This paper introduces and evaluates DryMOD, a dynamic water balance model of the key hydrological process in drylands that is based on free, public-domain datasets. The rainfall model of DryMOD makes optimal use of spatially disaggregated Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) datasets to simulate hourly rainfall intensities at a spatial resolution of 1-km. Regional-scale applications of th...

A highly efficient soil-burrowing dung beetle possesses an intricate outer contour curve on its foreleg end-tooth. This study was carried out based on evidence that this special outer contour curve has the potential of reducing soil penetration resistance and could enhance soil-burrowing efficiency. A toothed wheel is a typical agricultural implement for soil imprinting, to increase its working...

Responses of egg masses, free eggs, and second-stage juveniles (J2) ofMeloidogyne hapla and M. chitwoodi to ethoprop were evaluated. The results indicated that J2 were the most sensitive, followed by free eggs and egg masses. In general, M. chitwoodi was more susceptible to ethoprop than M. hapla. Ethoprop at 7.2 mug a.i./g soil protected tomato roots from upward migrating M. chitwoodi for 5 we...

Moderate grazing by cattle increases the heterogeneity of soil and vegetation. This has been suggested as an ecologically sustainable mean of managing natural environments endangered by tree encroachment, such as heathlands. Our study was performed to test the impact of grazing intensity on soil macroinvertebrate communities in heterogeneous landscapes in a private property eligible to the Natu...

Soil visible and near-infrared (Vis-NIR, 350–2500 nm) spectroscopy has been proven as an alternative to conventional laboratory analysis due its advantages being rapid, cost-effective, non-destructive environmentally friendly. Different variable selection methods have used deal with the high redundancy, heavy computation, model complexity of using full spectra in spectral modelling. However, mo...

Soils lie at the interface between the atmosphere and the subsurface and are a key component that control ecosystem services, food production, and many other processes at the Earth's surface. There is a long-established convention for identifying and mapping soils by texture. These readily available, georeferenced soil maps and databases are used widely in environmental sciences. Here, we show ...

Management systems influence soil quality over time. A study was carried out on Vanmeter farm of the Ohio State University South Centers at Piketon Ohio, USA to evaluate the impact of crop rotations on soil quality from 2002 to 2007. The crop rotations comprised of continuous corn (CC), corn-soybean (CS) and corn–soybean-wheat-cowpea (CSW). Ten soil cores were collected at 0-7.5, 7.5-15, 15-22....

An invitro study was conducted to investigate the antiviral properties of silver nanoparticles synthesized from fungal strain Aspergillus sps isolated from soil. The isolated and characterized silver nanoparticles exhibited as an excellent antiviral property on Bacteriophage viral strain. The viral inactivation process was increased with increasing the concentration of silver nanoparticles.

the main objective in the present study was to assess the spatial variation of chemical and physical soil properties and then use this information to select an appropriate area to install a pasture rehabilitation experiment in the zereshkin region, iran. a regular 250 m grid was used for collecting a total of 150 soil samples (from 985 georeferenced soil pits) at 0 to 30, and 30 to 60 cm layers...