The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident released large amounts of radioactive substances into the environment and contaminated the soil of Tohoku and Kanto districts in Japan. Removal of radioactive material from the environment is an urgent problem, and soil purification using plants is being considered. In this study, we investigated the ability of 12 seed plant species and a cyano...

In temporary wetlands, a majority of diaspores are located in the upper layers of the soil. In general, it is assumed that the vertical movement of diaspores is caused by animal disturbance, and that reduction in this activity concentrates the diaspores in the topsoil. The occurrence of seasonal cracks and the dispersion of topsoil during dry periods are processes that have been underestimated ...

Tillage studies have shown that maximum, tillage-induced, aggregate breakdown occurs near the optimum water content on a Proctor compaction curve for the soil. Many soil databases do not contain Proctor data; therefore, prediction equations were developed to estimate the optimum water content, peak Proctor dry bulk density, and the Proctor compaction curve for a soil based on common intrinsic p...

Detection of viable Azotobacter in soils stored in the laboratory for more than 10 years suggests that these bacteria can remain dormant in nature for prolonged periods of time. Studies of dried cultures show that cysts of A. vinelandii 12837 remain viable for at least 10 years, whereas vegetative cells do not survive for even 1 year under the same conditions.

The sorptivity S quantifies the effect of capillarity on liquid movement in a porous material. For liquid infiltration into an initially dry material, S is a parameter that is contingent on both liquid and material properties as well as the maximum liquid content behind the infiltrating front, hm. Scaling analyses are used to derive a dimensionless, intrinsic sorptivity S* that is constant for ...

The uptake and effects (survival, weight) of copper (Cu) on Florida apple snails (Pomacea paludosa) via exposures to copper-enriched agricultural soil-water and water-only treatments were investigated. Soils were collected from citrus sites in south Florida and flooded with laboratory freshwater for 14d. Neonate apple snails (96-h-old) were then exposed to either Cu from a soil-overlying water ...

Accumulation of metal contaminants in soil as a result of various industrial and anthropogenic activities has reduced soil fertility significantly. Phytoextraction of metal contaminants can improve soil fertility and provide inexpensive feedstock for biorefineries. We investigated the hyperaccumulation capacity of sunflower (Helianthus annuus) biomass by cultivating these plants in various conc...

Introduction: Among soil species earthworms are ubiquitous, abundant and important for soil processes, constituting the largest terrestrial faunal biomass and are also impacted by soil pollutants. The primary purpose of this study was to determine whether changes in earthworm biomass and behavior could serve as a good indicator for copper toxicity in soil systems. Another aim of the study was t...

The destruction of natural forest is increasing due to urbanization, industrialization, settlement and for the agricultural expansion over last few decades, and studies for their recovery need to be undertaken. With this aim, this comparative study was designed to see the effects of deforested soil on germination and growth performance of five different tree species. In the experiment, five spe...

Structure is an important factor of soil functioning in ecosystems. Soil aggregate size distributions are commonly used to characterize soil structure. Relationships between density of dry soil aggregates and aggregate size present a different way to use aggregate-related information in soil structure characterization. Those relationships have been simulated assuming soils to be mass fractals. ...