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Silicon (Si) is known to have multiple beneficial effects on crops. Most plant-available Si in soils is provided through litter decomposition and subsequent phytolith dissolution, especially in strongly desilicated tropical soils. The importance of Si cycling in tropical soil-plant systems raised the question if oil-palm cultivation, the oil palm being a Si-accumulating crop, alters Si cycling. As Si accumulates in plant tissue, we hypothesized that i) Si is stored in the aboveground biomass of oil palms with time, and that ii) the system might lose considerable amounts of Si every year through fruit-bunch harvest. To test these hypotheses, we sampled leaflets, the rachis, fruit-bunch stalk, fruit pulp, kernels and frond bases from mature oil palms planted on well-drained and temporarily flooded riparian smallholder oil-palm plantations (n = 4 each) in lowland Sumatra, Indonesia. We quantified Si concentrations of these oil-palm parts by NaCO3 extraction. We further estimated Si storage in the total above-ground biomass of the oil palms, Si return to soils through decomposing pruned palm fronds, and Si losses from the system through harvest, to assess if Si return to soils via pruned palm fronds sufficed for maintaining Si cycling in the system, or if any measures are needed to compensate for Si export through fruit-bunch harvest. At all sites, leaflets of oil-palm fronds had a significantly higher (p ≤ 0.05) mean Si concentration (≥ 1 wt. %) than the rachis, frond base, fruit-bunch stalk, fruit pulp and kernel (≤ 0.5 wt. %). All analysed oilpalm parts had a Si/Ca weight ratio ≥ 1, except for the rachis. At well-drained sites, mean Si concentrations in leaflets increased with palm-frond age (R² = 0.98). Estimates of Si storage in the total above-ground biomass of oil palms, Si return to soils through decomposing pruned palm fronds, and Si losses through harvest were similar at well-drained and riparian sites: a single palm tree could store about 4 - 5 kg of Si in its total above-ground biomass, a smallholder oil-palm plantation of 1 hectare could store about 550 kg of Si in the palm trees' aboveground biomass. Pruned palm fronds were estimated to return 110 - 131 kg of Si per hectare to topsoils each year. Fruit-bunch harvest corresponded to an annual Si export of 32 - 72 kg Si per hectare in 2015 and 2018. Thus, on smallholder plantations in our study area, more Si can be returned to soils through pruned palm fronds than is lost through fruit-bunch harvest. Greater Si losses would occur if oil-palm stems were removed from plantations prior to replanting. Therefore, it is advisable to leave oil-palm stems on the plantations e.g., by distributing chipped stem parts across the plantation at the end of a plantation cycle (~25 years). This would return about 550 kg ha-1 Si stored in the palm trees' above-ground biomass to the soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Effects of oil-palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) management on silicon (Si) cycling under smallholder oilpalm plantations have hardly been investigated. As oil palms are Si accumulators, we hypothesized that management practices and topsoil erosion may cause Si losses and changes in spatial Si concentration pattems in topsoils under oil-palm cultivation. To test this hypothesis, we took topsoil samples under mature oil-palm plantations in well-drained and riparian areas of Jambi Province, Indonesia. The samples were taken from four different management zones within each oil-palm plot: palm circles, oil-palm rows, interrows and below frond piles. We quantified mobile Si (Si,) and Si in amorphous silica (Si) by CaCl and NaCO extraction, respectively. Both fractions are important Si pools in soils and are essential for plant-soil Si cycling. We further installed sediment traps on sloping, well-drained oil-palm plantations to estimate the annual loss of soil and Si caused by erosion. In well-drained areas, mean topsoil SiAm concentrations were significantly higher below frond piles (3.97 ±1.54 mg g') compared to palm circles (1.71± 0.35 mg g'), oil-palm rows (1.87 ± 0.51 mg g') and interrows (1.88 ± 0.39 mg g'). In riparian areas, highest mean topsoil Siconcentrations were also found below frond piles (2.96 ± 0.36 mg g') and in grass-covered interrows (2.71 ± 0.13 mg g'), whereas topsoil Si concentrations of palm circles were much lower (1.44 ± 0.55 mg g'). We attributed the high Siconcentrations in topsoils under frond piles