Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker KTBL plans to add concepts related to agricultural machinery ZALF, a research institute in Müncheberg, Germany, researches on topics such as sustainable management strategies, ecology, and soil science. It comments and cross-checks proposed changes from KTBL and provides new concepts that are required mainly for research dataset annotation. In the context of the BonaRes project a large national project on "soil as a sustainable resource for the bioeconomy" a data repository for soil and agricultural research data has been set up under the leadership of ZALF All incoming research data are described by the BonaRes Metadata Schema which supports all DataCite and INSPIRE elements The schema implements AGROVOC keyword annotations to improve data findability and an important part to fulfil modern FAIR data principles that soil concepts are incomplete and partly inadequate translated or classified the BonaRes team started in 2019 internal reviews and discussions on existing and missing concepts to improve and extend AGROVOC The AGROVOC editor and ZALF employee Carsten Hoffmann attended the two editor workshops in Utrecht and Darmstadt; through Vocbench3 he has contributed improvements and extensions to the thesaurus on a quarterly basis This work will be continued in the coming years AGROVOC is a controlled vocabulary covering all areas of interest of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations It is widely used in specialized libraries as well as digital libraries and repositories to index content and for the purpose of text mining It is also used as a specialized tagging resource for content organization by FAO and third-party stakeholders. AGROVOC is published monthly with the aim to improve the quality of the services for the agricultural community AGROVOC is now engaging with expert communities that are contributing and benefiting of the AGROVOC services Vous souhaitez proposer de nouveaux concepts à AGROVOC Inscrivez-vous et remplissez le formulaire  SOUMETTRE UN NOUVEAU CONCEPT Metrics details Intensively managed open croplands are highly productive but often have deleterious environmental impacts Temperate agroforestry potentially improves ecosystem functions although comprehensive analysis is lacking we measured primary data on 47 indicators of seven ecosystem functions in croplands and 16 indicators of four ecosystem functions in grasslands to assess how alley-cropping agroforestry performs compared to open cropland and grassland and wind erosion resistance improved for cropland agroforestry (P ≤ 0.03) whereas only carbon sequestration improved for grassland agroforestry (P < 0.01) Alley-cropping agroforestry increased multifunctionality To ameliorate the environmental benefits of agroforestry more efficient use of nutrients is required Financial incentives should focus on conversion of open croplands to alley-cropping agroforestry and incorporate fertilizer management there is a lack of systematic comparisons of combined ecosystem functions between temperate agroforestry and open croplands or grasslands within a single multidisciplinary study that employs a replicated field-based design which included the following: provision of food which calls for prioritizing financial incentives for the conversion of open cropland to agroforestry Fluorescence intensity was measured at 30-minute intervals over 180 minutes at 355 nm excitation and 460 nm emission wavelengths using a FLUOstar Omega microplate reader (BMG both allowed validation of our simulated values at wide distances between tree rows and under different planting densities from this cropland site we were able to understand effects of distance between tree rows and tree density on wind speed reduction As the agroforestry plots at our other two cropland sites had comparable tree and crop row widths we expect that the findings from this site are also relevant to those other sites in our study For testing differences in specific indicators between management systems we used either an Independent t test (when the data showed equal variance and normal distribution) a Wilcoxon test (when the data showed equal variance but non-normal distribution) or a Welsh test (when normal distribution and equality of variance were not met) Data were analyzed using R (version 4.0.4) Further information on research design is available in the Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article author contact details as well as date of data availability are stated in the metadata Persistent negative effects of pesticides on biodiversity and biological control potential on European farmland Ecosystem services and dis-services to agriculture Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices Managing soil functions for a sustainable bioeconomy-assessment framework and state of the art Sustainable intensification of agriculture for human prosperity and global sustainability The concept and future prospects of soil health Reconciling productivity with protection of the environment: Is temperate agroforestry the answer Trade-offs between multifunctionality and profit in tropical smallholder landscapes Soil organic carbon sequestration in temperate agroforestry systems – a meta-analysis Juglans regia (walnut) in temperate arable agroforestry systems: effects on soil characteristics