soil surfaces in arid and semi-arid lands often lack photoautotrophic life but are covered by communities of soil surface covering organisms able to tolerate dehydration, and thus adapted to aridity. one important objective of multi-spectral remote sensing instruments is the detection of the optical characteristics of the earth’s surface using high spectral resolution bands. in this study aster...

BACKGROUND Biological soil crusts are common components of desert ecosystem; they cover ground surface and interact with topsoil that contribute to desertification control and degraded land restoration in arid and semiarid regions. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS To distinguish the changes in topsoil affected by biological soil crusts, we compared topsoil properties across three types of succe...

Soil compaction has become a widespread problem in the world and is one of the factors involved in land degradation and declining crop yields, especially in the arid and semi-arid agriculture. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of subsoil compaction on morphological, physiological and agronomic aspects of wheat .The research was carried out in the experimental farms of Anb...

The vegetation of Eshtehard salt marshes in Karaj was studied, using the Braun-Blanquet method. Sixty five relevés recorded in different salt habitats were analyzed by Analyse Factorielle des Correspondances (AFC) and Classification Ascendant Hierarchique (CAH) methods, using the Anaphyto software. In general, 11 plant associations determined in the area: Aeluropodetum littoralis, Artemisietum ...

abstract rhizosphere is a small zone with chemical, physical, and biological properties different from those of the bulk soil. information regarding the kinetics of cu release in the rhizosphere soil is scant. throughout this research, kinetics of cu release was investigated in wheat crop rhizosphere vs. non-rhizosphere in 10 calcareous soils by use of rhizobox and in greenhouse conditions. ext...

The relationships among the chemical, physical and biological aspects of compost and their role in suppression of turfgrass pathogens are reviewed. The composting process, mediated by microbial activity, is a€ected by physical and chemical characteristics which include temperature, aeration, moisture content, C:N ratio and pH. In the absence of parameter restrictions, the microbial community fo...

Some of arid regions problems of Iran are saline and sodic soils. In improvement and reclamation of Iranian arid rangelands, some foreign species of Atriplex had been imported and adapted for many years ago. The most adapted species was Atriplex canescens. At the present research, some environmental factors, vegetative characteristics (Na, Ca, Mg and K), soil properties (moisture, EC, pH, solut...

Biochar is a solid material of biological origin obtained from the biomass carbonization, designed as a mean to reduce greenhouse gases emission and carbon sequestration in soils for a long time. Biochar has a wide spectrum of practical utilization and is applied as a promising soil improver or fertilizer in agriculture, or as a medium for soil or water remediation. Preparations of biochar incr...