For an accurate risk assessment of sites contaminated by trace elements (TE), measurements of bioavailability must be performed. This is routinely achieved using the standardized 0.01M CaCl2 method. However, the suitability of chemical extractions as proxies of bioavailability is questionable. We analyzed the correlations between chemically estimated TE bioavailability and TE actually accumulat...

Long-term field experiments that test a range of treatments and are intended to assess the sustainability of crop production, and thus food security, must be managed actively to identify any treatment that is failing to maintain or increase yields. Once identified, carefully considered changes can be made to the treatment or management, and if they are successful yields will change. If suitable...

Prescribed fire was used in two semiarid grasslands to reduce shrub cover, promote grass production, and reduce erosional loss that represents a potential non–point-source of sediment to degrade water quality. This study measured transported soil sediment, dynamics in soil surface microtopography, cover of the woody shrub, grass, and bare ground cover classes, and soil fertility measured by nit...

ABSTRACT- In recent years, intensive drought has caused a severe yield reduction in rain-fed trees. Increasing runoff of low amount rainfall can be used to provide partial water requirement of rain-fed trees. To achieve this objective, some strategies including gravel removal (G), rill construction across to slope (R) and applying of baking soda (S) and their effects on runoff, rainfall infiltr...

The main purpose of the present study was to assess the ecological capability of agricultural soils using geographic information system (GIS). This research was conducted during 2014 in Hamedan Province, Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted mapping the 10 factors of soil characteristics (texture, depth, erosion, and aggregation, percentage of slope, direction of slope, height, soil salin...

The theme of this year’s Peer Review Week is transparency. During the last few decades, I believe that a lack of transparency in the review process has degraded the field of scientific publishing. Authors were frequently left confused and angry when conflicting reviews lead to a rejection or when their paper received an obscure rejection and was not reviewed at all. Some journals still use the ...

Accumulation of soluble salts in arid areas which are similar to most regions of Iran is inevitable in soil surface and profile because of low precipitation and high evaporation. High concentration of soluble salts in soil profile caused severe problems for root water uptake thus plant growth stopped. Reducing soil salinity to optimized content by leaching and avoiding soil pounding must be con...

There are a large number of high liquid limit soil distributed in southern China. As one of the special soils commonly seen in highway construction, high liquid limit soil cannot be used in subgrade filling directly due to its special engineering properties. With the idea of saving engineering investment and protecting environment, high liquid limit soil must be improved to be qualified subgrad...

Pot-based phenotyping of drought response sometimes maintains suboptimal soil water content by applying high-frequency deficit irrigation (HFDI). We examined the effect of this treatment on water and abscisic acid (ABA) relations of two species (Helianthus annuus and Populus nigra). Suboptimal soil water content was maintained by frequent irrigation, and compared with the effects of withholding...

The ability of two white rot fungi to deplete pentachlorophenol (PCP) from soil, which was contaminated with a commercial wood preservative, was examined in a field study. Inoculation of soil containing 250 to 400 μg of PCP g-1 with either Phanerochaete chrysosporium or P. sordida resulted in an overall decrease of 88 to 91% of PCP in the soil in 6.5 weeks. This decrease was achieved under subo...