Sample records for modulate soil resources

  1. Engaging Undergraduates in Soil Sustainability Decision-Making through an InTeGrate Module

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fortner, Sarah K.; Scherer, Hannah H.; Murphy, Martha A.

    2016-01-01

    Continued agricultural productivity hinges on understanding how to manage soil resources. A 2-week undergraduate introductory-level module: "A Growing Concern: Sustaining Soil Resources Through Local Decision Making" was collaboratively developed through the InTeGrate Project. InTeGrate modules and courses engage students in grand…

  2. An applied hydropedological perspective on the rendering of ecosystem services from urban soils

    EPA Science Inventory

    Ecosystem services are benefits to human populations derived from natural capitals like soil. When a soil is urbanized during infrastructure and superstructure development, the related processes modulate the state and quality of natural resources, along with the form and function...

  3. Soil fertility shapes belowground food webs across a regional climate gradient.

    PubMed

    Laliberté, Etienne; Kardol, Paul; Didham, Raphael K; Teste, François P; Turner, Benjamin L; Wardle, David A

    2017-10-01

    Changes in soil fertility during pedogenesis affect the quantity and quality of resources entering the belowground subsystem. Climate governs pedogenesis, yet how climate modulates responses of soil food webs to soil ageing remains unexplored because of the paucity of appropriate model systems. We characterised soil food webs along each of four retrogressive soil chronosequences situated across a strong regional climate gradient to show that belowground communities are predominantly shaped by changes in fertility rather than climate. Basal consumers showed hump-shaped responses to soil ageing, which were propagated to higher-order consumers. There was a shift in dominance from bacterial to fungal energy channels with increasing soil age, while the root energy channel was most important in intermediate-aged soils. Our study highlights the overarching importance of soil fertility in regulating soil food webs, and indicates that belowground food webs will respond more strongly to shifts in soil resources than climate change. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  4. Connecting with Teachers and Students through K-12 Outreach Activities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chapman, Susan; Lindbo, David; Robinson, Clay

    2014-05-01

    The Soil Science Society of America has invested heavily in a significant outreach effort to reach teachers and students in the primary/secondary grades (K-12 grades in US/Canada) to raise awareness of soil as a critical resource. The SSSA K-12 committee has been charged with increasing interest and awareness of soil science as a scientific pursuit and career choice, and providing resources that integrate more information on soil science into biology, chemistry, physics, and earth science areas taught at multiple grade levels. Activities center around five main areas: assessment and standards, learning modules/lesson plans, website development, and books and materials, and partnership activities. Members (professionals and students) of SSSA are involved through committee participation, local events, materials review, and project development.

  5. The project RUSSADE: geoethic education to face environmental problems in the Sahel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ferrero, Elena; Semita, Carlo

    2016-04-01

    The hard environmental and climatic conditions in Sahel countries affect life choices of younger generations, whose number continues to increase especially in large Sahelian cities, with increasing levels of discomfort and lack of adequate education and governance. To improve job opportunities and consequently the quality of life at all levels of the population, it is important to guarantee a better access to basic natural resources, such as soil, water, food. At the same time it is essential to spread awareness and knowledge of the vulnerability and of the risks that threaten natural resources, both for natural processes and for the interaction with human not sustainable activities. For this purpose, a Master course has been achieved in the project RUSSADE (Réseau des Universités Sahéliennes pour la Sécurité Alimentaire et la Durabilité Environnementale - www.russade.eu), funded in the ACP-EU Cooperation Programme in higher education (EDULINK II). The Master course includes teaching modules dedicated to these issues and takes care of their integration with other modules in the technical and application fields of the rural development. For instance, the objectives of the teaching module "Land and natural resources management" provide for the transmission of skills to diagnose types of soil degradation risks, to guide options for protection, conservation and soil restoration and to identify the components of integrated soil fertility management in particular African contexts (Subunit "Land management"); to choose appropriate methods of management and exploitation of water resources (defining the limits in the use of water resources) (Subunit "Water supply"); to propose alternative solutions concerning conventional energy resources, to know and promote the various possibilities of solar and other renewable energies production (Subunit "Using solar and other renewable energies"). Some teaching modules introduce and discuss risks related to inadequate waste management and bio and geo-preservation represented by the functions of the protected areas. The theoretical approach of these issues is enhanced by practical experiences and visits to emblematic situations and structures in Niger territory, taking care to contextualize them with the local needs and integrating the experience and skills of partner teachers of Niger, Chad, Burkina Faso and Italy). The students work through individual internships (for example internships on bio-digesters) that give rise to a report to be presented at the end of the Master. It is expected to publish the various reports on the appropriate magazines as well as on the websites of CISAO and of the involved universities, to give the best diffusion to the achieved results and to develop the potential applications in the Sahelian countries.

  6. Assessment of crop growth and soil water modules in SWAT2000 using extensive field experiment data in an irrigation district of the Yellow River Basin

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Luo, Y.; He, C.; Sophocleous, M.; Yin, Z.; Hongrui, R.; Ouyang, Z.

    2008-01-01

    SWAT, a physically-based, hydrological model simulates crop growth, soil water and groundwater movement, and transport of sediment and nutrients at both the process and watershed scales. While the different versions of SWAT have been widely used throughout the world for agricultural and water resources applications, little has been done to test the performance, variability, and transferability of the parameters in the crop growth, soil water, and groundwater modules in an integrated way with multiple sets of field experimental data at the process scale. Using an multiple years of field experimental data of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in the irrigation district of the Yellow River Basin, this paper assesses the performance of the plant-soil-groundwater modules and the variability and transferability of SWAT2000. Comparison of the simulated results by SWAT to the observations showed that SWAT performed quite unsatisfactorily in LAI predictions during the senescence stage, in yield predictions, and in soil-water estimation under dry soil-profile conditions. The unsatisfactory performance in LAI prediction might be attributed to over-simplified senescence modeling; in yield prediction to the improper computation of the harvest index; and in soil water under dry conditions to the exclusion of groundwater evaporation from the soil water balance in SWAT. In this paper, improvements in crop growth, soil water, and groundwater modules in SWAT were implemented. The saturated soil profile was coupled to the oscillating groundwater table. A variable evaporation coefficient taking into account soil water deficit index, groundwater depth, and crop root depth was used to replace the fixed coefficient in computing groundwater evaporation. The soil water balance included the groundwater evaporation. The modifications improved simulations of crop evapotranspiration and biomass as well as soil water dynamics under dry soil-profile conditions. The evaluation shows that the crop growth and soil water components of SWAT could be further refined to better simulate the hydrology of agricultural watersheds. ?? 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Resource stoichiometry and availability modulate species richness and biomass of tropical litter macro-invertebrates.

    PubMed

    Jochum, Malte; Barnes, Andrew D; Weigelt, Patrick; Ott, David; Rembold, Katja; Farajallah, Achmad; Brose, Ulrich

    2017-09-01

    High biodiversity and biomass of soil communities are crucial for litter decomposition in terrestrial ecosystems such as tropical forests. However, the leaf litter that these communities consume is of particularly poor quality as indicated by elemental stoichiometry. The impact of resource quantity, quality and other habitat parameters on species richness and biomass of consumer communities is often studied in isolation, although much can be learned from simultaneously studying both community characteristics. Using a dataset of 780 macro-invertebrate consumer species across 32 sites in tropical lowland rain forest and agricultural systems on Sumatra, Indonesia, we investigated the effects of basal resource stoichiometry (C:X ratios of N, P, K, Ca, Mg, Na, S in local leaf litter), litter mass (basal resource quantity and habitat space), plant species richness (surrogate for litter habitat heterogeneity), and soil pH (acidity) on consumer species richness and biomass across different consumer groups (i.e. 3 feeding guilds and 10 selected taxonomic groups). In order to distinguish the most important predictors of consumer species richness and biomass, we applied a standardised model averaging approach investigating the effects of basal resource stoichiometry, litter mass, plant species richness and soil pH on both consumer community characteristics. This standardised approach enabled us to identify differences and similarities in the magnitude and importance of such effects on consumer species richness and biomass. Across consumer groups, we found litter mass to be the most important predictor of both species richness and biomass. Resource stoichiometry had a more pronounced impact on consumer species richness than on their biomass. As expected, taxonomic groups differed in which resource and habitat parameters (basal resource stoichiometry, litter mass, plant species richness and pH) were most important for modulating their community characteristics. The importance of litter mass for both species richness and biomass indicates that these tropical consumers strongly depend on habitat space and resource availability. Our study supports previous theoretical work indicating that consumer species richness is jointly influenced by resource availability and the balanced supply of multiple chemical elements in their resources. © 2017 The Authors. Journal of Animal Ecology © 2017 British Ecological Society.

  8. A new hammer to crack an old nut: interspecific competitive resource capture by plants is regulated by nutrient supply, not climate.

    PubMed

    Trinder, Clare J; Brooker, Rob W; Davidson, Hazel; Robinson, David

    2012-01-01

    Although rarely acknowledged, our understanding of how competition is modulated by environmental drivers is severely hampered by our dependence on indirect measurements of outcomes, rather than the process of competition. To overcome this, we made direct measurements of plant competition for soil nitrogen (N). Using isotope pool-dilution, we examined the interactive effects of soil resource limitation and climatic severity between two common grassland species. Pool-dilution estimates the uptake of total N over a defined time period, rather than simply the uptake of ¹⁵N label, as used in most other tracer experiments. Competitive uptake of N was determined by its available form (NO₃⁻ or NH₄⁺). Soil N availability had a greater effect than the climatic conditions (location) under which plants grew. The results did not entirely support either of the main current theories relating the role of competition to environmental conditions. We found no evidence for Tilman's theory that competition for soil nutrients is stronger at low, compared with high nutrient levels and partial support for Grime's theory that competition for soil nutrients is greater under potentially more productive conditions. These results provide novel insights by demonstrating the dynamic nature of plant resource competition.

  9. A New Hammer to Crack an Old Nut: Interspecific Competitive Resource Capture by Plants Is Regulated by Nutrient Supply, Not Climate

    PubMed Central

    Trinder, Clare J.; Brooker, Rob W.; Davidson, Hazel; Robinson, David

    2012-01-01

    Although rarely acknowledged, our understanding of how competition is modulated by environmental drivers is severely hampered by our dependence on indirect measurements of outcomes, rather than the process of competition. To overcome this, we made direct measurements of plant competition for soil nitrogen (N). Using isotope pool-dilution, we examined the interactive effects of soil resource limitation and climatic severity between two common grassland species. Pool-dilution estimates the uptake of total N over a defined time period, rather than simply the uptake of 15N label, as used in most other tracer experiments. Competitive uptake of N was determined by its available form (NO3 − or NH4 +). Soil N availability had a greater effect than the climatic conditions (location) under which plants grew. The results did not entirely support either of the main current theories relating the role of competition to environmental conditions. We found no evidence for Tilman's theory that competition for soil nutrients is stronger at low, compared with high nutrient levels and partial support for Grime's theory that competition for soil nutrients is greater under potentially more productive conditions. These results provide novel insights by demonstrating the dynamic nature of plant resource competition. PMID:22247775

  10. PowderSim: Lagrangian Discrete and Mesh-Free Continuum Simulation Code for Cohesive Soils

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson, Scott; Walton, Otis; Settgast, Randolph

    2013-01-01

    PowderSim is a calculation tool that combines a discrete-element method (DEM) module, including calibrated interparticle-interaction relationships, with a mesh-free, continuum, SPH (smoothed-particle hydrodynamics) based module that utilizes enhanced, calibrated, constitutive models capable of mimicking both large deformations and the flow behavior of regolith simulants and lunar regolith under conditions anticipated during in situ resource utilization (ISRU) operations. The major innovation introduced in PowderSim is to use a mesh-free method (SPH-based) with a calibrated and slightly modified critical-state soil mechanics constitutive model to extend the ability of the simulation tool to also address full-scale engineering systems in the continuum sense. The PowderSim software maintains the ability to address particle-scale problems, like size segregation, in selected regions with a traditional DEM module, which has improved contact physics and electrostatic interaction models.

