For the first time, highly elevated levels of mercury (Hg) have been documented for several species of the edible Fungi genus Boletus growing in latosols, lateritic red earths, and red and yellow earths from the Yunnan province of China. Analysis of Hg concentrations in the genus suggests that geogenic Hg is the dominant source of Hg in the fungi, whereas anthropogenic sources accumulate largel...

With little precipitation (<10 cm water equivalent annually as snow), soils of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV) have limited water available to support hydrological or biogeochemical processes. Active layer depths across most of this landscape are <1 m. Saturated sediments are obvious in wetted margins on the shorelines of lakes, extending for up to ~10 m into a zone where typically arid MDV soils...

Temperate and dry deciduous forest covers major portion of terrestrial ecosystem in India. The two forest types with different dominant tree species differ in litter quality and root exudates, thereby exerting species-specific impact on soil properties and microbial activity. This study aims to examine the influence of forest type or dominant tree species on soil physico-chemical properties and...

The objective of this work was to explain an apparent contradiction in the literature related to the relationship between mean and variance (or standard deviation) of soil moisture fields. Some studies found an increase in soil moisture variance with decreasing mean soil moisture, while others showed a decrease. The evidence of maximum variance in the mid-range of mean soil moisture was also re...

The aim of the study was to compare the effects of stress (contamination trials) on the microorganisms in zinc-polluted soil (5,018 mg Zn kg(-1) soil dry weight) and unpolluted soil (141 mg Zn kg(-1) soil dw), measured as soil respiration rate. In the laboratory, soils were subjected to copper contamination (0, 500, 1,500 and 4,500 mg kg(-1) soil dw), and then a bactericide (oxytetracycline) co...

Forest ecosystem harbour a large number of biotic components where cellulolytic microorganisms participate actively in the biotransformation of dead and decaying organic matter and soil nutrient cycling. This study explores the aerobic culturable cellulolytic microorganisms in the forest soils of North East India. Soil samples rich in dead and decaying organic matter were collected from eight c...

Poor seed germination and early seedling growth associated with urea-induced soil ammonia volatilization are major constraints in the adoption of dry direct-seeded rice. To directly examine soil ammonia volatilization and its damage to seed germination and early seedling growth of dry direct-seeded rice when urea is applied at seeding, two Petri-dish incubation experiments and a field experimen...

We evaluated changes of different soil nitrogen forms (total N, available ammonium and nitrate, total N in microbial biomass, and soil N mineralization) after conversion of semideciduous dry tropical forest in 5- and 18-year-old pastures (YP and OP, resp.) in the western Llanos of Venezuela. This evaluation was made at early rainy season, at end rainy season, and during dry season. With few exc...

Subterranean clover inoculated or not with the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungus Glomus intraradices was grown on soil containing six levels of 238U in the range 0-87 mg kg(-1). Increasing U concentration in soil enhanced the U concentration in roots and shoots of both mycorrhizal and nonmycorrhizal plants but had no significant effects on plant dry matter production or root AM colonization. M...

Tuberose is one of the most important aromatic cut flower among ornamental plants that its growth and quality is influenced by the type and percentage of mineral compounds in the substrate. This study was carried out on the basis of a randomized complete design to explore the impact of feldspar, talc, dolomite and tuff minerals at the rate of 10, 20 and 40% incorporated with garden soil and man...