Bioresources are generated in a variety of environments and each presents unique risks and benefits associated with land application. Bioresources from livestock, urban and bioenergy systems were selected and evaluated through field, greenhouse and laboratory studies of potential risk and benefits of recycling to agricultural and urban landscapes. The waste stream, including feedstock sources and treatment processes, affects composition and properties of bioresources and effects on biogeochemical cycles of amended soils. Variation of decomposition and nutrient mineralization rates among bioresources used to amend soil for turfgrass and forage reflected variation among contrasting feedstock sources and treatments prior to application. During turfgrass establishment, plant available nitrogen and nitrogen mineralized from a bioresource from livestock waste streams, (Geotube! residual solids, supplied N in excess of crop uptake potential and contributed to leaching loss of N. In contrast, N mineralization rates from bioresources generated during methane production from dairy manure (manure solids) were not sufficient to maximize crop production, necessitating N fertilizer application. In addition to variation of composition, bioresource effects on crop productivity and environmental quality vary among management practices and between forage and turfgrass cropping systems. Large application rates of bioresources increase soil nutrient concentration and potential crop productivity, but contribute to increased nutrient loss in drainage and surface runoff. Yet, incorporation or Alum treatment of bioresources will reduce runoff loss of dissolved P and protect water quality without sacrificing crop productivity. Alum treatment of bioresources prior to land application effectively reduced runoff loss of dissolved P to levels observed for control soil. For situations in which large, volume-based bioresource rates are top-dressed or incorporated, export of applied nutrients environmental impacts were compared between forage and turfgrass systems. Starting during the initial year of production, annual export of applied N and P in Tifway bermudagrass sod was greater than export through forage harvests of Tifton 85. Low forage yield limited N and P export from Tifton 85 during the year of establishment, but increased forage yield during the second year increased export of manure N and P to levels more comparable to sod. As variation between compost sources, turfgrass and forage production systems, and application methods indicated, effective management of bioresources is necessary to balance benefits and risk in cropping systems. Integrated assessment of bioresource composition and crop-specific management of application method and rate will enable sustainable bioresource cycling and crop productivity.

Soil Amendments presents a comprehensive and balanced synthesis of current knowledge pertaining to the environmental effects of soil amendments on various biotic systems, including crops, livestock, wildlife, forestry, aquatic systems, and humans. Separate chapters focus on the remedial effects of alternative farming systems and biotechnology with reference to specific biotic systems.

Several textbooks and edited volumes are currently available on general soil fertility but‚ to date‚ none have been dedicated to the study of “Sustainable Carbon and Nitrogen Cycling in Soil.” Yet this aspect is extremely important, considering the fact that the soil, as the ‘epidermis of the Earth’ (geodermis)‚ is a major component of the terrestrial biosphere. This book addresses virtually every aspect of C and N cycling, including: general concepts on the diversity of microorganisms and management practices for soil, the function of soil’s structure-function-ecosystem, the evolving role of C and N, cutting-edge methods used in soil microbial ecological studies, rhizosphere microflora, the role of organic matter (OM) in agricultural productivity, C and N transformation in soil, biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) and its genetics, plant-growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPRs), PGPRs and their role in sustainable agriculture, organic agriculture, etc. The book’s main objectives are: (1) to explain in detail the role of C and N cycling in sustaining agricultural productivity and its importance to sustainable soil management; (2) to show readers how to restore soil health with C and N; and (3) to help them understand the matching of C and N cycling rules from a climatic perspective. Given its scope, the book offers a valuable resource for educators, researchers, and policymakers, as well as undergraduate and graduate students of soil science, soil microbiology, agronomy, ecology, and the environmental sciences. Gathering cutting-edge contributions from internationally respected researchers, it offers authoritative content on a broad range of topics, which is supplemented by a wealth of data, tables, figures, and photographs. Moreover, it provides a roadmap for sustainable approaches to food and nutritional security, and to soil sustainability in agricultural systems, based on C and N cycling in soil systems.

