Large parts of Iran have arid and semiarid regions and one of the important problems of these regions is soil and water salinity. Also heavy metal enters in the soil through the various ways such as: sewage sludge and pesticides. As a result salinity and heavy metals concentration in soil are two major problems in parts of arid and semiarid regions. The aim of this research was studying the eff...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Increasing soil salinity poses a major plant stress in agro-ecosystems worldwide. Surprisingly little is known about the quantitative effect of elevated salinity on secondary metabolism in many agricultural crops. Such salt-mediated changes in defence-associated compounds may significantly alter the quality of food and forage plants as well as their resistance against pests....

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) on the antioxidant status, photosynthesis, mineral content and growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) under different soil salinity conditions. Increasing salinity in the soil decreased plant growth, photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, chlorophyll content, and mineral uptake compared to soil wi...

Top-down control of prey by predators are magnified in productive ecosystems due to higher sustenance of prey communities. In soil micro-arthropod food webs, plant communities regulate the availability of basal resources like soil microbial biomass. Mixed plant communities are often associated with higher microbial biomass than monocultures. Therefore, top-down control is expected to be higher ...

We measured CH4 fluxes from three major plant communities characteristic of alpine tundra in the Colorado Front Range. Plant communities in this ecosystem are determined by soil moisture regimes induced by winter snowpack distribution. Spatial patterns of CH4 flux during the snow-free season corresponded roughly with these plant communities. In Carex-dominated meadows, which receive the most mo...

Objective: To highlight the need and the potential for an integrated understanding of three key soil-based drivers of plant community structure and dynamics – soil fertility, soil heterogeneity, and microbes. Location: European and North American grasslands. Methods: Review and discussion of conceptual models and empirical literature, including examples of observational and manipulative studies...

Soil salinity is considered as one of the major challenges in coastal agriculture in Bangladesh yet geographical extent of soil salinity and nutrients status have received little or no attention. This study investigated the patterns of soil salinity, total nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium and sulfur between agricultural and fallow land along a 90 km distance from the coastline in Noakhali, Bang...

Three hypotheses were tested relating to Wyoming big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata Nutt. ssp. wyomingensis (Beetle and Young) revegetation on coal-mined land in Wyoming: (1) that fourwing saltbush (Atriplex canescens (Pursh) Nutt.) seeded > 2.2 kg pure live seed (pls)/ha would exclude sagebrush, (2) the contrasting view that the saltbush, as a "pioneer plant", facilitated sagebrush stand deve...

Molecular analysis of grassland rhizosphere soil has demonstrated complex and diverse bacterial communities, with resultant difficulties in detecting links between plant and bacterial communities. These studies have, however, analyzed "bulk" rhizosphere soil, rather than rhizoplane communities, which interact most closely with plants through utilization of root exudates. The aim of this study w...

High temperatures and water scarcity are among the main obstacles to producing fodder in arid regions. Saltbush shrubs used for livestock many regions, especially saline conditions, due their high salt tolerance. The produced forage materials under these conditions often low quantity quality. This article presents field studies that were conducted two growing seasons evaluate yield quality of r...