The results of a study on the spatial distribution of arsenic in topsoil (0-5 cm) over the K. Mitrovica region, Kosovo, are reported. The investigated region (300 km(2)) was covered by a sampling grid of 1.4 km × 1.4 km. In total, 159 soil samples were collected from 149 locations. Inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) was applied for the determination of arsenic levels. It was ...

Freshwater resources are scarce in desert regions. Highly saline groundwater of different salinity is being used to drip irrigate the Taklimakan Desert Highway Shelterbelt with a double-branch-pipe system controlling the irrigation cycles. In this study, to evaluate the dynamics of soil moisture and salinity under the current irrigation system, soil samples were collected to a 2-m depth in the ...

Concentrations of Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn in the top-(0-10 cm) and sub-surface (10-20 cm) soils of the Talcahuano urban area were measured. The main soil properties (organic matter, CaCO3, pH, particle sizes) were determined for a network of representative sampling sites. The mean Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn contents in the urban topsoil samples from Talcahuano (37.8, 22.6, 35.2, 333 mg kg(-1), respectiv...

Xuancheng City is the dominant tobacco-planting area of Anhui province due to the high quality of the tobacco leaves. However, the potassium content in the tobacco leaves shows a gradual decreasing trend in recent years, which may be attributed partly to the possible low potassium content in topsoil of tobacco-planting farmland. Therefore, the content data in the year of 20052007 of rapidly ava...

Soil classification systems organize soil variability into useful groupings that can be identified by field investigation and documented in soil survey, and form the basis for the exchange and extension of soil science research and soil resources management. Fuzzy clustering analysis may be used whenever a composite classification of soil incorporates multiple parameters. In this paper, seventy...

Trace metals like copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) are added to animal feed as dietary supplements, and trace metals not assimilated by the animals gut are excreted in manure. The accumulation and movement of Cu and Zn in soils has not been as well documented when compared to nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P). In cases where plant−available Cu and Zn concentrations accumulate to phytotoxic levels, yield...

Forest topsoil supports vegetation growth and contains the majority of soil nutrients that are important indices of soil fertility and quality. Therefore, estimating forest topsoil properties, such as soil organic matter (SOM), total nitrogen (Total N), pH, litter-organic (O-A) horizon depth (Depth) and available phosphorous (AvaP), is of particular importance for forest development and managem...

Short-rotation intensive cultures (SRICs) of willows can potentially sequester carbon (C) in soil. However, there is limited information regarding the factors governing soil organic C (Corg) accumulation following afforestation. The objectives of this study were to: (i) determine whether willow leads to Corg accumulation in the topsoil (0–10 cm) two to six years after establishment in five SRIC...

Experiments were conducted between 2003 and 2008 to examine how N additions influence soil organic C (SOC) and its fractions in forests at different succession stages in the subtropical China. The succession stages included pine forest, pine and broadleaf mixed forest, and oldgrowth monsoon evergreen broadleaf forest. Three levels of N (NH4NO3)-addition treatments comprising control, low-N (50 ...

Availability and leaching of dissolved inorganic N (DIN = NH4 + NO3) in soil were measured in a periodically flooded forest of the Central Amazon floodplain (v rzea) during one terrestrial phase. Special emphasis was on the effects of a legume and a nonlegume tree species. NH4-N accounted for more than 85% of DIN even at the end of the terrestrial phase although it decreased throughout the expe...