  11. Plant responses to soil heterogeneity and global environmental change

    PubMed Central

    García-Palacios, Pablo; Maestre, Fernando T.; Bardgett, Richard D.; de Kroon, Hans

    2015-01-01

    Summary Recent evidence suggests that soil nutrient heterogeneity, a ubiquitous feature of terrestrial ecosystems, modulates plant responses to ongoing global change (GC). However, we know little about the overall trends of such responses, the GC drivers involved, and the plant attributes affected. We synthesized literature to answer the question: Does soil heterogeneity significantly affect plant responses to main GC drivers, such as elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (CO2), nitrogen (N) enrichment and changes in rainfall regime? Overall, most studies have addressed short-term effects of N enrichment on the performance of model plant communities using experiments conducted under controlled conditions. The role of soil heterogeneity as a modulator of plant responses to elevated CO2 may depend on the plasticity in nutrient uptake patterns. Soil heterogeneity does interact with N enrichment to determine plant growth and nutrient status, but the outcome of this interaction has been found to be both synergistic and inhibitory. The very few studies published on interactive effects of soil heterogeneity and changes in rainfall regime prevented us from identifying any general pattern. We identify the long-term consequences of soil heterogeneity on plant community dynamics in the field, and the ecosystem level responses of the soil heterogeneity × GC driver interaction, as the main knowledge gaps in this area of research. In order to fill these gaps and take soil heterogeneity and GC research a step forward, we propose the following research guidelines: 1) combining morphological and physiological plant responses to soil heterogeneity with field observations of community composition and predictions from simulation models; and 2) incorporating soil heterogeneity into a trait-based response-effect framework, where plant resource-use traits are used as both response variables to this heterogeneity and GC, and predictors of ecosystem functioning. Synthesis. There is enough evidence to affirm that soil heterogeneity modulates plant responses to elevated atmospheric CO2 and N enrichment. Our synthesis indicates that we must explicitly consider soil heterogeneity to accurately predict plant responses to GC drivers. PMID:25914423

  12. Soil, Plant, and Crop Science. Teacher Edition.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Oklahoma State Dept. of Vocational and Technical Education, Stillwater. Curriculum and Instructional Materials Center.

    This package contains an instructor's manual, an instructor's resource package, and a student workbook for a course in agricultural production and management as it relates to crop production. The module contains 17 units of instruction, each of which contains some or all of the following components: objective sheet, instructor's guide, information…

  13. Assessment and management of soil microbial community structure for disease suppression.

    PubMed

    Mazzola, Mark

    2004-01-01

    Identification of the biological properties contributing to the function of suppressive soils is a necessary first step to the management of such systems for use in the control of soilborne diseases. The development and application of molecular methods for the characterization and monitoring of soil microbial properties will enable a more rapid and detailed assessment of the biological nature of soil suppressiveness. Although suppressive soils have provided a wealth of microbial resources that have subsequently been applied for the biological control of soilborne plant pathogens, the full functional capabilities of the phenomena have not been realized in production agricultural ecosystems. Cultural practices, such as the application of soil amendments, have the capacity to enhance disease suppression, though the biological modes of action may vary from that initially resident to the soil. Plants have a distinct impact on characteristics and activity of resident soil microbial communities, and therefore play an important role in determining the development of the disease-suppressive state. Likewise, plant genotype will modulate these same biological communities, and should be considered when developing strategies to exploit the potential of such a natural disease control system. Implementation of consistently effective practices to manage this resource in an economically and environmentally feasible manner will require more detailed investigation of these biologically complex systems and refinement of currently available methodologies.

  14. New Materials for the Undergraduate Classroom to Build Pre-Service Teachers' NGSS Skills and Knowledge

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Egger, A. E.; Awad, A. A.; Baldwin, K. A.; Birnbaum, S. J.; Bruckner, M. Z.; DeBari, S. M.; Dechaine, J.; Ebert, J. R.; Gray, K. R.; Hauge, R.; Linneman, S. R.; Monet, J.; Thomas, J.; Varrella, G.

    2014-12-01

    As part of InTeGrate, teams of 3 instructors at 3 different institutions developed modules that help prepare pre-service teachers to teach Earth science aligned with the NGSS. Modules were evaluated against a rubric, which addresses InTeGrate's five guiding principles, learning objectives and outcomes, assessment and measurement, resources and materials, instructional strategies and alignment. As all modules must address one or more Earth-related grand challenge facing society, develop student ability to address interdisciplinary problems, improve student understanding of the methods of geoscience, use authentic geoscience data, and incorporate systems thinking, they align well with the NGSS. Once modules passed the rubric, they were tested by the authors in their classrooms. Testing included pre- and post-assessment of geoscience literacy and assessment of student learning towards the module goal; materials were revised based on the results of testing. In "Exploring Geoscience Methods with Secondary Education Students," pre-service science teachers compare geoscientific thinking with the classic (experimental) scientific method, investigate global climate change and its impacts on human systems, and prepare an interdisciplinary lesson plan that addresses geoscience methods in context of a socioscientific issue. In "Soils and Society," pre-service elementary teachers explore societal issues where soil is important, develop skills to describe and test soil properties, and create a standards-based Soils and Society Kit that consists of lessons and supporting materials to teach K-8 students about a soil-and-society issue. In "Interactions between Water, Earth's Surface, and Human Activity," students explore the effects of running water on shaping Earth's surface both over geologic time and through short-term flooding events, and produce a brochure to inform citizens of the impact of living near a river. The modules are freely available at http://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/modules_courses.html and include Instructor Stories, where each author describes how they adapted the module to their teaching environment. The goal of showing different implementations of the materialst is to facilitate adoption and adaption beyond the team of authors.

  15. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Evans, R.D.; Black, R.A.

    Growth of vegetative and reproductive structures in Artemisia tridentata is temporally separated during the growing season; vegetative growth occurs during spring and early summer when soil moisture is most abundant, while reproductive growth occurs during summer and fall when soil moisture may be limiting. Vegetative and reproductive structures may exhibit contrasting efficiencies of resource acquisition and investment resulting from temporal differences in resource availability. The effect of water stress on growth, photosynthesis, and resource investment for vegetative and reproductive modules of Artemisia tridentata was examined by applying supplemental water. No differences were observed in vegetative biomass in the two wateringmore » treatments. Growth of vegetative structures occurred in the spring when water was not limiting, and shrubs in both treatments exerted little stomatal control over water loss. Conversely, supplemental watering increased reproductive growth. Shrubs conserved water during summer by abscising leaves and lowering stomatal conductance potential and increases in evaporative demand. In florescences are capable of positive photosynthetic rates comparable to vegetative leaves. Water stress did not alter tissue construction costs or carbon and nitrogen contents for either vegetative or reproductive modules. Resource limitations were reflected in the efficiency of water use during tissue construction; floral leaves and floral heads of shrubs not receiving supplemental water were produced with higher water-use efficiency. Conservative use of water during production of vegetative modules would offer no advantage because neighboring species are also most active at this time. Reproductive growth in A. tridentata occurs during summer when neighboring species are largely dormant, and so efficient use of water may allow development of reproductive structures to continue throughout the summer even with limited supplies of water. 66 refs., 8 figs., 3 tabs.« less

  16. 30 CFR 783.21 - Soil resources information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Soil resources information. 783.21 Section 783... RESOURCES § 783.21 Soil resources information. (a) The applicant shall provide adequate soil survey... of the following: (1) A map delineating different soils; (2) Soil identification; (3) Soil...

  17. 30 CFR 783.21 - Soil resources information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Soil resources information. 783.21 Section 783... RESOURCES § 783.21 Soil resources information. (a) The applicant shall provide adequate soil survey... of the following: (1) A map delineating different soils; (2) Soil identification; (3) Soil...

  18. 30 CFR 783.21 - Soil resources information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Soil resources information. 783.21 Section 783... RESOURCES § 783.21 Soil resources information. (a) The applicant shall provide adequate soil survey... of the following: (1) A map delineating different soils; (2) Soil identification; (3) Soil...

  19. 30 CFR 783.21 - Soil resources information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Soil resources information. 783.21 Section 783... RESOURCES § 783.21 Soil resources information. (a) The applicant shall provide adequate soil survey... of the following: (1) A map delineating different soils; (2) Soil identification; (3) Soil...

  20. 30 CFR 783.21 - Soil resources information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Soil resources information. 783.21 Section 783... RESOURCES § 783.21 Soil resources information. (a) The applicant shall provide adequate soil survey... of the following: (1) A map delineating different soils; (2) Soil identification; (3) Soil...

  1. Pedoinformatics Approach to Soil Text Analytics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Furey, J.; Seiter, J.; Davis, A.

    2017-12-01

    The several extant schema for the classification of soils rely on differing criteria, but the major soil science taxonomies, including the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the international harmonized World Reference Base for Soil Resources systems, are based principally on inferred pedogenic properties. These taxonomies largely result from compiled individual observations of soil morphologies within soil profiles, and the vast majority of this pedologic information is contained in qualitative text descriptions. We present text mining analyses of hundreds of gigabytes of parsed text and other data in the digitally available USDA soil taxonomy documentation, the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database, and the National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS) soil characterization database. These analyses implemented iPython calls to Gensim modules for topic modelling, with latent semantic indexing completed down to the lowest taxon level (soil series) paragraphs. Via a custom extension of the Natural Language Toolkit (NLTK), approximately one percent of the USDA soil series descriptions were used to train a classifier for the remainder of the documents, essentially by treating soil science words as comprising a novel language. While location-specific descriptors at the soil series level are amenable to geomatics methods, unsupervised clustering of the occurrence of other soil science words did not closely follow the usual hierarchy of soil taxa. We present preliminary phrasal analyses that may account for some of these effects.

  2. Cloning, purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray studies of a carbohydrate-binding module (CBM_E1) derived from sugarcane soil metagenome.

    PubMed

    Campos, Bruna Medeia; Alvarez, Thabata Maria; Liberato, Marcelo Vizona; Polikarpov, Igor; Gilbert, Harry J; Zeri, Ana Carolina de Mattos; Squina, Fabio Marcio

    2014-09-01

    In recent years, owing to the growing global demand for energy, dependence on fossil fuels, limited natural resources and environmental pollution, biofuels have attracted great interest as a source of renewable energy. However, the production of biofuels from plant biomass is still considered to be an expensive technology. In this context, the study of carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs), which are involved in guiding the catalytic domains of glycoside hydrolases for polysaccharide degradation, is attracting growing attention. Aiming at the identification of new CBMs, a sugarcane soil metagenomic library was analyzed and an uncharacterized CBM (CBM_E1) was identified. In this study, CBM_E1 was expressed, purified and crystallized. X-ray diffraction data were collected to 1.95 Å resolution. The crystals, which were obtained by the sitting-drop vapour-diffusion method, belonged to space group I23, with unit-cell parameters a = b = c = 88.07 Å.

  3. 30 CFR 779.21 - Soil resources information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Soil resources information. 779.21 Section 779... § 779.21 Soil resources information. (a) The applicant shall provide adequate soil survey information of the permit area consisting of the following: (1) A map delineating different soils; (2) Soil...

  4. 30 CFR 779.21 - Soil resources information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Soil resources information. 779.21 Section 779... § 779.21 Soil resources information. (a) The applicant shall provide adequate soil survey information of the permit area consisting of the following: (1) A map delineating different soils; (2) Soil...

  5. 30 CFR 779.21 - Soil resources information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Soil resources information. 779.21 Section 779... § 779.21 Soil resources information. (a) The applicant shall provide adequate soil survey information of the permit area consisting of the following: (1) A map delineating different soils; (2) Soil...

  6. 30 CFR 779.21 - Soil resources information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Soil resources information. 779.21 Section 779... § 779.21 Soil resources information. (a) The applicant shall provide adequate soil survey information of the permit area consisting of the following: (1) A map delineating different soils; (2) Soil...

  7. 30 CFR 779.21 - Soil resources information.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Soil resources information. 779.21 Section 779... § 779.21 Soil resources information. (a) The applicant shall provide adequate soil survey information of the permit area consisting of the following: (1) A map delineating different soils; (2) Soil...

