BACKGROUND AND AIMS We sought to explore the interactions between roots and soil without disturbance and in four dimensions (i.e. 3-D plus time) using X-ray micro-computed tomography. METHODS The roots of tomato Solanum lycopersicum 'Ailsa Craig' plants were visualized in undisturbed soil columns for 10 consecutive days to measure the effect of soil compaction on selected root traits includin...

Physical protection of soil carbon (C) is one of the important components of C storage. However, its exact mechanisms are still not sufficiently lucid. The goal of this study was to explore the influence of soil structure, that is, soil pore spatial arrangements, with and without presence of plant residue on (i) decomposition of added plant residue, (ii) CO2 emission from soil, and (iii) struct...

soil salinity induces a stressful environment for soil micro-organisms and reduces their number and activity. the objective of this research is investigating the effect of different levels of salinity on some of soil biological indicators and also assessing the effect of two types of halotolerant rhizospheric bacteria on the value of these indexes in soil. 35 strains were isolated from saline r...

Toxic heavy metals viz. lead, mercury and cadmium induced differential accumulation of proline in lemongrass (Cymbopogon flexuosus Stapf.) grown in soil amended with 50, 100, 200, 350 and 500 mg kg(-1) of the metals have been studied. Proline accumulation was found to be metal specific, organ specific and linear dose dependant. Further, proline accumulation following short term exposure (two mo...

On the basis of OCED Guideline 106, batch sorption studies were employed to reveal sorption of atrazine by amending biochar in tropical soils, namely, laterite, paddy soil and dry red soil. Biochar,a micro-porosity and great surface product, was generated by pyrolysis of manioc wastes at 750°C(BC750) and modified substances(MC750) were produced by loading Fe. The mechanism of sorption was exami...

Parameters characterizing the structure of the decomposer food web, biomass of the soil microflora (bacteria and fungi) and soil micro-, meso- and macrofauna were studied at 14 non-reclaimed 1- 41-year-old post-mining sites near the town of Sokolov (Czech Republic). These observations on the decomposer food webs were compared with knowledge of vegetation and soil microstructure development from...

The complex molecular assemblages were analysed in the soil gas phase after applying pine forest wastes (PFW) or sugarbeet vinasses (SBV) for soil-borne crop pests' management. For this purpose, solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) and gas chromatography (GC) were used coupled with mass spectrometry (MS). The organic wastes were applied either to Calcic Entisol or Haplic Arenosol moistened at fi...