Loss of agroecosystem soil functions due to soil quality (SQ) degradation impacts Africa's agricultural viability and food security. Primary forest and farm fields deforested between 1930 and 2000 were sampled along a chronosequence on two parent materials in western Kenya. Two traditional long-t...
Moebius-Clunee, B.N.
,
Es, H.M. van
,
Idowu, O.J.
,
Schindelbeck, R.R.
,
Kimetu, J.M.
,
Ngoze, S.
,
Lehmann, Johannes
,
Kinyangi, James
,
[Long-term soil quality degradation along a cultivation chronosequence in western Kenya]
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Long-term soil quality degradation along a cultivation chronosequence in western Kenya
Food-insecure households in many countries depend on international aid to alleviate acute shocks and chronic shortages. Some food security programmes (including Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program–PSNP – which provides a case study for this article) have integrated aid in exchange for labour...
Sachs, Jeffrey D.
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Remans, Roseline
,
Smukler, Sean M.
,
Winowiecki, Leigh A.
,
Andelman, Sandy J.
,
Cassman, Kenneth G.
,
Castle, David
,
DeFries, Ruth
,
Denning, Glenn
,
Fanzo, Jessica
,
Jackson, Louise E.
,
Leemans, Rik
,
Lehmann, Johannes
,
Milder, Jeffrey C.
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Naeem, Shahid
,
Nziguheba, Generose
,
Palm, Cheryl A.
,
Pingali, Prabhu L.
,
Reganold, John P.
,
Richter, Daniel D.
,
Scherr, Sara J.
,
Sircely, Jason A.
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Sullivan, Clare
,
Tomich, Thomas P.
,
Sánchez, Pedro A.
,
[Effective monitoring of agriculture : a response]
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Effective monitoring of agriculture : a response
Black carbon (BC) is a quantitatively important C pool in the global C cycle due to its relative recalcitrance compared with other C pools. However, mechanisms of BC oxidation and accompanying molecular changes are largely unknown. In this study, the long-term dynamics in quality and quantity of ...
Nguyen, B.T.
,
Lehmann, Johannes
,
Kinyangi, James
,
Smernik, R.
,
Riha, S.J.
,
Engelhard, M.H.
,
[Long-term black carbon dynamics in cultivated soil]
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Long-term black carbon dynamics in cultivated soil
Lehmann, Johannes
,
Gaunt, J
,
Rondón, Marco Antonio
,
[Bio-char sequestration in terrestrial ecosystem: a review]
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Bio-char sequestration in terrestrial ecosystem: a review
We describe for the first time a current indigenous soil management system in West Africa, in which targeted waste deposition transforms highly weathered, nutrient‐ and carbon‐poor tropical soils into enduringly fertile, carbon‐rich black soils, hereafter “African Dark Earths” (AfDE). In comparis...
Solomon, Dawit
,
Lehmann, Johannes
,
Fraser, James A
,
Leach, Melissa
,
Amanor, Kojo
,
Frausin, Victoria
,
Kristiansen, Søren M
,
Millimouno, Dominique
,
Fairhead, James
,
[Indigenous African soil enrichment as a climate‐smart sustainable agriculture alternative]
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Indigenous African soil enrichment as a climate‐smart sustainable agriculture alternative
The socio-economic values of fertile and carbon-rich Dark Earth soils are well described from the Amazon region. Very recently, Dark Earth soils were also identified in tropical West Africa, with comparable beneficial soil properties and plant growth-promoting effects. The impact of this manageme...
Camenzind, Tessa
,
Hammer, Edith C
,
Lehmann, Johannes
,
Solomon, Dawit
,
Horn, Sebastian
,
Rillig, Matthias C
,
Hempel, Stefan
,
[Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal and soil microbial communities in African Dark Earths]
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Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal and soil microbial communities in African Dark Earths
Soil degradation is one of the most serious threats to sustainable crop production in many tropical agroecosystems where extensification rather than intensification of agriculture has occurred. In the highlands of western Kenya, we investigated soil nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) constraints to ...
Ngoze, S.
,
Riha, S.
,
Lehmann, Johannes
,
Kinyangi, James
,
Verchot, Louis V.
,
Mbugua, D.
,
Pell, A.
,
[Nutrient constraints to tropical agroecosystem productivity in long-term degrading soils]
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Nutrient constraints to tropical agroecosystem productivity in long-term degrading soils
Natural organic matter (NOM) is a highly active component of soils and sediments, and plays an important role in global C cycling. However, NOM has defied molecular-level structural characterization, owing to variations along the decomposition continuum and its existence as highly functionalized ...
Solomon, D.
,
Lehmann, Johannes
,
Kinyangi, James
,
Biqing, L.
,
Heymann, K.
,
Dathe, L.
,
Hanley, K.
,
Wirick, S.
,
Jacobsen, C.
,
[Carbon (1s) NEXAFS spectroscopy of biogeochemically relevant reference organic compounds]
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Carbon (1s) NEXAFS spectroscopy of biogeochemically relevant reference organic compounds
The application of biochar (biomass-derived black carbon) to soil has been shown to improve crop yields, but the reasons for this are often not clearly demonstrated. Here, we studied the effect of a single application of 0, 8 and 20 t ha?1 of biochar to a Colombian savanna Oxisol for 4 years (200...
Major, J
,
Rondón, Marco Antonio
,
Molina Lopez, DL
,
Riha, SJ
,
Lehmann, Johannes
,
[Maize yield and nutrition during 4 years after biochar application to a Colombian savanna oxisol]
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Maize yield and nutrition during 4 years after biochar application to a Colombian savanna oxisol