  8. Maximizing the Use of a Web-Based Soils Module: Targeting Diverse Populations

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lippert, Robert

    2006-01-01

    This article deals with an on-line soils module project. The two goals for this part of the project were to determine if an on-line soils module could be successfully used for asynchronous instruction of two diverse populations and to determine which demographic factors are related to test performance. The module was presented to an eighth-grade…

  9. 7 CFR 600.9 - Major land resource area soil survey offices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Major land resource area soil survey offices. 600.9... CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL ORGANIZATION § 600.9 Major land resource area soil... soil survey production. Major land resource area soil survey offices (MO) provide the technical...

  10. 7 CFR 600.9 - Major land resource area soil survey offices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Major land resource area soil survey offices. 600.9... CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL ORGANIZATION § 600.9 Major land resource area soil... soil survey production. Major land resource area soil survey offices (MO) provide the technical...

  11. 7 CFR 600.9 - Major land resource area soil survey offices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Major land resource area soil survey offices. 600.9... CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL ORGANIZATION § 600.9 Major land resource area soil... soil survey production. Major land resource area soil survey offices (MO) provide the technical...

  12. 7 CFR 600.9 - Major land resource area soil survey offices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Major land resource area soil survey offices. 600.9... CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL ORGANIZATION § 600.9 Major land resource area soil... soil survey production. Major land resource area soil survey offices (MO) provide the technical...

  13. 7 CFR 600.9 - Major land resource area soil survey offices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Major land resource area soil survey offices. 600.9... CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE GENERAL ORGANIZATION § 600.9 Major land resource area soil... soil survey production. Major land resource area soil survey offices (MO) provide the technical...

  14. Network analysis reveals that bacteria and fungi form modules that correlate independently with soil parameters.

    PubMed

    de Menezes, Alexandre B; Prendergast-Miller, Miranda T; Richardson, Alan E; Toscas, Peter; Farrell, Mark; Macdonald, Lynne M; Baker, Geoff; Wark, Tim; Thrall, Peter H

    2015-08-01

    Network and multivariate statistical analyses were performed to determine interactions between bacterial and fungal community terminal restriction length polymorphisms as well as soil properties in paired woodland and pasture sites. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) revealed that shifts in woodland community composition correlated with soil dissolved organic carbon, while changes in pasture community composition correlated with moisture, nitrogen and phosphorus. Weighted correlation network analysis detected two distinct microbial modules per land use. Bacterial and fungal ribotypes did not group separately, rather all modules comprised of both bacterial and fungal ribotypes. Woodland modules had a similar fungal : bacterial ribotype ratio, while in the pasture, one module was fungal dominated. There was no correspondence between pasture and woodland modules in their ribotype composition. The modules had different relationships to soil variables, and these contrasts were not detected without the use of network analysis. This study demonstrated that fungi and bacteria, components of the soil microbial communities usually treated as separate functional groups as in a CCA approach, were co-correlated and formed distinct associations in these adjacent habitats. Understanding these distinct modular associations may shed more light on their niche space in the soil environment, and allow a more realistic description of soil microbial ecology and function. © 2014 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Environmental Education: A Guide to Teaching Conservation in Texas.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Texas Education Agency, Austin. Div. of Curriculum Development.

    This document describes Texas' natural resources and suggests ways to correlate conservation instruction into the existing curriculum. Resources discussed include: 1) soil (soil formation; properties of soils; soil survey, soil use in agriculture; soils and the state economy, land value; specific soil resources); 2) air (principal pollutants and…

  16. Soil Water: Advanced Crop and Soil Science. A Course of Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, Larry E.

    The course of study represents the fourth of six modules in advanced crop and soil science and introduces the agriculture student to the topic of soil water. Upon completing the three day module, the student will be able to classify water as to its presence in the soil, outline the hydrological cycle, list the ways water is lost from the soil,…

  17. What did we do and what can we do with our global soil resources?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stoorvogel, Jetse

    2017-04-01

    Our global soil resources increasingly meet the headlines: soil degradation leads to irreversible changes and a loss of the global production potential, soil resources play a key role to reach the sustainable development goals, and soils are seen as a potential solution to some of the climate change mitigation through carbon sequestration. However, global assessments of soil degradation, soil resources, and the potential of soils to provide ecosystem services are not very consistent. This study aims to contribute to the discussion by providing a realistic opportunity space on the options for our soil resources. First, the natural and current soil conditions are estimated using the S-World methodology. S-World has been developed to provide global maps of soil properties at a 30 arc-second resolution for environmental modelling. By running the S-world methodology for current but also for natural land cover, natural and current soil conditions are estimated. This analysis tells us what we did to our global soil resources. Subsequently, the same methodology is used to analyse a range of different scenarios for the future to explore the potential for soil restoration and carbon sequestration. Although the actual management interventions required are not analysed, the analysis does provide the opportunity space and thus what we can do with our soil resources in terms of realistic ranges. The results are interpreted in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals and the recent 4‰-initiative for climate change mitigation.

  18. Indoor Soiling Method and Outdoor Statistical Risk Analysis of Photovoltaic Power Plants

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rajasekar, Vidyashree

    This is a two-part thesis. Part 1 presents an approach for working towards the development of a standardized artificial soiling method for laminated photovoltaic (PV) cells or mini-modules. Construction of an artificial chamber to maintain controlled environmental conditions and components/chemicals used in artificial soil formulation is briefly explained. Both poly-Si mini-modules and a single cell mono-Si coupons were soiled and characterization tests such as I-V, reflectance and quantum efficiency (QE) were carried out on both soiled, and cleaned coupons. From the results obtained, poly-Si mini-modules proved to be a good measure of soil uniformity, as any non-uniformity present would not result in a smooth curve during I-V measurements. The challenges faced while executing reflectance and QE characterization tests on poly-Si due to smaller size cells was eliminated on the mono-Si coupons with large cells to obtain highly repeatable measurements. This study indicates that the reflectance measurements between 600-700 nm wavelengths can be used as a direct measure of soil density on the modules. Part 2 determines the most dominant failure modes of field aged PV modules using experimental data obtained in the field and statistical analysis, FMECA (Failure Mode, Effect, and Criticality Analysis). The failure and degradation modes of about 744 poly-Si glass/polymer frameless modules fielded for 18 years under the cold-dry climate of New York was evaluated. Defect chart, degradation rates (both string and module levels) and safety map were generated using the field measured data. A statistical reliability tool, FMECA that uses Risk Priority Number (RPN) is used to determine the dominant failure or degradation modes in the strings and modules by means of ranking and prioritizing the modes. This study on PV power plants considers all the failure and degradation modes from both safety and performance perspectives. The indoor and outdoor soiling studies were jointly performed by two Masters Students, Sravanthi Boppana and Vidyashree Rajasekar. This thesis presents the indoor soiling study, whereas the other thesis presents the outdoor soiling study. Similarly, the statistical risk analyses of two power plants (model J and model JVA) were jointly performed by these two Masters students. Both power plants are located at the same cold-dry climate, but one power plant carries framed modules and the other carries frameless modules. This thesis presents the results obtained on the frameless modules.

  19. A multimedia and interactive approach to teach soil science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Badía-Villas, D.; Martí-Dalmau, C.; Iñiguez-Remón, E.

    2012-04-01

    Soil Science is a discipline concerned with a material that has unique features and behaviours (Churchman, 2010). Thus, teachers of Soil Science need to be experienced with Soil Science practices and must appreciate the complexities and relationships inherent within the discipline (Field et al, 2011). But when soil science had to be taught not by specialists, for instance in the introductory courses of earth and environmental sciences Degrees or in Secondary School, adequate material cannot be found. For this reason, multimedia and interactive programmes have been developed and showed here. EDAFOS is an e-learning resource that provides a comprehensive review of the fundamental concepts on soil science and reveals it as the living skin of planet Earth (European Commission, 2006). This programme is available via website (www.cienciadelsuelo.es) both in Spanish and, more recently, also in English. Edafos is a programme with different modules, which after outlining the study of soil components goes on to examine the main factors and processes of soil genesis explaining the mechanisms of soil processes. By the use of animations, the vital functions of soil are explained. The program ends with a section of multiple-choice exercises with self-assessment. To complement this program, virtual visits to the field are showed in the program iARASOL (www.suelosdearagon.es), in a time when field trips are gradually diminishing due to insufficiency in time and budget, as well as safety concerns (Çaliskan, 2011). In this case, the objective of iARASOL is to set out that soil vary from place to place not randomly, but in a systematic way, according to landscape units; therefore, graduates can classify the soils using the WRB system (IUSS, 2007). It presents diverse types of data and images instantly, from a variety of viewpoints, at many different scales and display non-visual information in the field. Both programs provide an additional source of information to supplement lectures, real field visits and other learning activities on soil sciences. The development of these programmes has been sponsored by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología, FECYT) and it has won the "Félix de Azara" Award (2011). Çaliskan, O. (2011). Virtual field trips in education of earth and environmental sciences. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15: 3229-3243. Churchman, G. J. (2010). The philosophical status of soil science. Geoderma 157, 214-221. European Commission (2006). Thematic strategy for soil protection. COM (2006) 231. Field D.J., A. J. Koppi, L. E. Jarrett, L. K. Abbott, S. R. Cattle, C. D. Grant, A. B. McBratney, N. W. Menzies, A. J. Weatherley (2011). Soil Science teaching principles. Geoderma, 167-168: 9-14. IUSS Working Group WRB (2007). World Reference Base for Soil Resources 2006, fist update 2007. World Soil Resources Reports n° 103. FAO. Rome.

  20. Land Application of Wastes: An Educational Program. Soil as a Treatment Medium - Module 3, Objectives, Script and Booklet.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clarkson, W. W.; And Others

    This module examines the basic properties of soil which have an influence on the success of land treatment of wastes. These relevant properties include soil texture, soil structure, permeability, infiltration, available water capacity, and cation exchange capacity. Biological, chemical and physical mechanisms work to remove and renovate wastes…

  1. Habitat Fragmentation can Modulate Drought Effects on the Plant-soil-microbial System in Mediterranean Holm Oak (Quercus ilex) Forests.

    PubMed

    Flores-Rentería, Dulce; Curiel Yuste, Jorge; Rincón, Ana; Brearley, Francis Q; García-Gil, Juan Carlos; Valladares, Fernando

    2015-05-01

    Ecological transformations derived from habitat fragmentation have led to increased threats to above-ground biodiversity. However, the impacts of forest fragmentation on soils and their microbial communities are not well understood. We examined the effects of contrasting fragment sizes on the structure and functioning of soil microbial communities from holm oak forest patches in two bioclimatically different regions of Spain. We used a microcosm approach to simulate the annual summer drought cycle and first autumn rainfall (rewetting), evaluating the functional response of a plant-soil-microbial system. Forest fragment size had a significant effect on physicochemical characteristics and microbial functioning of soils, although the diversity and structure of microbial communities were not affected. The response of our plant-soil-microbial systems to drought was strongly modulated by the bioclimatic conditions and the fragment size from where the soils were obtained. Decreasing fragment size modulated the effects of drought by improving local environmental conditions with higher water and nutrient availability. However, this modulation was stronger for plant-soil-microbial systems built with soils from the northern region (colder and wetter) than for those built with soils from the southern region (warmer and drier) suggesting that the responsiveness of the soil-plant-microbial system to habitat fragmentation was strongly dependent on both the physicochemical characteristics of soils and the historical adaptation of soil microbial communities to specific bioclimatic conditions. This interaction challenges our understanding of future global change scenarios in Mediterranean ecosystems involving drier conditions and increased frequency of forest fragmentation.

  2. Technology and research needs to support soil change studies in reserach and soil survey

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Soil survey products must evolve to address the effects of management practices on the soil resource. There is a rising demand by soil survey customers interested in sustainable use of natural resources for information about land-use impacts on soil quality, ecological processes, and soil function. ...

  3. Soil Transport Implement

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dixon, William; Fan, William; Lloyd, Joey; Pham, Nam-Anh; Stevens, Michael

    1988-01-01

    The design of the Soil Transport Implement (STI) for SKITTER is presented. The purpose of STI is to provide a protective layer of lunar soil for the lunar modules. The objective is to cover the lunar module with a layer of soil approximately two meters thick within a two week period. The amount of soil required to cover the module is roughly 77 dump truck loads or three million earth pounds. A spinning disk is employed to accomplish its task. STI is an autonomous, teleoperated system. The design incorporates the latest advances in composite materials and high strength, light weight alloys to achieve a high strength to weight ratio. The preliminary design should only be used to assess the feasibility of employing a spinning wheel as a soil transport implement. A mathematical model of the spinning wheel was used to evaluate the performance of this design.

