Agriculture is expanding into regions with poor soil quality – biochar, a porous carbon-rich material, has been suggested to improve quality and health of acidic soils. We found that biochar application increased the abundance of bacterivorous nematodes, which commonly reflects an accelerated degradation of labile soil organic matter. This phenomenon usually results in increased yields but if unmanaged, a decrease in soil carbon sequestration. When paired with physicochemical properties, nematode parameters can improve the understanding of the state of soil systems.

Combined application of organic amendments, calcium amendments and disinfection materials are important management tools to promote healthier agricultural soil. Our results showed that the combined modification could significantly increase soil fertility and abundance of beneficial bacteria, and decrease the contents of phenolic acids allelochemicals abundance of pathogenic bacteria. These amendments may be of benefit in soils that are continually cropped for vegetable production.

In this study, a variety of soil properties were estimated using artificial intelligence. Instead of complex methods, a more practical way with better results was presented. It has been concluded that effective high-level predictions obtained by well-trained artificial intelligence systems can be used instead of current methods.

Acacia longifolia is an aggressive plant invader, seen in more recent years as a meta-organism since its symbiotic rhizosphere constitutes its second genome. We addressed this plant’s early development under different soil types and water/nutrition regimes to better understand its above and belowground responses and their role in invasiveness. We found that soil type influenced plant growth and bacterial diversity while nutrition acted as a growth enhancer, highlighting the need for integrative perspectives to understand acacias’ invasive potential.