andin grass-covered interrows to phytolith release from decaying oil-palm fronds, grasses, and sedges. The significantly lower SiAm concentrations in palm circles (in both well-drained and riparian areas), oil-palm rows and unvegetated interrows (only in well-drained areas) were explained by a lack of litter return to these management zones. Mean topsoil Si; concentrations were in a range of10 20 g g'. They tended to be higher in riparian areas, but the differences between well-drained and riparian sites were not statistically significant. Soil-loss calculations based on erosion traps confirmed that topsoil erosion was considerable in oil-palm interrows on slopes. Erosion estimates were in a range of 4 6Mg ha' yr', involving Si losses in a range of 5 9 kg' ha' yr'. Based on the observed spatial Si patterns, we concluded that smallholders could efficiently reduce erosion and support Si cycling within the system by (1) maintaining a vegetation cover in oil-palm rows and interrows, (2) incorporating oil-palm litter into farm management and (3) preventing soil compaction and surface-crust formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In Vietnam, approximately 39 million tons of rice (Oryza sativa) residues accrue every year. In this study, we quantified soil nutrient balances of paddy rice fields under different crop-residue management practices in northern Vietnam. On twelve farms, we calculated nutrient balances for the four prevalent rice-residue management practices, i.e., (1) direct incorporation of rice residues into the soil, (2) application of rice-residue compost, (3) burning of rice residues on the field, and (4) the use of rice residues as fodder for livestock. Soils under practices (1) to (3) showed a positive nutrient balance, which indicates that soil fertility can be maintained under these practices and that the amounts of chemical fertilizers can be considerably reduced. If not, there is a risk of eutrophication in the surrounding surface waterbodies. Practice (4), in contrast, resulted in a negative nutrient balance, which indicates the need for returning nutrients to the soils. From our findings we conclude that knowledge about the effects of rice-residue management practices on nutrient cycles may help to optimize the use of fertilizers, resulting in a more sustainable form of agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correction to the article on landscape cultivation in terrestrial ecosystems, published in a previous issue is presented.

Purpose: Treatment decisions for patients with T1a,bN0M0 breast cancer are challenging. We studied the time trends in use of adjuvant chemotherapy and survival outcomes among these patients., Patients and Methods: This was a prospective cohort study within the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Database that included 4,113 women with T1a,bN0M0 breast cancer treated between 2000 and 2009. Tumors were grouped by size (T1a, T1b), biologic subtype defined by hormone receptor (HR) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) status, and receipt of chemotherapy with or without trastuzumab., Results: Median follow-up time was 5.5 years. Eight percent of patients with HR-positive/HER2-negative tumors were treated with chemotherapy. Fifty-two percent of those with HER2-positive or HR-negative/HER2-negative breast cancers received chemotherapy, with an increase over the last decade. Survival outcomes diverged by subtype and size, but the 5-year distant relapse-free survival (DRFS) did not exceed 10% in any subgroup. The 5-year DRFS for patients with T1a tumors untreated with chemotherapy ranged from 93% to 98% (n = 49 to 972), and for patients with T1b tumors, it ranged from 90% to 96% (n = 17 to 2,005). Patients with HR-positive/HER2-negative disease had the best DRFS estimates, and patients with HR-negative/HER2-negative tumors had the lowest. In this observational, nonrandomized cohort study, the 5-year DRFS for treated patients with T1a tumors was 100% for all subgroups (n = 12 to 33), and for patients with T1b tumors, it ranged from 94% to 96% (n = 88 to 241)., Conclusion: Women with T1a,b tumors have an excellent prognosis without chemotherapy. Size and tumor subtype may identify patients in whom the rate of recurrence justifies consideration of chemotherapy. These patients represent an optimal group for evaluating less toxic adjuvant regimens to maintain efficacy while minimizing short- and long-term risks., (© 2014 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.)