  4. Conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources

    Treesearch

    Brian G. Tavernia; Mark D. Nelson; Titus S. Seilheimer; Dale D. Gormanson; Charles H. (Hobie) Perry; Peter V. Caldwell; Ge. Sun

    2016-01-01

    Forest ecosystem productivity and functioning depend on soil and water resources. But the reverse is also true—forest and land-use management activities can significantly alter forest soils, water quality, and associated aquatic habitats (Ice and Stednick 2004, Reid 1993, Wigmosta and Burges 2001). Soil and water resources are protected through the allocation of land...

  5. Expeditionary Readiness Training (ExpeRT) Course Expansion Final Environmental Assessment Creech Air Force Base

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-07-01

    potential environmental consequences of the proposed action and no-action alternative and are addressed for: air quality, soils and water resources...evaluated in detail to identify potential environmental consequences: air quality; soils and water resources; biological resources; and cultural resources...significance. Therefore, this proposed action would not constitute a significant impact and would conform to regional standards. Soils and Water Resources

  6. Apollo program soil mechanics experiment. [interaction of the lunar module with the lunar surface

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Scott, R. F.

    1975-01-01

    The soil mechanics investigation was conducted to obtain information relating to the landing interaction of the lunar module (LM) with the lunar surface, and lunar soil erosion caused by the spacecraft engine exhaust. Results obtained by study of LM landing performance on each Apollo mission are summarized.

  7. Development and assessment of an efficient vadose zone module solving the 1D Richards' equation and including root extraction by plants

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Varado, N.; Braud, I.; Ross, P. J.

    2006-05-01

    From the non iterative numerical method proposed by [Ross, P.J., 2003. Modeling soil water and solute transport—fast, simplified numerical solutions. Agronomy Journal 95, 1352-1361] for solving the 1D Richards' equation, an unsaturated zone module for large scale hydrological model is developed by the inclusion of a root extraction module and a formulation of interception. Two root water uptake modules, first proposed by [Lai, C.-T. and Katul, G., 2000. The dynamic role of rott-water uptake in coupling potential to actual transpiration. Adv. Water Res. 23: 427-439; Li, K.Y., De Jong, R. and Boisvert, J.B., 2001. An exponential root-water-uptake model with water stress compensation. J. Hydrol. 252: 189-204], were included as the sink term in the Richards' equation. They express root extraction as a linear function of potential transpiration and take into account water stress and compensation mechanism allowing water to be extracted in wetter layers. The vadose zone module is tested in a systematic way with synthetic data sets covering a wide range of soil characteristics, climate forcing, and vegetation cover. A detailed SVAT model providing an accurate solution of the coupled heat and water transfer in the soil and the surface energy balance is used as a reference. The accuracy of the numerical solution using only the SVAT soil module, and the loss of accuracy when using a potential evapotranspiration instead of solving the energy budget are both investigated. The vadose zone module is very accurate with errors of less than a few percent for cumulative transpiration. Soil evaporation is less accurately simulated as it leads to a systematic underestimation of soil evaporation amounts. The [Lai, C.-T. and Katul, G., 2000. The dynamic role of rott-water uptake in coupling potential to actual transpiration. Adv. Water Res. 23: 427-439] module is not adapted for sandy soils, due to a weakness in the compensation term formulation. When using a potential evapotranspiration instead of the surface energy balance, we evidenced a difference in partitioning the energy between the soil and the vegetation. A Beer-Lambert law is not able to take into account the complex interactions at the soil-vegetation-atmopshere interface. However, under field conditions, the accuracy of the vadose zone module is satisfactory provided that a correct crop coefficient could be defined. As a conclusion the numerical method proposed by [Ross, P.J., 2003. Modeling soil water and solute transport—fast, simplified numerical solutions. Agronomy Journal 95, 1352-1361] coupled with the [Li, K.Y., De Jong, R. and Boisvert, J.B., 2001. An exponential root-water-uptake model with water stress compensation. J. Hydrol. 252: 189-204] root extraction module provides an efficient and accurate solution for inclusion as a physically-based infiltration-evapotranspiration module into larger scale watershed models.

  8. Do shallow soil, low water availability, or their combination increase the competition between grasses with different root systems in karst soil?

    PubMed

    Zhao, Yajie; Li, Zhou; Zhang, Jing; Song, Haiyan; Liang, Qianhui; Tao, Jianping; Cornelissen, Johannes H C; Liu, Jinchun

    2017-04-01

    Uneven soil depth and low water availability are the key limiting factors to vegetation restoration and reconstruction in limestone soils such as in vulnerable karst regions. Belowground competition will possibly increase under limited soil resources. Here, we investigate whether low resource availability (including shallow soil, low water availability, and shallow soil and low water availability combined) stimulates the competition between grasses with different root systems in karst soil, by assessing their growth response, biomass allocation, and morphological plasticity. In a full three-way factorial blocked design of soil depth by water availability by neighbor identity, we grew Festuca arundinacea (deep-rooted) and Lolium perenne (shallow-rooted) under normal versus shallow soil depth, high versus low water availability, and in monoculture (conspecific neighbor) versus mixture (neighbor of the other species). The key results were as follows: (1) total biomass and aboveground biomass in either of the species decreased with reduction of resources but were not affected by planting patterns (monoculture or mixture) even at low resource levels. (2) For F. arundinacea, root biomass, root mass fraction, total root length, and root volume were higher in mixture than in monoculture at high resource level (consistent with resource use complementarity), but lower in mixture than in monoculture at low resource levels (consistent with interspecific competition). In contrast for L. perenne, either at high or low resource level, these root traits had mostly similar values at both planting patterns. These results suggest that deep-rooted and shallow-rooted plant species can coexist in karst regions under current climatic regimes. Declining resources, due to shallow soil, a decrease in precipitation, or combined shallow soil and karst drought, increased the root competition between plants of deep-rooted and shallow-rooted species. The root systems of deep-rooted plants may be too small to get sufficient water and nutrients from dry, shallow soil, while shallow-rooted plants will maintain a dominant position with their already adaptive strategy in respect of root biomass allocation and root growth.

  9. Resource Legacies of Organic and Conventional Management Differentiate Soil Microbial Carbon Use

    PubMed Central

    Arcand, Melissa M.; Levy-Booth, David J.; Helgason, Bobbi L.

    2017-01-01

    Long-term contrasts in agricultural management can shift soil resource availability with potential consequences to microbial carbon (C) use efficiency (CUE) and the fate of C in soils. Isothermal calorimetry was combined with 13C-labeled glucose stable isotope probing (SIP) of 16S rRNA genes to test the hypothesis that organically managed soils would support microbial communities with greater thermodynamic efficiency compared to conventional soils due to a legacy of lower resource availability and a resultant shift toward communities supportive of more oligotrophic taxa. Resource availability was greater in conventionally managed soils, with 3.5 times higher available phosphorus, 5% more nitrate, and 36% more dissolved organic C. The two management systems harbored distinct glucose-utilizing populations of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, with a higher Proteobacteria:Actinobacteria ratio (2.4 vs. 0.7) in conventional soils. Organically managed soils also harbored notable activity of Firmicutes. Thermodynamic efficiency indices were similar between soils, indicating that glucose was metabolized at similar energetic cost. However, differentially abundant glucose utilizers in organically managed soils were positively correlated with soil organic matter (SOM) priming and negatively correlated to soil nutrient and carbon availability, respiration, and heat production. These correlation patterns were strongly reversed in the conventionally managed soils indicating clear differentiation of microbial functioning related to soil resource availability. Fresh C addition caused proportionally more priming of SOM decomposition (57 vs. 51%) in organically managed soils likely due to mineralization of organic nutrients to satisfy microbial demands during glucose utilization in these more resource deprived soils. The additional heat released from SOM oxidation may explain the similar community level thermodynamic efficiencies between management systems. Restoring fertility to soils with a legacy of nutrient limitation requires a balanced supply of both nutrients and energy to protect stable SOM from microbial degradation. These results highlight the need to consider managing C for the energy it provides to ıcritical biological processes that underpin soil health. PMID:29230199

  10. 7 CFR 1469.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    .... Soil quality means resource concerns and/or opportunities related to depletion of soil organic matter..., or Tribal law for the express purpose of developing and carrying out a local soil and water...,” “soil conservation district,” “soil and water conservation district,” “resource conservation district...

  11. 7 CFR 1469.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    .... Soil quality means resource concerns and/or opportunities related to depletion of soil organic matter..., or Tribal law for the express purpose of developing and carrying out a local soil and water...,” “soil conservation district,” “soil and water conservation district,” “resource conservation district...

  12. 7 CFR 1469.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    .... Soil quality means resource concerns and/or opportunities related to depletion of soil organic matter..., or Tribal law for the express purpose of developing and carrying out a local soil and water...,” “soil conservation district,” “soil and water conservation district,” “resource conservation district...

  13. Shifts in the bacterial community composition along deep soil profiles in monospecific and mixed stands of Eucalyptus grandis and Acacia mangium.

    PubMed

    Pereira, Arthur Prudêncio de Araujo; Andrade, Pedro Avelino Maia de; Bini, Daniel; Durrer, Ademir; Robin, Agnès; Bouillet, Jean Pierre; Andreote, Fernando Dini; Cardoso, Elke Jurandy Bran Nogueira

    2017-01-01

    Our knowledge of the rhizosphere bacterial communities in deep soils and the role of Eucalyptus and Acacia on the structure of these communities remains very limited. In this study, we targeted the bacterial community along a depth profile (0 to 800 cm) and compared community structure in monospecific or mixed plantations of Acacia mangium and Eucalyptus grandis. We applied quantitative PCR (qPCR) and sequence the V6 region of the 16S rRNA gene to characterize composition of bacterial communities. We identified a decrease in bacterial abundance with soil depth, and differences in community patterns between monospecific and mixed cultivations. Sequence analysis indicated a prevalent effect of soil depth on bacterial communities in the mixed plant cultivation system, and a remarkable differentiation of bacterial communities in areas solely cultivated with Eucalyptus. The groups most influenced by soil depth were Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria (more frequent in samples between 0 and 300 cm). The predominant bacterial groups differentially displayed in the monospecific stands of Eucalyptus were Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. Our results suggest that the addition of an N2-fixing tree in a monospecific cultivation system modulates bacterial community composition even at a great depth. We conclude that co-cultivation systems may represent a key strategy to improve soil resources and to establish more sustainable cultivation of Eucalyptus in Brazil.

  14. Shifts in the bacterial community composition along deep soil profiles in monospecific and mixed stands of Eucalyptus grandis and Acacia mangium

    PubMed Central

    de Andrade, Pedro Avelino Maia; Bini, Daniel; Durrer, Ademir; Robin, Agnès; Bouillet, Jean Pierre; Andreote, Fernando Dini; Cardoso, Elke Jurandy Bran Nogueira

    2017-01-01

    Our knowledge of the rhizosphere bacterial communities in deep soils and the role of Eucalyptus and Acacia on the structure of these communities remains very limited. In this study, we targeted the bacterial community along a depth profile (0 to 800 cm) and compared community structure in monospecific or mixed plantations of Acacia mangium and Eucalyptus grandis. We applied quantitative PCR (qPCR) and sequence the V6 region of the 16S rRNA gene to characterize composition of bacterial communities. We identified a decrease in bacterial abundance with soil depth, and differences in community patterns between monospecific and mixed cultivations. Sequence analysis indicated a prevalent effect of soil depth on bacterial communities in the mixed plant cultivation system, and a remarkable differentiation of bacterial communities in areas solely cultivated with Eucalyptus. The groups most influenced by soil depth were Proteobacteria and Acidobacteria (more frequent in samples between 0 and 300 cm). The predominant bacterial groups differentially displayed in the monospecific stands of Eucalyptus were Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. Our results suggest that the addition of an N2-fixing tree in a monospecific cultivation system modulates bacterial community composition even at a great depth. We conclude that co-cultivation systems may represent a key strategy to improve soil resources and to establish more sustainable cultivation of Eucalyptus in Brazil. PMID:28686690

  15. Resource Utilization by Native and Invasive Earthworms and Their Effects on Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Dynamics in Puerto Rican Soils

    Treesearch

    Ching-Yu Huang; Grizelle Gonzalez; Paul F. Hendrix

    2016-01-01

    Resource utilization by earthworms affects soil C and N dynamics and further colonization of invasive earthworms. By applying 13C-labeled Tabebuia heterophylla leaves and 15N-labeled Andropogon glomeratus grass, we investigated resource utilization by three earthworm species (...

