A non-sodic, non-saline sandy loam soil was salinized to anion-cation ratios similar to those naturally occurring in Iraq and California. The interactions of saline soils (conductivities 4, 8, 12 and 16 mmhos/cm) with a moderately salt-tolerant plant (Lycopersicon esculentum 'Marimond') and a plant parasitic nematode (Meloidogyne javanica) were investigated. Plant parasitic nematodes were shown...

The application of urea fertilizer has always been associated with heavy N losses therefore, improving its efficiency is critical to minimize economic and environmental losses associated with its application. One possible approach to improve the nitrogen losses from the surface applied urea is to coat it with sulfur, urease inhibitor (agrotain) and other biodegradable materials. A pot experimen...

Silver (Ag) and thallium (Tl) are nonessential elements that can be highly toxic to a number of biota even when present in the environment at trace levels. In spite of that, the literature on the chemistry and fate of Ag and Tl in soils is extremely scanty. In that context, the key objective of this research was to compare the sorption characteristics of trace amounts of Ag and Tl on a range of...

A leaching experiment using a mixture of five REE oxides and gravelly, sandy loam soils was conducted to examine the applicability of the REE oxides as a sediment tracer for coarse-textured soils. The experiment showed little leaching of the oxides and an enrichment of various size classes of soil particles with the oxides, which reflected the strong binding capability of the REE oxides with th...

Irrigation with untreated effluent in periurban agriculture could result in accumulation and bioconcentrations of cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb). Different amendments were used to investigate their effect on availability, concentration, and uptake of metals by wheat in texturally different soils. Crop was irrigated with water containing Cd and Pb at 20 mg L−1, thereby adding 260 mg pot−1 of each me...

measurement of soil saturated hydraulic conductivity, ks, is normally affected by flow patterns such as macro pore; however, most current techniques do  not differentiate flow types, causing major problems in describing water and chemical flows within the soil matrix. this study compares eight models for scaling ks and predicted matrix and macro pore ks, using a database composed of 50 datasets...

BACKGROUND In Timor-Leste there have been intermittent and ineffective soil-transmitted helminth (STH) deworming programs since 2004. In a resource-constrained setting, having information on the geographic distribution of STH can aid in prioritising high risk communities for intervention. This study aimed to quantify the environmental risk factors for STH infection and to produce a risk map of ...

Increased turnover of organic matter as a result of soil disturbance (e.g. by soil tillage) is described in principle, but the direct influence of soil disturbance on soil P turnover especially for organic farming systems has not been sufficiently proven. The objective of the study was to evaluate the short term effect of soil disturbance on different soil P fractions in a soil shaking experime...