Changes in soil chemistry due to historic large-scale disturbances, e.g. pollution inputs, storm damage, and logging, have previously been shown to cause similar changes in the nutrient concentrations found in tree rings. Repeated soil sampling in a reference watershed at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory (Otto, NC) in 1970, 1990, and 2004 showed significant decreases in cation concentrations a...

In dryland cropping systems, optimal yields require that nutrient supply matches the soil’s yield potential supported by available moisture. Conservation tillage systems that leave at least 30 percent of the soil surface covered by residue dramatically increase moisture retained in the soil compared to crop-fallow systems. This enables producers to plant two, three, or four consecutive crops, o...

Degradation of plant patches is considered as one of the indices for rangeland degrading health condition. Investigating the accuracy of triple indices (infiltration, stability and soil nutrient cycle) presented by LFA method seems necessary to determine its efficiency in semi-arid areas with the least cost. This study aims to investigate the role of vegetative species and growing forms on soil...

Biogeochemical properties, including nutrient concentrations, carbon gas fluxes, microbial biomass, and hydrolytic enzyme activities, were determined along a strong nutrient gradient in an ombrotrophic peatland in the Republic of Panama. Total phosphorus in surface peat decreased markedly along a 2.7 km transect from the marginal Raphia taedigera swamp to the interior sawgrass swamp, with simil...

One of the potential environmental effects of the recent rapid increase in the global agricultural area cultivated with transgenic crops is a change in soil microbially mediated processes and functions. Among the many essential functions of soil biota are soil organic matter decomposition, nutrient mineralization and immobilization, oxidation-reduction reactions, biological N fixation, and solu...

A considerable proportion of the arable land cropped with pearl millet in northern Nigeria is affected by salt concentration. Pot experiments were conducted at Maiduguri in Sudan savanna to determine the influence of NaCl concentration on growth and nutrient content of pearl millet. The treatments comprised of three NaCl concentrations: 0.0, 1.4336 and 2.1504g/kg of soil and five pearl millet v...

The zinc (Zn) supply increases the fruit yield of Citrus trees that are grown, especially in the highly weathered soils of the tropics due to the inherently low nutrient availability in the soil solution. Leaf sprays containing micronutrients are commonly applied to orchards, even though the nutrient supply via soil could be of practical value. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Zn fert...

The application of fractal geometry to describe soil structure is an increasingly useful tool for better understanding the performance of soil systems. Only a few studies, however, have focused on the structure of rhizospheric zones, where energy flow and nutrient recycling most frequently occur. We used fractal dimensions to investigate the characteristics of particle-size distribution (PSD) i...

Precision agriculture technologies have potential for improving soil fertility evaluation and nutrient management. Global positioning systems (GPS), yield monitors, various forms of remote sensing, geographical information system (GIS) software, and variable rate technology are available to producers. Intensive soil sampling, crop scouting, and other practices complete the new technological pac...

Along a long-term ecosystem development gradient, soil nutrient contents and mineralogical properties change, therefore probably altering soil microbial communities. However, knowledge about the dynamics of soil microbial communities during long-term ecosystem development including progressive and retrogressive stages is limited, especially in mineral soils. Therefore, microbial abundances (qua...