1 Spatial distributions of tropical trees often correlate with environmental variation, suggesting that ecological sorting caused by niche differentiation may be important for maintaining species diversity. 2 Four soil types have been identified in a 52-ha forest dynamics plot in Bornean mixed dipterocarp forest (ranked by increasing fertility and moisture: sandy loam, loam, fine loam, and clay...

The main purpose of the present study was to assess the ecological capability of agricultural soils using geographic information system (GIS). This research was conducted during 2014 in Hamedan Province, Iran. A cross-sectional study was conducted mapping the 10 factors of soil characteristics (texture, depth, erosion, and aggregation, percentage of slope, direction of slope, height, soil salin...

iron is an essential nutrients in rice. accurate assessment of this element in paddy soils is very important. improving fertility management, accurate interpolation, being aware of spatial variability and patterns of distribution of micronutrients are the most important factors in soil management and accurate consumption of fertilizers. this study was done for investigating of available iron, d...

Forage quality of orchardgrass and timothy hays can be evaluated from both nutritional and marketing perspectives. From the nutritional perspective it is conditioned by the 1) nutrient concentration, 2) rate of voluntary intake, 3) digestibility and 4) partitioning of metabolized products within the animal. From the marketing perspective, hay destined for urban feed store and Pacific Rim market...

1 2 It is now attested that a large part of the Amazonian rain forest has been cultivated 3 during Pre-Colombian times, using charcoal as an amendment. The incorporation of charcoal 4 to the soil is a starting point for the formation of fertile Amazonian Dark Earths, still selected 5 by Indian people for shifting cultivation. We showed that finely separated charcoal was 6 commonly incorporated ...

Microbial-mediated decomposition and nutrient mineralization are major drivers of forest productivity. As landscape-scale fuel reduction treatments are being implemented throughout the fire-prone western United States of America, it is important to evaluate operationally how these wildfire mitigation treatments alter belowground processes. We quantified these important belowground components be...

In a review published over two decades ago I asserted that, along soil fertility gradients, plant traits change in ways that reinforce patterns of soil fertility and net primary productivity (NPP). I reevaluate this assertion in light of recent research, focusing on feedbacks to NPP operating through litter decomposition. I conclude that mechanisms emerging since my previous review might weaken...

This chapter analyzes the technical efficiency of banana production among Ugandan smallholders by estimating a stochastic production frontier model with inefficiency effects. The empirical models are formulated within the overarching framework of the agricultural household specified in Chapter 2. The data design is also summarized in Chapter 2, although additional information about soil quality...

Long-term use of fallow in dryland wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) systems can increase erosion and decrease soil fertility. One possible solution is to grow a green manure crop during the fallow period. To evaluate the short-term effects of substituting a winter legume green manure for fallow in a 2-vr wheat rotation, a series of experiments were conducted in the Sacramento Valley of California f...