Soil water balance of annual crop–native shrub systems in Senegal's Peanut Basin: The missing link

Kizito, Fred; Sène, M.; Dragila, M. I.; Lufafa, Abel; Diédhiou, Ibrahima; Dossa, E. L.; Cuenca, Richard H.; Selker, John S.; Dick, Richard P.

doi:10.1016/j.agwat.2007.02.015

Cited by 56 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…In our greenhouse experiment there was no positive millet response to shrub intercropping shrub in contrast to what has been previously reported in field studies [8] [25] [44].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Impact of Simulated Drought Stress on Soil Microbiology, and Nematofauna in a Native Shrub + Millet Intercropping System in Senegal

Diakhaté¹,

Badiane-Ndour²,

Founoune-Mboup³

et al. 2016

OJSS

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Drought stress strongly affects soil biota and impairs crop production, which under climate change will be exacerbated in semi-arid cropping regions such as the Sahel. Hence soil management systems are needed that can buffer against drought. In West Africa, field studies have found intercropping of millet with the native shrub Piliostigma reticulatum improves soil-plant-water relations, microbial activity and diversity, and suppress parasitic nematodes, which can significantly increase crop yield. However, little information is available on its beneficial or negative effects on soils or crops during water stress. Therefore, the objective was to investigate the impact of P. reticulatum in moderating water stress effects on soil properties and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum [L.] R. Br.) productivity. In the greenhouse, soil chemical and microbial properties and millet growth were investigated with a factorial experiment of varying levels of soil moisture (favorable, moderately stressed, or severely stressed water conditions) that was imposed for 55 days on soils containing sole P. reticulatum or millet, or millet + P. reticulatum. The results showed that the presence of P. reticulatum did not buffer soils against water stress in relation to soil chemical and microbial properties measured at the end of the experiment. Severe water stress did significantly decrease the height, number of leaves, and aboveground biomass of millet plants. Additionally, respiration, nematofauna trophic structure and abundance decreased as water stress increased. Lastly, bacterial feeders and plant parasitic 190nematodes were the most sensitive to severe water stress while fungal feeding nematodes remained unaffected. The results suggested that the intensity of water stress had more negative effects on soil basal respiration rather than soil microbial biomass.

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“…In our greenhouse experiment there was no positive millet response to shrub intercropping shrub in contrast to what has been previously reported in field studies [8] [25] [44].…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Impact of Simulated Drought Stress on Soil Microbiology, and Nematofauna in a Native Shrub + Millet Intercropping System in Senegal

Diakhaté¹,

Badiane-Ndour²,

Founoune-Mboup³

et al. 2016

OJSS

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“…Shrub residue can be added to the soil as a nutrient-rich organic amendment and decompose within an 8-month time period (5). Rhizosphere soils around amended shrubs show increased nutrient content (6), improved soil moisture profiles due to hydraulic lift (7), and a more diverse and complex microfauna soil food web (8). Intercropping with G. senegalensis (9) and P. reticulatum (10), with the incorporation of shrub residue, has also been shown to improve crop yields at two long-term field sites in Senegal.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Association of Shifting Populations in the Root Zone Microbiome of Millet with Enhanced Crop Productivity in the Sahel Region (Africa)

