Deforestation in the northern highlands of Ethiopia has left 35,000 forest fragments ranging in size from 3 to 300 ha (Bongers et al 2006). Deforestation produces edges which increase disturbance within the forest such as decreased water availability and increased light. To determine the degree of these edge effects and the nutrient status of these forests, I analyzed the nutrient composition o...

The Amazon rainforest is well known for its rich plant and animal diversity, but its bacterial diversity is virtually unexplored. Due to ongoing and widespread deforestation followed by conversion to agriculture, there is an urgent need to quantify the soil biological diversity within this tropical ecosystem. Given the abundance of the phylum Verrucomicrobia in soils, we targeted this group to ...

As Neotropical forests are increasingly converted to agriculture (especially pastures), little is known about the impacts on microbial biodiversity. To assess such impacts, I compared spore abundance and diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in soils from lowland evergreen forests and pastures in Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Species composition, dominance-diversity curves, and Simpson’s ...

Phosphatase enzymes regulate organic phosphorus (P) turnover in soil, but a clear understanding remains elusive. To investigate this, phosphomonoesterase and phosphodiesterase activities were determined by using para-nitrophenol (pNP) analogue substrates in a range of temperate pasture soils from England and Wales. Substrate-induced phosphatase activity ranged between 2.62 and 12.19 micromol pN...

Reclaimed mined soils (RMSs) could restore soil quality and ecosystem productivity while sequestering C and off-setting some of C emissions associated with coal utilization. The study was conducted to evaluate the effects of tillage and pasture management on soil physical properties, soil organic carbon (SOC) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) in RMSs managed for agricultural use in eastern Ohi...

Tropical pastures present multiple barriers to tree regeneration and restoration. Relict trees serve as "regeneration foci" because they ameliorate the soil microclimate and serve as safe spots for dispersers. Here, we describe another mechanism by which remnant trees may facilitate pasture regeneration: the presence of seed banks in the canopy soil that accumulates from decomposing epiphytes w...