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Agronomy
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Agro-Ecology for Grassland-Based Farming Systems
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Topical Collection "Agro-Ecology for Grassland-Based Farming Systems"

A topical collection in Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395). This collection belongs to the section "Grassland and Pasture Science".

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Editor

Dr. Gianni Bellocchi

E-Mail Website
Collection Editor
French National Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE), Université Clermont Auvergne (UCA), VetAgro Sup, UREP, 63000 Clermont-Ferrand, France
Interests: agricultural and environmental climatology; biogeochemical fluxes; hydro-meteorology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Topical Collection Information

Dear Colleagues,

At the heart of the international debate on the transformation of agri-food systems, agro-ecology attempts to adapt solutions (e.g., the configuration of integrated crop–livestock systems) to local ecological contexts. The application of ecological concepts and principles to the design and management of agro-ecosystems can improve sustainable agriculture through a better use of existing resources and technologies by finding synergies between plants, soil, climate and management practices. This Special Issue aims to exhibit that changes in the agronomic rationale are possible in the reinvention of farming systems using agro-ecological engineering approaches combining several methods of knowledge production, including analytical (decontextualised) methods such as experimentation and on-farm observations, and holistic (contextualised) methods based on participatory approaches with stakeholders.

Contributions that correspond to the scope of the Special Issue include, but are not limited to:

  • Resilience and regeneration ability of functionally diverse vegetation;
  • Management of natural resources such as soil, water, atmosphere and energy;
  • Maintenance of the ecological harmony of agricultural production;
  • Complementarity effects of plant species diversity (including catch crops) on production;
  • Resource capture strategies of plants (low-input farming and the role of mycorrhizal fungi);
  • Environmental footprint of farming systems;
  • Role of surrounding landscape structures (e.g., hedges, grass strips and ditches).

Methodological contributions, case studies and modelling advances are welcomed, with the aim to (i) highlight the role of plant functional diversity in agroecosystem performance, (ii) assess the complementarity of grasslands with other surfaces to secure agricultural systems, (iii) analyse the links between practices, principles and properties, and (iv) to illustrate and redesign paths in line with agro-ecological trajectories.

Dr. Gianni Bellocchi
Collection Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the collection website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • agricultural production
  • complementarity effects
  • environmental footprint
  • functional diversity
  • grassland–livestock systems
  • landscape structures
  • low-input farming
  • natural resources
  • resilience and regeneration
  • role of mycorrhizas

Published Papers (3 papers)