Debenport

Assigbétsé

Bayala

et al. 2015

Appl Environ Microbiol

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dThis study characterized specific changes in the millet root zone microbiome stimulated by long-term woody-shrub intercropping at different sites in Senegal. At the two study sites, intercropping with woody shrubs and shrub residue resulted in a significant increase in millet [Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.] yield (P < 0.05) and associated patterns of increased diversity in both bacterial and fungal communities in the root zone of the crop. Across four experiments, operational taxonomic units (OTUs) belonging to Chitinophaga were consistently significantly (P < 0.001) enriched in the intercropped samples, and "Candidatus Koribacter" was consistently significantly enriched in samples where millet was grown alone. Those OTUs belonging to Chitinophaga were enriched more than 30-fold in residue-amended samples and formed a distinct subgroup from all OTUs detected in the genus. Additionally, OTUs belonging to 8 fungal genera (Aspergillus, Coniella, Epicoccum, Fusarium, Gibberella, Lasiodiplodia, Penicillium, and Phoma) were significantly (P < 0.005) enriched in all experiments at all sites in intercropped samples. The OTUs of four genera (Epicoccum, Fusarium, Gibberella, and Haematonectria) were consistently enriched at sites where millet was grown alone. Those enriched OTUs in intercropped samples showed consistently large-magnitude differences, ranging from 30-to 1,000-fold increases in abundance. Consistently enriched OTUs in intercropped samples in the genera Aspergillus, Fusarium, and Penicillium also formed phylogenetically distinct subgroups. These results suggest that the intercropping system used here can influence the recruitment of potentially beneficial microorganisms to the root zone of millet and aid subsistence farmers in producing higher-yielding crops. Subsistence farmers in the Sahel region of sub-Saharan Africa struggle with the challenges of drought, low organic matter in soils, and encroaching desertification (1). Resolving these issues is critical for improving crop yields in this region. Woody shrubs that occur naturally in farmers' fields might be used as part of an intercropping production system to improve crop yields. Two woody shrubs, Guiera senegalensis and Piliostigma reticulatum, are distributed throughout the Sahel region (2, 3). Currently, most farmers manage these shrubs by coppicing, collecting, and burning above-ground residue prior to planting crops. However, agricultural practices in the Sahel region can be adjusted to utilize shrub biomass as a natural source of fertilizer (4). Shrub residue can be added to the soil as a nutrient-rich organic amendment and decompose within an 8-month time period (5). Rhizosphere soils around amended shrubs show increased nutrient content (6), improved soil moisture profiles due to hydraulic lift (7), and a more diverse and complex microfauna soil food web (8). Intercropping with G. senegalensis (9) and P. reticulatum (10), with the incorporation of shrub residue, has also been shown to improve crop yields at two long-term field sites in Senegal...

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“…They recommended that ET estimation of young orchards should be a mechanistic approach that deals with evaporation from soil and plants separately. Kizito et al [17] confirmed the suitability of the application of the SWB for native shrubs. Scott [18] compared the eddy covariance and SWB methods in a watershed covering shrub land, grass land, and savannah sites.…”

Section: Soil Water Balancementioning

confidence: 72%

Comparing Three Approaches of Evapotranspiration Estimation in Mixed Urban Vegetation: Field-Based, Remote Sensing-Based and Observational-Based Methods

et al. 2016

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Despite being the driest inhabited continent, Australia has one of the highest per capita water consumptions in the world. In addition, instead of having fit-for-purpose water supplies (using different qualities of water for different applications), highly treated drinking water is used for nearly all of Australia's urban water supply needs, including landscape irrigation. The water requirement of urban landscapes, particularly urban parklands, is of growing concern. The estimation of evapotranspiration (ET) and subsequently plant water requirements in urban vegetation needs to consider the heterogeneity of plants, soils, water, and climate characteristics. This research contributes to a broader effort to establish sustainable irrigation practices within the Adelaide Parklands in Adelaide, South Australia. In this paper, two practical ET estimation approaches are compared to a detailed Soil Water Balance (SWB) analysis over a one year period. One approach is the Water Use Classification of Landscape Plants (WUCOLS) method, which is based on expert opinion on the water needs of different classes of landscape plants. The other is a remote sensing approach based on the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors on the Terra satellite. Both methods require knowledge of reference ET calculated from meteorological data. The SWB determined that plants consumed 1084 mm¨yr´1 of water in ET with an additional 16% lost to drainage past the root zone, an amount sufficient to keep salts from accumulating in the root zone. ET by MODIS EVI was 1088 mm¨yr´1, very close to the SWB estimate, while WUCOLS estimated the total water requirement at only 802 mm¨yr´1, 26% lower than the SWB estimate and 37% lower than the amount actually added including the drainage fraction. Individual monthly ET by MODIS was not accurate, but these errors were cancelled out to give good agreement on an annual time step. We conclude that the MODIS EVI method can provide accurate estimates of urban water requirements in mixed landscapes large enough to be sampled by MODIS imagery with 250-m resolution such as parklands and golf courses.

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Soil water balance of annual crop–native shrub systems in Senegal's Peanut Basin: The missing link

Cited by 56 publications

References 27 publications

Impact of Simulated Drought Stress on Soil Microbiology, and Nematofauna in a Native Shrub + Millet Intercropping System in Senegal

Impact of Simulated Drought Stress on Soil Microbiology, and Nematofauna in a Native Shrub + Millet Intercropping System in Senegal

Association of Shifting Populations in the Root Zone Microbiome of Millet with Enhanced Crop Productivity in the Sahel Region (Africa)

Comparing Three Approaches of Evapotranspiration Estimation in Mixed Urban Vegetation: Field-Based, Remote Sensing-Based and Observational-Based Methods

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