As governments and institutions work to ameliorate the effects of anthropogenic CO2 emissions on global climate, there is an increasing need to understand how land-use and land-cover change is coupled to the carbon cycle, and how land management can be used to mitigate their effects. This book brings an interdisciplinary team of fifty-eight international researchers to share their novel approaches, concepts, theories and knowledge on land use and the carbon cycle. It discusses contemporary theories and approaches combined with state-of-the-art technologies. The central theme is that land use and land management are tightly integrated with the carbon cycle and it is necessary to study these processes as a single natural-human system to improve carbon accounting and mitigate climate change. The book is an invaluable resource for advanced students, researchers, land-use planners and policy makers in natural resources, geography, forestry, agricultural science, ecology, atmospheric science and environmental economics.

This book discusses soil and recycling management in the Anthropocene era. Nitrogen shortage is one of nature’s most important productivity regulators, but since the advent of technical nitrogen fixation (TNF), biological nitrogen fixation (BNF) input has nearly doubled, particularly in grass and arable lands covering over 13 million km2 of the Earth’s surface. This book explores how monoculture grass, arable lands and forests are often over fertilized with TNF, animal slurries, sewage sludge, or municipally produced composts, and as a result, flora and fauna that have adapted to a nitrogen shortage in the soil will have to adjust to a surplus; those that are unable to adapt will disappear.

"Biochar is the carbon-rich product when biomass (such as wood, manure, or crop residues) is heated in a closed container with little or no available air. It can be used to improve agriculture and the environment in several ways, and its stability in soil and superior nutrient-retention properties make it an ideal soil amendment to increase crop yields. In addition to this, biochar sequestration, in combination with sustainable biomass production, can be carbon-negative and therefore used to actively remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, with major implications for mitigation of climate change. Biochar production can also be combined with bioenergy production through the use of the gases that are given off in the pyrolysis process.This book is the first to synthesize the expanding research literature on this topic. The book's interdisciplinary approach, which covers engineering, environmental sciences, agricultural sciences, economics and policy, is a vital tool at this stage of biochar technology development. This comprehensive overview of current knowledge will be of interest to advanced students, researchers and professionals in a wide range of disciplines"--Provided by publisher.

First Published in 2009. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Increasing stress is being placed on the environment by man's activities including those of changing land usage for increased food production and the release of carbon dioxide due to fossil fuel combustion. Further stresses may occur if agricultural practice is modified by using plant products for liquid fuels. Rational management of these activities can only occur if there is a thorough under standing of the biogeochemical cycles of the major plant nutrients, carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus. A vital part of this understanding concerns the interactions between these cycles, where in various limiting processes the cycle of one element exerts a controlling influence over the cycle of one or more of the other elements. A well known example of this interaction is the role of sulfur, nitrogen and phosphorus as limiting factors in plant growth i.e. carbon uptake by the biosphere. A related effect is the suggested increase in nitrogen fixation by legumes due to CO2 enrichment in the atmosphere. Other interactions occur during the mineralisation of nitrogen, sulfur and phosphorus associated with the release of organic carbon during the decay of plant material and between the carbon substrate and mineral forms of nitrogen and sulfur during denitrification and bacterial sulfate reduction. Increased sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions to the atmosphere in some areas are causing acid rain which appears to be affecting the productivity of some land and aquatic ecosystems.

Life-Cycle Assessment of Biorefineries, the sixth and last book in the series on biomass-biorefineries discusses the unprecedented growth and development in the emerging concept of a global bio-based economy in which biomass-based biorefineries have attained center stage for the production of fuels and chemicals. It is envisaged that by 2020 a majority of chemicals currently being produced through a chemical route will be produced via a bio-based route. Agro-industrial residues, municipal solid wastes, and forestry wastes have been considered as the most significant feedstocks for such bio-refineries. However, for the techno-economic success of such biorefineries, it is of prime and utmost importance to understand their lifecycle assessment for various aspects. - Provides state-of-art information on the basics and fundamental principles of LCA for biorefineries - Contains key features for the education and understanding of integrated biorefineries - Presents models that are used to cope with land-use changes and their effects on biorefineries - Includes relevant case studies that illustrate main points