[1] Soil moisture is the environmental variable synthesizing the effect of climate, soil, and vegetation on the dynamics of water-limited ecosystems. Unlike abiotic factors (e.g., soil texture and rainfall regime), the control exerted by vegetation composition and structure on soil moisture variability remains poorly understood. A number of field studies in dryland landscapes have found higher ...

Soil phosphorus (P) fractions and runoff P concentration were measured to understand the fate of soil P entering surface runoff water during summer cropping season of different double cropping systems under two fertilizer regimes. The dominant form of runoff P was particulate P (PP). Runoff total P (TP) was higher at the vegetative growth stage and lower at the crop reproductive stage. TP and P...

BACKGROUND: One of limitation factor in agricultural plants production in dry areas, supply requires water. Also nutrition crop management is a necessary strategy for achieve sustainable agriculture. OBJECTIVES: Current study was conducted to assessment the effects of different irrigation regimes and several amount of nitrogen fertilizer on seed nutrition...

Numerous studies have observed the physiological responses of soil microorganisms to water stress caused by soil drying, however, only a few have attempted to assess the microbial response in soil in situ. An experiment was conducted to analyze the change in extractable metabolites, particularly sugars and amino acids, in soil and the associated microbial community at various intensities of soi...

Hot desert ecosystems experience rare and unpredictable rainfall events that resuscitate the arid flora and fauna. However, the effect of this sudden abundance of water on soil microbial communities is still under debate. We modeled varying rainfall amounts and temperatures in desert soil mesocosms and monitored the microbial community response over a period of 21 days. We studied two different...

A combination of a simple and universal crop growth simulator (SUCROS) of van Keulen et al. [van Keulen, H., Penning de Vries, F.W.T., Drees, E.M., 1982. A summary model for crop growth. In: Penning de Vries, F.W.T., Laar van, H.H. (Eds.), Simulation of Plant Growth and Crop Production. Simulation Monographs, Pudoc, Wageningen] with a water balance model (WBM) of Arora et al. [Arora, V.K., Prih...

Problem statement: Approximately 20% of sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) is grown on sand soils in south Florida, USA. Sugarcane yields in the region linearly increased in last 33 years on organic (muck) soils, but not on sand soils. Water deficit during the formative growth phase on sand soils probably limits sugarcane yields. Approach: A greenhouse study was conducted in 2009 and 2010 to evaluate t...

Soil quality appears to be an ideal indicator of sustainable land management. Soil is the foundation for nearly all land uses. Soil quality, by definition, reflects the capacity to sustain plant and animal productivity, maintain or enhance water and air quality, and promote plant and animal health. By reflecting the basic capacity of the soil to function, it integrates across many potential use...

salinity tolerance is one of the most important affecting factors on agricultural production in arid and semi-arid areas. in order to study the effects of saline and fresh water irrigation with application of organic and npk fertilizers on cumin, a split plot experiment based on randomized complete block design was carried out with three replications during 2011 and 2012, at the research farm o...