Urban soils in many cities have been found to be contaminated with lead from past usage of leaded petrol, deteriorating lead-based exterior paints and industrial sources. Currently, the spatial distribution of soil lead concentrations in the Melbourne metropolitan area is unknown. The objective of this study was to perform a preliminary assessment of the spatial distributions of the surface soi...

BACKGROUND Soil is among the most diverse and complex environments in the world. Soil microorganisms play an essential role in biogeochemical cycles and affect plant growth and crop production. However, our knowledge of the relationship between species-assemblies and soil ecosystem processes is still very limited. The aim of this study was to generate a comprehensive metagenomic survey to evalu...

BACKGROUND Chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood has been widely used for outdoor play structures. There is a growing scientific concern about children's exposure to the arsenic that leaches from these structures. The purpose of this study was to measure arsenic from CCA-treated wood play structures owned by the City of Toronto to guide an appropriate exposure reduction strategy. METHO...

Plant litter is an important factor for soil conservation and sustainability that could modify soil chemical properties and increase the plant biomass production. The aim of this research was to compare plant litter chemical composition and its effects on soil properties in three species including Hordeum bulbosum, Poa bulbosa, Bromus tectorum. First, soil samples were taken in the depth of 0-3...

Nitrogen is one of the important indexes to evaluate the physiological and biochemical properties of soil. The level of soil nitrogen content influences the nutrient levels of crops directly. The near infrared sensor can be used to detect the soil nitrogen content rapidly, nondestructively, and conveniently. In order to investigate the effect of the different soil water content on soil nitrogen...

A simple, rapid, efficient, and environmentally friendly method for the determination of five triazine herbicides in water and soil samples was developed by using dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME), coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-diode array detection (HPLC-DAD). The water samples were directly used for DLLME extraction. For soil samples, the target analytes w...

Soil classification systems organize soil variability into useful groupings that can be identified by field investigation and documented in soil survey, and form the basis for the exchange and extension of soil science research and soil resources management. Fuzzy clustering analysis may be used whenever a composite classification of soil incorporates multiple parameters. In this paper, seventy...

Accuracy in assessing the distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important issue because of playing key roles in the functions of both natural ecosystems and agricultural systems. There are several studies in the literature with the aim of finding the best method to assess and map the distribution of SOC content for Europe. Therefore this study aims searching for another aspect of this...

We investigated the toxicity of soil samples derived from a former municipal landfill site in the South of the Netherlands, where a bioremediation project is running aiming at reusing the site for recreation. Both an organic soil extract and the original soil sample was investigated using the ISO standardized Folsomia soil ecotoxicological testing and gene expression analysis. The 28 day surviv...