Soil fertility management strategies on the Jos Plateau: the need for integrating 'empirical' and 'scientific' knowledge in agricultural development

Tin mining carried out on the Jos Plateau since the beginning of the last century has disturbed some 320 km² of agricultural land. Formal attempts at reclamation of this land failed, but local farmers have developed a successful informal strategy for reclamation. This paper reports on a study undertaken to comprehend the farmers'informal' approach to soil fertility management. Their soil fertility management practices centre on the use of a complex combination of traditional organic manures and 'modern' inorganic fertilizers that they have developed entirely on the basis of experimentation. A central focus of this paper is therefore the empirical knowledge base of the farmers and an assessment of any underlying scientific explanations for their strategies, including an analysis of their assertion that different brands of NPK fertilizers differ in their nutrient value. This discussion is followed by a consideration of the difficulties in accessing and understanding empirical knowledge. It is concluded that farmers' knowledge and understanding of the values of different fertilizers and manures does have a scientific basis. It is argued that for further agricultural development to take place on the Jos Plateau, there must be synergy between farmers' empirical knowledge (which has led to the development of successful and effective soil fertility management strategies, unlike the attempts of the local 'scientific' communities) and scientific knowledge (which can identify health and environmental hazards which may not be immediately visible to farmers).     

Markets, ethnicity and environment in a vulnerable landscape: the case of small-scale vegetable production on the Jos Plateau, Nigeria, 1991–2001

This paper explores changing socio-environmental interactions in the vegetable producing areas of the Jos Plateau over the decade 1991–2001. It considers the pressures of market forces and ethnic competition and the tensions which arise as interactions between the two are played out in a fragile physical, social and institutional environment. The region has seen a remarkable expansion in irrigated vegetable production, as dry season surveys in 1991 and 2001 attest. Local farmers appear extremely positive in their perceptions of change, pointing not only to expanded production, but also to other improvements, like growing percentages of children in school and improved transport. But behind this rosy view of change there are tensions and a series of unresolved questions which may soon have to be addressed. We examine the changing nature of socio-environmental interactions over the decade and ask whether and how current levels of production can be sustained in the context of a currently largely unregulated production system and growing competition for land. Given the important role of the Plateau as a source of temperate fruit and vegetables in West Africa, these questions have significance far beyond the Plateau region itself.     

Evaluating the soil quality of newly created farmland in the hilly and gully region on the Loess Plateau,China

Journal of Geographical Sciences - In order to better understand the quality of newly created farmland (NF) as well as slope and check-dam farmland (CF) soil quality, two typical traditional...     

典型矿业城市的土壤重金属分布特征与复合污染评价——以“镍都”金昌市为例

通过对甘肃省金昌市(镍矿城市)建成区的土壤重金属调查研究,揭示了其重金属来源、污染现状及其环境风险。结果表明:当地主要矿产品Ni和Cu两种重金属的土壤污染最严重,与《土壤环境质量标准》(GB15618-1995)的III级标准比较,样品Ni和Cu的超标率分别为70%和57%,污染面积分别为26 km2和24 km2;土壤As和Cd污染主要集中在矿冶区和尾砂库附近,居民区土壤污染程度低;土壤Cr污染出现在尾砂库和采矿区附近,污染面积为3 km2。在城区土壤中,Co、Cu、Cd、Pb与Zn的污染来源及空间分布具有相似特征,而土壤As污染与Ni污染特征相近。Nemero综合指数评价结果表明,高风险区域主要分布在东部矿冶区、北部尾砂库和西南角采矿区,城市居民区的土壤重金属污染水平较低。     

