The High Phosphorus Incorporation Promotes the Soil Enzymatic Activity, Nutritional Status, and Biomass of the Crop

Abstract

Phosphorus (P) application in the soil improves soil fertility and thus contributes to reproductive organ development, resulting in a higher cotton yield. However, the effect of increasing phosphorus rate on soil nutrient status, phosphorus-related enzyme activities, and its effects on crop productivity needs excellent attention. A consecutive two-year (2017-2018) field experiment containing three phosphorus levels [0 (P1), 100 (P2), and 200 (P3) kg P 2 O 5 ha -1 ] was accomplished by maintaining three replications. During both cropping years, soil samples were gathered from the topsoil (0-20 cm) and subsurface (20-40 cm) during the harvesting stage of the cotton crop. Soil collected at topsoil showed a significant increase in available and total phosphorus contents and urease and acid, alkaline, and neutral phosphatase enzyme activities compared with the sub-soil. The soil nutrients, viz. ammonium, nitrate, total nitrogen, available potassium, and total potassium, were significantly higher in P3 at the topsoil compared to other treatments. Soil enzymes viz. urease and acid, alkaline, and neutral phosphatase activities in the P3 were improved compared to the P1 and P2 applications. On average, the activities of these enzymes were maximum in 2017 at both soil depths. Moreover, the maximum biomass accumulation was observed in vegetative (root, stem, and leaves) and reproductive (bur, lint, and seed) organs with P3 incorporation in the soil. Similarly, an increase in the phosphorus application rate significantly enhanced the plant biomass and seed cotton yield during the 2017 and 2018 cropping seasons. Conclusively, the findings of this study showed that the P3 (200 kg P 2 O 5 ha −1 ) rate enhanced cotton productivity by improving the soil physicochemical properties, which alternately enhanced

Strong Invasive Mechanism of Wedelia trilobata via Growth and Physiological Traits under Nitrogen Stress Condition

“…In summary, both plant species (W. trilobata and W. chinensis) were correlated positively and negatively with each other under low and normal N conditions in terms of shoot length, root length, biomass, and physiological parameters. The PCA biplot and Pearson correlation essay indicated that W. trilobata has strong physiological parameters to adjust its normal growth under low-N conditions compared with W. chinensis, which agrees with the idea of Iqbal et al [60], who described the Pearson correlation and PCA analysis under different N conditions with different physiological parameters in different crops.…”

Effect of Grazing and Mowing on Soil Physiochemical Properties in a Semi-Arid Grassland of Northeast China

“…Grazing and mowing are generally reported to increase soil bulk density [15,34], and our results add to these findings. This increase in soil bulk density might be due to force applied on the soil surface by livestock trampling and mowing machines by increasing soil mechanical resistance and compaction, reduction in soil infiltration, and aggregate stability [3,4,15,35]. The effect of grazing and mowing on soil bulk density may also vary with respect to ecological factors, soil type, and seasons.…”

“…High intensity of grazing decreases soil moisture and facilitates soil erosion [2]. Livestock trampling affects soil by increasing mechanical resistance, hence altering soil bulk density [3], water infiltration, soil porosity, and aggregate stability [4]. In contrast, soil compaction is often adversely linked with the content of soil organic matter and root growth; soil bulk density may vary for soil's different layers, duration, and grazing intensity [5].…”

Plant economic strategies in two contrasting forests

“…These leaf/plant functional traits closely linking to ecophysiological processes and production could be driven by biotic factors such as genetic variation (e.g., [ 10 ] ) and metabolite biosynthesis [ 34 , 35 ], and abiotic factors such as soil nutrition [ 36 – 40 ] and soil pollution [ 41 – 43 ]. Leaf functional traits are largely reshaped by the local climate over millennia [ 4 ].…”