Farmers have a far reaching impact in influencing the progress that is made in the sustainable management of New Zealand’s natural resources. While some advocates are ready and willing to prescribe apparently “more appropriate” behaviour, the contribution to sustainability can be questioned. There is considerable evidence that there is a complex interaction between farmers’ knowledge, attitude ...

The effect of felling on stream nitrate, ammonium and soluble reactive phosphate (SRP) concentrations is examined for acidic and acid sensitive Sitka Spruce afforested catchments with podzolic and gley soils in mid-Wales. For the streams draining the felled podzolic areas, the concentrations of nitrate can be up to an order of magnitude higher than pre-fell values and post-fell concentrations c...

The d18O values of pedogenic calcites, phyllosilicates, and iron (oxyhydr)oxides from fossil soils throughout the southwestern United States show systematic paleolatitudinal and temporal trends that indicate a significant change in soil moisture conditions and atmospheric circulation patterns over southwestern Euramerica throughout latest Pennsylvanian and Early Permian time. A progressive depl...

Measurements of real (ε′) and imaginary (ε’’) parts of the complex dielectric constant (ε*) of soil with varied moisture content have been made at 9.44 GHz using infinite sample method. The electrical properties of dry soil samples are found to be in good agreement with the earlier work. The values of ε′ and ε′′ first increase slowly and then increase rapidly with moisture content. From this da...

Measurements of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) in the field are costly, time-consuming, and relatively cumbersome, chiefly as hydraulic conductivity exhibits a large spatial variability, so that it becomes difficult to find accurate representative values to correctly predict soil-water flow and design irrigation and drainage systems. Ks was measured in seven different soils in Egypt to e...

Economic feasibility of soil moisture conservation in coconut production using coconut husks and coir dust was examined in this study. The preliminary data for the study were collected from two trials conducted by the CRI along with several other secondary information. The results of the analysis' revealed that calculated Benefit-Cost ratios and Net Present Values are financially and economical...

Knowledge of the rate at which the compression of the soil layer takes place is essential from design considerations. This can be achieved by determining the value of the coefficient of consolidation, cv . To obtain cv , it is essential to conduct a routine one-dimensional consolidation test. With the obtained time-compression data, and using any one of the several available curve-fitting proce...

In the mountains of northern Spain, patches dominated by Calluna vulgaris are scarce and they may disappear or change as a result of continued lack of management and possibly increasing nutrient availability through atmospheric deposition. The effects in the soil properties and in the composition of Calluna vulgaris and Erica tetralix shoots on heathlands dominated by Calluna and Erica subjecte...

Decontamination and decommissioning (D & D) requires the characterization of large surface areas such as soils, walls, and floors. To address the identification and quantification of radioactive material in these problematic surroundings, a portable high-resolution gamma-spectrometry system has been developed. The system was tested using the calibrated concrete slabs at Grand Junction, Colorado...

The impact of acid deposition and tree harvesting on three lakes and their representative sub-catchments in the Muskoka-Haliburton region of south-central Ontario was assessed using a critical loads approach. As nitrogen dynamics in forest soils are complex and poorly understood, for simplicity and to allow comparison among lakes and their catchments, CLs (A) for both lakes and forest soils wer...