Research on the soil structural effects of potassium (K) in irrigation wastewaters has received limited attention due to the typically low abundance of K in most waters. Winery processing wastewater however tends to have elevated concentrations of both K and sodium (Na). This study investigated the contrasting cation dynamics under municipal and winery wastewater following irrigation to a heavy...

* Corresponding author Abstract – Land degradation processes in the subtropical Thicket Biome in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa, are observed and monitored. As a result, a significant loss of soil quality on such sites has been recorded. This study focuses on the determination of fundamental soil parameters like organic carbon, iron, and clay in order to assess ecosystem degradation. T...

Analysis of 171 samples taken from the Neogene cohesive soils of the Southeastern edge of the Granada basin shows inverse correlation between carbonate content and dispersion index and swelling behaviour and direct correlations between carbonate content and shear strength. This paper shows that carbonate content and clay fraction activity have a great influence on the compaction characteristics...

Thermodynamics of K exchange were investigated in Ca-saturated samples from the Ap horizon of an Evesboro soil from Delaware. At 283 and 298 K the selectivity curves (In*, vs. ?K) showed preference for K at low values of /VK (mole fraction of K in solution) and for Ca at higher values. This selectivity reversal may be attributed to exchange sites of varying reactivity for K and Ca ions and supp...

Plant taxa identified in 90 U.S. Great Lakes coastal emergent wetlands were evaluated as indicators of physical environment. Canonical correspondence analysis using the 40 most common taxa showed that water depth and tussock height explained the greatest amount of species-environment interaction among ten environmental factors measured as continuous variables (water depth, tussock height, latit...

The aim of this study was to assess the effects of soil fumigation with methyl bromide (MeBr; CH(3)Br) and methyl iodide (MeI, iodomethane; CH(3)I) on the microbial community structure and diversity in two soils and determine the effects of microbial diversity on the survival of Escherichia coli O157:H7 from contaminated irrigation water. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to amplify 16S ...

The addition of charcoal (or biochar) to soil has significant carbon sequestration and agronomic potential, making it important to determine how this potentially large anthropogenic carbon influx will alter ecosystem functions. We used column experiments to quantify how hydrologic and nutrient-retention characteristics of three soil materials differed with biochar amendment. We compared three h...

Improving swine effluent management practices requires understanding of the fate of nutrients derived from swine effluent in soil quality. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of long-term swine lagoon effluent application on nutrient distribution in an alkaline Okolona silty clay, an acidic Vaiden silty clay, and a Brooksville silty clay loam. Swine effluent has been applied using ...

Unlike most biofuel species, Jatropha curcas has promise for use in marginal lands, but it may serve an additional role by stabilizing soils. We evaluated the growth and structural responsiveness of young J. curcas plants to diverse soil conditions. Soils included a sand, a sandy-loam, and a clay-loam from eastern Mexico. Growth and structural parameters were analyzed for shoots and roots, alth...