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2022

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Article
Impacts of Biochar on Trifolium incarnatum and Lolium multiflorum: Soil Nutrient Retention and Loss in Sandy Loam Amended with Dairy Manure
by
Cosette B. Taggart
,
James P. Muir
,
Jeff A. Brady
,
Eunsung Kan
,
Adam B. Mitchell
and
Olabiyi Obayomi
Agronomy 2023, 13(1), 26; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy13010026 - 22 Dec 2022
Viewed by 931
Abstract
Biochar has many potential benefits in agroecosystems such as increasing productivity of crops and modifying soil nutrient content. Biochar is sourced from many waste materials which could easily and sustainably remedy current challenges in concentrated agricultural operations that use manure-based fertilizers. However, relatively [...] Read more.
Biochar has many potential benefits in agroecosystems such as increasing productivity of crops and modifying soil nutrient content. Biochar is sourced from many waste materials which could easily and sustainably remedy current challenges in concentrated agricultural operations that use manure-based fertilizers. However, relatively little is known about its effects on forage species in conjunction with manure or biochar enriched with manure effluent. Our objective was to look at the effect of biochar and dairy effluent soil amendments on a forage legume and a grass. In this study, sandy loam soil was amended with a variety of biochar (BC) in a greenhouse setting. Factors included (1) BC type; (2) BC loading percentage; (3) effluent saturation of BC; and (4) forage inclusion. The study was repeated twice: once with Trifolium incarnatum and once with Lolium multiflorum. Plant material was assayed for biomass (BM) and C and N content. Soil was assayed for nutrient content and micronutrients. Data were not normally distributed and were consequently analyzed for variance using non-parametric methods in R. Overall, T. incarnatum showed a very strong negative (p ≤ 0.05) impact associated with increasing loading percentages of blend and manure BC on herbage BM, while effluent saturation showed no effect (p > 0.05). In contrast, L. multiflorum showed a strong (p ≤ 0.05) positive impact of increasing loading percentages of saturated wood, blend, and manure BC on herbage BM. BC impact on soil nutrients and forage varied greatly depending on type of BC, loading percentage, and forage species included. Results indicated the importance of BC properties and rates, as well as forage species for nutrient tolerances when choosing a BC amendment and loading rate. Full article
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Article
Simulation of Multi-Species Plant Communities in Perturbed and Nutrient-Limited Grasslands: Development of the Growth Model ModVege
by
Francesca Piseddu
,
Raphaël Martin
,
Ermes Movedi
,
Frédérique Louault
,
Roberto Confalonieri
and
Gianni Bellocchi
Agronomy 2022, 12(10), 2468; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12102468 - 11 Oct 2022
Viewed by 955
Abstract
Simulating the dynamics of plant species or types in grassland communities remains an open area of research for which the Community Simulation Model (CoSMo) offers novel approaches. The grassland model ModVege was first parameterised based on a functional vegetation typology, in which types [...] Read more.
Simulating the dynamics of plant species or types in grassland communities remains an open area of research for which the Community Simulation Model (CoSMo) offers novel approaches. The grassland model ModVege was first parameterised based on a functional vegetation typology, in which types “A” and “B” include fast-growing grass species with a phenology-dependent nutrient-capture strategy inherent to fertile grasslands, while the nutrient conservation strategy and late flowering characterise the other types as “b”. ModVege was then coupled to the CoSMo rule set to dynamically simulate the relative abundance of plant functional types or individual species, assessed across fertilised and unfertilised, abandoned and mown conditions in a grassland site of the Massif Central of France. While for the simulation of aboveground biomass, model performance is not unambiguously linked to explicit consideration of plant diversity, the simulation of relative abundance for the whole community is satisfactory (relative root mean square error of ~13–25% when simulating functional types and ~28–52% when simulating species). This study extends previous studies by coupling CoSMo, for the first time, to a grassland-specific model and applying it to conditions (long-term observations, extended number of plant species, absence of fertilisation, frequent mowing and abandonment) never investigated before. Full article
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Article
Effects of Microbial Fertilizer on Soil Fertility and Alfalfa Rhizosphere Microbiota in Alpine Grassland
by
Yangan Zhao
,
Guangxin Lu
,
Xin Jin
,
Yingcheng Wang
,
Kun Ma
,
Haijuan Zhang
,
Huilin Yan
and
Xueli Zhou
Agronomy 2022, 12(7), 1722; https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12071722 - 21 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1204
Abstract
Chemical fertilizers are gradually being replaced with new biological fertilizers, which can improve the soil and soil microorganisms. In this experiment, leguminous forage (Medicago sativa cv. Beilin 201) was used as the research object. By measuring alfalfa root systems and soil properties [...] Read more.
Chemical fertilizers are gradually being replaced with new biological fertilizers, which can improve the soil and soil microorganisms. In this experiment, leguminous forage (Medicago sativa cv. Beilin 201) was used as the research object. By measuring alfalfa root systems and soil properties and using high-throughput sequencing technology, we investigated the effect of biological (rhizobial) fertilizer at different concentrations on soil fertility and alfalfa rhizosphere microbiota in alpine grasslands. The results demonstrated that the treatment with biofertilizer significantly reduced total nitrogen (TN) and total organic carbon (TOC) content in soils, increased root densities, and significantly increased the number of root nodules in alfalfa. There were differences in the response of rhizosphere microorganisms to different concentrations of biofertilizer, and the treatment with biofertilizer led to pronounced changes in the microbial community structure. The abundance of beneficial bacteria such as Rhizobium, Arthrobacter, and Pseudomonas was significantly increased. The Pearson correlation analysis showed that soil moisture and soil conductivity were significantly positively correlated with the observed richness of rhizosphere microbiota (p < 0.05). Meanwhile, Actinobacteria showed a significantly positive correlation with nitrate, TOC, and TN (p < 0.01). These results indicated that biofertilizers enhanced soil fertility and altered the rhizosphere microbiota of alfalfa in alpine grassland. Full article
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