Soil quality (SQ) assessment is a proactive process for evaluating soil and crop management effects on biological, chemical, and physical indicators of soil health. Our objectives were to evaluate several SQ indicators within five Agricultural Research Service (ARS) experimental watersheds (WS) and determine if those indicators were affected by manure, tillage, or crop rotation histories. Ten s...

introduction: the to be limited available water amount from one side and to be increased needs of world population from the other side have caused increase of cultivation for products. for this reason, employing new irrigation ways and using new water resources like using the uncommon water (salty water, water drainage) are two main strategies for regulating water shortage conditions. on the ot...

We studied the responses of soil fauna to a simulated nitrogen deposition in nursery experimental plots in Subtropical China. Dissolved NH4NO3 was applied to the soil by spraying twice per month for 16 months, starting in January 2003 with treatments of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 30 gN/(m2 x a). Soil fauna was sampled after 6, 9, 13 and 16 months of treatment in three soil depths (0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-15 ...

Respiration rates and chemical characteristics of soil organic layers were measured at 40 experimental plots, 5 sampling sites per plot, in a moderately polluted Niepołomice Forest, S. Poland. The respiration rate was positively related to pH, water content and concentrations of Ca and K, and negatively to Ntot, Zn and Pb (p < 0.001 for all variables). No significant correlation was found betwe...

Population dynamics of A. ritzemabosi and D. dipsaci were studied in two alfalfa fields in Wyoming. Symptomatic stem-bud tissue and root-zone soil from alfalfa plants exhibiting symptoms of D. dipsaci infection were collected at intervals of 3 to 4 weeks. Both nematodes were extracted from stem tissue with the Baermann funnel method and from soil with the sieving and Baermann funnel method. Soi...

Reducing Escherichia coli O157:H7 in cattle and their manure is critical for reducing the risk for human foodborne and waterborne illness. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of soil and pond ash surfaces for feedlot pens on the prevalence, levels, and/or persistence of naturally occurring E. coli O157:H7 and total E. coli in cattle (feces and hides) and manure. Cattle (128 ...

The subarctic region is highly responsive and vulnerable to climate change. Understanding the structure of subarctic soil microbial communities is essential for predicting the response of the subarctic soil environment to climate change. To determine the composition of the bacterial community and its relationship with soil properties, we investigated the bacterial community structure and proper...

a r t i c l e i n f o The aim of this study is to analyze the influence of the soil moisture sampling depth in the parameterization of soil emission in microwave radiometry at L-band. The analysis is based on brightness temperature, soil moisture and temperature measurements acquired over a bare soil during the SMOSREX experiment. A more detailed profile of surface soil moisture was obtained wi...