Almost all plant species form symbioses with soil fungi, and nutrient transfer to plants is largely mediated through this partnership. Studies of fungal nutrient transfer to plants have largely focused on the transfer of limiting soil nutrients, such as nitrogen and phosphorous, by mycorrhizal fungi. However, certain fungal endophytes, such as Metarhizium and Beauveria, are also able to transfe...

The ecological mechanisms driving community succession are widely debated, particularly for microorganisms. While successional soil microbial communities are known to undergo predictable changes in structure concomitant with shifts in a variety of edaphic properties, the causal mechanisms underlying these patterns are poorly understood. Thus, to specifically isolate how nutrients--important dri...

I am also interested in the effects of heavy metal contamination on plants and other biota, specifically research relating to metal transfer from contaminated soil via plants to other biota. Related areas of research include 1) phytoremediation, the use of plants to clean up metalcontaminated soil, and 2) the impacts of atmospheric deposition of metals and nutrients on native and invasive plant...

Soil sampling for the purpose of fertility assessment is normally confined to the plough layer with little or no attention to the rooting pattern of the crop in question or the availability of subsoil nutrients. However, there is little doubt that a thorough understanding of the development and activity of plant roots in their soil environment is essential to a balanced soil fertility research ...

Pinus massoniana forests bordering South China are often affected by wildfires. Fires cause major changes in soil properties in many forest types but little is known about the effects of fire on soil properties in these P. massoniana forests. Such knowledge is important for providing a comprehensive understanding of wildfire effects on soil patterns and for planning appropriate long-term forest...

Microbes are the unseen majority in soil and comprise a large portion of life's genetic diversity. Despite their abundance, the impact of soil microbes on ecosystem processes is still poorly understood. Here we explore the various roles that soil microbes play in terrestrial ecosystems with special emphasis on their contribution to plant productivity and diversity. Soil microbes are important r...

In low-nutrient ecosystems such as forests developed on acidic soil, the main limiting factor for plant growth is the availability of soil nutrients. The aim of this study was to investigate in a temperate forest: 1) the influence of the rhizosphere processes on the availability of nutrients and trace elements during one year period and 2) the seasonal evolution of this rhizosphere effect. Bulk...

______________________________________________________________________________ Abstract: Information on soil and leaf nutrient concentrations for black walnut are of value only when they are properly sampled, accurately analyzed, and the results correctly interpreted. Guidelines for interpreting soil and leaf analyses and leaf symptoms are presented along with recommendations for correcting nut...

These differences in temperature and moisture content of the soil profile arising from different types of vegetation cover may have immediate effects on the availability of nutrients (Mitchell 1957) and, on a longer term, on the balance between various directions of soil type development. BANGE,G. G. J., 1953. On the quantitative explanation of stomatal transpiration. Acta Bot. Neerlandica 2: 2...

We report the design of a silicon chip dedicated to the in-situ monitoring of soil nitrogen cycle in wheat crop. Our study shows that ion-sensitive field effect transistor (ISFET) microsensors are suitable for quick on-site or long-term analysis of nutrients measured directly in soil as opposed to soil extracts analysis. Our pH-ISFET recorded soil pH for six months with results in good accordan...