Ecological restoration is frequently guided by reference conditions describing a successfully restored ecosystem; however, the causes and magnitude of ecosystem degradation vary, making simple knowledge of reference conditions insufficient for prioritizing and guiding restoration. Ecological reference models provide further guidance by quantifying reference conditions, as well as conditions at ...

© The Ecological Society of America www.frontiersinecology.org D some improvement in environmental outcomes, conventional agriculture continues to contribute to biodiversity loss, climate change, and the degradation of terrestrial and freshwater systems (Foley et al. 2011 ). A major global challenge is to develop sustainable, “climatesmart” agricultural systems that feed growing populations and...

Municipal biosolids are in widespread use as additives to agricultural soils in the United States. Although it is well known that digested sewage sludge is laden with organic wastewater contaminants, the fate and behavior of micropollutants in biosolids-amended agricultural soils remain unclear. An outdoor mesocosm study was conducted in Baltimore, Maryland, to explore the fate of 72 pharmaceut...

Around the world, especially in semi-arid regions, millions of hectares of irrigated agricultural land are abandoned each year because of the adverse effects of irrigation, mainly secondary salinity and sodicity. Accurate information about the extent, magnitude, and spatial distribution of salinity and sodicity will help create sustainable development of agricultural resources. In Morocco, sout...

Background, aim, and scope Atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-1,3,5-triazine) is one of the most widely used herbicides for broadleaf weed and certain annual grass controls and is popular because of its effectiveness and low cost. Losses of atrazine from agricultural lands into adjacent surface water and underlying groundwater have raised public concerns. Several computer models h...

The volume of solid waste produced in the world is increasing annually, and disposing of such wastes is a growing problem. Fly ash (FA) is a form of solid waste that is derived from the combustion of coal. Research has shown that fly ash may be disposed of by using it to amend agricultural soils. This review addresses the feasibility of amending agricultural field soils with fly ash for the pur...

Although it is common to alternate between till and no-till practices, past research has considered farmers’ tillage options to be limited to the dichotomous choice of whether or not to switch to a long-term no-till regime. This paper expands farmers’ options and models their choices of tillage frequency. Less frequent tilling sequesters more carbon but permits a greater accumulation of weeds, ...

the potential risk of metal accumulation in periurban agricultural areas is a matter for concern.the climate characteristics and carbonate content of calcareous agricultural mediterranean soils typical inthese areas favour metal accumulation at the surface level; however there is also a risk of potential metalmobility. our study focuses on the soil properties affecting metal mobility in these s...