All Outputs (112)

Soil as an extended composite phenotype of the microbial metagenome (2020)
Journal Article
Neal, A. L., Bacq-Labreuil, A., Zhang, X., Clark, I. M., Coleman, K., Mooney, S. J., …Crawford, J. W. (2020). Soil as an extended composite phenotype of the microbial metagenome. Scientific Reports, 10(1), Article 10649. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-67631-0

© 2020, The Author(s). We use a unique set of terrestrial experiments to demonstrate how soil management practises result in emergence of distinct associations between physical structure and biological functions. These associations have a significant... Read More about Soil as an extended composite phenotype of the microbial metagenome.

Loading and unloading of a thick-walled cylinder of critical-state soils: large strain analysis with applications (2020)
Journal Article
Zhuang, P. Z., Yu, H. S., Mooney, S. J., & Mo, P. Q. (2021). Loading and unloading of a thick-walled cylinder of critical-state soils: large strain analysis with applications. Acta Geotechnica, 16, 237–261. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-020-00994-w

© 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature. Thick-walled cylinder (TWC) tests are widely used to obtain soil properties and investigate wellbore instability problems in laboratory-controlled conditions. This paper presents analytic... Read More about Loading and unloading of a thick-walled cylinder of critical-state soils: large strain analysis with applications.

Soil aggregates by design: Manufactured aggregates with defined microbial composition for interrogating microbial activities in soil microhabitats (2020)
Journal Article
Harvey, H. J., Wildman, R. D., Mooney, S. J., & Avery, S. V. (2020). Soil aggregates by design: Manufactured aggregates with defined microbial composition for interrogating microbial activities in soil microhabitats. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 148, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soilbio.2020.107870

Differences in the structure of microbial communities are reported to exist between the inside and outside of soil aggregates, but the impacts of soil aggregation on microbial activity in soils, essential for soil health, have proven difficult to stu... Read More about Soil aggregates by design: Manufactured aggregates with defined microbial composition for interrogating microbial activities in soil microhabitats.

Root anatomical traits contribute to deeper rooting of maize under compacted field conditions (2020)
Journal Article
Vanhees, D. J., Loades, K. W., Glyn Bengough, A., Mooney, S. J., & Lynch, J. P. (2020). Root anatomical traits contribute to deeper rooting of maize under compacted field conditions. Journal of Experimental Botany, 71(14), 4243-4257. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraa165

© The Author(s) 2020. To better understand the role of root anatomy in regulating plant adaptation to soil mechanical impedance, 12 maize lines were evaluated in two soils with and without compaction treatments under field conditions. Penetrometer re... Read More about Root anatomical traits contribute to deeper rooting of maize under compacted field conditions.

Impact of fruit orientation and pelleting material on water uptake and germination performance in artificial substrate for sugar beet (2020)
Journal Article
Blunk, S., Hoffer, J., Brosda, S., de Heer, M. I., Sturrock, C. J., & Mooney, S. J. (2020). Impact of fruit orientation and pelleting material on water uptake and germination performance in artificial substrate for sugar beet. PLoS ONE, 15(5), Article e0232875. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0232875

© 2020 Blunk et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are cred... Read More about Impact of fruit orientation and pelleting material on water uptake and germination performance in artificial substrate for sugar beet.

Detection and quantification of pore, solid and gravel spaces in CT images of a 3D soil sample (2020)
Journal Article
Ojeda-Magaña, B., Ruelas, R., Quintanilla-Domínguez, J., Robledo-Hernández, J. G., Sturrock, C. J., Mooney, S. J., & Tarquis, A. M. (2020). Detection and quantification of pore, solid and gravel spaces in CT images of a 3D soil sample. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 85, 360-377. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apm.2020.04.021

© 2020 Elsevier Inc. In this study, we scanned the core of a cylindrical soil sample (60mm diameter and 100mm height) by X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) producing 300 consecutive 2D digital images with 16-bit gray level depth and a resolution of 32 mi... Read More about Detection and quantification of pore, solid and gravel spaces in CT images of a 3D soil sample.

A comparison between water uptake and root length density in winter wheat: effects of root density and rhizosphere properties (2020)
Journal Article
Zhang, X. .., Whalley, P. A., Ashton, R. W., Evans, J., Hawkesford, M. J., Griffiths, S., …Whalley, W. R. (2020). A comparison between water uptake and root length density in winter wheat: effects of root density and rhizosphere properties. Plant and Soil, 451, 345-356. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-020-04530-3

© 2020, The Author(s). Background and aims: We aim to quantify the variation in root distribution in a set of 35 experimental wheat lines. We also compared the effect of variation in hydraulic properties of the rhizosphere on water uptake by roots. M... Read More about A comparison between water uptake and root length density in winter wheat: effects of root density and rhizosphere properties.