  16. Soil and land management in a circular economy.

    PubMed

    Breure, A M; Lijzen, J P A; Maring, L

    2018-05-15

    This article elaborates the role of soil and land management in a circular economy. The circular economy is highly dependent on the functioning of soils and land for the production of food and other biomass; the storage, filtration and transformation of many substances including water, carbon, and nitrogen; the provision of fresh mineral resources and fossil fuels; and the use of their functions as the platform for nature and human activities. Resource demand is increasing as a result of the growing human population. In addition to the shrinking availability of resources resulting from their unsustainable use in the past, our planet's diminishing potential for resource production, due to a range of reasons, is leading to resource scarcity, especially in the case of depletable resources. As an economic system that focuses on maximizing the reuse of resources and products and minimizing their depreciation, the circular economy greatly influences, and depends on, soil and land management. The concise management of the resources, land and soil is thus necessary, to make a circular economy successful. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Diversity and natural functions of antibiotics produced by beneficial and plant pathogenic bacteria.

    PubMed

    Raaijmakers, Jos M; Mazzola, Mark

    2012-01-01

    Soil- and plant-associated environments harbor numerous bacteria that produce antibiotic metabolites with specific or broad-spectrum activities against coexisting microorganisms. The function and ecological importance of antibiotics have long been assumed to yield a survival advantage to the producing bacteria in the highly competitive but resource-limited soil environments through direct suppression. Although specific antibiotics may enhance producer persistence when challenged by competitors or predators in soil habitats, at subinhibitory concentrations antibiotics exhibit a diversity of other roles in the life history of the producing bacteria. Many processes modulated by antibiotics may be inherently critical to the producing bacterium, such as the acquisition of substrates or initiation of developmental changes that will ensure survival under stressful conditions. Antibiotics may also have roles in more complex interactions, including in virulence on host plants or in shaping the outcomes of multitrophic interactions. The innate functions of antibiotics to producing bacteria in their native ecosystem are just beginning to emerge, but current knowledge already reveals a breadth of activities well beyond the historical perspective of antibiotics as weaponry in microbial conflicts.

  18. Soil aggregation as mechanism for understanding the roles of soil biota in the sustainable usage of natural resources

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Global food insecurity and rapidly diminishing water, soil, and energy resources resulting from increases in population numbers and wealth are putting pressure on agroecosystems to efficiently produce the most nutrient dense food while maintaining or enhancing natural resources. To address these ne...

  19. Impact of forest maintenance on water shortages: Hydrologic modeling and effects of climate change.

    PubMed

    Luo, Pingping; Zhou, Meimei; Deng, Hongzhang; Lyu, Jiqiang; Cao, Wenqiang; Takara, Kaoru; Nover, Daniel; Geoffrey Schladow, S

    2018-02-15

    The importance of water quantity for domestic and industrial water supply, agriculture, and the economy more broadly has led to the development of many water quantity assessment methods. In this study, surface flow and soil water in the forested upper reaches of the Yoshino River are compared using a distributed hydrological model with Forest Maintenance Module under two scenarios; before and after forest maintenance. We also examine the impact of forest maintenance on these variables during extreme droughts. Results show that surface flow and soil water increased after forest maintenance. In addition, projections of future water resources were estimated using a hydrological model and the output from a 20km mesh Global Climate Model (GCM20). River discharge for the near-future (2015-2039) is similar to that of the present (1979-2003). Estimated river discharge for the future (2075-2099) was found to be substantially more extreme than in the current period, with 12m 3 /s higher peak discharge in August and 7m 3 /s lower in July compared to the discharges of the present period. Soil water for the future is estimated to be lower than for the present and near future in May. The methods discussed in this study can be applied in other regions and the results help elucidate the impact of forests and climate change on water resources. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Bringing the Science of Climate Change to Elementary Students with new Classroom Activities from Elementary GLOBE

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gardiner, L. S.; Hatheway, B.; Taylor, J.; Chambers, L. H.; Stanitski, D.

    2016-12-01

    To address the dearth of climate education resources at the elementary level, we have developed a new module of Elementary GLOBE to showcase the science of climate change for young learners. Elementary GLOBE builds K-4 student understanding of the science concepts and the practices of science research. At the heart of each Elementary GLOBE module is a fiction storybook, describing how three kids investigate a science question. Accompanying classroom activities allow students to explore the science concepts in the book in more depth and in a context appropriate for young learners. The book for the Elementary GLOBE climate module, "What in the World Is Happening to Our Climate?," is the account of an adventure to explore climate change, how it is affecting melting glacial ice and sea level rise, and how climate change is a problem that can be solved. Three hands-on activities, which will be presented at this session, allow students to explore the topics in greater depth including differences between weather and climate, how sea level rise affects coastal areas, and how they can shrink their carbon footprint to help address recent climate change. Each activity includes instructions for teachers, background information, and activity sheets for students, and is aligned to the Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core Math and Language Arts Standards. The storybook and activities were field tested in classrooms and reviewed by climate and Earth system scientists as well as elementary education and climate education specialists and educators to ensure scientific accuracy and clear explanations, and that the resources are age appropriate and reflect the needs of the climate education community. Other Elementary GLOBE modules include the science of seasonal change, water, soil, clouds, aerosols, and Earth as a system. All Elementary GLOBE educational resources are freely available online (www.globe.gov/elementaryglobe).

  1. Close-up view of astronauts footprint in lunar soil

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1969-07-20

    AS11-40-5878 (20 July 1969) --- A close-up view of an astronaut's bootprint in the lunar soil, photographed with a 70mm lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the moon. While astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "Columbia" in lunar orbit.

  2. Soil! Get the Scoop - The Soil Science Society of America's International Year of Soils Campaign

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lindbo, David L.; Hopmans, Jan; Olson, Carolyn; Fisk, Susan; Chapman, Susan; van Es, Harold

    2015-04-01

    Soils are a finite natural resource and are nonrenewable on a human time scale. Soils are the foundation for food, animal feed, fuel and natural fiber production, the supply of clean water, nutrient cycling and a range of ecosystem functions. The area of fertile soils covering the world's surface is limited and increasingly subject to degradation, poor management and loss to urbanization. Increased awareness of the life-supporting functions of soil is called for if this trend is to be reversed and so enable the levels of food production necessary to meet the demands of population levels predicted for 2050. The Soil Science Society of America is coordinating with the Global Soil Partnership and other organizations around the world to celebrate the 2015 International Year of Soils and raise awareness and promote the sustainability of our limited soil resources. We all have a valuable role in communicating vital information on soils, a life sustaining natural resource. Therefore, we will provide resources to learn about soils and help us tell the story of soils. We will promote IYS on social media by sharing our posts from Facebook and Twitter. Additionally SSSA developed 12 monthly themes that reflect the diverse value of soils to our natural environment and society. Each month has information on the theme, a lesson plan, and other outreach activities. All information is available on a dedicated website www.soil.org/IYS. The site will be updated constantly throughout the year.

  3. Drivers of Phosphorus Uptake by Barley Following Secondary Resource Application

    PubMed Central

    Brod, Eva; Øgaard, Anne Falk; Krogstad, Tore; Haraldsen, Trond Knapp; Frossard, Emmanuel; Oberson, Astrid

    2016-01-01

    Minable rock phosphate is a finite resource. Replacing mineral phosphorus (P) fertilizer with P-rich secondary resources is one way to manage P more efficiently, but the importance of physicochemical and microbial soil processes induced by secondary resources for plant P uptake is still poorly understood. Using radioactive-labeling techniques, the fertilization effects of dairy manure, fish sludge, meat bone meal, and wood ash were studied as P uptake by barley after 44 days and compared with those of water-soluble mineral P (MinP) and an unfertilized control (NoP) in a pot experiment with an agricultural soil containing little available P at two soil pH levels, approximately pH 5.3 (unlimed soil) and pH 6.2 (limed soil). In a parallel incubation experiment, the effects of the secondary resources on physicochemical and microbial soil processes were studied. The results showed that the relative agronomic efficiency compared with MinP decreased in the order: manure ≥fish sludge ≥wood ash ≥meat bone meal. The solubility of inorganic P in secondary resources was the main driver for P uptake by barley (Hordeum vulgare). The effects of secondary resources on physicochemical and microbial soil processes were of little overall importance. Application of organic carbon with manure resulted in microbial P immobilization and decreased uptake by barley of P derived from the soil. On both soils, P uptake by barley was best explained by a positive linear relationship with the H2O + NaHCO3-soluble inorganic P fraction in fertilizers or by a linear negative relationship with the HCl-soluble inorganic P fraction in fertilizers. PMID:27243015

  4. Seedling growth responses to soil resources in the understory of a wet tropical forest.

    PubMed

    Holste, Ellen K; Kobe, Richard K; Vriesendorp, Corine F

    2011-09-01

    Plant growth responses to resources may be an important mechanism that influences species' distributions, coexistence, and community structure. Irradiance is considered the most important resource for seedling growth in the understory of wet tropical forests, but multiple soil nutrients and species have yet to be examined simultaneously with irradiance under field conditions. To identify potentially limiting resources, we modeled tree seedling growth as a function of irradiance and soil nutrients across five sites, spanning a soil fertility gradient in old-growth, wet tropical forests at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica. We measured an array of soil nutrients including total nitrogen (total N), inorganic N (nitrate [NO3-] and ammonium [NH4+]), phosphate (PO4-), and sum of base cations (SBC; potassium, magnesium, and calcium). Shade in the forest understory did not preclude seedling growth correlations with soil nutrients. Irradiance was a significant predictor of growth in 52% of the species, inorganic N in 54% (NO3- in 32%; NH4+ in 34%), total N in 47%, SBC in 39%, and PO4- in 29%. Overall, growth was correlated with both irradiance and soil nutrients in 45% of species and with soil nutrients only in an additional 48%; rarely was irradiance alone correlated with growth. Contrary to expectations, the magnitudes of growth effects, assessed as the maximum growth response to significant resources for each species, were similar for irradiance and most soil nutrients. Among species whose growth correlated with soil nutrients, the rank importance of nutrient effects was SBC, followed by N (total N, NO3-, and/or NH4+) and PO4-. Species' growth responsiveness (i.e., magnitudes of effect) to irradiance and soil nutrients was negatively correlated with species' shade tolerance (survival under 1% full sun). In this broad survey of species and resources, the nearly ubiquitous effects of soil nutrients on seedling growth challenge the idea that soil nutrients are less important than irradiance in the light-limited understory of wet tropical forests.

  5. Taxonomic classification of world map units in crop producing areas of Argentina and Brazil with representative US soil series and major land resource areas in which they occur

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Huckle, H. F. (Principal Investigator)

    1980-01-01

    The most probable current U.S. taxonomic classification of the soils estimated to dominate world soil map units (WSM)) in selected crop producing states of Argentina and Brazil are presented. Representative U.S. soil series the units are given. The map units occurring in each state are listed with areal extent and major U.S. land resource areas in which similar soils most probably occur. Soil series sampled in LARS Technical Report 111579 and major land resource areas in which they occur with corresponding similar WSM units at the taxonomic subgroup levels are given.