Anomaly feature of seasonal frozen soil variations on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The seasonal frozen soil on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has strong response to climate change, and its freezing-thawing process also affects East Asia climate. In this paper, the freezing soil maximum depth of 46 stations covering 1961–1999 on the plateau is analyzed by rotated experience orthogonal function (REOF). The results show that there are four main frozen anomaly regions on the plateau, i.e., the northeastern, southeastern and southern parts of the plateau and Qaidam Basin. The freezing soil depths of the annual anomaly regions in the above representative stations show that there are different changing trends. The main trend, except for the Qaidam Basin, has been decreasing since the 1980s, a sign of the climate warming. Compared with the 1980s, on the average, the maximum soil depth decreased by about 0.02 m, 0.05 m and 0.14 m in the northeastern, southeastern and southern parts of the plateau, but increased by about 0.57 m in the Qaidam Basin during the 1990s. It means there are different responses to climate system in the above areas. The spectrum analysis reveals different change cycles: in higher frequency there is an about 2-year long cycle in Qaidam Basin and southern part of the plateau in the four representative areas whereas in lower frequency there is an about 14-year long cycle in all the four representative areas due to the combined influence of different soil textures and solutes in four areas.     

Anomaly feature of seasonal frozen soil variations on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The seasonal frozen soil on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has strong response to climate change, and its freezing-thawing process also affects East Asia climate. In this paper, the freezing soil maximum depth of 46 stations covering 1961-1999 on the plateau is analyzed by rotated experience orthogonal function (REOF). The results show that there are four main frozen anomaly regions on the plateau, i.e., the northeastern, southeastern and southern parts of the plateau and Qaidam Basin. The freezing soil depths of the annual anomaly regions in the above representative stations show that there are different changing trends. The main trend, except for the Qaidam Basin, has been decreasing since the 1980s, a sign of the climate warming. Compared with the 1980s, on the average, the maximum soil depth decreased by about 0.02 m, 0.05 m and 0.14 m in the northeastern, southeastern and southern parts of the plateau, but increased by about 0.57 m in the Qaidam Basin during the 1990s. It means there are different responses to climate system in the above areas. The spectrum analysis reveals different change cycles: in higher frequency there is an about 2-year long cycle in Qaidam Basin and southern part of the plateau in the four representative areas whereas in lower frequency there is an about 14-year long cycle in all the four representative areas due to the combined influence of different soil textures and solutes in four areas.     

Impact of land use change on soil resources in the peri-urban area of Suzhou city

The Yangtze delta area is among the fastest developing areas in China. Here there are mega-cities like Shanghai, Nanjing and the attached urban areas of different sizes including those along the lower reaches of the Yangtze River from Shanghai up to Nanjing as well as their satellite cities and towns, forming one of the most densely distributed urban areas in China. This is a case study done in Suzhou city at the center of the Yangtze delta to reflect the impact of urban sprawl on soil resources using satellite images and digital soil databases. The extent of the developed land in the studied area and the impact of development on soil resources at 1:100,000 scale are estimated and the soil types impacted most by urbanization development are determined through overlaying the soil map on the satellite images (Landsat-7) of the studied area at different times (1984, 1995, 2000 and 2003). The methodology for this study consists of analyzing data resulting from using a geographic information system (GIS) to combine urban land use maps of different times derived from satellite images with data on soil characteristics contained in the established soil databases by which some results come into being to present the fast expanding trend of urbanization in the Yangtze delta area, the urban spread and the soils occupied by the urbanization process, and also the quality of the occupied soils.     

Remote-sensing data reveals the response of soil erosion intensity to land use change in Loess Plateau,China

