The objective of this study was to evaluate effects of elemental sulfur (S) addition on soil pH and availability of macroand micronutrients during the sugarcane growing season. Sulfur application did not significantly reduce soil pH when applied at 0 to 448 kg S ha−1 due to the high soil buffering capacity. Water extractable phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) for soils receiving the highest S rat...

Apart from improving plant and soil water status during drought, it has been suggested that hydraulic lift (HL) could enhance plant nutrient capture through the flow of mineral nutrients directly from the soil to plant roots, or by maintaining the functioning of mycorrhizal fungi. We evaluated the extent to which the diel cycle of water availability created by HL covaries with the efflux of HL ...

Soil salt content is a key factor that determines soil chemical quality together with soil reaction, charge properties and nutrient reserves (Lal et al., 1999). An adequate salt supply is essential for an optimum development of photosynthetic mechanism and other biochemical processes in plants (Sitte et al., 1994). Soil salt content constitutes an environmental problem when salt accumulation ge...

Mixed forest of Douglas-fir and beech has been suggested as one of the possible future forest types in Northwest Europe but the effects of this mixed forest on soil properties relative to monoculture stands are unknown. In a transboundary investigation of adjacent common garden Douglas-fir and beech stands, we determined the effects on topsoil properties. However, responses of C and N stocks, t...

Studies have indicated that consistent or well-constrained (relatively low variability) carbon:nitrogen:phosphorus (C:N:P) ratios exist in large-scale ecosystems, including both marine and terrestrial ecosystems. Little is known about the C, N and P stoichiometric ratios that exist in the soils and plants of Chenier Island in the Yellow River Delta (YRD). We examined the distribution patterns a...

Methodologies based on indicators occupy a prevalent place when assessing ecosystem functioning and monitoring desertification processes because they are affordable yet do not compromise accuracy. The landscape function analysis (LFA), developed in Australia by David Tongway (CSIRO), uses soil surface indicators to assess the condition of a given ecosystem by producing three numerical indices (...

Andropogon gerardii seed obtained from Kansas and Illinois was grown in a controlled environment in their own and each other's soils, with and without arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). Each ecotype grew comparatively better in its own soil indicating adaptation to its soil of origin. Overall, A. gerardii benefited more from AMF in low-nutrient Kansas soil than Illinois soil. The two ecotypes,...

In arid ecosystems, variation in precipitation causes broad-scale spatial heterogeneity in soil moisture, but differences in soil texture, development, and plant cover can also create substantial local soil moisture heterogeneity. The boundary between inland desert sand dunes and adjacent desert habitats exhibits abrupt changes in soil and vegetation characteristics that may be associated with ...

Conceptual watershed model developed to examine water quality as it is affected by soil erosion from agriculture and urban areas (Young et al., 1987). AGNPS has three major components: hydrology, soil erosion and nutrient pollution. The hydrological function provides prediction of runoff volume and peak flow rate. The soil erosion function includes soil erosion and sedimentation. The nutrient f...