Szervezeti egység: Department of Biological Resources

Farmers’ perception of soil health in the EU and in China

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The results made it clear that the farm size, the management methods and the level of education of the farm managers were significantly associated with perceptions of soil degradation issues. This suggests that the provision of information on soil degradation to farmers in an appropriate format is key to the application of measures to counteract it. Projects such as TUdi can help to create collaborative networks to encourage the uptake of technologies widely adopted by farmers and thus reverse the degradation of agricultural land.

The results of the project have been published in the following article:

Falcão, R. N. R., Vrana, M., Hudek, C., Pittarello, M., Zavattaro, L., Moretti, B., Strauss, P., Liebhard, G., Li, Y., Zhang, X., Bauer, M., Dostál, T., Gomez, J. A., Benavente-Ferraces, I., García-Gil, J. C., Plaza, C., Guzmán, G., Lopez, M. L., Pirkó, B. … Krása, J. (2024). Farmers’ perception of soil health: The use of quality data and its implication for farm management. Soil Use and Management, 40, e13023. https://doi.org/10.1111/sum.13023

Grass cover and shallow tillage inter-row soil cultivation affecting CO2 and N2O emissions in a sloping vineyard in upland Balaton, Hungary

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The researchers of the HUN-REN CAR Institute for Soil Sciences investigated the effects of tillage practices and slope positions on soil-health and the two most important soil-derived greenhouse gas emissions, CO2 and N2O, for a vineyard in the Balaton Uplands. Intact soil samples were used from grass covered (A) and ploughed (B) slopes, simulating dry and rainfall conditions under laboratory conditions. The influence of different soil health indicators (soil organic carbon and nitrogen, pH, soil water content) on the emissions were also determined.
Soil CO2 and N2O emissions were higher on the grass covered slope compared to the ploughed soil due to the higher observed root biomass, soil moisture, and nutrient content, which indicates a more active soil life. Although higher emissions can be measured in the grass covered slope, the improved soil health is just as important for the conservation of our soils. The experiment also showed that heavy rainfall increases soil moisture content that in turn can lead to higher emission peaks. Slope position also affected greenhouse gas emissions, with higher values measured at the upper points. The emission values correlated the most with soil organic carbon, nitrogen content, and soil pH. These result can be a base for biogeochemical model calibrations and validations.

Dencső, M, Tóth, E, Zsigmond, T, Saliga, R, Horel, Á. 2024. Grass cover and shallow tillage inter-row soil cultivation affecting CO2 and N2O emissions in a sloping vineyard in upland Balaton, Hungary, Geoderma Regional 37, e00792, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geodrs.2024.e00792

Soil bacterial communities affected by cultivation methods and land-use types in a small catchment near Lake Balaton

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The research team studied the microbiological changes in soil cultivation and different land use types during different phenological phases, such as the summer (flowering) around July and the autumn (harvest) periods, which are microbiologically prominent times.
The studies were carried out on a small catchment in the Balaton Uplands, where soil samples from different inter-row cultivation (tilled and permanent grass cover) of a vineyard, and different land use types (forest, grassland, vineyard, and cropland) were investigated. The samples were taken at different locations along slope gradients.
The studies highlight that anthropogenic influences strongly affect the structure of soil bacterial communities. The results showed that both soil physicochemical properties and the taxonomic diversity of bacterial communities resulted in a primary separation between less cultivated (forest and grassland) and highly cultivated (vineyard and cropland) soils. The highest bacterial taxonomic diversity was observed in the undisturbed forest soils with the highest organic carbon content. In terms of bacterial community structure, the effect of slope and soil transect was the strongest in the forest soils, while the effect of seasonality was most pronounced in the cropland soils.

Borsodi, A.K., Megyes, M., Zsigmond, T., Horel, Á. 2024. Soil bacterial communities affected by land-use types in a small catchment area of the Balaton Uplands (Hungary). BIOLOGIA FUTURA. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42977-024-00233-3

Besze, B.Z., Borsodi, A.K., Megyes, M., Zsigmond, T., Horel, Á. 2024. Changes in the taxonomic composition of soil bacterial communities under different inter-row tillage managements in a sloping vineyard of the Balaton Uplands (Hungary). BIOLOGIA FUTURA. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42977-024-00234-2

Micropropagation for the conservation of protected plant species: a case study with the highly protected lilyleaf

