-Compaction is one of the efficient ways to improve the strength and stiffness properties of soils, such as elasticity modulus and shear modulus. Moreover, compaction decreases soil settlement, improves bearing capacity and the stability of sloped embankments. An optimum water content is required to provide the best path to enter energy into soil and compact it. A constant value of energy appli...

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of biochar amendment on soil aggregate formation and stability, and soil hydraulic properties. Biochar produced from dairy manure was added to two different soils (a silty clay and a sandy loam soil) at a ratio of 2% (w/w in dry weight basis). Incubation experiments were conducted within a 90-d period with the soils (the controls) and the soi...

Displacement of soil particles caused by erosion influences soil condition and fertility. To date, the cesium 137 isotope ((137)Cs) technique is most commonly used for soil particle tracing. However when large areas are considered, the expensive soil sampling and analysis present an obstacle. Infrared spectral measurements would provide a solution, however the small concentrations of the isotop...

Poultry litter applications to land have been based on crop N requirements, resulting in application of P in excess of plant requirements, which may cause degradation of water quality in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The effect of litter source (the Delmarva Peninsula and Moorefield, West Virginia) and composting of poultry litter on N mineralization and availability of P in two soil types (san...

movement of pesticides through soils to groundwater and surface water has long been considered a potentially serious environmental problem in different parts of the world. remediation of such problems requires monitoring of site specific data. considering these facts a laboratory based investigation was carried out to determine the sorption and leaching parameters of two contrasting and widely ...

Amendments are frequently added to agricultural soils to increase organic matter content. In this study, we examined the influence of alperujo, an olive oil mill waste, on the availability of two triazine herbicides, terbuthylazine and atrazine, in two different sandy soils, one from Sevilla, Spain, and the other from Minnesota. The effect of aging on herbicide sorption and bioavailability was ...

The aim of the present study was the estimation of changes in the phytotoxicity of soils amended with sewage sludge with relation to Lepidium sativum, Sinapis alba and Sorghum saccharatum. The study was realised in the system of a plot experiment for a period of 29 months. Samples for analyses were taken at the beginning of the experiment, and then after 5, 17 and 29 months. Two kinds of sewage...

Dynamic global vegetation models simulate feedbacks of vegetation change on ecosystem processes, but direct, experimental evidence for feedbacks that result from atmospheric CO2 enrichment is rare. We hypothesized that feedbacks from species change would amplify the initial CO2 stimulation of aboveground net primary productivity (ANPP) of tallgrass prairie communities. Communities of perennial ...