Minable rock phosphate is a finite resource. Replacing mineral phosphorus (P) fertilizer with P-rich secondary resources is one way to manage P more efficiently, but the importance of physicochemical and microbial soil processes induced by secondary resources for plant P uptake is still poorly understood. Using radioactive-labeling techniques, the fertilization effects of dairy manure, fish slu...

Soil quality is an evolving concept intended to aid farmers, land managers, researchers, public decisionmakers, and others in the management of soil resources. The central question of soil quality assessment is “how does a soil function?” and a variety of physical, chemical, and biological indicators can be used to address it. This question, however, is complicated by the interdependencies betw...

The present article is dedicated to the generalization of data obtained in the framework of the preparation of Armenian portion of European Soil Database. Briefly described geography of Armenia. Great variability of soil variants represented in Armenia is recorded. It is shown that nearly all zonal soil types those are developed not only in the region of Little Caucasus and the Armenian Volcani...

Soil productivity effects nutritive quality of food plants, growth of humans and animals, and reproductive health of domestic animals. Game-range surveys sometimes poorly explained variations in wildlife populations, but classification of survey data by major soil types improved effectiveness. Our study evaluates possible health effects of lower condition and reproductive rates for wild populat...

The nation’s strength, be it social, economic or political depends mostly on the available resources and their proper utilisation. But what is a resource? In simpler terms, resource is the matter or substance which satisfies human wants at a given time and space. Before any element can be designated as resource three basic pre-conditions must be satisfied. They are the knowledge, technical skil...

Gypsic and petrogypsic horizons occur in large areas of arid and semi-arid regions of the world. The occurrence of gypsum in soils is considered a key feature by most soil classification and mapping systems, that have coined specific names for these soils and horizons. However, the current methodology for description and definition of gypsic and petrogypsic horizons in the two most popular soil...

The microbial diversity in soil ecosystems is higher than in any other microbial ecosystem. The majority of soil microorganisms has not been characterized, because the dominant members have not been readily culturable on standard cultivation media; therefore, the soil ecosystem is a great reservoir for the discovery of novel microbial enzymes and bioactivities. The soil metagenome, the collecti...

Soil classifiers have taken their lead from biologists but have not produced an internationally accepted system even though the WRB is supported by the IUSS. More recently Mazaheri et al. (1995a, 1995b) have tried to introduce Fuzzy logic into soil classification. They achieved a small amount of success when their technique was applied to selected soils in Australia but failed when applied to o...