Cow urine deposition on pasture soils is a major source of N-related environmental impacts in the dairy farming systems. The urine-N can potentially be lost to the ground water as nitrate (NO3-) and to the atmosphere as nitrous oxide (N₂O). These N-related environmental impacts are possibly related to the sodium (Na⁺) concentrations in urine. We sampled a pasture soil and separated it into three aggregate size groups (0–3, 3–5, and 5–7 mm). Then, cow urine with variable Na⁺concentrations (4.3–6.1 g Na⁺ L⁻¹) was added to the soil cores. We treated the cores with simulated heavy rains and measured the amounts of calcium (Ca²⁺), Na⁺, potassium (K⁺), and inorganic-N leached from the soils. N₂O emission rates were also determined throughout the experimental period. Increasing Na⁺concentration in urine decreased the loss ofNO3-(−20%), after repeatedly applied simulated rain treatments (30 mm × 3), whereas it increased the loss of ammonium (31%) and K⁺(19%). For the loss of Ca²⁺and the emissions of N₂O, the effect of the Na⁺concentrations was unclear. Field level studies and studies focusing on the mechanisms behind the changes in nutrient losses are needed.

In sub-Saharan Africa, efforts have been made to increase soil carbon (C) content in agricultural ecosystems due to severe soil degradation. The use of organic materials is a feasible method for recovering soil organic C; however, the effects of organic amendments on soil microbial communities and C cycles under C-limited soil conditions are still unknown. In this study, we conducted field experiments in Zambia using organic amendments at two sites with contrasting C content. At both sites, temporal changes in soil carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and prokaryotic community structures were monitored during the crop growing season (126 days). The organic amendments increased CO₂emissions and prokaryotic abundance at the Kabwe site, whereas no direct impacts were observed at the Lusaka site. We also observed a larger temporal variability in the soil microbial community structure at Kabwe than that at Lusaka. These contrasting results between the two soils may be due to the microbial community stability differences between each site. However, as organic amendments have considerable potential to enhance microbial abundance and consequently sequester C at the Kabwe site, site-specific strategies are required to address the issues of soil C depletion in drylands.

Wood ash, a byproduct of woody biomass power generation, has potential as an alternative K fertilizer due to its high K content and pH-raising properties. However, concerns remain about heavy metal contaminants like Cr and the limited understanding of element dynamics in soil–solution–crop systems after wood ash’s application. This study examined the effects of 1% (w/w) wood ash on element dynamics and komatsuna (Brassica rapa var. perviridis) uptake in low-K soil through a pot experiment. XRD was used to analyze mineral composition, SEM-EDS to observe surface and elemental properties, and XANES to examine Cr speciation in wood ash. Soil solution analysis covered macro- and micronutrients, heavy metals, anions, pH, and DOC, while crop element concentrations and aboveground dry weight were also quantified. The chemical speciation of Cu and Cr in a soil solution was modeled using Visual MINTEQ. Wood ash significantly increased K concentrations (from 17 mg/L to 650 mg/L) in the soil solution, along with Ca, Mg, P, and Mo, while reducing Ni, Mn, Zn, and Cd levels. Komatsuna K uptake surged from 123 mg/kg to 559 mg/kg, leading to a 3.31-fold biomass increase. Notably, the Cd concentration in the crops dropped significantly from 0.709 to 0.057 mg/kg, well below the Codex standard of 0.2 mg/kg. Although Cu and Cr concentrations rose in the soil solution, crop uptake remained low due to >99% complexation with fulvic acid, as confirmed by Visual MINTEQ modeling. This study confirms that wood ash is an effective K fertilizer, but emphasizes the need for risk mitigation strategies to ensure safe and sustainable agricultural application.

The conversion of natural lands into agricultural lands can lead to changes in the soil microbial community structure which, in turn, can affect soil functions. However, few studies have examined the effect of land use changes on the soil microbial community structure in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the relationships among soil characteristics and microbial communities in natural and agricultural ecosystems in a semideveloped lowland farm in the central region of Zambia, within which small-scale wetlands had been partly developed as watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) and/or maize (Zea mays) farms. We sampled soils from four different land use types within this farm: “native forest,” “grassland,” “watermelon farm,” and “maize farm.” We found that the land use type had a significant effect on the soil bacterial community structure at the class level, with the class Bacilli having significantly higher relative abundances in the forest sites and Gammaproteobacteria having significantly higher relative abundances in the maize sites than in the other land use types. These findings indicate that these bacterial classes may be sensitive to changes in soil ecosystems, and so further studies are required to investigate microbial indicators for the sustainable development of wetlands in sub-Saharan Africa.

Riverbank soil ecosystems are important zones in terms of transforming inorganic nitrogen (N), particularly nitrate (NO₃⁻-N), in soils to nitrous oxide (N₂O) gases. Thus, the gasification of N in the riverbank soil ecosystems may produce a greenhouse gas, N₂O, when the condition is favourable for N₂O-producing microbes. One of the major N₂O-producing pathways is denitrification. Thus, we investigated the denitrification potentials along Shibetsu River, Hokkaido, Japan. We sampled riverbank soils from eight sites along the Shibetsu River. Their denitrification potentials with added glucose-carbon (C) and NO₃⁻-N varied from 4.73 to 181 μg·N·kg⁻¹·h⁻¹. The increase of the denitrification after the addition of C and N was negatively controlled by soil pH and positively controlled by soil NH₄⁺-N levels. Then, we investigated the changes in 16S rRNA bacterial community structures before and after an anaerobic incubation with added C and N. We investigated the changes in bacterial community structures, aiming to identify specific microbial species related to high denitrification potentials. The genus Gammaproteobacteria AeromonadaceaeTolumonaswas markedly increased, from 0.0 ± 0.0% to 16 ± 17%, before and after the anaerobic incubation with the excess substrates, when averaged across all the sites. Although we could not find a significant interaction between the denitrification potential and the increase rate of G. AeromonadaceaeTolumonas, our study suggested that along the Shibetsu River, bacterial response to added excess substrates was similar at the genus level. Further studies are needed to investigate whether this is a universal phenomenon even in other rivers.