Most studies that have investigated the influence of hydric conditions during incubation on the size and quality of hatchling reptiles have used either vermiculite or sand as the incubation medium, and the applicability of data derived from eggs using one media type or the other to natural populations has had considerable debate. However, few studies have used soil from actual nesting areas as ...

The biogeographic distribution of plant species is inherently associated with the plasticity of physiological adaptations to environmental variation. For semi-arid shrublands with a legacy of saline soils, characterization of soil water-tolerant shrub species is necessary for habitat restoration given future projection of increased drought magnitude and persistence in these ecosystems. Five dom...

INTRODUCTION: The percentage of water stable aggregates (WSA) is a measure of resistance to breakdown by water and mechanical activities. Water stable aggregates improve soil water and air movement. Macro-aggregates (diam. > 250 m) are considered as a secondary soil structure associated with pores, microbial habitat, and physical protection of organic matter (Christensen, 2001; Carter, 2004). A...

abstract agriculture is the largest consumer of water resources in iran. one of the best options for increasing the irrigation efficiency and better application of precipitation in arid and semi-arid areas is employing of superabsorbent polymers to soil. polymers can absorb rain and irrigation water, decrease deep percolation and increase water use efficiency. in order to investigate the effect...

Subsoil compaction can result in unfavourable soil physical conditions and hinder the root growth of maize. The effects of deep tillage and conventional tillage on soil physical properties and root growth of maize were studied during 2010–2011 at two sites (loam at Hebi and clay at Luohe) in central China. The results showed that soil penetration resistance, bulk density, water content and root...

This research is a study on the relationship of irrigation water treatments and soil moisture distribution uniformity (DU). Soil moisture distribution was based on long-term data sets that were collected during wet and dry soil conditions (from permanent wilting point to field capacity) using a novel electromagnetic sensor-based platform moving inside subsurface horizontal access-tubes. The irr...

Erosion changes soil properties, especially physical properties, mainly because it removes surface soil rich in organic materials and exposes lower soil layers. In 1988, a study was established to determine the effects of soil erosion and long-term manure applications on selected soil phys­ ical properties and corn (Zea mays L.) production. After 10 years of an­ nual manure applications, soil c...

The scaling theory approach has been widely used as an effective method to describe the variation of soil hydraulic properties. In conventional scaling, reference retention curves and scaling factors are determined from minimization of residuals. Most previous studies have shown that scaling factors are lognormally distributed. In this study, we derived physically based scaling factors, assumin...

aims: in the past few decades, more attention has been paid to clean up soils polluted with heavy metals by plants. a serious problem in this way is the amount of heavy metals uptake by plants. this study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of 3 local plants of mazandaran province, iran, in reducing and controlling the soil’s heavy metals. instrument & methods: the removal amount of thr...