Cele Oasis on the southern edge of Tarim Basin was used to investigate the impact of human activity on the soil environment of the oasis–desert ecotone during the oasis expansion process. Since farmland is extending into the oasis–desert ecotone during oasis expansion, reclaimed farmland and control plots within the ecotone were investigated. The variations in soil moisture, soil nutrients and ...

Ecologists have long classified Midwestern prairies based on compositional variation assumed to reflect local gradients in moisture availability. The best known classification is based on Curtis' continuum index (CI), calculated using the presence of indicator species thought centered on different portions of an underlying moisture gradient. Direct evidence of the extent to which CI reflects di...

Cut slopes are frequently generated by construction work in hilly areas, and artificial soil is often sprayed onto them to promote ecological rehabilitation. The artificial soil properties are very important for effective management of the slopes. This paper uses fractal and moment methods to characterize soil particle size distribution (PSD) and aggregates composition. The fractal dimension (D...

Adoption of new management techniques that improve soil water storage and soil N plant availability yet limit N leaching may help improve environmental quality. A benchtop study was conducted to determine the influence of a single urea fertilizer rate (224 kg N ha) applied with band or fully mixed zeolite (clinoptilolite) application rates (up to 90 Mg ha) on NH4-N and NO3-N concentrations in a...

Soil analyses and measurements with the Portable In Situ Wind Erosion Laboratory (PI-SWERL) were conducted on 16 soil types in an area heavily affected by off-road vehicle (ORV) driving. Measurements were performed in ORV trails as well as on undisturbed terrain to investigate how ORV driving affects the vulnerability of a soil to emit PM10 (particles<10microm), during the driving as well as du...

increased soil dryness of hillsides and lands around the gully causes the aggravation of the gully erosion which leads to the desertion of the environment. soil moisture contents are various in different soil depths, gully positions, and in various land uses. these are fundamental for ecosystem sustainability in arid and semi-arid area. therefore, understanding the behavior of soil moisture in ...