Many models of phosphorus (P) transfer at the catchment scale rely on input from generic databases including, amongst others, soil and land use maps. Spatially detailed geochemical data sets have the potential to improve the accuracy of the input parameters of catchment-scale nutrient transfer models. Furthermore, they enable the assessment of the utility of available, generic spatial data sets...

Soil testing is the basis for nutrient recommendation and formulated fertilization. This study presented a brief overview of potentiometric electrochemical sensors (ISE and ISFET) for soil NPK detection. The opportunities and challenges for electrochemical sensors in soil testing were

This paper reviews nutrient deficiencies in agricultural crops of PNG using the literature of agronomic trials and field observations made throughout the country. Nutrient deficiencies have been investigated systematically since the mid-1950s, but research has mainly focused on export tree crops and relatively little information is available on food crops. Literature analysis and field observat...

Shrub encroachment in arid and semiarid rangelands, a worldwide phenomenon, results in a heterogeneous landscape characterized by a mosaic of nutrient-depleted barren soil bordered by nutrient-enriched shrubby areas known as ‘‘fertile islands.’’ Even though shrub encroachment is considered as a major contributor to rangeland degradation, little is known about mechanisms favoring the reversibili...

Most of the upper layer of the earth’s terrestrial crust is or has been influenced by plant roots, so most soil is actually rhizosphere soil at one time or another. Through their physical, chemical, and biological interactions with the soil, roots play a major role in soil formation (Jenny, 1941) and soil function (Wardle et al., 2004). Microbes factor prominently in global nutrient and energy ...

Soil is the sink and source of heavy metals (both geogenic and anthropogenic) and plants are the ecosystem regulators, balancing the chemistry of life on earth. However, roots are the only connection between soil and plants, which are the real engineers of ecosystem dynamics responsible for environmental balance and stability. The plant-soil interface termed as ‘rhizosphere’ is a typical zone o...

This study had three main objectives: (1) to evaluate the aboveground biomass and volume yield of three unrelated hybrid poplar clones in 9 year-old riparian buffer strips located on four farms of southern Québec, Canada; (2) to compare yield data at 9 years with previous data (at 6 years); (3) to evaluate how soil fertility, measured using three different soil testing methods (soil nutrient st...

A field study was initiated in 1992 to investigate the long-term impacts of beef feedlot manure application (composted and uncomposted) on nutrient accumulation and movement in soil, corn silage yield, and nutrient uptake. Two application strategies were compared: providing the annual crop nitrogen (N) requirement (N-based rate) or crop phosphorus (P) removal (P-based rate), as well as a compar...

Exogenous organic acids are beneficial in protecting plants from the stress of heavy metal toxins (e.g., Pb) in soils. This work focuses on the potential role of organic acids in protecting Changbai larch (Larix olgensis) seedlings from the stress of growing in nutrient deficient soil. The seedlings were planted in a nutrient rich or deficient soil (A1 horizon of a Haplic Cambisol without organ...

We examined patterns of nutrient heterogeneity in the mineral soil (0–15 cm depth) of 13 southern Appalachian forest stands in western North Carolina .60 yr after abandonment from pasture or timber harvest to investigate the long-term effects of land use on the spatial distribution and supply of soil resources. We measured soil carbon (C), nitrogen (N), acid-extractable phosphorus (P), potassiu...