Soil Fertility Management in Agroecosystems

In Soil Fertility Management in Agroecosystems, Editors Amitava Chatterjee and David Clay provide a thoughtful survey of important concepts in soil fertility management. For the requirements of our future workforce, it is imperative that we evolve our understanding of soil fertility. Agronomists and soil scientists are increasingly challenged by extreme climatic conditions. Farmers are experimenting with integrating cover crops into rotations and reducing the use of chemical fertilizers. In other words, there is no such a thing as a simple fertilizer recommendation in today's agriculture. Topics covered include crop-specific nutrient management, program assessment, crop models for decision making, optimization of fertilizer use, cover crops, reducing nitrous oxide emissions, natural abundance techniques, tile-drained conditions, and soil biological fertility.

Preface vii Contributors ix Soil Fertility: Current US Situation and Challenges Amitava Chatterjee 2 Crop-Specific Nutrient Management David Franzen 12 Assessing a Fertilizer Program: Short- and Long-Term Approaches David E. Clay, Graig Reicks, Jiyul Chang, Tulsi Kharel, and Stephanie A.H. Bruggeman 44 Introduction to Conceptual Models, Calculating and Using Rate Constants, Economics, and Problem Solving Gregg Carlson, David E. Clay, and Sharon A. Clay 56 Optimization of Financially Constrained Fertilizer Use Charles Wortmann and Kayuki Kaizzi 66 Cover Crops Impacts on Nitrogen Scavenging, Nitrous Oxide Emissions, Nitrogen Fertilizer Replacement, Erosion, and Soil Health Amitava Chatterjee and David E. Clay 76 Soil and Nitrogen Management to Reduce Nitrous Oxide Emissions Jerry L. Hatfield 90 The Use of Enriched and Natural Abundance Nitrogen and Carbon Isotopes in Soil Fertility Research David Clay, Cheryl Reese, Stephanie A.H. Bruggeman, and Janet Moriles-Miller 110 Soil and Fertilizer Management Practices to Control Nutrient Losses under Subsurface Tile-Drained Conditions Amitava Chatterjee 124 Biological and Biochemical Tests for Assessing Soil Fertility Warren A. Dick and Steven W. Culman 134