A priori parameterisation of the CERES soil-crop models and tests against several European data sets

Mechanistic soil-crop models have become indispensable tools to investigate the effect of management practices on the productivity or environmental impacts of arable crops. Ideally these models may claim to be universally applicable because they simulate the major processes governing the fate of inputs such as fertiliser nitrogen or pesticides. However, because they deal with complex systems and uncertain phenomena, site-specific calibration is usually a prerequisite to ensure their predictions are realistic. This statement implies that some experimental knowledge on the system to be simulated should be available prior to any modelling attempt, and raises a tremendous limitation to practical applications of models. Because the demand for more general simulation results is high, modellers have nevertheless taken the bold step of extrapolating a model tested within a limited sample of real conditions to a much larger domain. While methodological questions are often disregarded in this extrapolation process, they are specifically addressed in this paper, and in particular the issue of models a priori parameterisation. We thus implemented and tested a standard procedure to parameterize the soil components of a modified version of the CERES models. The procedure converts routinely-available soil properties into functional characteristics by means of pedo-transfer functions. The resulting predictions of soil water and nitrogen dynamics, as well as crop biomass, nitrogen content and leaf area index were compared to observations from trials conducted in five locations across Europe (southern Italy, northern Spain, northern France and northern Germany). In three cases, the model’s performance was judged acceptable when compared to experimental errors on the measurements, based on a test of the model’s root mean squared error (RMSE). Significant deviations between observations and model outputs were however noted in all sites, and could be ascribed to various model routines. In decreasing importance, these were: water balance, the turnover of soil organic matter, and crop N uptake. A better match to field observations could therefore be achieved by visually adjusting related parameters, such as field-capacity water content or the size of soil microbial biomass. As a result, model predictions fell within the measurement errors in all sites for most variables, and the model’s RMSE was within the range of published values for similar tests. We conclude that the proposed a priori method yields acceptable simulations with only a 50% probability, a figure which may be greatly increased through a posteriori calibration. Modellers should thus exercise caution when extrapolating their models to a large sample of pedo-climatic conditions for which they have only limited information.

Desenvolupament d'una tecnologia per a la millora de les recomanacions en la fertilització nitrogenada dels cereals d'hivern. (I) Cereals d'hivern a la Catalunya interior

Es va realitzar una sèrie d'assaigs d'adobat nitrogenat en diferents comarques de la Catalunya interior. En el conjunt d'aquests assaigs es varen comprovar tres mètodes diferents que es va considerar que eren prometedors per tal de millorar la fertilització nitrogenada. Els mètodes assajats eren el mètode del balanç de nitrogen, el del nitrogen mineral i el del contingut de nitrats al suc de la base de les tiges (CNSBT). Els sòls on es van realitzar els assaigs no presentaven cap limitació especial per al cultiu del blat i eren profunds, ben drenats, no salins i de textura mitjana; l'única excepció era un assaig sobre sòl moderadament profund. Per tant, i també pel que fa a la fertilitat química, els sòls s'han de considerar d'un potencial productiu mitjàalt. El mètode del balanç de nitrogen s'ha mostrat com a molt prometedor de cara a definir si cal la magnitud de l'adobat de cobertora per a les condicions estudiades. El mètode de nitrogen mineral també ha estat efectiu en aquest sentit, mentre que el del CNSBT s'ha revelat com a no aplicable en les condicions assajades, on en molts casos l'aigua és també factor limitant. Al llarg dels assaigs s'han identificat un seguit de factors que impedeixen ajustar la fertilitat nitrogenada. Entre aquests cal esmentar la mala estimació de la producció objectiu, la dificultat de predir el N disponible a partir dels adobs orgànics, dificultats de mostreig pel nitrogen nítric i l'efecte crític que té l'erràtica disponibilitat d'aigua que complica molt l'estratègia de fertilització nitrogenada a adoptar.

Assessing changes in Cd phytoavailability to tomato in amended calcareous soils.

A plot study was conducted to assess changes in Cd phytoavailability to a tomato cultivar in an agricultural soil in Southeastern Spain amended in two different ways (A and B), under controlled conditions. The experimental soil corresponded to a fine-loamy carbonatic thermic Calcidic Haploxeroll (Soil Survey Staff, 1998). A) Soil was amended with a single application of sewage sludge from a municipal source that had a total Cd concentration of 0.5 mg kg-1 at a rate that represented a final average concentration in the mixture of soil and sludge of less than 50 µg Cd kg-1. B) The amendment consisted of the addition of a mineral fertiliser with the same amount of NPK as in the sewage sludge application. The final levels of Cd were supposed to be negligible. A plot series without amendments was also performed (C). DTPA plus triethanolamine, and ammonium acetate extractable fractions in soils were analysed for all the plots. The time-dependent Cd accumulation in different parts of the tomato plants was studied by means of a Cd salt treatment. For each block (A, B, and C) four levels of Cd (0, 3, 30, 100 mg kg-1) were added as CdCl2. There was a significant increase in plant Cd after the initial cropping. Tomato stems, leaves and fruits were analysed separately for Cd determination. Differential Cd distribution and accumulation in tomato parts was detected.