A double hurdle statistical analysis of 250 farms in the Tigray region of Ethiopia reveals different causal factors for soil conservation adoption versus intensity of use. Farmers’ reasons for adopting soil conservation measures vary sharply between stone terraces and soil bunds. Long-term investments in stone terraces were associated with secure land tenure, labour availability, proximity to t...

In the field of road construction with alternative materials – among which Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator (MSWI) bottom ash the preservation of groundwater and soil quality is a major environmental issue as, under the effect of rainfall infiltration through road structure, heavy metals can leach out of the material and infiltrate into the underlying road soil. The later can act as a pollutio...

Light penetration through a Drummer silty clay loam and a Broomfield sand was measured spectrophotometrically and biologically. The spectrophotometric measurements showed that less than 1% of the incident light penetrated 2.2 millimeters at any wavelength between 350 and 780 nanometers for ped sizes up to 1 millimeter. Biological measurements with light-sensitive lettuce (Lactuca sativa) seeds ...

We employed a Mohr-Coulomb safety factor equation to assess the response of ice-cemented slopes in the stable upland zone of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) to artificial increases in mean summertime soil surface temperatures (MSSST). Results show that ice-rich, silty tills on slopes 20° could fail by planar sliding with an increase in MSSST of ~5o to 9oC. This change corresponds to an atmospheri...

Before prion uptake and infection can occur in the lower gastrointestinal system, ingested prions are subjected to anaerobic digestion in the rumen of cervids and bovids. The susceptibility of soil-bound prions to rumen digestion has not been evaluated previously. In this study, prions from infectious brain homogenates as well as prions bound to a range of soils and soil minerals were subjected...

An experimental study of the effect of silt and influence of cell confinement on the bearing capacity of circular footings on silty sand was carried out. Laboratory experiments on clean sand and sand containing silt up to 25 % were performed. Cells with different heights and diameters were used to confine the silty sand. The effect of proportion of silt in sand, cell diameter, cell height and t...

Karlsson. A. 1996. Site vrevaration of abandoned fields and earlv establishment of naturallv and direct-seeded birch in Sweden. Studia Forestalia Suecica 199, 25 pp. ISSN 0039-3150, ~ S B N 91-576-5152-3. Field experiments were carried out at four sites in Sweden to investigate the possibility of establishing downy birch (Betula pubescens Ehrh.) and silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) on abandon...

A field experiment has been undertaken to assay the effect of Triflurotox 250 EC applied in the rates of 0, 1.5, 3.0, 4.5, 6.9, 9.0 and 12.0 mm3 kg-1 soil on the growth and development of spring rape and white mustard and on the biochemical characteristics of the soil. The trials were conducted on leached brown soil formed from light clay silty sand of pH equal to 5.8 in 1 M KCl. The biochemica...

The extent of contamination of soils with soil transmitted helminthes (STH) eggs, particularly Toxocara, was determined in selected urban and rural towns of Laguna, Philippines. Soil samples were collected from public schools, house yards, and empty lots. Results revealed that, of the 1480 soil samples collected, 460 (31%) were positive for STH eggs. Toxocara sp. was the most prevalent (77%), f...