Neural networks may provide a user-friendly alternative or supplement to complex physically based models for soil erosion prediction for some study areas. The purpose of this study was to investigate the applicability of using neural networks to quantitatively predict soil loss from natural runoff plots. Data from 2879 erosion events from eight locations in the United States were used. Neural n...

Most land plants acquire nitrogen (N) through associations with arbuscular (AM) and ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi, but these symbionts employ contrasting strategies for N acquisition, which may lead to different stocks of soil carbon (C). We experimentally test this hypothesis with a mesocosm system where AM and ECM tree seedling roots, or their hyphae only, could access mineral soils with 13 C- ...

Poor N use efficiency by rice (Oryza sativa L.) in many regions of the world is due to the intensity of loss mechanisms functioning in the system. A study was conducted to determine the maximum potential loss of fertilizer "N in a Crowley (Typic Albaqualfs) silt loam soil where conditions are favorable for both nitrification and denitrification in the root zone of rice. Nitrogen losses were mea...

Understanding the fates of soil hydrological processes and nitrogen (N) is essential for optimizing the water and N in a dryland crop system with the goal of obtaining a maximum yield. Few investigations have addressed the dynamics of dryland N and its association with the soil hydrological process in a freeze-thawing agricultural area. With the daily monitoring of soil water content and acquis...

This study aims to evaluate the impacts of changes in litter quantity under simulated N deposition on litter decomposition, CO2 release, and soil C loss potential in a larch plantation in Northeast China. We conducted a laboratory incubation experiment using soil and litter collected from control and N addition (100 kg ha-1 year-1 for 10 years) plots. Different quantities of litter (0, 1, 2 and...

This study examined the development of urban gullies in a part of Southwestern Nigeria. This was done with a view to determine the volume and amount of sediment loss from the 1 and 2 order gullies in a cascade system. Twenty (20) towns were randomly selected from where thirty (30) gully systems comprising forty (40) 1 order and five (5) 2 order gullies were measured with Tape and Total Station ...

Soil is one of our most precious natural resources. Proper soil management is a key to sustainable agricultural production. Soil management involves six essential practices: proper amount and type of tillage, maintenance of soil organic matter, maintenance of a proper nutrient supply for plants, avoidance of soil contamination, maintenance of the correct soil acidity, and control of soil loss (...

Decomposition of soil organic carbon (SOC) is the main process governing the release of CO(2) into the atmosphere from terrestrial systems. Although the importance of soil-root interactions for SOC decomposition has increasingly been recognized, their long-term effect on SOC decomposition remains poorly understood. Here we provide experimental evidence for a rhizosphere priming effect, in which...

Published information is contradictory about the inhibitory or stimulatory effect of living roots on soil organic matter d~m~sition. In this study, i4C-labelled rye straw was exposed in fertilii or unfertilized soil with or without plants (winter rye, Se&e cereuIe) for 49 days under semi-controlled conditions. Our objective was to study the effect of roots on soil organic matter mineralization ...