  6. Modelling the dissipation and leaching of two herbicides in decomposing mulch of crop residues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Aslam, Sohaib; Iqbal, Akhtar; Lafolie, François; Recous, Sylvie; Benoit, Pierre; Garnier, Patricia

    2013-04-01

    Conservation agricultural practices are increasingly adopted because of ecosystem services such as conservation of soil and water resources. These farming systems are characterized mainly by the presence of mulch made of residues of harvested or cover crops on soil surface. The mulch can intercept and retain applied pesticides depending on pesticide molecule and rainfall timing. The pesticide wash-off from mulch is considered a key process in pesticide fate and can have effects on degradation and transport processes. This work highlights a modelling approach to study the pesticide wash-off from mulch residues and their further transport in soil under two rainfall regimes. Transformation and leaching of two herbicides, s-metolachlor and glyphosate, was studied and simulated by Pastis-mulch model. A pesticide module describing pesticide degradation in mulch and soil was coupled to a transport model including a mulch module. The model was tested to simulate the pesticide dissipation, wash-off from mulch and further leaching in soil. Pesticide degradation parameters in mulch were estimated from incubation experiments with 14C-labelled molecules in small cylinders. The model was then tested using the data obtained through a soil column experiment (reconstructed soil cores :15 cm diameter x 35 cm depth), a mulch of Zea mais + Doliquos lablab and with two treatments varied by water regimes: i) frequent rain (temperate, twice a week) with week intensity (6 mm/hr); and ii) occasional rain (tropical, twice a month) with stronger intensity (20 mm/hr). Columns were incubated at 20 °C for 84 days to monitor soil water, C, N and pesticide dynamics. Model successfully simulated the experimental data of pesticide dissipation in mulch residues. Results showed that the rain regime affected more S-metolachlor than glyphosate behavior. The simulated results indicated also that the dynamics in mulch of the two molecules differed according to the rain treatment. Glyphosate showed a greater leaching from mulch than S-metolachlor because of its lower adsorption coefficients to organic mulch. Moreover, simulated results showed a much faster degradation of glyphosate but greater non-extractable residue formation for S-metolachlor. Keywords: Mulch; Pesticides; Transport; Degradation; Modeling; Pastis-mulch References Findeling, A., Garnier, P., Coppens, F., Lafolie, F., Recous, S., 2007. Modelling water, carbon and nitrogen dynamics in soil covered with decomposing mulch. European Journal of Soil Science 58, 196-206. Lashermes, G., Zhang, Y., Houot, S., Barriuso, E., Steyer, J.P., Patureau, D., Garnier, P., 2013. A model coupling organic carbon and organic pollutant dynamics during composting. Journal of Environmental Quality. In Press.

  7. Nitrogen modulation of legume root architecture signaling pathways involves phytohormones and small regulatory molecules.

    PubMed

    Mohd-Radzman, Nadiatul A; Djordjevic, Michael A; Imin, Nijat

    2013-10-01

    Nitrogen, particularly nitrate is an important yield determinant for crops. However, current agricultural practice with excessive fertilizer usage has detrimental effects on the environment. Therefore, legumes have been suggested as a sustainable alternative for replenishing soil nitrogen. Legumes can uniquely form nitrogen-fixing nodules through symbiotic interaction with specialized soil bacteria. Legumes possess a highly plastic root system which modulates its architecture according to the nitrogen availability in the soil. Understanding how legumes regulate root development in response to nitrogen availability is an important step to improving root architecture. The nitrogen-mediated root development pathway starts with sensing soil nitrogen level followed by subsequent signal transduction pathways involving phytohormones, microRNAs and regulatory peptides that collectively modulate the growth and shape of the root system. This review focuses on the current understanding of nitrogen-mediated legume root architecture including local and systemic regulations by different N-sources and the modulations by phytohormones and small regulatory molecules.

  8. Close-up view of astronauts foot and footprint in lunar soil

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1969-07-20

    AS11-40-5880 (20 July 1969) --- A close-up view of an astronaut's boot and bootprint in the lunar soil, photographed with a 70mm lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA). While astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, commander, and Edwin A. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Eagle" to explore the Sea of Tranquility region of the moon, astronaut Michael Collins, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM)" Columbia" in lunar orbit.

  9. Wide-angle view of Station 4 during Apollo 17 second EVA

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1972-12-12

    AS17-137-20992 (12 Dec. 1972) --- A view looking into Shorty Crater, taken at Station 4, showing the orange soil. Astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt found the orange soil on the moon during the second Apollo 17 extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. While astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, commander, and Schmitt, lunar module pilot, descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Challenger" to explore the Taurus-Littrow region of the moon, astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "America" in lunar orbit.

  10. Sonication standard laboratory module

    DOEpatents

    Beugelsdijk, Tony; Hollen, Robert M.; Erkkila, Tracy H.; Bronisz, Lawrence E.; Roybal, Jeffrey E.; Clark, Michael Leon

    1999-01-01

    A standard laboratory module for automatically producing a solution of cominants from a soil sample. A sonication tip agitates a solution containing the soil sample in a beaker while a stepper motor rotates the sample. An aspirator tube, connected to a vacuum, draws the upper layer of solution from the beaker through a filter and into another beaker. This beaker can thereafter be removed for analysis of the solution. The standard laboratory module encloses an embedded controller providing process control, status feedback information and maintenance procedures for the equipment and operations within the standard laboratory module.

  11. Protecting global soil resources for future generations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Montanarella, Luca

    2017-04-01

    The latest Status of World's Soil Resources report has highlighted that soils are increasingly under pressure by numerous human induced degradation processes in most parts of the world. The limits of our planetary boundaries concerning vital soil resources have been reached and without reversing this negative trend there will be a serious lack of necessary soil resources for future generations. It has been therefore of the highest importance to include soils within some of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) recently approved by the United Nations. Sustainable development can not be achieved without protecting the limited, non-renewable, soil resources of our planet. There is the need to limit on-going soil degradation processes and to implement extensive soil restoration activities in order to strive towards a land degradation neutral (LDN) world, as called upon by SDG 15. Sustainable soil management needs to be placed at the core of any LDN strategy and therefore it is of highest importance that the recently approved Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Soil Management (VGSSM) of FAO get fully implemented at National and local scale.Sustainable soil management is not only relevant for the protection of fertile soils for food production, but also to mitigate and adopt to climate change at to preserve the large soil biodiversity pool. Therefore the VGSSM are not only relevant to FAO, but also the the climate change convention (UNFCCC) and the biodiversity convention (CBD). An integrated assessment of the current land degradation processes and the available land restoration practices is needed in order to fully evaluate the potential for effectively achieving LDN by 2030. The on-going Land Degradation and Restoration Assessment (LDRA) of the Intergovernmental Platform for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) will provide the necessary scientific basis for the full implementation of the necessary measures for achieving the planned SGS's relevant to land and soils by 2030.

  12. 78 FR 48035 - Conservation Reserve Program, Re-Enrollment

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-08-07

    ... purpose of CRP is to cost- effectively assist producers in conserving and improving soil, water, wildlife... producers in conserving and improving soil, water, wildlife, and other natural resources by converting..., Reporting and recordkeeping requirements, Soil conservation, Technical assistance, Water resources, Wildlife...

  13. Earthtech, Dig-Texas and Upward Bound: Outreach to At-Risk Students with Interdisciplinary STEM Activities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Olgin, J. G.; Güereque, M.; Pennington, D. D.; Everett, A.; Dixon, J. G.; Reyes, A.; Houser, P. I. Q.; Baker, J. A.; Stocks, E.; Ellins, K.

    2015-12-01

    The Geological Sciences department at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) hosted the EarthTech outreach program - a one-week intensive summer camp for low-income, at-risk high school students. The EarthTech program engaged students in STEM activities from geological and environmental sciences. Developed and led by university student-mentors with guidance from a supervising faculty member, the course engaged Upward Bound students with lectures, interactive projects, and excursions to local ecological preserves and geological sites around El Paso, Texas. Topics covered plant and animal distribution and diversity, water and soil dynamics, evolution and paleontology, geohazards, and planetary science. Field trips were combined with hands-on activities, including activities from DIG Texas teaching modules. The NSF-funded DIG Texas Instructional Blueprints project is organizing vetted, high quality online educational resources and learning activities into teaching modules. The modules follow a storyline and demonstrate congruency with the Next Generation Science Standards. Selected DIG Texas resources were included in the daily curriculum to complement the field trip and other hands-on activities. EarthTech students created ESRI Online GIS story maps in which they showed the locations of the field trips, incorporated photographs they had taken, and provided written reflections about their camp experiences. The DIG Texas project evaluation collected survey and interview data from the university student mentors throughout the week to ascertain the efficacy of the program. This poster presentation will include an overview of the program, including examples of work and evaluation results.

  14. Application of Remote Sensing Data to Improve the Water and Soil Resource Management of Rwanda

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Csorba, Ádám; Bukombe, Benjamin; Naramabuye, Francois Xavier; Szegi, Tamás; Vekerdy, Zoltán; Michéli, Erika

    2017-04-01

    The Rwandan agriculture strongly relies in the dry seasons on the water stored in artificial reservoirs of various sizes for irrigation purposes. Furthermore, the success of irrigation depends on a wide range of soil properties which directly affect the moisture regime of the growing medium. By integrating remote sensing and auxiliary data the objectives of our study are to monitor the water level fluctuation in the reservoirs, estimate the volume of water available for irrigation and to combine this information with soil property maps to support the decision making for sustainable irrigation water management in a study area in Southern Rwanda. For water level and volume estimation a series of Sentinel-1 (product type: GRD, acquisition mode: IW, polarizations HH and VH) data were obtained covering the study area and spanning over a period of two years. To map the extent of water bodies the Radar-Based Water Body Mapping module of the Water Observation and Information System (WOIS) was used. High-resolution optical data (Sentinel-2) were used for validation in cloud-free periods. To estimate the volume changes in the reservoirs, we combined the information derived from the water body mapping procedure and digital elevation models. For sustainable irrigation water management, digital soil property maps were developed by the application of wide range of environmental covariates related to soil forming factors. To develop covariates which represent the land use a time series analysis of the 2 years of Sentinel-1 data was performed. As auxiliary soil data, the ISRIC-WISE harmonized soil profile database was used. The developed digital soil mapping approach is integrated into a new WOIS workflow.

  15. What Is Soil? Advanced Crop and Soil Science. A Course of Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, Larry E.

    The course of study represents the first of six modules in advanced crop and soil science and introduces the agriculture student to the topic of soil management. Upon completing the two day lesson, the student will be able to define "soil", list the soil forming agencies, define and use soil terminology, and discuss soil formation and…

  16. Disentangling the root- and detritus-based food chain in the micro-food web of an arable soil by plant removal

    PubMed Central

    Glavatska, Olena; Müller, Karolin; Butenschoen, Olaf; Schmalwasser, Andreas; Kandeler, Ellen; Scheu, Stefan; Totsche, Kai Uwe

    2017-01-01

    Soil food web structure and function is primarily determined by the major basal resources, which are living plant tissue, root exudates and dead organic matter. A field experiment was performed to disentangle the interlinkage of the root-and detritus-based soil food chains. An arable site was cropped either with maize, amended with maize shoot litter or remained bare soil, representing food webs depending on roots, aboveground litter and soil organic matter as predominant resource, respectively. The soil micro-food web, i.e. microorganisms and nematodes, was investigated in two successive years along a depth transect. The community composition of nematodes was used as model to determine the changes in the rhizosphere, detritusphere and bulk soil food web. In the first growing season the impact of treatments on the soil micro-food web was minor. In the second year plant-feeding nematodes increased under maize, whereas after harvest the Channel Index assigned promotion of the detritivore food chain, reflecting decomposition of root residues. The amendment with litter did not foster microorganisms, instead biomass of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as that of fungi declined in the rooted zone. Likely higher grazing pressure by nematodes reduced microbial standing crop as bacterial and fungal feeders increased. However, populations at higher trophic levels were not promoted, indicating limited flux of litter resources along the food chain. After two years of bare soil microbial biomass and nematode density remained stable, pointing to soil organic matter-based resources that allow bridging periods with deprivation. Nematode communities were dominated by opportunistic taxa that are competitive at moderate resource supply. In sum, removal of plants from the system had less severe effects than expected, suggesting considerable food web resilience to the disruption of both the root and detrital carbon channel, pointing to a legacy of organic matter resources in arable soils. PMID:28704438

  17. Disentangling the root- and detritus-based food chain in the micro-food web of an arable soil by plant removal.

    PubMed

    Glavatska, Olena; Müller, Karolin; Butenschoen, Olaf; Schmalwasser, Andreas; Kandeler, Ellen; Scheu, Stefan; Totsche, Kai Uwe; Ruess, Liliane

    2017-01-01

    Soil food web structure and function is primarily determined by the major basal resources, which are living plant tissue, root exudates and dead organic matter. A field experiment was performed to disentangle the interlinkage of the root-and detritus-based soil food chains. An arable site was cropped either with maize, amended with maize shoot litter or remained bare soil, representing food webs depending on roots, aboveground litter and soil organic matter as predominant resource, respectively. The soil micro-food web, i.e. microorganisms and nematodes, was investigated in two successive years along a depth transect. The community composition of nematodes was used as model to determine the changes in the rhizosphere, detritusphere and bulk soil food web. In the first growing season the impact of treatments on the soil micro-food web was minor. In the second year plant-feeding nematodes increased under maize, whereas after harvest the Channel Index assigned promotion of the detritivore food chain, reflecting decomposition of root residues. The amendment with litter did not foster microorganisms, instead biomass of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria as well as that of fungi declined in the rooted zone. Likely higher grazing pressure by nematodes reduced microbial standing crop as bacterial and fungal feeders increased. However, populations at higher trophic levels were not promoted, indicating limited flux of litter resources along the food chain. After two years of bare soil microbial biomass and nematode density remained stable, pointing to soil organic matter-based resources that allow bridging periods with deprivation. Nematode communities were dominated by opportunistic taxa that are competitive at moderate resource supply. In sum, removal of plants from the system had less severe effects than expected, suggesting considerable food web resilience to the disruption of both the root and detrital carbon channel, pointing to a legacy of organic matter resources in arable soils.

  18. Characterization of pyrolysis products derived from three biological wastes and their effect on plant growth and soil water retention

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bouqbis, Laila; Werner Koyro, Hans; Kammann, Claudia; Zohra Ainlhout, Lalla Fatima; Boukhalef, Laila; Cherif Harrouni, Moulay

    2018-05-01

    Over two-thirds of Morocco can be classified as semiarid, arid and desert with low and variable rainfalls. While the country is subject to frequent drought, groundwater resources are predominantly consume by irrigated agriculture leading to the depletion of water resources and degradation of soil quality. Application of bio-resources wastes to soils after pyrolysis process is well documented to help retain water and nutrients in soils. In this study, three bio-resources wastes derived from argan shells, wood chip, a blend of paper sludge and wheat husks are characterized for physical and chemical properties. To determine the potential impact of salt stress and toxic substances the second part of this study focused on the effect these bio-resources wastes have on germination of salad and barley respectively. The three bio-resources obtained from different biomass showed some unique properties compared to the soil, such as high electrical conductivity (EC), high content of K, Na and Mg, low content of heavy metals. Moreover, the water holding capacities increased with increasing application of bio-resources wastes. Concerning the phytotoxic tests, no negative effect was observed neither for salad (Lactuca sativa L.) nor for barley (Hordeum vulgare) indicating that the three bio-resources could be safely used for agriculture. Collectively, the use of these bio-resources wastes as a soil amendment is anticipated to increase both water and nutrient and could provide the potential for a better plant growth mainly in semiarid, arid and desert climatic conditions like the case of Morocco in which the agricultural practices reserve a majority of the water resources to be used for irrigation.

  19. Soil and ecological sites of the Santa Rita Experimental Range

    Treesearch

    Donald J. Breckenfeld; Daniel Robinett

    2003-01-01

    A soil survey and rangeland resource inventory of the Santa Rita Experimental Range (SRER) was conducted by staff from the Tucson office of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) during April and May of 1997. Thirty-two soils series and taxadjuncts were mapped on the SRER and delineated in 24 different mapping units. These soils all occur in an Aridic and...

  20. Criterion 4: Conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources

    Treesearch

    Stephen R. Shifley; Francisco X. Aguilar; Nianfu Song; Susan I. Stewart; David J. Nowak; Dale D. Gormanson; W. Keith Moser; Sherri Wormstead; Eric J. Greenfield

    2012-01-01

    Soils are the fundamental resource enabling land to provide a wide array of benefits. Both humans and wildlife rely on soils for the production of life-sustaining nourishment and shelter. Soil is important to society because it supports plants that supply food, fibers, drugs, and other essentials and because it filters water and recycles wastes.The factors that affect...

  1. Soil erosion and sediment production on watershed landscapes: Processes and control

    Treesearch

    Peter F. Ffolliott; Kenneth N. Brooks; Daniel G. Neary; Roberto Pizarro Tapia; Pablo Garcia-Chevesich

    2013-01-01

    Losses of the soil resources from otherwise productive and well functioning watersheds is often a recurring problem confronting hydrologists and watershed managers. These losses of soil have both on-site and off-site effects on the watershed impacted. In addition to the loss of inherent soil resources through erosion processes, on-site effects can include the breakdown...

  2. A method for testing land resource area concepts

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Land Resource Units (LRUs) are defined by the National Soil Survey Handbook as aggregations of soil map units and subunits of Major Land Resource Areas (MLRAs). In the USDA NRCS Land Resource Hierarchy, LRUs are defined as the level between MLRAs and STATSGO and are mapped at 1:1 million scale. They...

  3. Terrestrial ecosystem process model Biome-BGCMuSo v4.0: summary of improvements and new modeling possibilities

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hidy, Dóra; Barcza, Zoltán; Marjanović, Hrvoje; Zorana Ostrogović Sever, Maša; Dobor, Laura; Gelybó, Györgyi; Fodor, Nándor; Pintér, Krisztina; Churkina, Galina; Running, Steven; Thornton, Peter; Bellocchi, Gianni; Haszpra, László; Horváth, Ferenc; Suyker, Andrew; Nagy, Zoltán

    2016-12-01

    The process-based biogeochemical model Biome-BGC was enhanced to improve its ability to simulate carbon, nitrogen, and water cycles of various terrestrial ecosystems under contrasting management activities. Biome-BGC version 4.1.1 was used as a base model. Improvements included addition of new modules such as the multilayer soil module, implementation of processes related to soil moisture and nitrogen balance, soil-moisture-related plant senescence, and phenological development. Vegetation management modules with annually varying options were also implemented to simulate management practices of grasslands (mowing, grazing), croplands (ploughing, fertilizer application, planting, harvesting), and forests (thinning). New carbon and nitrogen pools have been defined to simulate yield and soft stem development of herbaceous ecosystems. The model version containing all developments is referred to as Biome-BGCMuSo (Biome-BGC with multilayer soil module; in this paper, Biome-BGCMuSo v4.0 is documented). Case studies on a managed forest, cropland, and grassland are presented to demonstrate the effect of model developments on the simulation of plant growth as well as on carbon and water balance.

  4. Soil Health Educational Resources

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hoorman, James J.

    2015-01-01

    Soil health and cover crops are topics of interest to farmers, gardeners, and students. Three soil health and cover crop demonstrations provide educational resources. Demonstrations one outlines two educational cover crop seed displays, including the advantages and disadvantages. Demonstration two shows how to construct and grow a cover crop root…

  5. Soil Conservation. A Guide to Classroom and Field Activities for Middle Secondary Students. Teacher Manual and Student Manual.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tivendale, Bruce D.

    Soil is a natural resource of inestimable value. It is classified as a renewable resource, but because it may take from a few hundred years to a few thousand years to be renewed, it is more accurately termed an exhaustible resource. The emphasis of this teaching unit is the importance of soil and the need and means to conserve it. The constraining…

  6. Environmental Assessment for Establishment of an Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Program at Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2010-05-01

    OHV area for the following resource areas: geomorphology and soils , water quality and hydrology, biological resources, cultural resources, and...established in such a mmmer to avoid wetlands and minimize stream crossings and interaction with highly erodible soils . If such areas are utilized...operational constraints would be implemented that would minimize impacts in these areas, such as restricted use in wet soils and speed limits. At

  7. Climate and litter quality differently modulate the effects of soil fauna on litter decomposition across biomes

    PubMed Central

    García-Palacios, Pablo; Maestre, Fernando T.; Kattge, Jens; Wall, Diana H.

    2015-01-01

    Climate and litter quality have been identified as major drivers of litter decomposition at large spatial scales. However, the role played by soil fauna remains largely unknown, despite its importance for litter fragmentation and microbial activity. We synthesized litterbag studies to quantify the effect sizes of soil fauna on litter decomposition rates at the global and biome scales, and to assess how climate, litter quality and soil fauna interact to determine such rates. Soil fauna consistently enhanced litter decomposition at both global and biome scales (average increment ~27%). However, climate and litter quality differently modulated the effects of soil fauna on decomposition rates between biomes, from climate-driven biomes to those where climate effects were mediated by changes in litter quality. Our results advocate for the inclusion of biome-specific soil fauna effects on litter decomposition as a mean to reduce the unexplained variation in large-scale decomposition models. PMID:23763716

  8. View of the orange soil which Apollo 17 crewmen found at Station 4 during EVA

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1972-12-12

    AS17-137-20990 (12 Dec. 1972) --- A view of the area at Station 4 (Shorty Crater) showing the now highly-publicized orange soil which the Apollo 17 crew members found on the moon during the second Apollo 17 extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. The tripod-like object is the gnomon and photometric chart assembly which is used as a photographic reference to establish local vertical sun angle, scale and lunar color. The gnomon is one of the Apollo lunar geology hand tools. While astronauts Eugene A. Cernan, commander, and Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot, descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Challenger" to explore the Taurus-Littrow region of the moon, astronaut Ronald E. Evans, command module pilot, remained with the Command and Service Modules (CSM) "America" in lunar orbit. Schmitt was the crew man who first spotted the orange soil.

  9. Engineering assessment and feasibility study of Chattanooga Shale as a future source of uranium. [Preliminary mining; data on soils, meteorology, water resources, and biological resources

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    This volume contains five appendixes: Chattanooga Shale preliminary mining study, soils data, meteorologic data, water resources data, and biological resource data. The area around DeKalb County in Tennessee is the most likely site for commercial development for recovery of uranium. (DLC)

  10. An overview of forestry in the Farm Bill and Natural Resources Conservation Service forestry resources

    Treesearch

    Andy Henriksen

    2010-01-01

    Since 1935, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) (originally the Soil Conservation Service) has provided leadership in a partnership effort to help America's private landowners and managers conserve their soil, water, and other natural resources. NRCS employees provide technical assistance based on sound science and suited to a customer's...

  11. SPECIES-SPECIFIC PARTITIONING OF SOIL WATER RESOURCES IN AN OLD-GROWTH DOUGLAS-FIR/WESTERN HEMLOCK FOREST

    EPA Science Inventory

    Although tree- and stand-level estimates of forest water use are increasingly common, relatively little is known about partitioning of soil water resources among co-occurring tree species. We studied seasonal courses of soil water utilization in a 450-year-old Pseudotsuga menzies...

  12. 7 CFR 1465.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... law for the express purpose of developing and carrying out a local soil and water conservation program. Such district or unit of government may be referred to as a “conservation district,” “soil conservation district,” “soil and water conservation district,” “resource conservation district,” “natural resource...

  13. Uncovering trophic positions and food resources of soil animals using bulk natural stable isotope composition.

    PubMed

    Potapov, Anton M; Tiunov, Alexei V; Scheu, Stefan

    2018-06-19

    Despite the major importance of soil biota in nutrient and energy fluxes, interactions in soil food webs are poorly understood. Here we provide an overview of recent advances in uncovering the trophic structure of soil food webs using natural variations in stable isotope ratios. We discuss approaches of application, normalization and interpretation of stable isotope ratios along with methodological pitfalls. Analysis of published data from temperate forest ecosystems is used to outline emerging concepts and perspectives in soil food web research. In contrast to aboveground and aquatic food webs, trophic fractionation at the basal level of detrital food webs is large for carbon and small for nitrogen stable isotopes. Virtually all soil animals are enriched in 13 C as compared to plant litter. This 'detrital shift' likely reflects preferential uptake of 13 C-enriched microbial biomass and underlines the importance of microorganisms, in contrast to dead plant material, as a major food resource for the soil animal community. Soil organic matter is enriched in 15 N and 13 C relative to leaf litter. Decomposers inhabiting mineral soil layers therefore might be enriched in 15 N resulting in overlap in isotope ratios between soil-dwelling detritivores and litter-dwelling predators. By contrast, 13 C content varies little between detritivores in upper litter and in mineral soil, suggesting that they rely on similar basal resources, i.e. little decomposed organic matter. Comparing vertical isotope gradients in animals and in basal resources can be a valuable tool to assess trophic interactions and dynamics of organic matter in soil. As indicated by stable isotope composition, direct feeding on living plant material as well as on mycorrhizal fungi is likely rare among soil invertebrates. Plant carbon is taken up predominantly by saprotrophic microorganisms and channelled to higher trophic levels of the soil food web. However, feeding on photoautotrophic microorganisms and non-vascular plants may play an important role in fuelling soil food webs. The trophic niche of most high-rank animal taxa spans at least two trophic levels, implying the use of a wide range of resources. Therefore, to identify trophic species and links in food webs, low-rank taxonomic identification is required. Despite overlap in feeding strategies, stable isotope composition of the high-rank taxonomic groups reflects differences in trophic level and in the use of basal resources. Different taxonomic groups of predators and decomposers are likely linked to different pools of organic matter in soil, suggesting different functional roles and indicating that trophic niches in soil animal communities are phylogenetically structured. During last two decades studies using stable isotope analysis have elucidated the trophic structure of soil communities, clarified basal food resources of the soil food web and revealed links between above- and belowground ecosystem compartments. Extending the use of stable isotope analysis to a wider range of soil-dwelling organisms, including microfauna, and a larger array of ecosystems provides the perspective of a comprehensive understanding of the structure and functioning of soil food webs. © 2018 Cambridge Philosophical Society.

