This book provides a synthesis of plant-soil-plant interactions from the plot to landscape scale. It focuses on the process level, which is relevant to many types of multispecies agroecosystems (agroforestry, intercropping and others). It also links basic research to practical application (and indigenous knowledge) in a wide range of systems with or without trees, and considers implications of below-ground interactions for the environment and global change issues. The contents include root architecture and dynamics, plant-soil biota interactions, soil biodiversity and food webs, water and nutrient cycling, and the necessary linkage to modelling approache
Tag: climatic change
Modelling global change impacts on the soil enviroment
The following research protocol was developed as part of the global ASB (Alternatives to slash-and-burn) project, to allow comparison of data collected in Indonesia (Lampung,Jambi), Cameroon, Brazil and Peru. The data collected can be used: – directly to assess the current C stock in above – and below- ground pools; – to extrapolate to the ‘time-averaged C stock’ of a land-use system; – to initialise the CENTURY (or similar) simulation model for C, N and P dynamics of the various pools of organic matter; and/or – compare biodiversity and profitability assessments with C stock data to study trade-offs among global environmental benefits and private incentives to the farmer.