Filamentous fungi able to hydrolyse inulin have been isolated from the rhizosphere of plants whose roots contain this polysaccharide. This study reports results concerning the isolation and identification of filamentous fungi from the soil used for sunflower cultivation and from the sunflower rhizosphere cultivated in field and in greenhouse. Fungi were evaluated according to their capacity to ...

Truffles are hypogeous ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi belonging to the genus Tuber. Although outplanting of truffle-inoculated host plants has enabled the realization of productive orchards, truffle cultivation is not yet standardized. Therefore, monitoring the distribution of fungal species in different truffle fields may help us to elucidate the factors that shape microbial communities and influe...

Increasingly unpredictable annual rainfall amounts and distribution patterns have far reaching implications for pulse crop biology. Seedling and whole plant survival will be affected given that water is a key factor in plant photosynthesis and also influences the evolving disease spectrum that affects crops. The wild relatives of cultivated lentil are native to drought prone areas, making them ...

Much of the agricultural land in the Central Hills area of the Sichuan Basin is at risk from soil erosion by water. An investigation of rates and patterns of soil erosion on agricultural land near Yanting was undertaken using the caesium-137 technique. Erosion of the upper parts of sloping fields was found to be severe, with rates of the order of 20 to 50 t ha" year". However, infield depositio...

Black carbon (BC) is a quantitatively important C pool in the global C cycle due to its relative recalcitrance compared with other C pools. However, mechanisms of BC oxidation and accompanying molecular changes are largely unknown. In this study, the long-term dynamics in quality and quantity of BC were investigated in cultivated soil using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier-transf...

The association between plant and plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) contributes to the successful thriving of plants in extreme environments featured by water shortage. We have recently shown that, with respect to the non-cultivated desert soil, the rhizosphere of pepper plants cultivated under desert farming hosts PGPB communities that are endowed with a large portfolio of PGP traits. Pep...

Seaweed cultivation is a high growth industry that is primarily targeted at human food and hydrocolloid markets. However, seaweed biomass also offers a feedstock for the production of nutrient-rich biochar for soil amelioration. We provide the first data of biochar yield and characteristics from intensively cultivated seaweeds (Saccharina, Undaria and Sargassum--brown seaweeds, and Gracilaria, ...

The potential for wind erosion in South Central Colorado is greatest in the spring, especially after harvesting of crops such as potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) that leave small amounts of crop residue in the surface after harvest. Therefore it is important to implement best management practices that reduce potential wind erosion and that we understand how cropping systems are impacting soil eros...

Urbanization-associated land use and land cover (LULC) changes lead to modifications of surface microclimatic and hydrological conditions, including the formation of urban heat islands and changes in surface runoff pattern. The goal of the paper is to investigate the changes of biophysical variables due to urbanization induced LULC changes in Indianapolis, USA, from 2001 to 2006. The biophysica...