Abstract Due to increased population pressure and limited availability of fertile land, farmers on desert fringes increasingly rely on marginal land for agricultural production, which they have learned to rehabilitate with different technologies for soils and water conservation. One such method is the indigenous zai technique used in the Sahel. It combines water harvesting and targeted application of organic amendments by the use of small pits dug into the hardened soil. To study the resource use efficiency of this technique, experiments were conducted 1999–2000, on-station at ICRISAT in Niger, and on-farm at two locations on degraded lands. On-station, the effect of application rate of millet straw and cattle manure on millet dry matter production was studied. On-farm, the effects of organic amendment type (millet straw and cattle manure, at the rate of 300 g per plant) and water harvesting (with and without water harvesting) on millet grain yield, dry matter production, and water use were studied. First, the comparison of zai vs. flat planting, both unamended, resulted in a 3- to 4-fold (in one case, even 19-fold) increase in grain yield on-farm in both years, which points to the yield effects of improved water harvesting in the zai alone. Zai improved the water use efficiency by a factor of about 2. The yields increased further with the application of organic amendments. Manure resulted in 2–68 times better grain yields than no amendment and 2–7 times better grain yields than millet straw (higher on the more degraded soils). Millet dry matter produced per unit of manure N or K was higher than that of millet straw, a tendency that was similar for all rates of application. Zai improved nutrient uptake in the range of 43–64% for N, 50–87% for P and 58–66% for K. Zai increased grain yield produced per unit N (8 vs. 5 kg kg−1) and K (10 vs. 6 kg kg−1) compared to flat; so is the effect of cattle manure compared to millet straw (9 vs. 4 kg kg−1, and 14 vs. 3 kg kg−1), respectively, Therefore zai shows a good potential for increasing agronomic efficiency and nutrient use efficiency. Increasing the rate of cattle manure application from 1 to 3 t ha−1 increased the yield by 115% TDM, but increasing the manure application rate further from 3 to 5 t ha−1 only gave an additional 12% yield increase, which shows that optimum application rates are around 3t ha−1.

A recently developed technique in soil ecology is the use of the bait lamina method, for assessing the feeding activity of soil animals in situ. Here the bait lamina method (slightly adapted to tropical conditions) was used for the comparison of four closely situated sites (a primary rain forest, a secondary rain forest and two mixed-species tree plantations) in the Brazilian Amazon (project SHIFT ENV-52). The total feeding activity (portion of empty apertures in a set of laminae) and the vertical distribution of the feeding activity were evaluated for differences between the sites. The feeding activities in the primary and secondary forest were at the same level and significantly lower than in the two plantations. Feeding activity in subplots where surface litter has been experimentally removed was significantly lower than in the controls with the litter layer intact, at all four sites. The abundance of soil macrofauna or Enchytraeidae was not correlated with the results of the bait lamina tests, while the abundance of mesofauna (probably mainly Oribatida) was consistent with the pattern of feeding activity. The feeding activities as determined with bait laminae did not correlate with the decomposition activities determined with litterbags. Due to the easy applicability in combination with its feasibility for statistical evaluation and its consistent responses to site differences in experimental treatments we consider the bait lamina method to be a promising approach for the biological assessment of tropical soils.

Abstract This paper evaluates the potential of nine multipurpose tree species for afforestation of degraded land in the Khorezm region, Central Asia, particularly their suitability for biodrainage i.e., lowering the elevated groundwater table through the transpirative capacity of plantations. For this purpose water use (WU), water use efficiency (WUE) and tree physiological factors influencing transpiration were assessed during two consecutive years. Mean daily leaf transpiration differed significantly among the species and ranged during the seasons from 4.5–5.2 mmol m−2 s−1 for Prunus armeniaca L. to 4.5–10 mmol −2 s−1 for Elaeagnus angustifolia L. WU differences were triggered by species physiological features such as capability of water uptake by roots. Transpiration rates and the length of fine roots correlated highly (r = 0.7). Correlations of leaf transpiration rates with leaf area were weaker (r = 0.6). No correlations were found between salt content in plants and water uptake under conditions of slight-to-moderate rootzone soil salinity. Values of WUE per root and shoot DM were similar averaging, respectively, 0.2 and 0.3 g DM g−1 water for two-year-old trees, and decreased with age. In addition to WU characteristics, also salinity tolerance, growth rate and the ability to produce fodder and fuelwood must be considered during species selection. Regarding these features, the N-fixing E. angustifolia ranked the highest, combining high WU, fast growth and production of nutritious feed. Examined Populus spp. and Ulmus pumila L. ranked lower but still represented potential candidates for biodrainage purposes. Typical fruit species in the region such as P. armeniaca and Morus alba, showed low biodrainage potential.

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The arboreal nests of the termite Anoplotermes banksi are abundant in Central Amazonian primary rain forests. Colony size of 7 nests (weight 92–6891 g) varied between 2,593 and 39,256 individuals/nest (1.5 – 22.1 g termites/nest). Average body fresh weight was 0.9 mg for workers and 2.1 mg for alates. Queens weighed 10–30 mg. No relationship between nest weight and maturity was detected, as the ratio of workers to larvae was 1:1, independent of nest size, and alates were found in nests weighing less than 200 g. Nests of A. banksi (12–18 ha -1 ) accounted for 12–15% of the nest density of all Isopteran species, but the calculated fresh weight of the termites of this species (15–23 mg/m 2 ) represented only 0.2–0.4% of the total termite biomass in the study area.

Understanding the global distribution of PAHs requires knowledge of their sources. The objective of our work was to test the hypothesis that termites and woody plants are sources of naphthalene (NAPH), phenanthrene (PHEN), and perylene (PERY) for soils of different tropical climates. We determined the concentrations of 20 PAHs in soil, wood, and different compartments of termite nests (central part, inner wall, outer wall) in the Amazon (Terra firme, Varzea, and Igapo), Pantanal, Cerrado, Mata Atlantica, and Caatinga regions. The sum of 20 PAH concentrations was low in all soils (4.8-347 mu g kg super(-1), n=47) and much higher in many of the wood (47-3894, n=31) and termite nest samples (29-4208, n=121). In general, NAPH, PHEN, or PERY were most abundant. In the Amazon region, wood samples contained up to 3785 and termite nest samples up to 3645 mu g kg super(-1) of NAPH. In all regions, most termite nests contained higher PERY concentrations (up to 1109 mu g kg super(-1)) than wood or soil, indicating that PERY was produced or accumulated in these nests. In many termite nests, the central part had larger NAPH and PERY concentrations than the wall, indicating that these compounds may have been produced within the nests. With few exceptions, NAPH dominated the PAH pattern in the Amazon and west Cerrado regions, PHEN in the Mata Atlantica and Caatinga regions, and PERY in the Pantanal and central Cerrado regions. Our results suggest that there are large unknown sources of NAPH, PHEN, and PERY in the tropical environment. It is likely that part of these sources is biological. The release of NAPH and PHEN from these sources seems to depend on climatic factors.