Forest soil disturbance intervals are usually too long to measure using plot-based studies, and thus they are poorly understood. The mean soil disturbance interval (MSDI) in an old-growth forest on the west coast of Vancouver Island was estimated from radiocarbon dates of charcoal from organic and mineral soil horizons. Two assumptions are required to estimate the MSDI: (1) charcoal from forest...

The ecosite unit in Ontario‘s boreal forest ecological land classification system is a polygon of common vegetation type and soil conditions intended to provide a standardized provincial framework to inform meso-scale forestry and planning applications. To determine whether the physical factors used for ecosite classification relate to patterns in ecological function over finer spatial scales, ...

the aim of this research was to compare the amounts of existing mineral elements in plant aerial parts, litter and soil ofthree range species (bromus tomentellus, psathyrostachys fragilis, agropyron tauri) in order to investigate the litter effectof species on soil properties of taleghan rangeland. the measured mineral elements include carbon, nitrogen,phosphorous and potassium. after selection...

Restoration of species-rich grasslands on ex-arable land can help the conservation of biodiversity but faces three big challenges: absence of target plant propagules, high residual soil fertility and restoration of soil communities. Seed additions and top soil removal can solve some of these constraints, but restoring beneficial biotic soil conditions remains a challenge. Here we test the hypot...

Microbially-derived carbon inputs to soils play an important role in forming soil organic matter (SOM), but detailed knowledge of basic mechanisms of carbon (C) cycling, such as stabilization of organic C compounds originating from rhizodeposition, is scarce. This study aimed to investigate the stability of rhizosphere-produced carbon components in a model laboratory mesocosm of Pinus resinosa ...

Filters with a pore size of 0.45 microm have been arbitrarily used for isolating dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in natural waters. This operationally defined DOC fraction often contains heterogeneous organic carbon compounds that may lead to inconsistent results when evaluating trihalomethane formation potential (THMFP). A finer pore size filter provides more homogeneous DOC properties and enab...

The light absorbed by water in soil and plants is readily determined using hyperspectral full-range imagery and field spectrometers. The full absorption of light can be accounted for by fitting the shape of water absorptions at the same time as other diagnostic bands using multiple Gaussian functions. This research is particularly important in soils due to the loss of mineral band depth with th...

Rhizosphere, a thin area of soil surrounding roots receiving carbon (C) exudation from plants, represents a site of intense competition for available C and nutrient between surface-reactive particles and soil microorganisms. This competition can reduce the amount of available C to a critical level, it becomes limiting for microbial growth and soil organic matter decomposition. On the other hand...

Geophagy is thought to have several physiological benefits to animals, including mineral supplementation and adsorption of toxins. However, these benefits have rarely been demonstrated experimentally. Using soil from a known lick in northern Alaska, we investigated the effect of geophagy on food intake andmass loss in captive snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus Erxleben, 1777) fed a formulated rat...

Minable rock phosphate is a finite resource. Replacing mineral phosphorus (P) fertilizer with P-rich secondary resources is one way to manage P more efficiently, but the importance of physicochemical and microbial soil processes induced by secondary resources for plant P uptake is still poorly understood. Using radioactive-labeling techniques, the fertilization effects of dairy manure, fish slu...