Principal components analysis (PCA) and correlation analysis were used to estimate the contribution of four components related to pollutant sources on the total variation in concentrations of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd, As, Se, Hg, Fe and Mn in surface soil samples from a valley in east China with numerous copper and zinc smelters. Results indicate that when carrying out source identification of inorganic ...

Mechanistic exploration of the origins of the unparalleled soil microbial biodiversity represents a vast and uncharted scientific frontier. Quantification of candidate mechanisms that promote and sustain such diversity must be linked with microbial functions and measurable biophysical interactions at appropriate scales. We report a novel microbial coexistence index (CI) that links macroscopic s...

Water conservation is a priority in San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, and other major Texas cities that routinely face water shortages and drought. Soil management is fundamental to water conservation efforts. Incorporation of composted biosolids (CB) in low quality soils can enhance water conservation and provide organic carbon and nutrients that improve growth of vegetation and limit sediment loss...

Recommendation, as we use the word here, means advice from a soil or crop specialist to those deciding how much of, what form of, and when to apply a fertilizer to a soil to benefit growth of a plant or crop. Recommendations of fertilizers and soil amendments must consider the interactions of all the factors discussed in this manual, including the soil, the crop, the climate, the beneficial eff...

to use remote sensing data effectively, one must understand the spectral characteristics of the particular features under investigations. to study the relationship between soil salinity and soil reflectance, four multispectral scanners (mss) and seven thematic mappers (tm bands) over the ardakan playa located on the central iranian desert margins were selected. in this study soil map, soil ...

Organic nitrogen (ON) is the most common form of nitrogen in the soil. If this form is the most abundant then many new questions must be addressed in order to fully understand the breakdown of ON such as what organisms are incorporating the nitrogen, the rate of uptake and the effect of concentration on uptake rate. Many measurements have been made regarding the uptake rate of amino acid in soi...

Neutron induced gamma spectra analysis (NGA) provides a means of measuring carbon in large soil volumes without destructive sampling. Calibration of the NGA system must account for system background and the interference of other nuclei on the carbon peak at 4.43 MeV. Accounting for these factors produced measurements in agreement with theoretical considerations. The continuous NGA mode was twic...