soil compaction has become a widespread problem in the world and it is considered as one of the main factors affecting land degradation in arid and semi-arid agricultural land. the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of soil compaction on soil carbon and nitrogen sequestration, physical (aggregate stability, saturated soil moisture content, bulk density, and porosity) and chemical ...

Soil contamination level with 239+240Pu of Lublin region was determined using the alpha spectrometric method. Results were compared with similar data from the study performed 15 year earlier. Decrease in total 239+240Pu concentration and reducing quantity of Chernobyl fraction (up to almost negligible value of 1 %) has been observed in upper soil layer. Determination of 239+240Pu concentration ...

The lateral movement of soil carbon has a profound effect on the carbon budget of terrestrial ecosystems; however, it has never been quantified in China, which is one of the strongest soil erosion areas in the world. In this study, we estimated that the overall soil erosion in China varies from 11.27 to 18.17 Pg yr(-1) from 1982 to 2011, accounting for 7-21% of total soil erosion globally. Soil...

Geophagy is thought to have several physiological benefits to animals, including mineral supplementation and adsorption of toxins. However, these benefits have rarely been demonstrated experimentally. Using soil from a known lick in northern Alaska, we investigated the effect of geophagy on food intake andmass loss in captive snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus Erxleben, 1777) fed a formulated rat...

Soil core samples were taken on April 13, 2011 at three sites in Fukushima prefecture: Hiwada in Koriyama-city (Site 1; N 37°28′32′′, E 140°23′17′′; two cores were obtained in Site 1), Yabuki in Nishi-Shirakawa-county (Site 2; N 37°11′59′′, E 140°20′37′′), and Iizaka in Fukushimacity (Site 3; N 37°48′50′′, E 140°26′34′′). The distances of the three sites from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power...

The variability in the net ecosystem exchange of carbon (NEE) is a major source of uncertainty in quantifying global carbon budget and atmospheric CO2. Soil respiration, which is a large component of NEE, could be strongly influential to NEE variability. Vegetation type, landscape position, and site history can influence soil properties and therefore drive themicrobial and root production of so...

Temporary B deficiency can be triggered by liming of acid soils because of increased B adsorption at higher soil pH. Plants respond directly to the activity of B in soil solution and only indirectly to B adsorbed on soil constituents. Because the range between deficient and toxic B concentration is relatively narrow, this poses difficulty in maintaining appropriate B levels in soil solution. Th...

This laboratory work examines the relationship between turbidity (NTU) and total suspended sediment concentration (TSS, mg/L) for a Cecil Ap soil, a common Southeastern Piedmont soil type. We show a 1:1 correlation between NTU and TSS for the silt and clay fractions, but a smaller ratio for clay and bulk-soil samples. These results suggest that NTU measurements can be used to estimate sediment ...

Emissions of N2O from soils of the Southwestern US are thought to result from the activity of anaerobic denitrifying bacteria, but the seasonal dryness and sandy texture of these soils are more conducive to the activities of aerobic microbes. Here, we present incubations of semiarid soils with added compounds known to stimulate the N-cycling processes ammonification (proteins, oligopeptides, an...

The aim of this work was to investigate the quantitative relationships between the rates of fungal soil exploration and their effects on plant growth and phosphorus (P) nutrition in soil with varying P availability. Ectomycorrhizal associations were established between Pinus pinaster and the basidiomycete Hebeloma cylindrosporum. Plants were grown for 4 and 6 months in mini-rhizoboxes filled wi...