Tritium Concentrations in Pine Needle, Litter and Soil Samples.

Tritium deposition in pine trees and soil from atmospheric releases of molecular tritium.

Soil seed bank and the effect of needle litter layer on seedling emergence in a tropical pine plantation.

The soil seed bank is the basis for community establishment and permanence and plays a primary role in natural restoration of degraded or altered ecosystems. As part of a restoration project, this study aimed to quantify the soil seed bank and to evaluate the effect of the needle litter layer on seedling emergence. Soil samples from a pine plantation were collected at random in the field and se...

Cesium-137 activity concentrations in soil and brick samples of Mirpur, Azad Kashmir Pakistan

Background: The aim of this study was to measure137Cs levels in soil and brick samples to set the baseline data and an indicator of fallout radioactivity for this part of the world. This study will help to probe, if there is any health threat posed by 137Cs exposure to the residents of the area. Materials and Methods: Twenty five samples of soil and 6 samples of bricks were collected from diffe...

Predicting Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Concentrations in Soil and Water Samples

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are compounds found in the environment that can be harmful to humans. They are typically formed due to incomplete combustion and as such remain after burning coal, oil, petrol, diesel, wood, household waste and so forth. Testing laboratories routinely screen soil and water samples taken from potentially contaminated sites for PAHs using Gas Chromatography...

Food resources and diets of soil animals in a small area of Scots pine litter

The fauna inhabiting a small area (ca. 5 cm  5 cm) were investigated in a Scots pine stand. After microstratification of the litter layers in the field and fixation in 95% ethyl alcohol, invertebrates, mainly mesofauna, were sorted under a dissecting microscope and mounted or dissected in order to study their intestinal guts. Faeces were mounted or sectioned to obtain information about the act...