In the present paper the yield and soil spatial variability in an apple orchard was studied. Apples were collected manually and placed in plastic bins along the tree rows. Yield per ten trees was weighted and the geographical position in the centre of the ten trees was recorded, using a GPS, in order to create the yield map. The orchard was divided in management zones with the Management Zone A...

Organic matter (OM)-mineral complexation plays a critical role in soil carbon (C) stabilization. However, direct investigations of organo-mineral associations have been hampered by a lack of methods that can simultaneously characterize soil organic matter and soil minerals. We have applied scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM), combined with near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NE...

The spatial heterogeneity of soil and weed populations poses a challenge to researchers. Unlike aboveground variability, below-ground variability is more difficult to discern without a strategic soil sampling pattern. While blocking is commonly used to control environmental variation, this strategy is rarely informed by data about current soil conditions. Fifty georeferenced sites were located ...

Adsorption-desorption studies of norflurazon on 17 soils of very different characteristics have been performed using a batch equilibration method and correlated to its mobility, activity, and persistence in soils. The influence of different soil properties and components on norflurazon adsorption was determined. The significant variables were organic matter (OM) content and iron and aluminum ox...

Histosols (also known as organic soils, mucks, or peats) are soils that are dominated by organic matter (OM > 20%) in half or more of the upper 80 cm. Forty two states have a total of 21 million ha of Histosols in the United States. These soils, when intensively cropped, are subject to wind erosion resulting in loss of crop productivity and degradation of soil, air, and water quality. Estimatin...

Current ruminant feeding systems depend on knowledge of the composition of feeds and the rate and extent of degradation of feed organic matter (OM) and crude protein (CP) in the rumen. The effect of storage and preparation of samples on in vitro gas production and fermentation characteristics of two common forage species, namely alfalfa and ryegrass werestudied. Samples were prepared as fresh (...

soil erosion is an abstruse phenomenon which contains segregation and transmission of soil particles and runoff from rainfall and infiltration. runoff and sediment generation was compared using rainfall simulator in grassland (st. parviflora-br. tomentellus) and shrubland (as. parrowianus-as. gossipinus). for this purpose, vegetation map was supplied for two vegetation types four main aspects a...

Loamy sand soils of the southeastern USA Coastal Plains often have poor physical properties because they contain cemented subsurface hard layers that restrict root development and yield. Their physical properties can be improved by adding amendments. Polyacrylamide (PAM) amendments and/or organic matter (OM) in the form of ground wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) stubble or pecan (Carya illinoensis)...

Sorption of atrazine on soils subjected to three different organic amendments was measured using a batch equilibrium technique. A higher K(F) value (2.20 kg(-1)(mg L(-1))(-N)) was obtained for soil fertilized with compost, which had a higher organic matter (OM) content. A correlation between the K(FOC) values and the percentage of aromatic carbon in OM was observed. The highest K(FOC) value was...