Precipitation is a well known phenomenon. If the pH of it is less than 5.6 precipitations are considered as acidic else it is alkaline. Basically soil is alkaline in nature. Recently man’s activities have increased emissions of oxides of nitrogen and sulphur results in increase in acidity of atmosphere. When these gases react with different elements in the atmosphere the acids are re-introduced...

The majority of termite species do not feed on wood, but have a humivorous mode of nutrition. However, the exact nature of the carbon and energy source of soil-feeding termites, and also the role of the extreme alkalinity in their anterior hindguts are still unknown. Using soil-feeding Cubitermes species and high-pressure gel-permeation chromatography, we found a signi®cant shift toward lower m...

Iron is an essential nutrient for all plants. However, terrestrial plants often suffer from iron deficiency in alkaline soil due to its extremely low solubility. Alkaline soil accounts for about 30% of all cultivated ground in the world. Plants have evolved two distinct strategies, I and II, for iron uptake from the soil. Dicots and non-graminaceous monocots use Strategy I, which is primarily b...

soil enzyme activities can be used as indicators of soil quality for assessing the sustainability of agricultural ecosystems. the objective of this study was to determine the effects of barley residue input rate, burning, urea fertilizer and tillage management on activities of alkaline phosphatase and urease under field conditions, after a period of 90 days. the experiment was carried out based...

The response of soil properties to vegetation types is still not well understood and the relationship between vegetation types and soil properties has not been quantified in highland grasslands. A field experiment was conducted in highland grassland of the Loess Plateau in China to study the distribution of soil properties under different vegetation. 22 plant communities totaling 17 species tha...

Salt-alkaline stress generally leads to soil compaction and fertility decline. It also restricts rice growth and phosphorus acquisition. In this pot experiment, two relatively salt-alkaline tolerant (Dongdao-4 and Changbai-9) and sensitive (Changbai-25 and Tongyu-315) rice genotypes were planted in sandy (control) and salt-alkaline soil to evaluate the characteristics of dry matter and phosphor...

Four types of soil (red, yellow, cinnamon, and paddy soil) from China were used to conduct experiments in pots to study the influence of humic acid (humic acid (HA) and fulvic acid (FA)) on the accumulation of lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) in tobacco leaves. In non-polluted soils, the tobacco leaf uptake of Cd was dramatically influenced by the total soil metal concentration and soil properties, w...

The Songnen Plain of the Northeast China is one of the three largest soda saline-alkali regions worldwide. To better understand soil alkalinization and salinization in this important agricultural region, it is vital to explore the distribution and variation of soil alkalinity and salinity in space and time. This study examined soil properties and identified the variables to extract soil alkalin...

SUMMARY The impact of a Pseudomonas fluorescens strain, genetically modified for kanamycin resistance and lactose utilisation (the GMM), could be enhanced by soil amendment with lactose and kanamycin. Lactose addition decreased the shoot to root ratio of pea, and both soil amendments increased the populations of total culturable bacteria and the inoculated GMM. Only kanamycin perturbed the bact...