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Adverse processes in the habitats of protected plant species are making it increasingly important to develop proper ex situ methods for future conservation actions. Micropropagation is a method of plant propagation for rapid multiplication of plants in a short duration under in vitro conditions. The aim of this study was to develop a micropropagation protocol for lilyleaf and to evaluate the effects of diverse plant growth regulators (PGR) and natural extracts used on the growth and development of the plantlets. The ideal growth medium was the ½ MS medium. Silver nitrate (AgNO3) added to the medium at a concentration of 5 mg L-1 led to an increase in root formation and shoot length, although higher concentration levels adversely affected root development. Increasing the concentration of NAA (1-naphthyl acetic acid) resulted in a decrease in the morphological parameters studied. Coconut water at 50 ml L-1 promoted root formation, but at elevated doses root formation was inhibited while shoot formation was stimulated. Optimization of pH levels from 6.8-7 to 7.8-8.0 significantly increased plant height and root formation, and significant carotenoid accumulation occurred at pH 6.8-7. Overall, the protocol developed allows the successful propagation of the species under in vitro conditions, supporting the future conservation of the species.

Kovács, Z., Portocarrero, L.K., Honfi, P., Kohut, I., Eisa, E.A. and Tilly-Mándy, A., 2024. Enhancing Micropropagation of Adenophora liliifolia: Insights from PGRs, Natural Extracts, and pH Optimization. Plants, 13(13), p.1735.

Registration is now open for the events of Budapest Soil Health Forum

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The Forum consists of four events, including two international conferences, a workshop and a panel discussion:

Our colleagues play a major role in the organisation of the Forum, moreover the HUN-REN ATK Soil Science Institute is the organiser of the conference “Improving Soil Health” as well as co-organiser of the conference “Artificial Intelligence for Soil Health”.

More information about the events and registration is available at soilhealthforum.hu

What happens to the soil when a field is replaced by a forest?

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The present study compared the bacterial microbiome composition, diversity, and catabolic activity profile of topsoil samples collected under three different forest types (a twice-coppiced black locust stand, a young, naturally reforested, and a middle-aged mixed pedunculate oak stand) planted on former arable land in the early 20th century. Diversity indices determined during 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing-based metagenome analysis indicated that the black locust stand had the highest soil bacterial community diversity. At the phylum level, Acidobacteriota, Actinobacteriota, Proteobacteria, Verrucomicrobiota, Bacteroidota, and Gemmatimonadota were the most abundant taxa in the forest soils. Concerning soil parameters, redundancy analysis revealed that pH had the highest impact on bacterial community structure and pH, and soil organic carbon content on the samples’ respiration patterns. As for catabolic activity, the recently clearcut oak forest showed the lowest substrate-induced respiration, and citrate was the main driver for the inter-stand variability of microbial activity.
This research was funded by the EU and co-financed by the European Regional Development
Fund and the Hungarian Government under project no. GINOP-2.3.2-15-2016-00056.

Bereczki K, Tóth EG, Szili-Kovács T, Megyes M, Korponai K, Lados BB, Illés G, Benke A, Márialigeti K. Soil Parameters and Forest Structure Commonly Form the Microbiome Composition and Activity of Topsoil Layers in Planted Forests. Microorganisms. 2024; 12(6):1162.
https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12061162

Memorial lecture day on the 100th anniversary of István Szabolcs’s birth

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The lecture series addressed Professor Szabolcs’s pioneering and school-founding role in the research of domestic salt-affected soils, his international scientific organizational activities, his two decades as director of the Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry, his work as editor-in-chief of Agrochemistry and Soil Science and his duties as president of the Hungarian Soil Science Society.

The event featured two surprise speakers. The first was Jorge Batlle-Sales, professor at the University of Valencia and president of the International Network on Salt-Affected Soils (INSAS). During his online appearance, he provided insight into his personal and professional relationship with Professor Szabolcs and his wife, Katalin Darab. The second surprise speaker was Mónika Szabolcs, István Szabolcs’s niece, who presented him as a private individual, sharing how his relatives saw him, and included excerpts from personal letters to bring their life situations at the time to life.

István Szabolcs was born on February 23, 1924, in Túrkeve, located in the heart of the Nagykunság region. He passed away on August 10, 1997, in Budapest. He was an outstanding soil scientist, chemist, and university professor. He was a member of the Soil Science, Agrochemistry, and Agricultural Water Management Committee of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, a candidate of agricultural sciences (Moscow, 1953), and later the doctor of agricultural sciences (1959). His diverse career and scientific portfolio were fittingly reviewed by his former colleagues and those who continue his scientific legacy.