The yield of rainfed crops is commonly limited by the availability of soil water during the summer growing season. Channels produced by cover crop roots in fall/winter when soils are relatively moist may facilitate the penetration of compacted soils by subsequent crop roots in summer when soils are relatively dry and hard. Our objective was to determine the effects of fall cover crops on maize ...

Corn (Zea mays L.) grown on sandy Atlantic Coastal Plain soils is often unresponsive to applications of K fertilizer. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the response of irrigated, intensively managed corn to K applications, and to monitor changes in soil K status. Field studies were conducted for 3 yr at four sites on the Delaware Coastal Plain. Treatments consisted of 0, 94, or 2...

In sandy soils of the southeastern USA coastal plains, crop production is limited by low water holding capacity and compacted soil layers that reduce root growth and productivity. Polyacrylamide (PAM) was added to sandy coastal plain soils to improve physical properties and yield. Soils were amended with linear and cross-linked PAMs. Treatments and controls included the following: (1) spraying ...

Wetlands, and specially salt marshes, represent the final stage of the filling of depressions, embayments, levelling of marine delta plains and other depositional environments. Due to their origin, they are porous media, with high permeability, permanently flooded, or with very shallow oscillating groundwater table. They are rich in wildlife and among the most primary producers environments in ...

Mercury is one of the most toxic and hazardous pollutant which occurs in the environment in different chemical forms, of which methylmercury is the most dangerous. Recently it was recognised that long-term anthropogenic inputs of mercury into environment resulted in the global mercury pollution and it was concluded that action should be taken to quantify the pollution sources and reduce human-g...

The sandy barrier islands of Cape Hatteras National Seashore, USA, attract large seasonal influxes of tourists, and are host to numerous motels, rentals and second homes. To investigate the impacts of nearby urbanization on public trust waters, sampling was conducted in nine brackish water bodies within this coastal national park. A large tidal urban ditch delivered runoff-driven fecal-contamin...

To meet the increasing demand for wood and wood products, the Southern Hardwoods Laboratory is investigating silvicultural techniques such as fertilization. Sweetgum, water oak, and willow oak have responded to N and NPK on clay soils of the Mississippi River floodplain. Yellow-poplar growth has been improved by NPK fertilizers on eroded sites in the Silty Uplands, and in the greenhouse sycamor...

Recently an examination of the north-east coastal zone of Tasmania was made by means of some fourteen traverses across the area. These traverses were made following a detailed investigation of the soils and vegetation of approximately 7500 acres at Curries River and Stony Head some six to nine miles from Lefroy. This survey was und~rtaken at the request of the Department of Agriculture of Tasma...

A recent increase in sea temperature has established a new ecosystem dynamic regime in the North Sea. Climate-induced changes in decapods have played an important role. Here, we reveal a coincident increase in the abundance of swimming crabs and lesser black-backed gull colonies in the North Sea, both in time and in space. Swimming crabs are an important food source for lesser black-backed gull...