In this study, we examined the response of surface soils to increased leaf and wood litter input within adjacent successional forests recovering from agricultural disturbance at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), Maryland, USA. Previous studies at this site demonstrated an arrested development of O-horizon, even after 130 years of forest growth, and an annual loss of leaf lit...

The Fig (Ficus carica.L) is a woody perennial crop, cultivated worldwide in subtropical regions. Since, salinity is the main concern of fig industry, therefore, studying the pattern of ion absorption and accumulation contribute during the stress in different plant organs can lead understanding the mechanism of tolerance/sensitivity. So, during 2016-2017, seven fig cultivars (‘Sabzʼ, ‘Siyahʼ, ‘S...

Nutrient conservation is considered important for the adaptation of plants to infertile environments. The importance of leaf life spans in controlling mean residence time of nutrients in plants has usually been analyzed in relation to nutrients that can be retranslocated within the plant. Longer leaf life spans increase the mean residence time of all mineral nutrients, but for non-mobile nutrie...

Spinach (Spinacea oleracea) plants were grown either continuously on complete nutrient solutions or for 2 weeks on media deficient in phosphate or sulfate. To characterize leaf carbohydrate metabolism, levels of phosphorylated intermediates, activities of enzymes involved in photosynthetic carbon metabolism, contents of soluble and acid hydrolyzable sugars were measured in leaves differing in a...

Monitoring the vertical profile of leaf chlorophyll (Chl) content within winter wheat canopies is of significant importance for revealing the real nutritional status of the crop. Information on the vertical profile of Chl content is not accessible to nadir-viewing remote or proximal sensing. Off-nadir or multi-angle sensing would provide effective means to detect leaf Chl content in different v...

The growth and yield of Egusi melon in response to application of an Organo-mineral fertilizer was investigated. The Organo-mineral fertilizer was Cow-dung generated from an Abattoir fortified with inorganic Nitrogen. The fertilizer had a pH of 6.1; 61.2 g kg Organic Matter; 35.5 g kg -1 -1 Organic Carbon; 3.6g kg Nitrogen; 372.54 mg kg Available Phosphorus and 14.8cmol kg -1 -1 -1 Exchangeable...

Leaf extracts of cultivated cardoon (Cynara cardunculus L. var. altilis DC) are an important source of phenols. Soilless culture represents an important and alternative tool to traditional agriculture, since it allows a precise control of plant nutrition and the maximization of yield and quality of the product. Reducing N supply, while keeping quantity as high as possible is desirable for envir...

Our understanding of leaf acclimation in relation to temperature of fully grown or juvenile tree crowns is mainly based on research involving spatially uncontrolled growth temperature. In this study, we test the hypothesis that leaf morphology and chemical elements are modulated by within-crown growth temperature differences. We ask whether within-species variation can influence acclimation to ...

Physiological effects of different nitrate applications were studied using the C(4) plant, Amaranthus powellii Wats. Plants were grown in a controlled environment chamber and watered daily with nutrient solutions containing 45, 10, 5, or 1 millimolar nitrate. Chloride and sulfate were used to keep the cation and phosphate concentrations constant. Total leaf nitrogen concentration, chlorophyll c...