Developing an effective approach to rapidly assess the effects of restoration projects on soil erosion intensity and their extensive spatial and temporal dynamics is important for regional ecosystem management and the development of soil conservation strategies in the future. This study applied a model that was developed at the pixel scale using water soil erosion indicators (land use, vegetation coverage and slope) to assess the soil erosion intensity in the Loess Plateau, China. Landsat TM/ETM+ images in 2000, 2005 and 2010 were used to produce land use maps based on the object-oriented classification method. The MODIS product MOD13Q1 was adopted to derive the vegetation coverage maps. The slope gradient maps were calculated based on data from the digital elevation model. The area of water soil-eroded land was classified into six grades by integrating slope gradients, land use and vegetation coverage. Results show that the Grain-To-Green Project in the Loess Plateau worked based on the land use changes from 2000 to 2010 and enhanced vegetation restoration and ecological conservation. These projects effectively prevented soil erosion. During this period, lands with moderate, severe, more severe and extremely severe soil erosion intensities significantly decreased and changed into less severe levels, respectively. Lands with slight and light soil erosion intensities increased. However, the total soil-eroded area in the Loess Plateau was reduced. The contributions of the seven provinces to the total soil-eroded area in the Loess Plateau and the composition of the soil erosion intensity level in each province are different. Lands with severe, more severe and extremely severe soil erosion intensities are mainly distributed in Qinghai, Ningxia, Gansu and Inner Mongolia. These areas, although relatively small, must be prioritised and preferentially treated.     

Magnetic investigation of heavy metals contamination in urban topsoils around the East Lake, Wuhan, China

Magnetic measurements and heavy metal analyses were performed on 133 samples from the urban soils around the East Lake in Wuhan, China. Samples were collected from four areas with different environmental settings: a heavy industrial area well known for thermal power generation and steel works; villages located in the downwind area of the industrial area; a main road with heavy traffic and roads around the East Lake. Results show that concentrations of magnetic particle and heavy metals in urban topsoils are significantly elevated due to the input of coarser-grained magnetite from industrial (e.g. power generation and steel production) and other anthropogenic activities (e.g. vehicle emissions). Concentration-related magnetic parameters, for example, magnetic susceptibility, saturation isothermal remanent magnetization and anhysteretic remanent magnetization, significantly correlate with the concentration of heavy metals. Moreover, in terms of grain sizes, the magnetic particles of different origins can be efficiently discriminated at the studied region. Therefore, magnetic measurements provide a basis for discrimination and identification of different contamination sources, and can be used as an economic alternative to chemical analysis when mapping heavy metal contamination in urban soil around the East Lake region, Wuhan, China.     

苏州城郊土地利用变化对土壤的影响

1IntroductionThe conversion of natural systems to agricultural production has been the primary basis for the successful growth of human populations for the last 9,000 years (Kates etal., 1990). The conflict between urban and agricultural land use, however…     

青藏高原地表土壤水变化、影响因子及未来预估

土壤水分是地表和大气连接的纽带,在水文循环中扮演着重要角色。青藏高原作为“第三极”和“亚洲水塔”,其土壤水分对周边地区的气候如亚洲季风的形成和维持产生重要影响,也深刻影响着亚洲水资源的可利用量。基于分布在青藏高原3个气候区的100个站点的实测土壤水数据,对ECV、ERA、MERRA、Noah数据集进行评价,选择对土壤水分评估效果最好的数据集,分析各种气象要素对土壤水分时空格局的影响,并预估未来100年内青藏高原土壤水变化,探讨可能气候成因。结果表明：① Noah数据集对青藏高原历史时期土壤水分评估效果最好,相对其他地区,各数据集对那曲地区土壤水分评估效果最优;② 在各种气象因子中,降水是影响大部分地区土壤水分时空变化的最主要因子,但在喜马拉雅山脉地带,尤其山脉北坡,温度和太阳辐射有较高的影响;③ 1948-1970年土壤水分有明显的下降趋势,1970-1990年土壤水分呈波动变化,无明显趋势,1990-2005年土壤水分有一定的上升趋势,2005年后至今土壤水分有明显快速下降趋势：④ 不同未来情景,土壤水分有下降趋势,其中在CRP 8.5情景下,土壤水分下降最为明显,在2080年之后有更加显著的下降趋势;⑤ 未来降水和温度均呈上升趋势,其中干旱指数变化在RCP 8.5情景下呈下降趋势,在RCP 2.6和RCP 4.5情景下无明显变化,干旱指数在一定程度上能解释未来土壤水分的变化格局。     

Heavy metal pollution of soils and vegetables in the midstream and downstream of the Xiangjiang River, Hunan Province