Nutrient saturation of crop monocultures and agroforestry indicated by nutrient response efficiency Tree rows in temperate agroforestry croplands alter the composition of soil bacterial communities Modeling environmental benefits of silvoarable agroforestry in Europe Spatial similarities between European agroforestry systems and ecosystem services at the landscape scale Long-term yields of oilseed rape and winter wheat in a short rotation alley cropping agroforestry system Crop yields in European agroforestry systems: a meta-analysis High organic inputs explain shallow and deep SOC storage in a long-term agroforestry system – combining experimental and modeling approaches Carbon sequestration in croplands: the potential in Europe and the global context Agroforestry creates carbon sinks whilst enhancing the environment in agricultural landscapes in Europe Impact of alley cropping agroforestry on stocks forms and spatial distribution of soil organic carbon — a case study in a Mediterranean context Spatial variation of earthworm communities and soil organic carbon in temperate agroforestry Alley cropping agroforestry systems: reservoirs for weeds or refugia for plant diversity Direct and cascading impacts of tropical land-use change on multi-trophic biodiversity Biodiversity at risk under future cropland expansion and intensification No-tillage conversion of harvested perennial grassland to annual cropland reduces root biomass Grasslands-more important for ecosystem services than you might think Conversion of monoculture cropland and open grassland to agroforestry alters the abundance of soil bacteria Wind erosion susceptibility of European soils Soil and human security in the 21st century Impact of soil erosion on soil organic carbon stocks Wind erosion effects on nutrient redistribution and soil productivity The effect of shelterbelts on erosion and soil properties Akzeptanzfaktoren im Entscheidungsprozess deutscher Landwirte zur Anlage von Agroforstsystemen Berichte über Landwirtschaft - Zeitschrift für Agrarpolitik und Landwirtschaft Aktuelle Beiträge (2021) Ecological benefits provided by alley cropping systems for production of woody biomass in the temperate region: a review Nutrient cycling in an agroforestry system with runoff irrigation in Northern Kenya Shao, G. et al. Impacts of monoculture cropland to alley cropping agroforestry conversion on soil N2O emissions. GCB Bioenergy https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.13007 (2022) Nutrient acquisition strategies in agroforestry systems The central agroforestry hypothesis: the trees must acquire resources that the crop would not otherwise acquire and function of soil microorganisms in temperate alley-cropping agroforestry systems: a review Fertilizer-induced nitric oxide emissions from agricultural soils Reduced soil gross N2O emission driven by substrates rather than denitrification gene abundance in cropland agroforestry and monoculture Alley cropping agroforestry systems: using Monte-Carlo simulation for a risk analysis in comparison with arable farming systems Willingness to pay for environmental effects of agroforestry systems: a PLS-model of the contingent evaluation from German taxpayers’ perspective Quantification of global and national nitrogen budgets for crop production Evapotranspiration over agroforestry sites in Germany Trees increase soil organic carbon and nutrient availability in temperate agroforestry systems Commission regulation (EC) No 1120/2009 (EC A scoping review on incentives for adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and their outcomes Agroforestry is paying off – economic evaluation of ecosystem services in European landscapes with and without agroforestry systems World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2014 International Soil Classification System for Naming Soils and Creating Legends for Soil Maps (FAO A closer look at the functions behind ecosystem multifunctionality: a review Die Chemische Untersuchung von Futtermitteln 3 Auflage (Chemical Analysis of Feedstuff 3rd Edition) (VDLUFA-Verlag Crop diseases and mycotoxin accumulation in temperate agroforestry systems Biomass estimation procedures in short rotation forestry Acid fumigation of soils to remove carbonates prior to total organic carbon or carbon-13 isotopic analysis in Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 1 - Physical and Mineralogical Methods 363–375 (Americal Society of Agronomy and nitrification by 15N isotopic pool dilution in intact soil cores in Soil Sampling and Methods of Analysis Ch Poplar rows in temperate agroforestry croplands promote bacteria Detection of nifH sequences in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) and pineapple (Ananas comosus [L.] Merr.) Extraction of earthworm from soil by different sampling methods: a review Chloroform fumigation and the release of soil nitrogen: a rapid direct extraction method to measure microbial biomass nitrogen in soil Mineralization and immobilization of nitrogen in fumigated soil and the measurement of microbial biomass nitrogen A microplate fluorimetric assay for the study of enzyme diversity in soils Soil trace gas fluxes along orthogonal precipitation and soil fertility gradients in tropical lowland forests of Panama Gross N2O emission and gross N2O uptake in soils under temperate spruce and beech forests in Soil