We investigated hydraulic constraints on water uptake by velvet mesquite (Prosopis velutina Woot.) at a site with sandy-loam soil and at a site with loamy-clay soil in southeastern Arizona, USA. We predicted that trees on sandy-loam soil have less negative xylem and soil water potentials during drought and a lower resistance to xylem cavitation, and reach E(crit) (the maximum steady-state trans...

The taxonomic hierarchy and nationwide distribution of soils with a salic horizon were studied using the USA Natural Resources Conservation Service Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) Database to provide a more holistic view of the role of soil-forming factors in pedogenesis than from isolated case studies. Soils with a salic horizon occupied an area of 11 000 km2, i.e., 0.1% of land area in the co...

Factors that may account for subarctic vegetation patterns that are not reconcilable with synoptic climate were sought by reference to data on local climate, soils, parent materials, vegetation, and topography. Where the forest-tundra lies climatically northward, the vegetation transition zone is relatively narrow, and the soils are nutrient-rich, fine-textured loamy Cryosols derived from sedim...

Environmental pressure to reduce nutrient losses from agricultural fields has increased in recent years. To abate this nutrient loss to the environment, better management practices and new technologies need to be developed. Thus, research was conducted to evaluate if subsurface banding poultry litter (PL) would reduce nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loss in surface water runoff using a four-row...

Management of large volumes (60,000 ha-m) of co-production water associated with coal bed natural gas (CBNG) water extraction is a potential concern in the Powder River Basin (PRB) of Wyoming and Montana due to elevated water salinity and sodicity levels. Land application of saline-sodic CBNG water is a common water management method being practiced in the PRB, which can result in deterioration...

Loamy sand soils of the southeastern USA Coastal Plains often have poor physical properties because they contain cemented subsurface hard layers that restrict root development and yield. Their physical properties can be improved by adding amendments. Polyacrylamide (PAM) amendments and/or organic matter (OM) in the form of ground wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) stubble or pecan (Carya illinoensis)...

Biochar additions to degraded soils have the potential to improve crop yield and soil quality. We hypothesize that the biochar production process can be tailored to form designer biochars that have specific chemical characteristics matched to selective chemical and/or physical issues of a degraded soil. We produced biochars from peanut hulls, pecan shells, poultry litter, and switchgrass at tem...