping systems. Long-term field experiments have shown that a large proportion (> 70%) of the surplus P added via fertilisers remains in the soil, mainly in forms not readily available to crops. An important issue is if the amount of legacy P mobilized from soil is sufficient for the crop nutritional demand and over how long this stored soil P can be effectively 'mined' by crops in a profitable way.

Measured ammonia emissions from tropical and subtropical pastures: A comparison with 2006 IPCC, 2019 Refinement to the 2006 IPCC, and EMEP/EEA (European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme and European Environmental Agency) inventory estimates.

Agriculture is the largest source of ammonia (NH) emissions. As NH is an indirect greenhouse gas, NH measurements are crucial to improving greenhouse gas emission inventory estimates. Moreover, NH emissions have wider implications for environmental and human health.