Physical Measurement and Interpretation for Land Evaluation 150–162 (Csiro Publishing Priesack, E. Expert-N model library documentation. https://expert-n.uni-hohenheim.de/en/documentation (2005) Herbicide weed control increases nutrient leaching compared to mechanical weeding in a large-scale oil palm plantation in Soil sampling and methods of analysis (eds Angers Conversion of tropical forests to smallholder rubber and oil palm plantations impacts nutrient leaching losses and nutrient retention efficiency in highly weathered soils Micrometeorological Measurements and Numerical Simulations of Turbulence and Evapotranspiration over Agroforestry (University of Göttingen A review of wind erosion models: data requirements Reducing wind erosion through agroforestry: a case study using large eddy simulations Microclimate effects on evaporation and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield within a temperate agroforestry system Land-use choices follow profitability at the expense of ecological functions in Indonesian smallholder landscapes Download references This study was financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the framework of the BonaRes-SIGNAL project (funding codes: 031A562A and 031B1063A) with additional support from the BonaRes Centre (funding code: 031B0511B) and Magdalena Benecke for excellent logistical and administrative support and laboratory support as well as Sonja Gerke for administrative support Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL These authors contributed equally: Edzo Veldkamp Soil Science of Tropical and Subtropical Ecosystems Research Platform Data Analysis and Simulation Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF) Julius Kühn Institute (JKI)—Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants Plant Analysis and Stored Product Protection Landwirtschaftliches Versuchswesen und Nachwachsende Rohstoffe Thüringer Landesamt für Landwirtschaft und Ländlichen Raum Deutsche Vernetzungsstelle Ländliche Räume (DVS) Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung (BLE) Grassland Science and Renewable Plant Resources North Florida Research and Education Center Center of Biodiversity and Sustainable Land Use Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus–Senftenberg Integrated Crop System Analysis and Modelling Department of Environmental Systems Science (D-USYS) Molecular Phytopathology and Mycotoxin Research conceived the study design and plot establishment and all authors wrote parts or commented on the manuscript The authors declare no competing interests Communications Earth & Environment thanks Rémi Cardinael and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work. Primary handling editors: Clare Davis. Peer reviewer reports are available Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations Download citation DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43247-023-00680-1 Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content: a shareable link is not currently available for this article Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research The BonaRes project SUSALPSII investigates how climate change in the Alps affects the productivity of grassland soils and how management can be changed in the future climate change is presenting agriculture with ever greater challenges where it is often cooler and rains more frequently pastures and alpine pastures are noticeable But what does climate change mean for so-called grassland production how can farmers in the Alpine region react to these changes Researchers led by Ralf Kiese from the Campus Alpin of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) dealt with these questions in the BonaRes project SUSALPSII The project was funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the 2nd funding phase from 2018 to 2022 with around 2.8 million euros "The Alps are a climate-sensitive region where climate change is progressing comparatively quickly and where we have already had significantly higher temperature increases than the global average in recent decades," explains project manager Ralf Kiese the temperature increase is already 2 degrees Celsius "This is also noticeable - as it is everywhere - in the increase in dry periods," says Kiese In order for farmers in the Alpine region to be able to adapt their grassland management to the changing conditions the project team examined important factors of the ecosystem The investigations focused on the effects of climate change on various functions of grassland ecosystems: productivity and species composition the efficiency of nitrogen use from manure Since grassland in the Alpine region stores relatively high amounts of carbon and nitrogen in the soil the team was particularly interested in whether rising temperatures lead to higher mineralisation and thus to a release of CO2 into the atmosphere or nitrate into the groundwater "What we see in the results is that with this high precipitation there are only negative effects of climate change when drought is added The actual temperature rise tends to increase grassland yields because it is still a temperature-limited system," Kiese summarises climate change has hardly had any negative effects so far but only as long as there is enough rainfall there have only been one or two dry periods in the entire study period of now ten years the