A total of 219 agricultural soil and 48 vegetable samples were collected from the midstream and downstream of the Xiangjiang River (the Hengyang–Changsha section) in Hunan Province. The accumulation characteristics, spatial distribution and potential risk of heavy metals in the agricultural soils and vegetables were depicted. There are higher accu-mulations of heavy metals such as As, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn in agricultural soils, and the contents of Cd (2.44 mg kg-1), Pb (65.00 mg kg-1) and Zn (144.13 mg kg-1) are 7.97, 3.69 and 1.63 times the corresponding background contents in soils of Hunan Province, respectively. 13.2% of As, 68.5% of Cd, 2.7% of Cu, 2.7% of Ni, 8.7% of Pb and 15.1% of Zn in soil sam-ples from the investigated sites exceeded the maximum allowable heavy metal contents in the China Environmental Quality Standard for Soils (GB15618-1995, Grade II). The pollution characteristics of multi-metals in soils are mainly due to Cd. The contents of As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in vegetable soils are significantly higher than the contents in paddy soils. 95.8%, 68.8%, 10.4% and 95.8% of vegetable samples exceeded the Maximum Levels of Contami-nants in Foods (GB2762-2005) for As, Cd, Ni and Pb concentrations, respectively. There are significantly positive correlations between the concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn in vegetables and the concentrations in the corresponding vegetable soils (p<0.01). It is very necessary to focus on the potential risk of heavy metals for food safety and human health in agricultural soils and vegetables in the midstream and downstream of the Xiangjiang River, Hunan Province of China.     

湘江中下游农田土壤和蔬菜的重金属污染

A total of 219 agricultural soil and 48 vegetable samples were collected from the midstream and downstream of the Xiangjiang River（the Hengyang-Changsha section）in Hunan Province.The accumulation characteristics,spatial distribution and potential risk of heavy metals in the agricultural soils and vegetables were depicted.There are higher accumulations of heavy metals such as As,Cd,Cu,Ni,Pb and Zn in agricultural soils,and the contents of Cd（2.44 mg kg^-1 ）,Pb（65.00 mg kg^-1 ）and Zn（144.13 mg kg^-1 ）are 7.97,3.69 and 1.63 times the corresponding background contents in soils of Hunan Province,respectively. 13.2%of As,68.5%of Cd,2.7%of Cu,2.7%of Ni,8.7%of Pb and 15.1%of Zn in soil samples from the investigated sites exceeded the maximum allowable heavy metal contents in the China Environmental Quality Standard for Soils（GB15618-1995,Grade Ⅱ）.The pollution characteristics of multi-metals in soils are mainly due to Cd.The contents of As,Cd,Cu,Pb and Zn in vegetable soils are significantly higher than the contents in paddy soils.95.8%, 68.8%,10.4%and 95.8%of vegetable samples exceeded the Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods（GB2762-2005）for As,Cd,Ni and Pb concentrations,respectively.There are significantly positive correlations between the concentrations of Cd,Pb and Zn in vegetables and the concentrations in the corresponding vegetable soils（p〈0.01）.It is very necessary to focus on the potential risk of heavy metals for food safety and human health in agricultural soils and vegetables in the midstream and downstream of the Xiangjiang River,Hunan Province of China.     

The influence of rainfall and land use patterns on soil erosion in multi-scale watersheds: A case study in the hilly and gully area on the Loess Plateau,China

