Plant roots can increase soil shearing resistance directly by mechanical reinforcing. The 2D crack pattern of the surface soil near the plant were observed experimentally, and it was found that the soil cracking near the plant roots was inhibited, which may be due to the influence of the plant roots. This paper focuses on the mechanical reinforcement of soil by plant roots and investigates the development

This paper aims to create supervised classification models of the soil water potential based on hyperspectral data of Polish mineral soils (104 samples) from the Visible and Near-InfraRed (VNIR) and Short-Wave InfraRed (SWIR) range and selected soil physico-chemical properties, such as organic carbon content, or fraction of sand, silt, and clay. Soil water content regression models were also created

Despite numerous individual studies evaluating the impact of straw return on soil organic carbon (SOC) stock in upland wheat and maize croplands in China using no-tillage (NTS), rotary tillage (RTS), and deep tillage (DTS) practices, the results have shown inconsistency. In addition, several factors influence the effects of various tillage practices with straw return on SOC stock that are not well

To describe various important soil processes like the release of greenhouse gases or the proliferation of microorganisms, it is necessary to assess quantitatively how the geometry and in particular the connectivity of the air-filled pore space of a soil evolves as it is progressively dried. The availability of X-ray computed microtomography (μCT) images of soil samples now allows this information to

Precise assessment of soil organic carbon (SOC) storage requires understanding how vegetation and soil physico-chemical properties differ in SOC fractions. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the dynamics of aggregate-associated, labile organic carbon (LOC) fractions corresponding to depth to clarify the effect of vegetation and soil properties on water stable aggregate (WSA) mineral adsorption in subtropical

Managing and increasing organic matter in soil requires greater understanding of the mechanisms driving its persistence through resistance to microbial decomposition. Conflicting evidence exists for whether persistent soil organic matter (SOM) is molecularly complex and diverse. As such, this study used a novel application of graph networks with pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to quantify

Understanding the effect of sample volume on hydraulic and physical properties of soils has broad applications to problems in hydrogeology, soil physics, and environmental engineering. The scale dependence of flow and transport is attributed to spatial heterogeneities, such as pore-size distribution and pore connectivity at small scales (e.g., core), fracture orientation and long-range correlations

Emerging evidences have emphasized the primacy of microorganisms as executor in soil organic C (SOC) formation. Yet, whether and how microbial transformation of crop residue-derived C into necromass is affected by fertilization regimes remains poorly understood. To address this, soils subjected to 3-year applications of chemical fertilizer (NPK) vs manure plus chemical fertilizer (NPKM) were incubated

Livestock grazing affects nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from grassland ecosystems by altering soil physical, chemical and biological properties. However, how soil N2O emissions related to nitrogen process rates and functional genes are unexplored. We compiled 83 published studies of soil N2O emissions, potential nitrification and denitrification rates, and the abundance of nitrogen functional genes

Soil erosion is a multi-scale geographical interface process with high spatiotemporal variability. This study aimed to assess runoff and sediment dynamics under different microtopographic patterns based on wavelet analysis and SIMulated Water Erosion model (SIMWE). Three rainfall intensities of 1.0 mm min−1, 1.5 mm min−1, and 2.0 mm min−1, combined with three slope gradients of 10°, 15°, and 20°, were

Digital soil mapping (DSM) typically requires three common ingredients: georeferenced samples, environmental covariates, and a model. Of the three, sample design, or the selection of sample size and locations, has received considerably less attention. This is not surprising given that most studies are primarily limited by budget, the result being a focus on stratification of sampling locations in covariate

A field survey on abandoned mining site ‘Bir Nehass-Morocco’ was conducted to identify new native metallophytes as a promising tool for phytoremediation. The spatial distribution of metals in tailings and mining soils was investigated and metal accumulation in plant tissues was analyzed and compared. The results indicated that the studied area was polluted by Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd Cadmium with maximum

To explore the multi-functional characteristics of an artificial Caragana korshinskii ecosystem with different plantation ages, we assessed the differences in ecosystem multi-functionality, the main influencing factors, and recovery dynamics over 6, 12, 18, 40, and 50 years. The results showed a binomial correlation between planting age and regulatory function (p < 0.05, R2 = 0.459), and a significant

Soil multifunctionality is the consequence of biotic interactions that drive decomposition, nutrient cycling and net primary production. Energy flux describes the energy consumed and transferred among multitrophic groups in the soil food web, which are logically linked to multifunctionality. In a subtropical agroecosystem with an annual sweet potato-oilseed rape rotation, we explored how biochar and

The objective was to evaluate the effect of the planting density of cactus pear cv. Mexican elephant ear under soil physical and chemical properties. Four planting densities were tested: 30,000, 45,000, 60,000 and 75,000 plants distributed in a randomised block design with four replications. After 360 days of cultivation, soil samples were taken in different profiles (0.0–0.10, 0.10–0.20, 0.20–0.30

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) production worldwide strives to meet the challenges of the millennium and ensure food for the overgrown population. Improving traditional rice-growing techniques could effectively increase productivity, reduce water and fertilizer consumption, and mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The current study attempts to examine the effect of two rice cultivation (RC) methods, viz

This study focused on understanding how different spacing arrangements of poplar (Populus deltoides)–wheat (Triticum aestivum) agroforestry systems and the processes of the tree and wheat roots in these systems impact the elimination efficiency of inorganic nitrogen from soil. Three planting systems were tested: a monoculture wheat system (control), a widely spaced wheat–poplar system (PWW) and a narrowly

The return to equivalent capability was evaluated on a >1000 km oil and gas pipeline corridor on the western Canadian prairies. Resource constraints limited this first phase of sampling to soils more likely damaged by disturbance. Three pipelines were selected to span a 55-year period of construction. Data were collected from four transects established within each of six randomly chosen quarter sections

