This paper explores the extent of soil erosion and the main driving factors behind soil erosion in the alpine temperate forest-grass subregion of Qilian Mountains in Qingdong by using the Universal Soil Loss Model (RUSLE) and Geographical detector, which can provide some scientific support for soil erosion management and governmental decision-making in the study area.

Soils can increase in carbon and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. This study assessed the potential of soils to increase in soil carbon at the farm scale. Soil type and mineral surface area were the main drivers for differences in the carbon sequestration potential at the farm scale. An understanding of the distribution of this potential at the farm scale could allow for targeted management practices to increase SOC.

Land degradation has impacted the environment significantly, where soil fertility, food production, water, and an array of ecosystem services have been compromised. Research in this paper investigates the potential for compost and biochar amendments to improve native plant growth in land remediation, for which most benefits were revealed from a mixture of compost and biochar. Land remediation projects may wish to utilise the unique benefits of a compost-biochar mixture in establishing plants used in this study.

Soil materials can be delivered to depth from both in situ and ex situ materials. Results demonstrate that soil material from the surface can reach depths of up to 80 cm near the hillslope crest and 2.2 m at the base of the hillslope and a relatively rapid (decadal time scale) translocation.

The market for novel biobased fertilisers is growing, but little is known about how they affect soil quality in the long term. In a one-year laboratory incubation experiment, this study aimed to test the effect on selected soil quality indicators of 10 biobased fertilisers, which were found to improve soil quality overall, with a compost material being the most effective. The results help to understand how different biobased fertilisers can affect soil quality beyond their fertiliser value.

There is growing interest in soil carbon as a climate mitigation strategy by the private and public sectors in Australia and globally. There is a scarcity of evidence in Australia for two of the key eligible management activities farmers can implement as part of the Australian soil carbon method for carbon sequestration. Farm-level data with credible evidence of soil carbon improvement at depth is lacking due to lack of long-term studies and shallow soil sampling.

We argue that the term ‘potential’ soil organic carbon (SOC) storage is not quantifiable using historical and current empirical data. We propose a framework that defines an upper limit of ‘attainable’ SOC that varies with soil properties, environmental conditions and applied management practices. We conclude that continuous update of the derived attainable deficit values will be required when new datasets covering different or new management practices capable of improving the capture of carbon to soil become available.

Irrigation and farming practices can increase nutrient leaching losses, which affects water quality. Under zone-specific management of variable rate irrigation and mixed cropping, over 5 years, drainage flux meters worked well for the well-drained sandy loam; nutrient concentrations and leaching loads generally had greater uncertainty in the poorly drained silt loam. Drainage flux meters are more reliable in the sandy loam than the silt loam.

Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture contribute 15% of the official national account. Nitrous oxide is a major greenhouse gas and is primarily emitted from soils. With a Global Warming Potential nearly 300 times that of carbon dioxide, it has major impact on climate change. Nitrogen applications in the form of fertilisers, crop residues, urine and dung are the primary contributors to these emissions. The study assembled nitrous oxide emissions data from Australian agriculture that has been collected over the past 2 decades to provide accurate emission factors for the national account.

This study detected 43 small organic N compounds in soils from the Australian Alps, with concentrations 30 times greater in microbial and salt-extractable pools than in the soil solution. Net N mineralisation decreased four-fold over the growing season. Organic matter decomposition rates were close to the global mean, while the stabilisation factor was high. This more detailed understanding of nitrogen dynamics can support scientifically-grounded management of the ecosystem services provided by the Australian Alps, a UNESCO-recognised biosphere reserve.

Agriculture is regarded as the most important source of nitrous oxide, an important greenhouse gas. We compare nitrous oxide responses to environmental factors in six widely used agroecological models to show the impacts of soil moisture, temperature, pH, and substrates on emissions from nitrification and denitrification. These detailed comparisons highlight the need to improve the models to better capture all known processes that are a source of nitrous oxide and reduce the uncertainty associated with the predicted emissions.

This study investigated the variation of soil microorganisms in potato fields under different fertiliser treatments. Manure increased the abundance of Actinobacteria and reduced bacterial diversity and evenness. Manure plus chemical fertilisers reduced the abundance of Proteobacteria. These results provide an essential reference for the changes in soil microbial species abundance and community structure in potato fields exposed to long-term fertilisation with different organic and chemical sources of nutrients.

Higher concentrations of tetracyclines than sulfonamides were detected in soil amended with manure. The concentrations of antibiotics had significant positive correlations with available phosphorus in soil. The combined application of organic–inorganic fertiliser was the most effective fertilisation mode.

While both physical fractionation (size separation) and chemical extraction (using hot water) are widely used to partition soil organic matter (SOM) into components that differ in lability, the relationship between these two approaches remains unclear. We measured hot water extractable C in particle-size fractions isolated from soil under a diverse set of treatments. All size fractions contributed to hot water extractable C, with the clay fraction (putatively the most stable SOM fraction), being the dominant source.

Blue carbon environments have the potential to assist in climate change mitigation by storing significant amounts of carbon in their above- and below-ground biomass and soils. The role of mangrove and tidal marsh vegetation on the carbon and nitrogen contents of temperate wetland surface soils and the spatial variability of stocks across and within vegetation type are quantified. Carbon and nitrogen stocks are driven by the geomorphology, environmental conditions and organic matter supply within sites rather than vegetation type.

The actions of the multitude of organisms that live in the soil are crucial to the survival and growth of all plants and animals. In addition to environmental factors such as temperature, soil use, and management influence the diversity and activities of soil organisms. Despite extensive research, our understanding of how soil biodiversity influences plant and animal production in agricultural and forest systems has been limited due the complex nature of interactions between the different types of organisms.