Morphological and physiological characteristics of biological soil crusts (BSCs) enhance soil stability and fertility, and influence soil chemistry. However, the effect of BSCs on soil physico-chemical properties may vary depending on taxa (cyanobacteria, lichen, bryophytes) and species, and be susceptible to soil surface disturbance. We examined a wide variety of soil physico-chemical properti...

A study was conducted to determine the impacts of soil disturbance and compaction on soil physical properties and tree growth and the effectiveness of tillage in maintaining or enhancing site productivity for intensively managed Pinus kesiya Royle ex Gordon sites in Dedza, Malawi. The results indicate that about fifty-two percent of the area of compacted plots was affected by the vehicular traf...

Characterized by expensive housing, high socioeconomic status, and topographic relief, Upper Sonoran Lifestyle communities are found primarily along the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) in the Phoenix, Arizona metro area. Communities like these sprawl into the wildlands in the United States Southwest, creating a distinct urban fringe. This article, through locational comparison, introduces and ev...

performance optimization of chisel tine was proposed by using a chisel plow with adjustable rake angle. effective treatments consisted of soil moisture at 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9 of plastic limit (pl), three rake angle of 30, 40 and 50 degree and speeds of to 3, 5 and 7 km h-1. the measured parameters included draft, soil disturbance area, soil upheaving area, clod mean weight diameter (mwd), specific...

harvesting of timber using ground based machinery is still a common practice around the world. track and road building, and movement of machinery during harvesting operations cause soil disturbance. therefore the aim of this study was to investigate the change in soil properties after logging operation on skid trails (2 years and 7 years after logging) and compare disturbed soil properties with...

We compared the pore morphology of an arid lands vesicular soil horizon in a disturbed and undisturbed state. This surface vesicular horizon is characterized by non-connected pores that hinder soil water infiltration and thus plays a central role in arid ecosystem hydrodynamics. Disturbance is hypothesized to result in a change in pore morphology that could alter water movement through the hori...

Tree vegetation and size structure was sampled in a miombo woodland area in E Tanzania and related to environmental factors, particularly soil and disturbance history. A total of 86 tree species was found. Four plant communities were distinguished through multivariate classification. Community 1 was dominated by Brachystegia boehmii, Brachystegia bussei and Julbernardia globiflora, and communit...

To provide more insights into the responses of the soil seed bank and vegetation to human disturbance intensity, we selected four land use types, including: native grassland (no human disturbance), abandoned artificial grassland (light human disturbance), artificial grassland (moderate human disturbance), and farmland (severe human disturbance) in a semi-arid climate of northern China. The spec...

In boreal forests, fire is an important part of the ecosystem that greatly influences soil respiration, which in turn affects the carbon balance. Wildfire can have a significant effect on soil respiration and it depends on the fire severity and environmental factors (soil temperature and snow water equivalent) after fire disturbance. In this study, we quantified post-fire soil respiration durin...

Soil disturbance patterns and associated changes in soil physical status were measured in a study that evaluated the implementation of three alternative management prescriptions in an upland hardwood stand in northern Alabama, USA. Management prescriptions applied in this study consisted of a clear-cut, strip cut, and deferment cut that were compared to a non-harvested control. Final tabulation...