BACKGROUND Plants play a pivotal role in soil stabilization, with above-ground vegetation and roots combining to physically protect soil against erosion. It is possible that diverse plant communities boost root biomass, with knock-on positive effects for soil stability, but these relationships are yet to be disentangled. QUESTION We hypothesize that soil erosion rates fall with increased plan...

Federal, state, and local govermnent agencies are issuing more and more regulations to protect groundwater from microbial contamination. Regulations being proposed include the establishment of wellhead protection zones, drinking-water standards for viruses and parasites, and septic tank placement ordinances. Microbiologists are being called upon more frequently than ever to work with the engine...

Despite weeds are a serious threat to promotion of organic farming, relatively less attention is given to research on weed management. This article explores a scope of integration of conservation agriculture for weed control and soil protection under organic farming. Limitation in the use of agro-chemicals under OF promotes intensive tillage for weed control. Mostly, tillage leads to depletion ...

The integration of bioventing (BV) and soil vapor extraction (SVE) appears to be an effective combination method for soil decontamination. This paper serves two main purposes: it evaluates the effects of soil water content (SWC) and air flow rate on SVE and it investigates the transition regime between BV and SVE for toluene removal from sandy soils. 96 hours after air injection, more than 97% ...

Tillage has been reported to reduce organic matter concentrations and increase organic matter turnover rates to a variable extent. The change of soil climate and the incorporation of aboveground C inputs within the soil lead to no unique effect on biodegradation rates, because of their strong interaction with the regional climate and the soil physical properties. The periodical perturbation of ...

abstract soil quality evaluation is an essential issue in soil management for agriculture and natural resource protection. soil quality indices are useful tools for determination and comparison of soils quality. using of principle component analysis in this study we selected 6 important properties as a soil quality minimum data set (mds) among 18 soil properties (tds). then, soil quality of agr...

1779 Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 71:1779–1787 doi:10.2136/sssaj2006.0340 Received 29 Sept. 2006. *Corresponding author (nbc@ufl .edu). © Soil Science Society of America 677 S. Segoe Rd. Madison WI 53711 USA All rights reserved. No part of this periodical may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storag...

Rubber is a polymer of isoprene, consisting mainly of cis-1,4-polyisoprene units. The unmanageable production and its irresponsible disposal pose severe threats to environmental ecology. Therefore, the current study focuses extensively on the ill-effects of Rubber disposal on soil microbial functional diversity as it reflects the health of ecosystem by acting as a key component in ecosystem pro...

Enzymes are the vital activators in life processes, likewise in the soil they are known to play a substantial role in maintaining soil health and its environment. The enzymatic activity in the soil is mainly of microbial origin, being derived from intracellular, cell-associated or free enzymes. A unique balance of chemical, physical, and biological (including microbial especially enzyme activit...