Urban cultivation in allotments maintains soil qualities adversely affected by conventional agriculture.

ABSTRACT: Modern agriculture, in seeking to maximize yields to meet growing global food demand, has caused loss of soil organic carbon (SOC) and compaction, impairing critical regulating and supporting ecosystem services upon which humans also depend. Own-growing makes an important contribution to food security in urban areas globally, but its effects on soil qualities that underpin ecosystem service provision are currently unknown. We compared the main indicators of soil quality; SOC storage, total nitrogen (TN), C : N ratio and bulk density (BD) in urban allotments to soils from the surrounding agricultural region, and between the allotments and other urban greenspaces in a typical UK city. A questionnaire was used to investigate allotment management practices that influence soil properties. Allot

SUBMITTER: Edmondson JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4301088 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature