Coastal areas are rapidly developing due to population growth and the appeal of coastlines. In order to gain insight into how land use/cover affects carbon (C) storage in a coastal context, we examined soil and vegetation C and soil nitrogen (N) across land uses near Apalachicola, FL. Forested wetlands had the greatest soil C and N storage, while natural pine forests and pine plantations had th...

We present high spatial-resolution mapping of soil lead (Pb) concentrations in a small-urban residential setting. X-ray fluorescence was used to measure soil Pb at170 properties in the City Park neighborhood of Appleton, Wisconsin. Greater than two-thirds of soil samples collected from drip lines contained more than 400 μg g of Pb, and one third exceeded 1200 μg g. Soils adjacent to homes built...

Recent monitoring shows that the majority of urban streams in the United States are contaminated by pesticide residues, and the contamination is mainly due to runoff from residential landscapes. In this study we evaluated the effect of landscape planting on persistence of the herbicides 2,4-D and dicamba in soil under laboratory conditions. The herbicides exhibited substantially different persi...

Soil biota play key roles in the functioning of terrestrial ecosystems, however, compared to our knowledge of above-ground plant and animal diversity, the biodiversity found in soils remains largely uncharacterized. Here, we present an assessment of soil biodiversity and biogeographic patterns across Central Park in New York City that spanned all three domains of life, demonstrating that even a...

Global urbanization is a vital process shaping terrestrial ecosystems but its effects on forest soil carbon (C) dynamics are still not well defined. To clarify the effects of urbanization on soil organic carbon (SOC) variation, 306 soil samples were collected and analyzed under two urban–rural gradients, defined according to human disturbance time and ring road development in Changchun, northea...

With the expansion of urban agriculture in many North American cities, there is a current need to evaluate the soil and urban environment to assess potential risks of metal contamination in urban grown food. In this study, a university farm, a community garden, and a brownfield located in Vancouver, BC were characterized with respect to soil metal concentrations, atmospheric deposition of metal...

A study was conducted to determine the helminthes in dog's feces and soil samples from urban and rural areas. Six species of nematodes (Toxocara sp, an undetermined nematode larvae, Strongyloides sp larvae, Ascaris sp ova, hookworm ova, Trichuris sp ova) and one species of Cestode (Taenia sp) were found in 175 stool samples. Seventy-eight point nine percent of stool samples were positive for he...

On a community basis, urban soil contains a potentially large reservoir of accumulated lead. This study was undertaken to explore the temporal relationship between pediatric blood lead (BPb), weather, soil moisture, and dust in Indianapolis, Indiana; Syracuse, New York; and New Orleans, Louisiana. The Indianapolis, Syracuse, and New Orleans pediatric BPb data were obtained from databases of 15,...

Lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As) are three common non-essential heavy metals found in urban soils and can prove toxic to animals, humans, and some plants at low concentrations. The main exposure pathways of heavy metals in humans are through ingestion and inhalation of soil particles and ingestion of contaminated food. When dealing with contaminated soil in urban environments, activiti...

Urban soils provide an array of ecosystem services to inhabitants of cities and towns. Urbanization affects soils and their capacity to provide ecosystem services directly through disturbance and management (e.g., irrigation) and indirectly through changes in the environment (e.g., heat island effect and pollution). Both direct and indirect effects contribute to form a mosaic of soil conditions...