New strategies to overcome water limitation in cultivated maize: Results from sub-surface irrigation and silicon fertilization.

The increasing growth of the world's population has established an unprecedented pressure in the availability of fresh water resources, with food production systems consuming over 70% of the world's fresh water withdrawals. Other pressures include climate change effects and the increasing number of semi-arid regions. The present challenges are therefore the maintenance of high production rates with fewer resources, especially in regions where water is becoming less accessible.

Landscape cultivation alters δ³⁰Si signature in terrestrial ecosystems.

Despite increasing recognition of the relevance of biological cycling for Si cycling in ecosystems and for Si export from soils to fluvial systems, effects of human cultivation on the Si cycle are still relatively understudied. Here we examined stable Si isotope (δ(30)Si) signatures in soil water samples across a temperate land use gradient. We show that - independent of geological and climatological variation - there is a depletion in light isotopes in soil water of intensive croplands and managed grasslands relative to native forests.