High elevation talus soils are extreme environments for life. They are pertinent to the hydrology and biochemical cycling of high elevation ecosystems that supply drinking water to major metropolitan areas, and are undergoing change as a result of N deposition. As biological systems, they are virtually unstudied. In order to gain a basic understanding of these important systems, we studied the ...

This study investigates the dissolution, sorption, leachability, and plant uptake of tungsten and alloying metals from canister round munitions in the presence of model, well characterized soils. The source of tungsten was canister round munitions, composed mainly of tungsten (95%) with iron and nickel making up the remaining fraction. Three soils were chosen for the lysimeter studies while fou...

This investigation was undertaken to determine the factors influencing electrokinetic remediation of soils from petroleum pollutants. The remediation method was applied in two versions: (i) static and (ii) flowing, when a sample was washed with leaching solution. It was found that all the soils studied can be purified using this technique. It was also observed that the mineral and grain-size co...

The significance of N2O emission from soils cropped with sugarcane was measured at Réduit and Belle Rive. The data demonstrated that N20 emissions from soils receiving 140 Kg N ha-1 was not markedly enhanced with regard to the background level emission from unfertilised soils.

Grazing and fire and are major forces shaping patterns of native and exotic species diversity in many grasslands, yet both of these disturbances have notoriously variable effects. Few studies have examined how landscape-level heterogeneity in grassland characteristics, such as soil-based variation in biomass and species composition, may contribute to variation in the effects of fire or grazing....

Barren high-altitude soils are among the most extreme terrestrial environments on Earth. The present study was undertaken to quantify broad-scale patterns of total microbial biomass in unvegetated soils in the subnival zone of the Colorado Front Range and the high Andes of Perú. In order to better understand the limiting factors and substrates used by this community, we measured microbial bioma...

Heavy metal pollution is a serious problem worldwide. In this study, 41 soil samples and 32 cabbage samples were collected from the area surrounding the Jinsha coal-fired power plant (JCFP Plant) in Guizhou Province, southwest China. Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Cu and Cr concentrations in soil samples and cabbage samples were analysed to study the pollution sources and risks of heavy metals around the powe...

This study investigated the occurrence and dissipation of three azole biocides climbazole, clotrimazole and miconazole in biosolid-amended soils of the three sites (Zhejiang, Hunan and Shandong) in China following three treatments (CK: control without biosolid application; T1: one biosolid application; T2: biosolid application every year). The results showed that climbazole, clotrimazole and mi...

Eutrophication, a major problem in many fresh and brackish waters, is largely caused by nonpoint-source pollution by P from agricultural soils. This lysimeter study examined the influence of P content, physical properties, and sorption characteristics in topsoil and subsoil on P leaching measured during 21 mo in 1-m-long, undisturbed soil columns of two clay and two sandy soils. Total P losses ...