High numbers of mycobacteria, including known pathogenic species such as Mycobacterium avium, Mycobacterium intracellulare, and Mycobacterium chelonae, were recovered from aerosols produced by pouring commercial potting soil products and potting soil samples provided by patients with pulmonary mycobacterial infections. The dominant mycobacteria in the soil samples corresponded to the dominant s...

We tested for soil substrate effects on the movement and infectivity of naturally co-occurring entomopathogenic nematodes Steinernema feltiae and Heterorhabditis marelatus, alone and in combination. We manipulated the presence and bulk density of soil and added Galleria mellonella baits within capped and perforated 15mL centrifuge tubes. Sampling tubes were then deployed in situ into field and ...

Temperate and dry deciduous forest covers major portion of terrestrial ecosystem in India. The two forest types with different dominant tree species differ in litter quality and root exudates, thereby exerting species-specific impact on soil properties and microbial activity. This study aims to examine the influence of forest type or dominant tree species on soil physico-chemical properties and...

In the present work, the effect of Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) in low frequency structures resting on loose soil, through numerical modelling and shaking table tests have been studied. In theoretical studies two types of models namely fixed base and flexible base structure were subjected to three selected earthquake records. Nonlinear dynamic analysis was employed for all of the numerical ...

BACKGROUND Previous studies have shown that plants often have species-specific effects on soil properties. In high elevation forests in the Southern Rocky Mountains, North America, areas that are dominated by a single tree species are often adjacent to areas dominated by another tree species. Here, we assessed soil properties beneath adjacent stands of trembling aspen, lodgepole pine, and Engel...

We investigated how group members achieve collective decision-making, by considering individual intrinsic behavioural rules and behavioural mechanisms for maintaining social integration. Using a simulated burrow environment, we investigated the behavioural rules of coordinated workload for soil distribution in a eusocial mammal, the naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber). We tested two predicti...

We investigated the hydrologic, geochemical, and biogeochemical controls on stream chemical composition on the Green Lakes Valley and Andrews Creek watersheds using the alpine hydrochemical model (AHM). Both sites had comparable data sets from 1994 and 1996, including high-resolution spatial data and high-frequency time series of hydrology, geochemistry, and meteorology. The model of each water...

Previous studies have revealed inconsistent correlations between fungal diversity and plant/soil properties from local to global scales. Here, we investigated the internal relationships between soil fungal diversity and plant/soil properties on the Loess Plateau following vegetation restoration, using Illumina sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) region for fungal identificati...

A culture-independent survey was performed to search for 16S rRNA gene sequences representing dominant and metabolically active bacteria in rhizosphere soil. PCR- and reverse transcription-PCR-derived clone libraries were constructed from DNA and RNA directly extracted from the soil sample. Acidobacteria-related sequences occupied an unusually large proportion (>50%) of both rDNA- and rRNA-deri...

In order to evaluate the effects of parent material on clay mineralogy in northface of the Elborz mountain area that is covered with deciduous trees, five mountain physiographical units with dolomite, sandstone, marl, limestone and conglomera parent material were selected and in each physiographical unit some soil profiles were studied. Soil samples were taken from different horizons and leyers...