Measuring the immeasurable: A structural equation modeling approach to assessing soil health.

Soil health is recognized as an important ecosystem property sensitive to human impact. As a concept, soil health cannot be directly measured, and so assessment and modeling efforts largely rely upon key biological, chemical, and physical indicators. Efforts to develop an overall soil health index are largely lacking due to significant statistical challenges and the necessity for regional calibration.

Whole-plant phenotypic engineering: moving beyond ratios for multi-objective optimization of nutrient use efficiency.

Nutrient use efficiency (NUE) is typically measured as the ratio of yield to soil nutrient availability but ignores contributions of underlying plant traits. Relevant plant traits can be grouped as root acquisition efficiency, shoot radiation use efficiency, and plant metabolic efficiency. The intentional integration of these traits will lead to synergistic improvements of NUE.

Quantification of global and national nitrogen budgets for crop production.

Input-output estimates of nitrogen on cropland are essential for improving nitrogen management and better understanding the global nitrogen cycle. Here, we compare 13 nitrogen budget datasets covering 115 countries and regions over 1961-2015. Although most datasets showed similar spatiotemporal patterns, some annual estimates varied widely among them, resulting in large ranges and uncertainty.

Meta-analysis of yield and nitrous oxide outcomes for nitrogen management in agriculture.

Improved nitrogen (N) use is key to future food security and environmental sustainability. While many regions still experience N shortages, agriculture is the leading global emitter of N O due to losses exacerbated by N surpluses in other regions. In order to sustainably maintain or increase food production, farmers and their advisors need a comprehensive and actionable understanding of how nutrient management affects both yield and N O emissions, particularly in tropical and subtropical agroecosystems.

Nitrogen Affects Wheat and Canola Silica Accumulation, Soil Silica Forms, and Crusting.

Raindrop-induced crusting of mineral soils supporting wheat ( L.) in the semiarid US Pacific Northwest reduces seedling establishment of late summer-seeded winter crops during dry, hot conditions. Canola ( L.

Inconsistencies undermine the conclusion that agriculture is a dominant source of NO in California.

Almaraz . reported that agricultural soils are a dominant source of NO pollution in California (20 to 32% of total statewide NO emissions). However, this conclusion may be undermined by the lack of agreement between their modeled estimates and previously reported empirical measurements, the extrapolation of NO fluxes during hot moments to derive annual estimates, and the overestimation of nitrogen fertilizer consumption in California.

Water and Temperature Stresses Impact Canola (Brassica napus L.) Fatty Acid, Protein, and Yield over Nitrogen and Sulfur.

Interactive effects of weather and soil nutrient status often control crop productivity. An experiment was conducted to determine effects of nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S) fertilizer rate, soil water, and atmospheric temperature on canola (Brassica napus L.) fatty acid (FA), total oil, protein, and grain yield.