The soil water supply is the main factor that limits dryland crop production in China. In a three-year field experiment at a dryland farming experimental station, we evaluated the effects of various straw mulch practices on soil water storage, grain yield, and water use efficiency (WUE) of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum). Field experiments were conducted with six different mulch combinations (...

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important component of the global carbon cycle yet is rarely quantified adequately in terms of its spatial variability resulting from losses of SOC due to erosion by water. Furthermore, in drylands, little is known about the effect of widespread vegetation change on changes in SOC stores and the potential for water erosion to redistribute SOC around the landscape...

[1] The fluxes and pools of total mercury (THg) and methyl mercury (MeHg) were evaluated for two northern temperate forest wetlands: an abandoned beaver meadow and a riparian wetland. Mass balance calculations reveal that the wetlands are net sources of THg and MeHg, although, the magnitude of the source is a function of wetland connectivity to stream water. The volatilization rate of elemental...

15 Soil moisture variability and the depth of water stored in the arable layer of the soil are 16 important topics in agricultural research and rangeland management. In this study we use the 17 Distributed Rainfall-Runoff (DR2) model to perform a detailed mapping of topsoil moisture 18 status (SMS) in a mountain Mediterranean catchment. This model, previously tested in the 19 same study area ag...

The relationship between actual (Eact) and potential (Ep) transpiration above a grass-covered forest clearing was investigated numerically and experimentally from simultaneous measurements of soil moisture content pro®les, mean meteorological conditions, turbulent heat and water vapor ̄uxes in the atmospheric surface layer, and soil hydraulic properties for two drying periods. The relationship ...

Most of the world's grasslands are managed for livestock production. A critical component of the long-term sustainability and profitability of rangelands (e.g., grazed grassland ecosystems) is the maintenance of plant production. Amending grassland soils with organic waste has been proposed as a means to increase net primary productivity (NPP) and ecosystem carbon (C) storage, while mitigating ...

International programmes such as EUROFLUX focus on the analysis of long-term fluxes and energy budgets in the biosphere. Reliable estimates of hourly energy budgets require an accurate estimation of soil heat flux, that is often non-negligible even in a forest, and can be predominant during the night. Over long periods of time such as one to several months, its contribution can also be signific...

 The factors that determine the success of the crop is water content in the soil profile explored by the roots, where soil and management condition affect the storage and availability. Because of the sites defined by the altimetry and crops predecessors affect the behavior of water content stored in the soil available for plants.  The aim of this work was to analyze the relationship between d...

this experiment was conducted for estimating the effect of row spacing and plant density on soil moisture change, wheat yield and water use efficiency in rainfed condition, using a three replicated randomized complete block design with factorial arrangement at gorgan university of agricultural sciences and natural resources farm in anbare-ololum region in 2008-2009. the treatments that used wer...