Re-vegetation is an important practice for eco-environmental rebuilding of degraded environments. Accordingly, re-vegetation has been widely used to reduce erosion and protect soils against degradation in the Loess Plateau. However, little research has been conducted to study the effects of long-term re-vegetation on soil properties, which is essential to reveal corresponding changes in soil qu...

Do extended crop rotations that include forages improve soil quality and are they profitable? Our objectives were to determine (i) how crop rotation affected soil quality indicators, (ii) if those indicator changes were reflected in soil quality index (SQI) ratings when scored and combined using the Soil Management Assessment Framework, and (iii) how SQI values compared with profitability. Soil...

The sperm quality index (SQI) is predictive of fresh semen quality. Our objective was to examine if semen storage affects the SQI obtained from undiluted semen, or semen diluted with either Beltsville Poultry Semen Extender (BPSE) or Minimum Essential Medium (MEM) and held for 8 h at 4, 21, or 41 C. Dead o sperm percentage was higher and SQI was lower from undiluted versus diluted semen. Dead s...

The invasion of the exotic species Spartina alterniflora (S. alterniflora) has profoundly influenced coastal soil development in China. Accurate assessment and monitoring invasion-driven soils requires reliable methods to support sustainable governance ecosystems. A space-for-time substitution method a stratified random sampling strategy were utilized this study obtain data from 15 sites at thr...

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....

Previous research has shown that the sperm quality index (SQI) of rooster semen is indicative of overall semen quality. The objectives of the present experiments were to determine the correlation of the SQI with semen characteristics and fertility and to determine if selection of young males for the SQI would improve fertility. In Experiment 1 semen was collected from 35 Peterson males and was ...

A critical step in the quantification of soil quality (SQ) is the selection of SQ benchmarks. The benchmarks used in this study were SQ ratings made by 32 farmer collaborators representing a range of farming systems, scales of operation and geographic locations in the Mid-Atlantic region of USA. Soils from 45 pairs of sites identified by their farmers as having good and poor SQ were sampled ove...

Soil degradation and the use of urban biosolid wastes to soil restoration have an economic, social-environmental health impact. Therefore, there is interest worldwide in comparison methodologies establish quality indexes (SQIs) based on physical, chemical, biological indicators soils. Considering that more than 60% territory Bajío region Mexico State Guanajuato affected by some type degradation...

Executive Summary Soil quality is an account of the soil's ability to provide ecosystem and social services through its capacities to perform its functions under changing conditions (after Tóth et al. 2007.) The concept of soil quality expressed by this definition allows practical applications with regards to targeted social and/or ecosystem services, including agri-environmental services. The ...