Biochar as a sustainable alternative to açaí waste disposal in Amazon, Brazil (2020)
Journal Article
de Freitas Maia, C. M. B., Silva Pedroso, A. J., Noronha Costa, A., de Lima, H. V., Sato, M. K., Rodrigues, S., …Clarke, M. (2020). Biochar as a sustainable alternative to açaí waste disposal in Amazon, Brazil. Process Safety and Environmental Protection, 139, 36-46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2020.04.001

© 2020 Institution of Chemical Engineers The açaí palm (Euterpe oleracea Mart) is native to the floodplains of central and South America and is cultivated in Brazil for its berries, which are considered to be a ‘superfood’. The waste açaí fiber and s... Read More about Biochar as a sustainable alternative to açaí waste disposal in Amazon, Brazil.

Physiological and yield response in maize in cohesive tropical soil is improved through the addition of gypsum and leguminous mulch (2020)
Journal Article
Moura, E. G., Hallett, P. D., Mooney, S. J., Silva, F. R., Macedo, V. R., & Aguiar, A. C. F. (2020). Physiological and yield response in maize in cohesive tropical soil is improved through the addition of gypsum and leguminous mulch. Journal of Agricultural Science, 158(1-2), 57-64. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021859620000192

Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2020. Tropical soils tend to harden during drying due to the generally low content of free-iron and organic carbon, combined with high fine sand and silt proportions. It was hypothesized that the change in soil... Read More about Physiological and yield response in maize in cohesive tropical soil is improved through the addition of gypsum and leguminous mulch.

Brachiaria species influence nitrate transport in soil by modifying soil structure with their root system (2020)
Journal Article
Rosolem, C. A., Pires, L. F., Hallett, P. D., Galdos, M. V., Brown, E., & Mooney, S. J. (2020). Brachiaria species influence nitrate transport in soil by modifying soil structure with their root system. Scientific Reports, 10(1), Article 5072. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61986-0

Leaching of nitrate from fertilisers diminishes nitrogen use efficiency (the portion of nitrogen used by a plant) and is a major source of agricultural pollution. To improve nitrogen capture, grasses such as brachiaria are increasingly used, especial... Read More about Brachiaria species influence nitrate transport in soil by modifying soil structure with their root system.

Potential of geoelectrical methods to monitor root zone processes and structure: A review (2020)
Journal Article
Cimpoia?u, M. O., Cimpoiasu, M. O., Kuras, O., Pridmore, T., & Mooney, S. J. (2020). Potential of geoelectrical methods to monitor root zone processes and structure: A review. Geoderma, 365, 114232. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114232

© 2020 Understanding the processes that control mass and energy exchanges between soil, plants and the atmosphere plays a critical role for understanding the root zone system, but it is also beneficial for practical applications such as sustainable a... Read More about Potential of geoelectrical methods to monitor root zone processes and structure: A review.

Ecosystem services for intensification of agriculture, with emphasis on increased nitrogen ecological use efficiency (2020)
Journal Article
Sena, V. G., de Moura, E. G., Macedo, V. R., Aguiar, A. C., Price, A. H., Mooney, S. J., & Calonego, J. C. (2020). Ecosystem services for intensification of agriculture, with emphasis on increased nitrogen ecological use efficiency. Ecosphere, 11(2), https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.3028

© 2020 The Authors. In weathered tropical soil, low nutrient use efficiency can lead to agricultural systems becoming unsustainable. Therefore, tropical agriculture is highly dependent on ecosystem services, such as nutrient recycling and carbon sequ... Read More about Ecosystem services for intensification of agriculture, with emphasis on increased nitrogen ecological use efficiency.

X-ray microtomography analysis of soil pore structure dynamics under wetting and drying cycles (2020)
Journal Article
Pires, L. F., Auler, A. C., Roque, W. L., & Mooney, S. J. (2020). X-ray microtomography analysis of soil pore structure dynamics under wetting and drying cycles. Geoderma, 362, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.114103

The soil water retention curve is one of the most important properties used to predict the amount of water available to plants, pore size distribution and hydraulic conductivity, as well as knowledge for drainage and irrigation modeling. Depending on... Read More about X-ray microtomography analysis of soil pore structure dynamics under wetting and drying cycles.

