Institutional nitrogen footprint: Quantification of the nitrogen footprint of a Spanish Research Center.

Reactive nitrogen (N) emissions can lead to severe environmental and human damages. To quantify these reactive N emissions the Nitrogen Footprint (NF) can serve as a valuable indicator. This work is the first attempt to quantify an institutional NF in Spain and the first institutional NF of a research center.

Predicting N Status in Maize with Clip Sensors: Choosing Sensor, Leaf Sampling Point, and Timing.

Nitrogen (N) losses from agricultural systems increase air and water pollution, and these losses are highly correlated with the excessive fertilization. An adjusted N fertilization is then a key factor in increasing the N fertilizer efficiency, and leaf clip sensors can help to improve it. This study (combining five different field experiments in Central Spain) tried to identify the ability of the clip sensors in maize N status identification and yield prediction, comparing two different devices (SPAD-502 and Dualex) and identifying the best protocol for maize leaf sampling.

Data supporting the cover crops benefits related to soil functionality in a 10-year cropping system.

In this data article we provide different field parameters of an agricultural irrigated system under Mediterranean conditions. These parameters represent the response of variables related to soil functionality to different cover crops. Soil and plant samples were taken from fallow and cover crops treatments over the course of 10 years, with most variables measured every other year.

Assessing cover crop management under actual and climate change conditions.

The termination date is recognized as a key management factor to enhance cover crops for multiple benefits and to avoid competition with the following cash crop. However, the optimum date depends on annual meteorological conditions, and climate variability induces uncertainty in a decision that needs to be taken every year. One of the most important cover crop benefits is reducing nitrate leaching, a major concern for irrigated agricultural systems and highly affected by the termination date.

The kill date as a management tool for cover cropping success.

Integrating cover crops (CC) in rotations provides multiple ecological services, but it must be ensured that management does not increase pre-emptive competition with the subsequent crop. This experiment was conducted to study the effect of kill date on: (i) CC growth and N content; (ii) the chemical composition of residues; (iii) soil inorganic N and potentially mineralizable N; and (iv) soil water content. Treatments were fallow and a CC mixture of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.