Soil erosion has become a major global environmental problem and is particularly acute on the Loess Plateau (LP), China. It is therefore highly important to control this process in order to improve ecosystems, protect ecological security, and maintain the harmonious relationship between humans and nature. We compared the effects of rainfall and land use (LU) patterns on soil erosion in different LP watersheds in this study in order to augment and improve soil erosion models. As most research on this theme has so far been focused on individual study areas, limited analyses of rainfall and LU patterns on soil erosion within different- scale watersheds has so far been performed, a discrepancy which might influence the simulation accuracies of soil erosion models. We therefore developed rainfall and LU pattern indices in this study using the soil erosion evaluation index as a reference and applied them to predict the extent of this process in different-scale watersheds, an approach which is likely to play a crucial role in enabling the comprehensive management of this phenomenon as well as the optimized design of LU patterns. The areas considered in this study included the Qingjian, Fenchuan, Yanhe, and Dali river watersheds. Results showed that the rainfall erosivity factor (R) tended to increase in these areas from 2006 to 2012, while the vegetation cover and management factor (C) tended to decrease. Results showed that as watershed area increased, the effect of rainfall pattern on soil erosion gradually decreased while patterns in LU trended in the opposite direction, as the relative proportion of woodland decreased and the different forms of steep slope vegetation cover became more homogenous. As watershed area increased, loose soil and craggy terrain properties led to additional gravitational erosion and enhanced the effects of both soil and topography.     

黄土高原南部全新世土壤微结构形成机理探讨

通过对黄土高原南部不同剖面土壤微结构的研究和与相邻地区的对比 ,探讨了风化成土过程的特征 ,揭示出全新世土壤S0 是由上下两个土壤层组成的复合土壤 ,显示两个较完整的成土过程。早期成土阶段形成了具棕壤特征的古土壤S0 2 ,晚期成土阶段形成了淋溶褐土型古土壤S0 1 。土壤S0 以上的部分是风尘堆积增强时期形成的风积黄土层 ,但被人类耕作活动所扰动。     

基于卫星遥感和再分析数据的青藏高原土壤湿度数据评估

土壤水是地表与大气在水热交换方面的关键纽带,是关键水循环要素,更是地表产汇流过程的关键控制因子。青藏高原是地球第三极,也是亚洲水塔,探讨青藏高原土壤水变化对于探讨青藏高原热力学特征变化及其对东亚乃至全球气候变化的影响具有重要意义,而获取高精度长序列大尺度土壤水数据集则是其关键。本文利用青藏高原100个土壤水站点观测数据,从多空间尺度（0.25°×0.25°,0.5°×0.5°,1°×1°）、多时间段（冻结和融化期）等角度,采用多评价指标（R、RMSE、Bias）,对多套遥感反演和同化数据（ECV、ERA-Interim、MERRA、Noah）进行全面评估。结果表明：① 除ERA外,其他数据均能反映青藏高原土壤水变化,且与降水量变化一致。而在那曲地区,遥感反演和同化数据均明显低估实测土壤水含量。从空间分布来看,MERRA和Noah与植被指数最为一致,可很好地反映土壤水空间变化特征;② 青藏高原大部分地区土壤水变化主要受降水影响,其中青藏高原西部边缘与喜马拉雅地区土壤水变化则受冰雪融水和降水的共同影响;③ 除阿里地区外,大部分遥感反演和同化数据在融化期与实测土壤水相关性高于冻结期,其中在那曲地区,遥感反演和同化数据均高估冻结期土壤含水量,却低估融化期土壤含水量。另外,遥感反演和同化数据对中大空间尺度土壤水的估计要好于对小空间尺度土壤水的估计。本研究为青藏高原土壤水研究的数据集选择提供重要理论依据。     

黄土高原植被恢复对土壤物理参数的影响——基于已发表数据的荟萃分析

陆面过程在气候变化中具有重要作用,其中土壤水文过程是陆面过程的重要内容,然而目前陆面模式中土壤水力学参数仅依赖于土壤质地,并未考虑植被类型对其影响,这与自然过程不符,从而导致对大规模植被恢复的水文、气候效应认识不充分.为揭示植被恢复对土壤物理参数的影响,改进陆面模式中土壤参数的精度,论文以黄土高原为研究对象,收集整理了...     