Cover crops affect the partial nitrogen balance in a maize-forage cropping system (2019)
Journal Article
Rocha, K., Souza, M., Almeida, D., Chadwick, D., Jones, D., & Mooney, S. (2020). Cover crops affect the partial nitrogen balance in a maize-forage cropping system. Geoderma, 360, 114000. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.114000

Part of the nitrogen (N) fertilizer applied to crops is lost to the environment, contributing to global warming, eutrophication, and groundwater contamination. However, low N supply stimulates soil organic N turnover and carbon (C) loss, since the so... Read More about Cover crops affect the partial nitrogen balance in a maize-forage cropping system.

Soil strength influences wheat root interactions with soil macropores (2019)
Journal Article
Atkinson, J. A., Hawkesford, M. J., Whalley, W. R., Zhou, H., & Mooney, S. J. (2020). Soil strength influences wheat root interactions with soil macropores. Plant, Cell and Environment, 43(1), 235-245. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13659

Deep rooting is critical for access to water and nutrients found in subsoil. However, damage to soil structure and the natural increase in soil strength with depth, often impedes root penetration. Evidence suggests that roots use macropores (soil cav... Read More about Soil strength influences wheat root interactions with soil macropores.

The uptake of different tillage practices in England (2019)
Journal Article
Alskaf, K., Sparkes, D. L., Mooney, S. J., Sjögersten, S., & Wilson, P. (2020). The uptake of different tillage practices in England. Soil Use and Management, 36(1), 27-44. https://doi.org/10.1111/sum.12542

Reduced tillage systems have been argued to provide several potential benefits to soil, environment and to farm incomes. In England, while many farms have partially adopted such practices, a large proportion of arable farmers do not undertake reduced... Read More about The uptake of different tillage practices in England.

Mesophyll porosity is modulated by the presence of functional stomata (2019)
Journal Article
Lundgren, M. R., Mathers, A., Baillie, A. L., Dunn, J., Wilson, M. J., Hunt, L., …Fleming, A. J. (2019). Mesophyll porosity is modulated by the presence of functional stomata. Nature Communications, 10(1), Article 2825. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-10826-5

The formation of stomata and leaf mesophyll airspace must be coordinated to establish an efficient and robust network that facilitates gas exchange for photosynthesis, however the mechanism by which this coordinated development occurs remains unclear... Read More about Mesophyll porosity is modulated by the presence of functional stomata.

Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth.) affects soil structure differently depending on soil texture (2019)
Journal Article
Bacq-Labreuil, A., Crawford, J., Mooney, S., Neal, A., & Ritz, K. (2019). Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth.) affects soil structure differently depending on soil texture. Plant and Soil, 441(1-2), 543-554. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-019-04144-4

© 2019, The Author(s). Aims: We studied the effects of Phacelia tanacetifolia, increasingly used as a cover-crop species in arable agricultural systems, upon soil structural properties in the context of two contrasting soil textures. We hypothesised... Read More about Phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth.) affects soil structure differently depending on soil texture.

Impact of soil puddling intensity on the root system architecture of rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings (2019)
Journal Article
Fang, H., Rong, H., Hallett, P. D., Mooney, S. J., Zhang, W., Zhou, H., & Peng, X. (2019). Impact of soil puddling intensity on the root system architecture of rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings. Soil and Tillage Research, 193, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2019.05.022

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Puddling of rice paddies is undertaken to create a soft soil bed for easy transplanting of rice seedlings, to control weeds and reduce water and nutrient leaching. There is a drive for less intense puddling because of its physica... Read More about Impact of soil puddling intensity on the root system architecture of rice (Oryza sativa L.) seedlings.

Cover crop species have contrasting influence upon soil structural genesis and microbial community phenotype (2019)
Journal Article
Bacq-Labreuil, A., Crawford, J., Mooney, S. J., Neal, A. L., & Ritz, K. (2019). Cover crop species have contrasting influence upon soil structural genesis and microbial community phenotype. Scientific Reports, 9, Article 7473. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-43937-6

Cover crops (plants grown in an agricultural rotation between cash crops) can significantly improve soil quality via sequestering carbon, retaining nutrients, decreasing soil erosion, and maintaining belowground biodiversity. However, little is know... Read More about Cover crop species have contrasting influence upon soil structural genesis and microbial community phenotype.