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Soil organic matter (SOM) represents one of the largest and most important reservoirs of organic carbon in terrestrial eco-systems. The quality of SOM (e.g., content of soil organic carbon, humic substances, humic acids, fulvic acids, and HA/FA ratio) is a key factor in determining soil fertility and productivity. The loss of SOM is currently considered a detrimental form of soil degradation. The study aims to evaluate the effect of mineral fertilising (NPK), farmyard manure, cattle slurry, and digestate applications in intensively used permanent grassland. The long-term field experiments were carried out at the locality Jevíčko, region of Boskovice Furrow Malá Haná (the Czech Republic). The effect of amending soil with different organic and mineral fertilisers was studied. Qualitative parameters of SOM, soil reaction, and the content of available nutrients (N, P, K, Ca, Mg) were followed. Results showed that the control (no organic input) and the NPK variants had the lowest SOM quality. Higher SOM quality was after the farmyard manure, Slurry, and Digetsate applications. The highest acidity (indicated by the lowest values of pH/KCl) was determined in the control, NPK, Slurry, and D variants. The most favourable soil reaction and available nutrient content were after the farmyard manure application. Humic substances spectral absorption in the UV-VIS and infrared spectral ranges showed that the highest absorbance and amount of aliphatic hydrophobic components were observed after the application of farmyard manure. The multi-criteria statistical evaluation, including principal component analysis and factor analysis, confirmed that amending soil with farmyard manure and slurry resulted in an increase in humic substances content and improved SOM quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing the soil productivity is challenged by the increasing biotic threat to plants and microorganisms, by the resistance to agrochemicals, and by the declining soil health. Soil management strategy is, therefore, aimed at erosion prevention and the minimisation of soil organic matter losses. A key factor in an agroecosystem is the appropriate biological stability. It is essential not only at present, but also for further sustainable agriculture. This study was based on the hypothesis that afforestation and conversion from arable land to permanent grassland improves the organic matter status and biological stability in the agroecosystem. The experiment was conducted from 2014 to 2018 in the Uhřice bio-corridor (Kroměříž region, the Czech Republic). Haplic Luvisol has been investigated for its basic biological and chemical properties after the arable land was converted to a natural vegetation system. The afforested segment (F), permanent grassland segment (G), and arable land segment (A) have been sampled in the upper soil horizon (0-0.30 m). Standard analytical methods were applied for the determination of the basic soil properties. A principal component analysis and factor analysis were used for interpreting the connection between the parameters of the soil organic carbon, the humic substances, the humic acids, and the fulvic acids, the agrochemical properties of the soil (the pH, the content of the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, etc.), and the soil biological properties (basal soil respiration (BSR), the ratios of the N/BSR, NG/BSR, etc.). After five years of investigation, the differences in the studied parameters were evident. The factor analysis and multivariate exploratory techniques showed that the soil properties were grouped based on the management into three different categories - F, G and A. The different land use directly influenced the quality and stability of the humic substances, basal soil respiration, and carbon and nitrogen utilisation. In comparison to the arable land, the forest and grassland were considered to have a higher accumulation potential of carbon and nitrogen. A negative correlation between the soil basal respiration (r = -0.95); total nitrogen (r = -0.93); total organic carbon (Cox) content (r = -0.82); and partial Ca (r = -0.82) was found. A positive correlation (r = 0.80) between the humic substances (C-HS) and soil reaction (pH) was determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive livestock production in Mediterranean climate conditions and acidic soils requires animal feed supplementation. This occurs during the summer and, frequently, also in the autumn and winter, depending on the prevailing rainfall patterns. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of dolomitic limestone application and of tree canopy on availability, quality, and floristic composition of a permanent pasture, grazed by sheep. At the end of autumn, winter, and spring of 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 pasture green and dry matter production (GM and DM, respectively), crude protein (CP), and fiber (neutral detergent fiber) were monitored in 24 sampling points. Half of these points were located in areas amended with dolomitic limestone (COR) and half in unamended areas (UCOR). In each of these, half of the sampling points were located under tree canopy (UTC) and half outside tree canopy (OTC). Pasture floristic composition was monitored in spring 2020. The results show, in autumn, a positive and significant effect (i) of soil pH amendment on pasture DM and CP daily growth rate (kg·ha−1·day−1) (+28.8% and +42.6%, respectively), and (ii) of tree canopy on pasture CP daily growth rate (+26.4%). Both factors affect pasture floristic composition. Pasture species were identified as potential bio-indicators, characteristic of each field area. These results show the practical interest of the soil pH correction to reduce the animal supplementation needs in the critical autumn period in the Mediterranean montado ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]