In surface irrigation, the soil serves as a medium for infiltration and conveying water from upstream to the downstream end of a field. In this study, infiltration properties of the Sibaya (Si) soil series (Glenrosa in the South African soil classification system) were determined by a volume balance method using a two-point approach technique. The purpose of the study was to examine the effect ...

Beyond grazing, managed grasslands provide ecological services that may offer economic incentives for multifunctional use. Increasing biodiversity of plant communities may maximize net primary production by optimizing utilization of available light, water, and nutrient resources; enhance production stability in response to climatic stress; reduce invasion of exotic species; increase soil OM; re...

Abstract Biochars can improve soil health but have been widely shown to reduce plant-available nitrogen (N) owing their high carbon (C) content, which stimulates microbial N-immobilization. However, because biochars contain large amounts of C that are not microbially available, total elemental C:N ratio does correspond well with impacts on N. We hypothesized N would relate biochar mineralizable...

Bacillus sphaericus was used to control Culex pipiens breeding in a water treatment settling basin near Montpellier, France. Four treatments with 4 liters/ha (3.6 lb/acre) of commercially available B. sphaericus formulation (Vectolex) reduced the larval population of Cx. pipiens with 50-600 spores of B. sphaericus/ml recorded in the treated portions of the water plant 14 days following the last...

We study rain water infiltration and drainage in a dry model sandy soil with superabsorbent hydrogel particle additives by measuring the mass of retained water for non-ponding rainfall using a self-built 3D laboratory set-up. In the pure model sandy soil, the retained water curve measurements indicate that instead of a stable horizontal wetting front that grows downward uniformly, a narrow fing...

Plant parts from the land can be important energy sources and habitats for small plant-eating animals that live in water. Animals forested streams depend on plant because shade limits amount of light needed photosynthesis. One group benefits these resources are water critters called macroinvertebrates. Macroinvertebrates small, but most them visible to naked eye. Examples include insects worms....

OBJECTIVES Herbal waters are extensively used in most parts of including . Visiting a patient with total blindness due to daily ingestion of around 200 ml of herbal water (Plant forty water) per day for six months was the rational for methanol determination in all herbal waters available in markets. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of two hundred and nineteen bottles of herbal waters were random...

Asexual propagules are the dominant means of propagation in most submerged macrophytes. To improve the understanding of how water nutrient concentrations and population density influence the turion production of Potamogeton crispus L., the turions were planted in mesocosms with three water nutrient conditions (ambient lake water, high P and high N) and two plant density levels (4 and 15 turions...

Our understanding of the effects of elevated atmospheric CO2, singly and in combination with other environmental changes,on plant-soil interactions is incomplete. Elevated CO2 effects on C4 plants, though smaller than on C3 species, are mediated mostly via decreased stomatal conductance and thus water loss. Therefore, we characterized the interactive effect of elevated CO2 and drought on soil m...