Some soil bacteria protect plants against soil-borne diseases by producing toxic secondary metabolites. Such beneficial biocontrol bacteria can be used in agricultural systems as alternative to agrochemicals. The broad spectrum toxins responsible for plant protection also inhibit predation by protozoa and nematodes, the main consumers of bacteria in soil. Therefore, predation pressure may favou...

Wildfire is a natural disturbance, though elemental losses and changes that occur during combustion and post-fire erosion can have long-term impacts on soil properties, ecosystem productivity, and watershed condition. Here we evaluate the potential of forest residue-based materials to rehabilitate burned soils. We compare soil nutrient and water availability, and plant recovery after applicatio...

Fungal pathogens pose a major problem in causing reduction in yield of vanilla crop to considerable level. Fusarium oxysporum, was isolated from naturally infected vanilla plants and an attempt was made to minimize the damage caused by the pathogen using biocontrol agents Trichoderma harzianum, and Pseudomonas fluorescens isolated from soil. The combined inoculation of Trichoderma harzianum wit...

Moderate grazing by cattle increases the heterogeneity of soil and vegetation. This has been suggested as an ecologically sustainable mean of managing natural environments endangered by tree encroachment, such as heathlands. Our study was performed to test the impact of grazing intensity on soil macroinvertebrate communities in heterogeneous landscapes in a private property eligible to the Natu...

Soil samples were collected from field sites in two AWPA (American Wood Protection Association) wood decay hazard zones in North America. Two field plots at each site were exposed to differing preservative chemistries via in-ground installations of treated wood stakes for approximately 50 years. The purpose of this study is to characterize soil fungal species and to determine if long term expos...

In Central Aragón (NE Spain), where strong and dry winds are frequent all year round, fallow lands are susceptible to wind erosion due to insufficient crop residues on the surface and loose, finely divided soils by multiple tillage operations. Effects of conventional tillage (CT — mouldboard ploughing followed by a compacting roller) and reduced tillage (RT — chisel ploughing) on soil surface p...

Seed development culminates in programmed cell death (PCD) and hardening of organs enclosing the embryo (e.g., pericarp, seed coat) providing essentially a physical shield for protection during storage in the soil. We examined the proposal that dead organs enclosing embryos are unique entities that store and release upon hydration active proteins that might increase seed persistence in soil, ge...

The east Delta horizontal expansion reclamation project is one of the Egyptian reclamation projects which was implemented in 1981. The project area is approximately equal to 366,500 Feddans. It's located in Ismalia Governorate at kilo 96.5 Cairo-Ismalia road. The irrigation system in this project depends on pumping stations at the right bank of Ismalia Canal through pipelines. The pipelines wer...

Soil moisture monitoring and the characterization of the spatial and temporal variability of this hydrologic parameter at scales from small catchments to large river basins continues to receive much attention, reflecting its critical role in subsurface – land surface – atmosphere interactions and its importance to drought analysis, crop yield forecasting, irrigation planning, flood protection, ...