Soil organic matter (SOM) is a heterogeneous mixture of materials ranging from fresh plant tissues to highly decomposed humus at different stages of decomposition. Soil organic carbon (SOC) status is directly related to the amount of organic matter in soil and therefore is generally used to measure it. Soil carbon sequestration refers to the removal of carbon (C) containing substances from the atmosphere and its storage in soil C pools. The soil microbial community (SMC) plays an important role in the C cycle, and its activity is considered to be the main driver of differences in C storage potential in soil. The composition of SMC is crucial for maintaining soil ecosystem services, as the structure and activity of SMC also regulate the turnover and distribution of nutrients, as well as the rate of soil organic matter (SOM) decomposition. Here, we applied fungi on the soils taken from two fields, one used as a pasture and one for agriculture (wheat cultivation), in a histosol in the eastern part of Türkiye and investigated the changes in the organic carbon and enzyme activity contents of the soils at the end of the 41-day incubation period. In the study, four different fungal species (Verticillium dahliae (SOR-8), Rhizoctonia solani (S-TR-6), Fusarium oxysporum (HMK2-6), and Trichoderma sp.) were used and catalase, urease, and alkaline phosphatase activities were examined. Results showed that the values of SOC were V. dahliae (7.46%), Trichoderma sp. (7.27%), R. solani (7.03%), Control (6.97%), and F. oxysporum (6.7%) in pastureland and were V. dahlia (4.72%), control (4.69%), F. oxysporum (4.65%), R. solani (4.37%), and Trichoderma sp. (4.14%) in agricultural land, respectively. SOC and soil enzyme activities were significantly affected by land use types (p < 0.05). The higher SOC and enzyme activities were observed in pastureland. Finally, it was determined that soil organic carbon and soil enzyme activities were affected by fungi. This study is important in terms of revealing that the effects of fungi on soil organic carbon and enzyme activities are different in various land types.

Soil management systems such as conservation tillage practices and the cultivation of cover crops have various positive effects on soil environment. These practices help to increase or maintain an adequate level of soil organic matter, thus improve soil properties. The aim of the study was to determine the effects of cover crops and tillage systems on soil enzyme activity (urease, alkaline phosphatase, catalase) at different soil depths following wheat. According to the results, the cover crops affected all the enzyme activities while tillage systems affected only urease activity in the soil. The highest urease (8.09 and 6.90 μg g N soil-1 h-1), alkaline phosphatase (74.53 and 69.08 μg g p-nitrophenol soil-1 h-1) and catalase (41.56 and 48.62 ml O2 3 min-1 g soil-1) activities were observed in common vetch plots in minimum and conventional tilled plots. Another observation was that enzyme activities were decreased with the increase of soil sampling depths. These results showed that the incorporation of cover crops into rotations may increase soil enzyme activities and common vetch can be used as an alternative cover crop.

Mera alanları gibi doğal kaynakların etkili ve sürdürülebilir yönetiminde, çoklu faktörlerin etkisini ölçmeye yardımcı olacak bilim temelli bilgi gereklidir. Ekosistemin yönetiminde ekolojik faktörlerin bitki örtüsü dağılımı ve çeşitliliği üzerindeki etkisine dair bilgi çok önemlidir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Karasu (Erzurum) havzasında bulunan doğal meralarda bazı toprak özelliklerinin ortaya konulması ve toprak faktörleri ile bitki türleri arasındaki ilişkiyi araştırmaktır. Bu amaçla çalışma sahasında bulunan 112 doğal mera kesiminde vejetasyon etüdü yapılmış, bitki türleri, bitkilerin toprağı kaplama oranı ve mera kalitesi belirlenmiştir. Her bir noktadan 0-20 cm derinlikten toprak örnekleri alınmış ve tekstür, agregat stabilitesi, organik madde, fosfor, potasyum ve pH analizi yapılmıştır. Yapılan toprak analizleri neticesinde mera topraklarının kaba bünyeli, agregat stabilitesi değerlerinin genelde yüksek olduğu, organik madde ve azot bakımından yeterli, toprak pH’sı yönünden bir sorun taşımadığı, elverişli fosfor bakımından yetersiz olduğu, potasyum içeriklerinin yüksek olduğu saptanmıştır. Mera kalite derecesi ve bitkilerin toprağı kaplama oranı ile tekstür bileşenlerinden silt+kil oranı, agregat stabilitesi, organik madde, toplam azot, elverişli fosfor, değişebilir potasyum, arasında önemli (p<0.05) pozitif ilişkiler belirlenmiştir. Mera kalitesi, bitkilerin toprağı kaplama oranı ve tür sayısı ile toprak pH’sı arasında önemli (p<0.05) negatif ilişki olduğu saptanmıştır. Sonuç olarak çevresel faktörlerin en önemlilerinden biri olan toprak özelliklerinin mera kalitesi (MKD), bitkilerin toprağı kaplama oranı (TKO) ve bunların belirleyicisi olan tür dağılımı ve sayısında etkili olduğu ve mera yönetimi uygulamalarında toprak özelliklerinin belirlenerek, uygulamalarda bu değerlerin göz önünde bulundurulması gerektiği düşünülmektedir.