Impacts of snow cover and frozen soil in the Tibetan Plateau on summer precipitation in China

This paper presents an analysis of the mechanisms and impacts of snow cover and frozen soil in the Tibetan Plateau on the summer precipitation in China, using RegCM3 version 3.1 model simulations. Comparisons of simulations vs. observations show that RegCM3 well captures these impacts. Results indicate that in a more-snow year with deep frozen soil there will be more precipitation in the Yangtze River Basin and central Northwest China, western Inner Mongolia, and Xinjiang, but less precipitation in Northeast China, North China, South China, and most of Southwest China. In a less-snow year with deep frozen soil, however, there will be more precipitation in Northeast China, North China, and southern South China, but less precipitation in the Yangtze River Basin and in northern South China. Such differences may be attributed to different combination patterns of melting snow and thawing frozen soil on the Plateau, which may change soil moisture as well as cause differences in energy absorption in the phase change processes of snow cover and frozen soil. These factors may produce more surface sensible heat in more-snow years when the frozen soil is deep than when the frozen soil is shallow. The higher surface sensible heat may lead to a stronger updraft over the Plateau, eventually contributing to a stronger South Asia High and West Pacific Subtropical High. Due to different values of the wind fields at 850 hPa, a convergence zone will form over the Yangtze River Basin, which may produce more summer precipitation in the basin area but less precipitation in North China and South China. However, because soil moisture depends on ice content, in less-snow years with deep frozen soil, the soil moisture will be higher. The combination of higher frozen soil moisture with latent heat absorption in the phase change process may generate less surface sensible heat and consequently a weaker updraft motion over the Plateau. As a result, both the South Asia High and the West Pacific Subtropical High will be weaker, hence causing more summer precipitation in northern China but less in southern China.     

Effects of sawdust soil amendment on the soil, growth and yield of Solanum esculentum Linn. in waste engine oil-polluted soil

This study investigated the effects of sawdust as a soil amendment on certain growth parameters of Solanum esculentum Linn. grown in soil polluted with various concentrations of waste engine oil, and changes in the physicochemical properties of the soil. The purpose was to assess the soil remediation potentials of sawdust in waste engine oil-polluted soil. The experiment was divided into three regimes: control(air-dried soil without waste engine oil and with clean sawdust), polluted(waste engine oil-contaminated soil), and amended(oil-polluted soil amended with sawdust). Enough 3-kg soil samples were sieved and air-dried to prepare five treatment levels of waste engine oil-contaminated soil(30 m L, 1%; 60 m L, 2%; 90 m L, 3%; 120 m L, 4%; and 150 m L, 5%), as well as five additional treatment levels(the same amounts of oil contamination) in soil amended with sawdust. The treatment levels were replicated five times in a completely randomized design. A nursery bed was planted with a hybrid tomato variety(Roma V F) obtained from National Horticultural Research Institute(NIHORT) in Ibadan, Nigeria. During the maturation period, the growth parameters such as plant height, number of leaves, and number of branches per plant were determined and then the harvested plants were oven dried at 70 °C for 48 hours to determine their dry weights. The effects of the sawdust amendment on the soil were assessed by determining the soil p H(glass electrode p H meter), total nitrogen(Kjeldahl method), total phosphorus(Bray-1 solution), and potassium(on the leacheate by a flame photometer). Chromium, lead, and cadmium contents were determined using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Analysis of variance and a Duncan multiple-range test were employed to test significant differences in the soil properties of the three regimes. The growth performance of Solanum esculentum Linn. in the amended regime(soil with sawdust) at the 150-m L waste engine oil-contamination level was significantly higher than in the polluted regime(soil without sawdust). After plant harvest, the p H of the soil was shown to be clearly affected by the addition of waste engine oil. The control soil(air-dried only, no sawdust, no oil) had the highest p H value, 6.60, which was significantly different from the p H values at other levels of waste engine oil contamination. However, when amended with sawdust, the control soil had a significantly lower p H value than the unamended control soil. This study further demonstrates that sawdust has the potential of amending waste engine oil-contaminated soil for increasing tomato growth performance because it is capable of increasing the soil nutrient content and reducing the soil total hydrocarbon content.