The aim of this study was to assess the impact of forest age and season on the soil microbial community and enzyme activities in sea-buckthorn plantation system and to determine the relative contributions to soil microbial properties. Soil sampling was carried out in the dry season (April) and wet season (September) in four areas, including: abandoned farmland (NH), an 8-year- old plantation (y...

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...

Since the structure and foundation are built on soil, the soil is the major platform by which seismic vibrations are transmitted to the structure, and has noticeable effects on the response and behavior of structure during earthquakes. In this research, the recently introduced Performance-based plastic design (PBPD) and its modified Performance-based plastic design (MPBPD) method in which soil ...

Soil organisms can have important impacts on the structure, diversity, and invasion potential of plant communities. In particular, the short co-evolutionary history of nonnative plants with soil biota could confer unusual benefits or costs to hosts in the introduced range with consequences for invasion success. We used parallel pot and field studies to examine how soil biota (active or steriliz...

Glyphosate (GPS) and copper (Cu) are common pollutants in soils, and commonly co-exist. Due to the chemical structure of GPS, it can form complexes of heavy metals and interface their bioavailability in soil environment. In order to explore the interactions between GPS and Cu, subacute toxicity tests of Cu and GPS on soil invertebrate earthworms (Eisenia fetida) were conducted. The relative wei...

Cry1Ac transgenic sugarcane provides a promising way to control stem-borer pests. Biosafety assessment of soil ecosystem for cry1Ac transgenic sugarcane is urgently needed because of the important role of soil microorganisms in nutrient transformations and element cycling, however little is known. This study aimed to explore the potential impact of cry1Ac transgenic sugarcane on rhizosphere soi...

Fungi play important roles as decomposers, plant symbionts and pathogens in soils. The structure of fungal communities in the rhizosphere is the result of complex interactions among selection factors that may favour beneficial or detrimental relationships. Using culture-independent fungal community profiling, we have investigated the effects of nitrogen fertilizer dosage on fungal communities i...

Wetlands are areas where the frequent and prolonged presence of water at or near the soil surface drives the natural system. Next to Buenos Aires, the Lower Delta islands of the Paraná River constitute a fresh water wetland characterized by a complex mosaic of natural and man made ecosystems and a hydrologic regime defined by the Paraná and De la Plata rivers. The ENVISAT ASAR data recently obt...