meet the nutritional requirements of trees and improve soil fertility while reducing nutrient losses to leaching. The specific objectives of were to 1) examine the effects of combining legume cover crops with low rates of N fertilization on fraser fir
, humid conditions and an average of >30 inches of rainfall per year. Regional conditions can have a significant effect on crop management practices, tree nutritional status, and orchard soil fertility, all of which affect crop production. As a result, it
generally planted outdoors in mid- to late May with harvest beginning in late July or early August. High tunnels are used to advance the planting dates by 4–6 weeks and the harvest dates by a month or more. Maintaining soil quality and fertility in a
biological characteristics of soil ( Herrick, 2000 ; Liu et al., 2006 ). In this context, the use of organic soil amendments to improve soil fertility and enhance crop yield has gained considerable momentum for agroecological sustainability ( D’Hose et al
singularly. However, in systems using biological sources of fertility, nutrient mineralization is mediated by soil microbial activity, which is highly influenced by moisture and temperature ( Drinkwater and Snapp, 2007 ). As such, plant growth and secondary
, soil potential, soil quality, and soil fertility—more or less defined in the literature—have all been employed to define the long-term carrying capacity of soil and sustainability of agroecosystems ( Idowu et al., 2009 ; Knight et al., 2013 ). Despite
generally work with the same basic global resources. Although specific nutrient management techniques and options may vary between the two systems, the fundamental processes supporting soil fertility and plant nutrition do not change ( Stockdale et al., 2002
blends ( Table 1 ) planted in 10-ft 2 plots in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Soil at this site was composed of a low-fertility, construction fill gravelly clay subsoil with 1.7% organic matter; therefore, a 2-inch layer of
compost quality and nutrient composition maybe relevant especially when is used to supplement the fertility program. This requires the understanding that although the contribution of nutrients such as N may be low, phosphorous (P), potassium (K), and
surface area ( Lehmann, 2007a ; Thies and Rillig, 2009 ). Studies have shown that soil amendments with biochar have improved soil fertility, as a result of an increase in pH of acid soils ( Zwieten et al., 2010 ), or increase in nutrient retention as a