The behavior of turfgrass-infesting scarab grubs in response to soil physical properties may affect the stress that each species exerts on turfgrass and the efficacy of control tactics. To gain a more realistic picture of the events that occur within the soil matrix, we have developed a nondestructive X-ray technique to study soil insect movement and behavior in simulated and natural soil block...

In temporary wetlands, a majority of diaspores are located in the upper layers of the soil. In general, it is assumed that the vertical movement of diaspores is caused by animal disturbance, and that reduction in this activity concentrates the diaspores in the topsoil. The occurrence of seasonal cracks and the dispersion of topsoil during dry periods are processes that have been underestimated ...

Tracking the movement of soil-living herbivores is difficult, albeit important for understanding their spatial ecology as well as for pest management. In this study the movement of Agriotes obscurus larvae between plots harbouring isotopically different plants was examined. Neither between maize and wheat nor between maize and grassland movement could be detected. These data suggest that Agriot...

An understanding of gas transport in unsaturated media is important for evaluation of soil aeration or movement of O 2 from the atmosphere to the soil. Soil aeration is critical for plant root growth because roots generally cannot get enough O 2 from leaves. Evaluation of gas movement is also important for estimating transport of volatile and semivolatile organic compounds from contaminated sit...

The widespread use of superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) in arid regions improves the efficiency of local land and water use. However, SAPs' repeated absorption and release of water has periodic and unstable effects on both soil's physical and chemical properties and on the growth of plant roots, which complicates modeling of water movement in SAP-treated soils. In this paper, we proposea model of ...

Movement of potato root diffusate (PRD) through soil was examined by using the hatch of eggs from Globodera rostochiensis cysts as an indicator. Porous bags containing cysts were placed at increasing distances and depths from potato roots, whose growth was restricted by nylon mesh. Significantly greater hatch was observed up to 50 cm laterally away from potato roots, compared with hatch in fall...

We live in a plastic age (Thompson et al., 2009), with microplastic (typically defined as plastic particles < 5mm) becoming an increasingly appreciated aspect of environmental pollution. Research has been overwhelmingly focused on aquatic systems, especially the oceans, but there is a current shift to more strongly consider terrestrial ecosystems (Rillig, 2012; Horton et al., 2017). In particul...

Vapor movement is often an important part in the total water flux in the vadose zone of arid or semiarid regions because the soil moisture is relatively low. The twomajor objectives of this study were to develop a numerical model in the HYDRUS-1D code that (i) solves the coupled equations governing liquid water, water vapor, and heat transport, together with the surface water and energy balance...

Different numerical and analytical models are presently available that provide the tools to predict pollutant and water transfer processes between the soil surface and the groundwater level. Among the existing models, the Hydrus-1D model has been used for years in the prediction of water and pollutants transfer in the unsaturated zone. The main purpose of this paper was to model the movement of...