Survival and growth of longleaf pine seedlings depends upon a well-developed root system. Soil moisture is also critical for the seedling to emerge from the grass-stage. When longleaf pine seedlings emerge from the grass stage, they grow rapidly in height and diameter. Branches are often few in number and, if present, may have low photosynthesis rates. This growth pattern is seen on all longlea...

The carbon sequestration potential in coastal soils is linked to aboveground and belowground plant productivity and biomass, which in turn, is directly and indirectly influenced by nutrient input. We evaluated the influence of longterm and near-term nutrient input on aboveground and belowground carbon accumulation in seagrass beds, using a nutrient enrichment (nitrogen and phosphorus) experimen...

Peanut pods are easily infected by aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus sp.ecies from field soil. To assess the aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus sp. in different peanut field soils, 344 aflatoxin-producing Aspergillus strains were isolated from 600 soil samples of four agroecological zones in China (the Southeast coastal zone (SEC), the Yangtze River zone (YZR), the Yellow River zone (YR) and the Nor...

Cement stabilization is one of the commonly used techniques to improve the strength of soft ground/clays, generally found along coastal and low land areas. The strength development in cement stabilization technique depends on the soil properties, cement content, curing period and environmental conditions. For optimal and effective utilization of cement, there is a need to develop a mathematical...

The incidence of Meloidogyne incognita and Rotylenchulus reniformis on cotton was determined in 1989-92 from 1,089 soil samples collected from 31 counties that account for nearly 60% of the 2.2 million hectares planted to cotton in Texas. Meloidogyne incognita was commonly found in the Southern High Plains and Brazos River Valley regions of Texas (57% and 34%, respectively, of samples) but was ...

Increasing diffuse nitrate loading of surface waters and groundwater has emerged as a major problem in many agricultural areas of the world, resulting in contamination of drinking water resources in aquifers as well as eutrophication of freshwaters and coastal marine ecosystems. Although empirical correlations between application rates of N fertilizers to agricultural soils and nitrate contamin...

The rarity of Devonian tetrapods and the absence of tetrapods during the first 14 million years of the Mississippian (Romer’s Gap) have inspired hypotheses of fish-tetrapod evolutionary transition as an escape from difficult habitats such as deserts or stagnant waters. These hypotheses and Romer’s Gap are tested here using depth to calcic horizon in paleosols of the northern Appalachians as a p...

Grasslands have a long history of invasion by exotic annuals, which may alter microbial communities and nutrient cycling through changes in litter quality and biomass turnover rates. We compared plant community composition, soil chemical and microbial community composition, potential soil respiration and nitrogen (N) turnover rates between invaded and restored plots in inland and coastal grassl...

The eastern coastal region of China has been experiencing rapid urbanization which has imposed great challenges on soil resources, characterized by soil sealing and fragmented soil landscapes. Taking Zhejiang Province—a fairly economically-developed and highly-urbanized region in eastern China—as a case study, a practical framework that integrates remote sensing, GIS, soil quality assessment an...

This study investigates whether different intensities of organic matter removal associated with timber harvest influence decadal-scale storage of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) in the top 1 m of mineral soil 18 years postharvest in a Pinus taeda L. forest in the Gulf Coastal Plain. We quantified forest harvest-related changes in SOC, TN, microbial biomass carbon (MBC), and ni...