Bitkilerin sağlıklı bir şekilde gelişimlerini devam ettirebilmeleri için mutlak gerekli besin elementleri bulunmakta, bu besin elementlerinin eksikliği veya fazlalığı durumunda bitkilerde hastalıklara karşı uygun ortam oluşmaktadır. Bu çalışma; çilekte Verticillium dahliae tarafından oluşturulan Verticillium solgunluk hastalığının bitkilerin P, Ca, K, Mg, Na, B, Mn, Fe, Zn ve Cu içeriğinde nasıl bir değişim meydana getirdiğini tespit etmek amacıyla yürütülmüştür. Bu amaçla çilek bitkilerinden elde edilen farklı vejetatif uyum gruplarına (VCG 2A, VCG 2B, VCG 4B ve VCGx) ait 19 V. dahliae izolatı incelenmiştir. Kontrol bitkileri dahil V. dahliae izolatları ile enfekte edilen toplam 200 bitkide besin elementi analizleri yapılmıştır. Kontrol bitkileri ile karşılaştırıldığı zaman V. dahliae enfeksiyonu çilek bitkilerinin P, Ca, K, Mg, B, Mn ve Cu içeriklerinde değişime sebep olmuştur. Bununla birlikte, enfekte olmuş bitkilerin Na, Fe ve Zn içerikleri kontrol bitkilerinden farklı bulunmamıştır.

Land use change is associated with both higher fossil fuel usage and global cement production, significantly impacting environmental sustainability. Cement dust emission is the third-largest source of anthropogenic CO₂ emissions, right behind fossil fuel usage due to intense agricultural practices like aggressive tillage management. This study’s aim is to determine cement dust emissions impacts on various tillage management methods and the formation of cement dust-affected CO₂ emissions, soil pH, soil organic matter content, total nitrogen content, available phosphorus, CaCO₃ content, bacteria and fungi populations, and enzyme activities. The target of this study is to evaluate how cement dust emissions impact the soil properties and sustainability of different tillage practices. Composite soils from wheat–sugar beet (potato)–fallow cropping sequences under conventional tillage (CT) and no-till (NT) management were collected (0–30 cm depth) with three replications at varying distances from a cement factory (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10 km). To find differences among individual treatments and distances, a two-way ANOVA was employed along with Duncan’s LSD test comparing the various effects of tillage techniques. The associations between soil chemical and biological properties and CO₂ fluxes under the impact of cement dust were examined using Pearson’s correlation analysis. There were notable relationships between soil microbial population, enzyme activities, pH, CaCO₃, and CO₂ fluxes. The sampling distance from the cement plant had a substantial correlation with soil organic carbon, urease activity, pH, CaCO₃, and bacterial populations. According to the study, different tillage methods (CT and NT) affected the diversity and abundance of microorganisms within the soil ecosystem. CT was more beneficial for the microbial population and for sustainable management.