Influence of Organic and Mineral Fertilization on Soil Greenhouse Gas Emissions. A Review

The anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide is bringing about major changes to the global environment. Although most of the anthropogenic emissions originate from industrial processes, agriculture is responsible for a significant portion of the greenhouse gases produced by humans worldwide. The impact of agriculture has become a key issue, considering that the main greenhouse gases are those related to carbon and nitrogen global cycles. This paper presents a review of the scientific literature meant to provide the impact of human management through fertilizers use on CO2, CH4, and N2O emissions. The influence of organic and mineral fertilization on greenhouse gas emissions is analyzed, and usage of organic amendments showed a wise potential for protecting the environment and to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions

Comparison of Two Different CEC Determination Methods Regarding the Soil Properties

Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) is a parameter which reveals extent of the soil surface sites that can potentially retain cations by electrostatic forces. Different soil types vary in CEC values, which in turn depend on many factors (soil pH, texture, organic matter content, etc.). CEC is a good indicator of soil quality and fertility. CEC can be measured using different methods and it is difficult to recommend a universal one. The most commonly used methods include exchange of cations with a specific solution of known salt concentrations that are not present in the soil, followed by analytical detection of these cations by standard techniques. The aim of this study was to determine and compare the CEC and the amount of exchangeable cations measured on the same samples (n = 50) of soil with different characteristics, using two common methods (one with BaCl2 and the other with CH3COONH4 solution), and to determine their dependence on soil pH, content of organic matter and clay content. Correlation between the values of CEC measured with two different methods was very high (r=0.83). Still, significant difference between the two methods (F test, p ≤ 0.05) was noted. Transformation of the CEC values achieved by one method into the estimated values of the other method is possible. Very high correlation was observed between CEC (CECBaCl2 and CECCH3COONH4) and OM content in soil (r=0.78 and r=0.80), high correlation with soil pH (r=0.58 and r=0.52), and very weak or no correlation with clay content (r=0.12 and r=-0.04). Also, soil salt content influenced measured values of CEC (in CH3COONH4) and sum of exchangeable cations (in BaCl2)

Effects of Agricultural Practices on Carbon Emission and Soil Health

The agricultural sector is a source of greenhouse gas emissions that directly affect the global problem of climate change and contribute approximately 11% in total greenhouse gas emissions in the world and in Croatia too. Irregular and irresponsible agricultural practices, such as excessive tillage and improper fertilization often lead to soil carbon loss and increased carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. This field study provides results how agricultural practices affect carbon dioxide emissions from soil, carbon sequestration and soil quality during the cultivation of winter wheat. The field experiment was conducted in a temperate continental climate on distric Stagnosol. Four investigated treatments were: organic fertilization, mineral fertilization, control treatment and black fallow. The lowest carbon dioxide emission was recorded on bare soil and the highest on organic fertilization treatment. The application of manure, mineral fertilizers and calcification rendered significant effect on some soil chemical characteristics and daily carbon dioxide flux