Organic matter is an important determinant of soil aggregate formation and stability. However, the role of its structure, especially that of dissolved organic matter (DOM) from organic amendments (OAs), in the aggregation process remains imprecise. The purpose of this study was to understand the relationship between the chemical structure of water-extractable organic matter (WEOM), potential source

Phosphorus fertilization modify soil P fractions differing in availability, but little is known about bioavailability of these pools for the crops when increasing P fertilizer rates in the medium term. Our objectives were to evaluate: i) changes in Bray-1 P content (extracted with 0,03 M NH4F and 0,1 M HCl) and soil P fractions as estimated by physical (Cambardella and Elliot method, POM-P) and chemical

Wheeling induced compression and shearing forces are main stresses accounting for soil deformation and changes of hydraulic, gaseous, and thermal properties. There are reports about the combined effects of compaction and subsequent shearing on soil hydraulic properties, but their consequences on soil strength properties (i.e., effective stress and shear strength) need to be further analyzed. This study

Plastic film mulching (PFM) is critical for agricultural planting and maximizing production in semiarid and arid areas. Particulate organic matter (POM) is assumed to be a sensitive indicator of evaluating the effects for different agricultural practices on soil fertility and the soil organic carbon (SOC) pool. Soil aggregates have the function of “wrap” and protect the POM stored in them. However

As global warming becomes more pronounced, climate change and human activities are leading to frequent peat fire incidents. Fire plays an important role in the environmental distribution of trace metals in peat soil. In the current study, we collected peat soils from six peatlands of the Great Khingan Mountains in Northeast China, where wildfires have often occurred in recent decades. Aerobic (AE)

Wetlandscapes are vulnerable to land conversion and sediment infilling from upland agriculture, causing them to act as sinks for sediment deposition and putting at risk their ecosystem services. Wetlandscapes in the Canadian Prairies agroecosystems are particularly susceptible to sediment infilling because of the intensification of human activities and agricultural practices. The rising risk of soil

Soil aggregates are critical for soil carbon (C) sequestration and serve as a habitat for microorganisms, including free-living nematodes. Yet, the interactions between nematode community composition and soil C cycling across aggregate fractions is rarely assessed. The objectives of this study were to 1) determine how soil type alters nematode community dispersal across aggregate fractions, 2) understand

Empirical evidence for the positive relationship between tree species richness and wood decomposition is weak, despite the greater numbers of decomposers in diverse stands. Tree species identity affects decomposition rates strongly by altering soil communities and micro-environments. It is therefore likely that tree species richness influences spatial variation rather than the mean rate of decomposition

Land-use changes through grazing exclusion (GE) or grassland afforestation (GA) are common restoring practices in semiarid ecosystems, but whether GE and GA exert similar or distinct effect on soil nitrogen (N) dynamics in certain ecosystem is still unclear, particularly in areas with complex terrain. Here, seasonal patterns of soil net N mineralization rates and mineral N contents were characterized

Heat pulse (HP) measurements are used as an alternative method for a variety of thermal and hydraulic properties critical for many scientific disciplines and engineering applications. This study investigated factors affecting heat pulse probe (HPP) measurements using COMSOL numerical simulations. We sought to understand the influence of rod support material (e.g., circuit board) and rod length on the

Terrestrial ecosystems are important sources of nitrous oxide (N2O), a powerful greenhouse gas which can be strongly impacted by increasing droughts in association with climate change. However, detailed information on whether and how drought timing regulates N2O fluxes is still lacking. Here, we conducted a 3-year field experiment on a semiarid grassland in which extreme drought was imposed in either

Thermal conductivity is a key parameter characterizing heat and water transfer in soils. It is difficult to measure thermal conductivity under freezing conditions. For this reason, some models have been proposed to estimate the thermal conductivity of freezing soils, but most of them failed to mimic the variation of thermal conductivity with temperature. In this study, a hyperbolic model with three

The estimation of hydraulic parameters is the basis for establishing soil erosion models. However, the underlying surfaces greatly influence the hydraulic parameters of the overland flow. Since sediment flow and slope surface resistance interact, exploring the mechanism of overland flow movement in relation to different underlying surfaces is essential. A potential relationship between hydrodynamic

Soil nitrogen (N) mineralization is regulated by the input of exogenous organic carbon (C, ExoC) substrate via changing C availability. Although ExoC input occurs widely among global terrestrial ecosystems, it is still not clear how ExoC input affects soil gross N mineralization (GNM). Here, 265 observations from 63 peer-reviewed publications were collected for a global meta-analysis to investigate

Sodium-rich water may deteriorate calcite-stabilize soil. The objective of this work was to determine whether calcite solution prepared with sodium-rich water were capable of forming stable soil macroaggregates. Calcite solutions were 2.6 g Ca2+ L−1 of CaCO3 mixed with water containing 2.6, 5 or 10 g Na+ L−1 from NaCl. Arid desert soil (5 cm layer, packed at 1.1 g cm−3) was moistened with calcite solution

Abstract. A major obstacle to selecting the most appropriate crops and closing the yield gap in many areas of the world is a lack of site-specific soil information. Accurate information on soil properties is critical for identifying soil limitations and the management practices needed to improve crop yields. However, acquiring accurate soil information is often difficult due to the high spatial and

Alpine wetlands and meadow across the Three Rivers Source Region (TRSR) store high soil organic carbon (SOC). However, information on factors affecting SOC storage is scanty. Herein, we investigated SOC storage and explored factors affecting SOC storage, including climate, soil properties, above- and belowground biomass, using 50 soil profiles across the TRSR on the Tibetan Plateau. The SOC storage