introduction: among soil species earthworms are ubiquitous, abundant and important for soil processes, constituting the largest terrestrial faunal biomass and are also impacted by soil pollutants. the primary purpose of this study was to determine whether changes in earthworm biomass and behavior could serve as a good indicator for copper toxicity in soil systems. another aim of the study was t...

Long-term investigations of soil moisture at different precipitation patterns in the black soil in Hailun county, Northeast China were made. This area is an important base for marketable grains production due to a short cultivation history, high soil organic matter content, and high yield potential. In this region, precipitation is the principal water source during the cropping season, hence so...

Management and irrigation of plants increasingly relies on accurate mathematical models for the movement of water within unsaturated soils. Current models often use values for water content and soil parameters that are averaged over the soil profile. However, many applications require models to more accurately represent the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum, in particular, water movement and satu...

Seasonal cracking of the soil matrix results in poor estimates of runoff and infiltration by simulation models due to the changing soil storage conditions. In this study, soil surface elevation changes were measured every two weeks and soil crack volume was calculated for a two-year period at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Riesel Y-2 watershed in central Texas. Soil anchors were placed...

The use of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining wall has gained popularity as an alternative of conventional cast in place concrete walls. The construction of mechanically stabilized earth wall is cost effective, requires less site preparation and technically more feasible compared to conventional concrete retaining wall. However, use of backfill with high fine content and their poor d...

Field weathering of spent mushroom substrate (SMS) produces soluble compost leachate that percolates into underlying soils and may adversely impact groundwater. Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate movement and retention of SMS leachate solutes in subsurface soil columns. Spent mushroom substrate leachate with high concentrations of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and inorganic s...