Various basidiomycetes and deuteromycetes, grown in liquid and solid culture media, were compared for their laccase-producing ability and for the inducing effect of soil and agricultural residues on laccase production. Laccase activity in extracts of all solid media was higher than that of the liquid media. In liquid cultures, fungal laccase activity in extracts of pea (Pisum sativum) straw-tre...

AIMS To evaluate the cultivable mycobiota from agricultural soils exposed to pesticides, the aflatoxigenic capacity of Aspergillus section Flavi strains and the effect of glyphosate on lag phase and growth rates of native nontoxigenic Aspergillus flavus under different water potential (MPa) conditions on soil-based medium. METHODS AND RESULTS Culturable mycobiota analysis from different agric...

STICS-MACRO is a process-based model simulating the fate of pesticides in the soil-plant system as a function of agricultural practices and pedoclimatic conditions. The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of crop management practices on water and pesticide flows in contrasted environmental conditions. We used the Morris screening sensitivity analysis method to identify the most...

The variation of different ecosystems on the terrestrial carbon balance is predicted to be large. We investigated a typical arid region with widespread saline/alkaline soils, and evaluated soil respiration of different agricultural and natural ecosystems. Soil respiration for five ecosystems together with soil temperature, soil moisture, soil pH, soil electric conductivity and soil organic carb...

Many people consider earthworms to be an indicator of soil quality because they respond to and contribute to healthy soil. For earthworms to be abundant, a field must meet several conditions that are also associated with soil quality and agricultural sustainability: moderate pH, surface residue for food and protection, and soil that is not waterlogged, compacted, droughty, or excessively sandy....

Soil moisture condition is one of the key parameters in environmental and agricultural modeling. In this paper, a modified triangle method (Ts/VI space) is suggested. Both NDVI and EVI are used in constructing the space. Based on this method we calculated the Temperature-Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) using 20 MODIS images (Land surface temperature and vegetation index products) to estimate th...

A description of Kentucky's land base indicates that of nearly 15 million acres suitable for cropland usage, approximately three-fourths bas an erosion hazard potential of some degree, relating largely to steepness of slope (1). For this reason, there is a large potential acreage of alfalfa and other perennial forage crops relating to their sod forming growth habit which provides them an inhere...

Increases in the severity and frequency of drought in a warming climate may negatively impact agricultural production and food security. Unlike previous studies that have estimated agricultural impacts of climate condition using single-crop yield distributions, we develop a multivariate probabilistic model that uses projected climatic conditions (e.g., precipitation amount or soil moisture) thr...

Phosphorus transport from agricultural soils contributes to eutrophication of fresh waters. Computer modeling can help identify agricultural areas with high potential P transport. Most models use a constant extraction coefficient (i.e., the slope of the linear regression between filterable reactive phosphorus [FRP] in runoff and soil P) to predict dissolved P release from soil to runoff, yet it...