Nelson Bays Mycorrhizas www.mycorrhizas.co.nz
Herbicide strips are detrimental to soil carbon levels. Groundcovers such as grape hyacynths provide host roots for mycorrhizal fungi & improve accumulation of soil organic matter.
Nomow Lawns & Gardens
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Non-living mulches including tree bark, sand, rocks or crushed shelfish shells assist in reducing the the effectys of sun & wind evaporation of soil water, & may be also be used as 'bio-protection" tools against herbivorous invertebrate crop root pests.
Bare soil surfaces are detrimental to soil biology & cause degradation of soil structure & soil organic matter levels. In contrast, ground covers, cover crops & green manures to improve soil ecology & 'ecosystem services'
In modern horticultural practices, the majority of conventionally grown grape vines, berry fruits & orchards the soil surfaces underneath these crops are kept bare by prolonged & repeated use of herbicides & or tillage practices. In New Zealand vineyards it is not uncommon to find 2 meter wide 'herbicide strips' under vines, resulting in soils that have a reduced ability to retain soil water, & that become almost as hard as concrete in summer
Soil organic matter accumulates from natural processes including plant root exudates, & decomposition of crop residues, soil fauna & animal manures. In contrast to bare soil surfaces which cause declining levels of soil organic matter, ground cover plants can be grown in order to
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increase levels of soil organic matter,
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reducing ultra-violet light induced oxidation of soil carbon to atmospheric CO2,
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increasing soil-water holding capacity,
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improving soil CEC (Cation exchange capacity); and sequestering atmospheric CO2 in soils.
During the climate change conference at Paris in 2015, an initiative was launched promoting increasing soil carbon as a way of stopping the annual increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The initiative has the goal of increasing the amount of carbon stored in soil by 0.4% each year.
Ground cover plants can be grown for 'Bioprotection' purposes to host predatory invertebrates that control crop pest invertebrates. See "Greening Waipara Project" North Canterbury, New Zealand
Soil disturbance & vegetation clearance methods (conventional tillage), or else surface retention of crop 'residues' i.e. 'conservation tillage' aka 'ultra-low soil disturbance' aka ''no-tillage'
Traditionally green manures & cover crops were killed by tillage methods including mannually 'digging in', or 'turning over' & burying these plants to 'return' their organic matter to soils prior to sowing another crop rotation. As alternatives to burying green manures & thereby inverting soils & causing soil disturbance ecological effects on mycorrhizal soil fungal networks, many growers who use 'no-tillage' methods to directly place seeds into soils without ploughing or rotary hoeing, can instead use systemic herbicides or dessicant herbicides to convert cover-crop 'residues' ino so-called (root-anchorded') mulch.
Organic crop growers & farmers can now choose between a number of non-chemical weeding methods includin thermal (flame or steam weeding), 'electro-thermal' weeding, & or 'roller crimper' methods prior to using no-tillage direct seeder technologies & minimum tillage (soil-corer) crop seedling transplanting methods
