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Five of the top ten problems facing humanity (http://cnst.rice.edu/content.aspx?id=246) over the next 50 years (food, water, energy, environment and poverty) are directly related to the health of soil resources. Several different factors, including: (a) excessive tillage; (b) inappropriate crop rotations; (c) excessive grazing or crop residue removal; (d) deforestation; (e) mining and/or fracking; and (f) construction or urban sprawl, have contributed to the global problem of soil degradation. Understanding and implementing sustainable agricultural and land management practices that improve soil health is essential for mitigating and reversing these trends, if we are to successfully meet the needs of more than 9.5 billion people who will be sharing our fragile planet by the middle of the 21st century. The overall focus for this Special Issue was on agricultural factors contributing to soil degradation and suggested strategies for mitigating and reversing those trends. The discussion was anchored by invited contributions reflecting perspectives from Africa, Australia, China, Eastern Europe, India, Latin America, North America, Russia, and Western Europe. Voluntary contributions were evaluated, and incorporated into the issue to provide a global perspective on soil degradation and strategies to mitigate its devastating effects. This Special Issue draws upon published literature addressing soil quality and/or soil health, soil and crop management strategies to mitigate soil degradation, and future research needs and strategies that will steadily improve the fragile layer that lies between us and starvation. Your participation and contributions to this important endeavor were most welcome.

visual soil assessment --- soil resource management --- soil quality --- landscape management --- soil health --- soil degradation --- soil security --- sustainable agriculture --- conservation agriculture

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The world's population growth has led to the intensification of agriculture worldwide, which is accompanied by an increase in the use of chemical fertilisers and plastics, but also by huge food losses and waste. AGRIMAX is a European project funded by the European Union and whose goal is to valorise organic waste from the agro-food sector into different high value-added products such as packaging, food ingredients, biofertilisers, and films and pots, in a perspective of circular economy. The objective of this work was to assess the effects of films, pots and biofertilisers, developed in the project, on soil quality in order to validate and demonstrate the use of these products in agricultural applications.
In order to meet this objective, laboratory incubation experiments were set up over a 12-week period to test the impact of five biocomposites and three composts on different soil biochemical parameters. Among the biocomposites tested, two consisted of natural fibres and fungal mycelium, while the other three were bioplastics formed by a polybutylene succinate matrix (PBS). Two of the composts were improved by the addition of plant growth promoting microorganisms (PGPMs) and the third was a reference compost. The biodegradation of the products was evaluated according to the evolution of carbon mineralisation and was monitored over the entire incubation period, as was the net release of mineral nitrogen. CaCl2 extractable phosphorus, soil microbial biomass (MBC), phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) and the enzymatic activities of dehydrogenase, beta-glucosidase and N-acetyl-beta-D-glucosaminidase were measured only after 12 weeks.
The majority of the biocomposites showed a significant degradation after 12 weeks of incorporation into the soil and a net immobilisation of nitrogen. They also demonstrated their capacity to improve the soil microflora and its activities during biodegradation. The only major concern caused by biocomposites in this study was their impacts on nutrient availability, which could be problematic for microbial and plant growth if no external sources are supplied to the soil. Compost mineralisation was relatively low and not significantly different between the composts tested, demonstrating their potential to sequester carbon. In general, composts had little influence on all the parameters tested, probably related to the absence of vegetation and the short duration of the experiment. The results of this study suggest that the biocomposites and composts tested have the potential to maintain or promote soil microbial activities and thus maintain soil quality. These new material formulations are therefore promising for the development of a more sustainable agriculture where yesterday's wastes are tomorrow's resources.

biocomposite --- compost --- biodegradation --- soil quality --- microbial biomass --- PLFA --- enzymatic activities --- mineralisation --- biocomposite --- compost --- biodégradation --- qualité des sols --- biomasse microbienne --- PLFA --- activités enzymatiques --- minéralisation --- Sciences du vivant > Sciences de l'environnement & écologie --- Sciences du vivant > Agriculture & agronomie

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Neighbourhood landscapes are the quintessential forms of urban landscapes in most cities worldwide. They are pervasive, and hence experienced by the large majority of urban dwellers in their everyday life. More than parks, nature reserves or nature areas which are visited as destinations, neighbourhood landscapes provide the most immediate, frequent and convenient form of nature experienced by urban dwellers on a daily basis. They are also valuable as social spaces to bring residents together, foster social ties, and strengthen communities. Despite their importance, surprisingly little has been written to guide the planning and design of neighbourhood landscapes. This book is written for a specific purpose, to illustrate how the design of neighbourhood landscapes helps to deliver more benefits for urban dwellers and, at the same time, protect ecosystems that facilitate human well-being. This is in turn important as the synergistic relationships between human well-being, quality of biophysical urban environment, and health of human–environment interactions fundamentally underpin urban sustainability. The authors emphasize the role neighbourhood landscapes play in forging connections between people and nature, people and people, and people and place. Most of all, the book highlights the role of focusing on people in this endeavour, as it is only when landscapes are appropriately designed, and when people recognize these benefits, that they become valued and protected as a community resource. This book is organized into two parts. Part 1 focuses on the conceptual foundations that underpin the neighbourhood landscape design guidelines being developed. In this section, the authors describe the key concepts relating functions of neighbourhood landscapes to the key urban development goals of sustainability, liveability and reliance; how they can be represented in a framework; and how a synthesis of current knowledge of cities as socio-ecological systems helps to identify principles that can guide the designing of neighbourhood landscapes. Part 2 is more application focused, and is centred on neighbourhood landscape design guidelines inspired by the concept of ecosystem services. The guidelines consist of design approaches, practical strategies, design targets and performance monitoring indicators for tracking the performance of neighbourhood landscapes. The book is written for readers in academia and design practice, and anyone who has a role in shaping neighbourhood landscapes for the benefit of urban dwellers.

Urban Landscapes --- Irrigation --- Urban Areas --- Neighbourhoods --- Environmental Education --- Aesthetic Values --- Living Spaces --- Biodiversity --- Heat Mitigation --- Noise Abatement --- Landscape Design --- Nature --- Soil Quality Maintenance --- Social Relations --- Storm and Domestic Waste Water Treatment --- Flood Hazard Mitigation --- People --- Neighbourhood Landscape --- Water Cycling --- Ecology --- Nutrient Cycling --- Landscape Development --- Green Spaces --- Landscape Services --- Erosion Control --- Recreational Spaces --- Open Spaces --- Sense of Place --- Recreation --- Typology --- Parks

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Plant biomass --- Corn stover --- Soils --- Sustainable agriculture --- Corn stover. --- Plant biomass. --- Sustainable agriculture. --- Quality --- Quality. --- Low-input agriculture --- Low-input sustainable agriculture --- Lower input agriculture --- Resource-efficient agriculture --- Sustainable farming --- Agriculture --- Alternative agriculture --- Soil quality --- Biomass --- Plants --- Stover, Corn --- Corn --- Cornstalks --- Earth (Soils) --- Mold, Vegetable --- Mould, Vegetable --- Soil --- Vegetable mold --- Agricultural resources --- Plant growing media --- Regolith --- Land capability for agriculture --- Residues