Improving soil-water relations by amending soil with biochar might play a significant role in increasing water availability for agricultural crops as well decreasing loss through drainage or runoff. While the effects of on hydrological properties coarse-textured soils are generally positive and well-documented literature, studies fine-textured rather scarce even contradictory. Therefore, aim th...

A recent trial found that the presence of coarse soil in fine soil increased nutrient uptake by two plant species (Smaill et al., 2014). To determine if the additional nutrient uptake was derived directly from the coarse soil, the changes in coarse soil nutrient stocks were assessed. In most cases nutrient stocks increased, despite being associated with greater plant nutrient uptake. This sugge...

a r t i c l e i n f o Lamellae are thin, often discontinuous layers of clay-enriched material that are associated with iron oxides and may occur in Alfisols, Ultisols, Mollisols, Entisols, Inceptisols, or Spodosols. Our analysis of the SSURGO database revealed that there are 118 soil series with lamellae that represent six orders, 14 suborders, and 25 great groups, and 25 subgroups. In Soil Tax...

Soil quality is a concept based on the premise that management can deteriorate, stabilize, or improve soil ecosystem functions. It is hypothesized that the degree of stratification of soil organic C and N pools with soil depth, expressed as a ratio, could indicate soil quality or soil ecosystem functioning, because surface organic matter is essential to erosion control, water infiltration, and ...

Abstract Biochar is a widely known soil amendment. Here we synthesize the available information on influence of biochar application different properties and crop productivity using meta-analysis. Global data applications physical, chemical, microbial properties, were extracted from literature statistically analyzed. Based selection criteria, 59 studies published between 2012 2021 selected for C...

Saturated hydraulic conductivities of Varempere series soils (plinthaqualf) located in the sudan savannah zone of Ghana were measured by the falling head method and compared with values estimated by the texture-based equation of Rawls et al. (1982). The comparisons indicated that saturated hydraulic conductivity values estimated using the texture-based equation could predict those measured with...

Soil degradation is one of the greatest environmental issues our planet faces today, with over 33% Earth's soils currently degraded. Drylands are especially vulnerable to soil given their history intensive land use and desertification. Active restoration has been identified as a leading strategy combat promote ecosystem recovery. However, soil-based dryland techniques have shown varying success...

There is considerable disagreement as to whether or not water is equally available to plants in drying soil over the entire range from field capacity to wilting percentage. Some workers have repeatedly stated that water is equally available over this range (5, 18, 23, 24) while considerable data have accumulated which indicate that physiological processes in plants are altered as a result of de...