rising temperatures have so far had a rather positive effect on biomass production and the productivity of the ecosystem Increases of up to 10 % have been recorded here where there is annual precipitation of more than 1,000 mm Grasslands below 1,000 metres and annual precipitation of less than 1,000 mm are more vulnerable to extended dry spells." The additional growth comes on the one hand directly from the higher temperature but on the other hand also indirectly via mineralisation as this makes more nitrogen available to the plants from the soil which is taken up by them to a high degree," explains Kiese The team was therefore unable to determine higher nitrate yields as a result of higher nitrogen availability due to climate change and mineralisation the carbon and nitrogen stocks in the foothills grassland are currently tending to decrease if not counteracted by adapting the management The reason for this is also the very high carbon and nitrogen stocks of the grassland soils the proportion in arable soils is between 1 and 2% "Here we are considering with the farmers what management options there are to secure the carbon in the soil in such a way that it at least remains the same," says Kiese Socio-economic studies in the project have shown that climate change is already affecting grassland management and farmers' yields But how does climate change affect biodiversity changes in forage quality and species richness of plants such as legumes and herbs were only observed after longer dry periods an app should therefore help farmers with grassland management and show the effects of the different forms of management on productivity concrete climate and soil data are stored on a digital map for each grassland area in addition to information from the farmer about the management form the input data for a model simulation The results of the simulation app are displayed via a traffic light system red - the yield as well as the nitrogen and carbon balances of the soil are and provide suggestions on how often to mow and how to fertilise the farmer can possibly try mulching or solid manure to balance the humus balance taking into account any changes in yield," Kiese explains such calculations can be made not only for the current season The research team is still working on making the app as user-friendly as possible A first test with numerous farmers is to start this year the SUSALPII project is in its third funding phase the project team wants to investigate how management can be improved to optimise regional productivity "Phase 2 has shown that wherever biodiversity is high and intensity of use is low the team now wants to spatially analyse to what extent different meadows could be managed with different intensities in order to increase both productivity and biodiversity if we intensify areas with medium intensity of use on the one hand and thus increase the yield we can extensify the management on other areas on the other hand This would then be good for biodiversity and also for the carbon pool in the soil," says Kiese © 2025 EmCan Media - Hosted By canaryfone A Guardia Civil operation against drug trafficking has led to the arrest of fifty people and the seizure of 4,800 kilos of hashish and 1,962 kilos of cocaine The criminal organization they were investigating was based in Huelva and Campo de Gibraltar they are responsible for the majority of boats carrying drugs throughout Spain began in 2022 when the Guardia Civil became aware of the criminal organization and lasted for several months thanks to the collaboration of the Portuguese The agents intercepted three caches of hashish during the operation one of them near the mouth of the Guadiana River in Portugal and a third on the Guadalquivir River by Cadiz The organization had its headquarters in the Campo de Gibraltar and worked with another clan in the province of Huelva officers searched 21 houses in the towns of Moguer and Niebla in the province of Huelva and San Roque and Alcalá de los Gazules in Cádiz as well as electronic and communication devices The operation made it possible for police to verify that a part of the organization had loaded drugs onto a boat on the west coast of Morocco destined for mainland Spain and that the crew in charge of transporting upon learning that the heads and members of the organization were being detained by the Guardia realised they couldn’t unload the drugs where they had planned the crew members of the boat contacted another criminal organization based here in the Canary Islands to help them smuggle the drugs through the beach of El Roque the Guardia Civil sent a team to intercept them and stopped a semi-rigid rib with three 375HP engines powering it and an abandoned van with 1,962 kilograms of cocaine inside worth 160,000,000 euros The Guardia Civil have been able to dismantle the organization located in the Canary Islands after the discovery on Aldea beach raiding four houses in the towns of Telde and La Aldea de San Nicolás Operation 'Castle' has been carried out by the Regional Centre for Analysis and Intelligence against drug trafficking together with the Canary Islands Organized Crime Team of the Central Operating Unit International collaboration has been essential for the success of the operation which demonstrates the importance of cooperation between countries in the fight against drug trafficking