  14. Soil Water Availability Modulation Over Estimated Relative Yield Losses in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Due to Ozone Exposure

    PubMed Central

    De la Torre, Daniel; Sierra, Maria Jose

    2007-01-01

    The approach developed by Fuhrer in 1995 to estimate wheat yield losses induced by ozone and modulated by the soil water content (SWC) was applied to the data on Catalonian wheat yields. The aim of our work was to apply this approach and adjust it to Mediterranean environmental conditions by means of the necessary corrections. The main objective pursued was to prove the importance of soil water availability in the estimation of relative wheat yield losses as a factor that modifies the effects of tropospheric ozone on wheat, and to develop the algorithms required for the estimation of relative yield losses, adapted to the Mediterranean environmental conditions. The results show that this is an easy way to estimate relative yield losses just using meteorological data, without using ozone fluxes, which are much more difficult to calculate. Soil water availability is very important as a modulating factor of the effects of ozone on wheat; when soil water availability decreases, almost twice the amount of accumulated exposure to ozone is required to induce the same percentage of yield loss as in years when soil water availability is high. PMID:17619747

  15. In situ modeling of PAH dynamics in agricultural soils amended with composts using the "VSOIL" platform

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Brimo, Khaled; Ouvrard, Stéphanie; Houot, Sabine; Lafolie, François; Deschamps, Marjolaine; Benoit, Pierre; Garnier, Patricia

    2017-04-01

    Numerous studies have shown the presence of organic pollutants (OPs) in composts. Compost application in agricultural soil generates flux of OPs and among them polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). A potential accumulation of PAHs in soils from successive compost applications could imply risks to environment. To explore and design scenarios that help land managers in their impact evaluations when composts are added in soils, there is a need to a new generation of models built from multi-modules that mimic the whole interactions between the different processes describing OP dynamic in soil. Our work is based on the implementation of an interdisciplinary global model for PAHs in soil by coupling modules describing the major physical, biochemical and biological processes influencing the fate of PAHs in soil, with modules that simulate water transfer, heat transfer, solute transport, and organic matter transformation under climatic conditions. The coupling is being facilitated by the «VSOIL» modeling platform. The steps of our modelling study are the following: 1) calibrate the field model using parameters previously estimated in laboratory completed with field data on a short period, 2) test the simulations using field experimental data, 3) build scenarios to explore the impact of PAHs accumulation in a long term (40 years). Our results show that the model can adequately predict the fate of PAHs in soil and can contribute to clarify some of unexplored aspects regarding the behavior of PAHs in soil like their mineralization and stabilization. Scenarios that predict the dynamic of PAHs in soil at long terms show a low PAH accumulation in soil after 40 years due to a high sequestration of the PAH in soils that is slightly higher for municipal solid waste composts than for green waste sludge composts.

  16. High-resolution stable isotope monitoring reveals differential vegetation-soil water feedbacks among plant functional types

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Volkmann, T. H. M.; Haberer, K.; Troch, P. A. A.; Gessler, A.; Weiler, M.

    2016-12-01

    Understanding the linked dynamics of rain water recharge to soils and its utilization by plants is critical for predicting the impact of climate and land use changes on the productivity of ecosystems and the hydrologic cycle. While plants require vast quantities of water from the soil to sustain growth and function, they exert important direct and indirect controls on the movement of water through the rooted soil horizons, thereby potentially affecting their own resource availability. However, the specific ecohydrological belowground processes associated with different plant types and their rooting systems have been difficult to quantify with traditional methods. Here, we report on the use of techniques for monitoring stable isotopes in soil and plant water pools that allow us to track water infiltration and root uptake dynamics non-destructively and in high resolution. The techniques were applied in controlled rain pulse experiments with distinct plant types (grass, deciduous trees, grapevine) that we let develop on an initially uniform soil for two years. Our results show that plant species and types differed widely in their plasticity and pattern of root uptake under variable water availability. Thereby, and through notably co-acting indirect effects related to differential root system traits and co-evolution of soil properties, the different plants induced contrasting hydrological dynamics in the soil they had inhabited for only a short period of time. Taken together, our data suggest that the studied soil-vegetation systems evolved a positive infiltration-uptake feedback in which hydrological flow pathways underlying different species diverged in a way that complemented their specific water utilization strategy. Such a feedback could present an indirect competitive mechanism by which plants improve their own water supply and modulate hydrological cycling at the land surface. The ability to directly measure this feedback using in situ isotope methodology highlights the great potential for stable isotope research to improve our understanding of the soil-vegetation-atmosphere system.

  17. Long-term effects of timber harvesting on hemicellulolytic microbial populations in coniferous forest soils.

    PubMed

    Leung, Hilary T C; Maas, Kendra R; Wilhelm, Roland C; Mohn, William W

    2016-02-01

    Forest ecosystems need to be sustainably managed, as they are major reservoirs of biodiversity, provide important economic resources and modulate global climate. We have a poor knowledge of populations responsible for key biomass degradation processes in forest soils and the effects of forest harvesting on these populations. Here, we investigated the effects of three timber-harvesting methods, varying in the degree of organic matter removal, on putatively hemicellulolytic bacterial and fungal populations 10 or more years after harvesting and replanting. We used stable-isotope probing to identify populations that incorporated (13)C from labeled hemicellulose, analyzing (13)C-enriched phospholipid fatty acids, bacterial 16 S rRNA genes and fungal ITS regions. In soil microcosms, we identified 104 bacterial and 52 fungal hemicellulolytic operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Several of these OTUs are affiliated with taxa not previously reported to degrade hemicellulose, including the bacterial genera Methylibium, Pelomonas and Rhodoferax, and the fungal genera Cladosporium, Pseudeurotiaceae, Capronia, Xenopolyscytalum and Venturia. The effect of harvesting on hemicellulolytic populations was evaluated based on in situ bacterial and fungal OTUs. Harvesting treatments had significant but modest long-term effects on relative abundances of hemicellulolytic populations, which differed in strength between two ecozones and between soil layers. For soils incubated in microcosms, prior harvesting treatments did not affect the rate of incorporation of hemicellulose carbon into microbial biomass. In six ecozones across North America, distributions of the bacterial hemicellulolytic OTUs were similar, whereas distributions of fungal ones differed. Our work demonstrates that diverse taxa in soil are hemicellulolytic, many of which are differentially affected by the impact of harvesting on environmental conditions. However, the hemicellulolytic capacity of soil communities appears resilient.

  18. Long-term effects of timber harvesting on hemicellulolytic microbial populations in coniferous forest soils

    PubMed Central

    Leung, Hilary T C; Maas, Kendra R; Wilhelm, Roland C; Mohn, William W

    2016-01-01

    Forest ecosystems need to be sustainably managed, as they are major reservoirs of biodiversity, provide important economic resources and modulate global climate. We have a poor knowledge of populations responsible for key biomass degradation processes in forest soils and the effects of forest harvesting on these populations. Here, we investigated the effects of three timber-harvesting methods, varying in the degree of organic matter removal, on putatively hemicellulolytic bacterial and fungal populations 10 or more years after harvesting and replanting. We used stable-isotope probing to identify populations that incorporated 13C from labeled hemicellulose, analyzing 13C-enriched phospholipid fatty acids, bacterial 16 S rRNA genes and fungal ITS regions. In soil microcosms, we identified 104 bacterial and 52 fungal hemicellulolytic operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Several of these OTUs are affiliated with taxa not previously reported to degrade hemicellulose, including the bacterial genera Methylibium, Pelomonas and Rhodoferax, and the fungal genera Cladosporium, Pseudeurotiaceae, Capronia, Xenopolyscytalum and Venturia. The effect of harvesting on hemicellulolytic populations was evaluated based on in situ bacterial and fungal OTUs. Harvesting treatments had significant but modest long-term effects on relative abundances of hemicellulolytic populations, which differed in strength between two ecozones and between soil layers. For soils incubated in microcosms, prior harvesting treatments did not affect the rate of incorporation of hemicellulose carbon into microbial biomass. In six ecozones across North America, distributions of the bacterial hemicellulolytic OTUs were similar, whereas distributions of fungal ones differed. Our work demonstrates that diverse taxa in soil are hemicellulolytic, many of which are differentially affected by the impact of harvesting on environmental conditions. However, the hemicellulolytic capacity of soil communities appears resilient. PMID:26274049

  19. BioChar Amendments for Improved Plant Microbiome and Crop Health Project

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Zeitlin, Nancy; Smith, David; Catechis, John; Khodadad, Christina; Koss, Lawrence; Mejia, Oscar Monje; Spencer, Lashelle

    2015-01-01

    Plant-based Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) enable human existence beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) by providing oxygen, water and food. The root modules are key to success of sustainable plant-based ECLSS. In microgravity, hydroponics is not viable as gases separate from fluids, thus plants are grown in soil substrates, which are bulky and must be maintained for optimal plant growth. Soil substrate selection also impacts ECLSS self-sufficiency. Savings in resupply mass and volume are possible if soil is developed in-situ from regolith found on moons or planets. Biochar, a soil amendment used by ancient civilizations to improve soil fertility that promotes plant health and root zone microbes, can be produced by pyrolysis of plant biomass. The goal is to study the effect of biochar on sequential crop plantings in a single root module. The objectives are: 1) follow changes in root-microbe interactions using metagenomic techniques, 2) measure changes in microbial populations during sequential cropping in a single root module, and 3) examine effect of biochar amendments.

  20. Application of spatial pedotransfer functions to understand soil modulation of vegetation response to climate

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    A fundamental knowledge gap in understanding land-atmosphere interactions is accurate, high resolution spatial representation of soil physical and hydraulic properties. We present a novel approach to predict hydraulic soil parameters by combining digital soil mapping techniques with pedotransfer fun...

  1. Soil resources influence vegetation and response to fire and fire-surrogate treatments in sagebrush-steppe ecosystems

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Rau, Benjamin M.; Chambers, Jeanne C.; Pyke, David A.; Roundy, Bruce A.; Schupp, Eugene W.; Doescher, Paul; Caldwell, Todd G.

    2014-01-01

    Current paradigm suggests that spatial and temporal competition for resources limit an exotic invader, cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L.), which once established, alters fire regimes and can result in annual grass dominance in sagebrush steppe. Prescribed fire and fire surrogate treatments (mowing, tebuthiuron, and imazapic) are used to reduce woody fuels and increase resistance to exotic annuals, but may alter resource availability and inadvertently favor invasive species. We used four study sites within the Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) to evaluate 1) how vegetation and soil resources were affected by treatment, and 2) how soil resources influenced native herbaceous perennial and exotic annual grass cover before and following treatment. Treatments increased resin exchangeable NH4+, NO3−, H2PO4−, and K+, with the largest increases caused by prescribed fire and prolonged by application of imazapic. Burning with imazapic application also increased the number of wet growing degree days. Tebuthiuron and imazapic reduced exotic annual grass cover, but imazapic also reduced herbaceous perennial cover when used with prescribed fire. Native perennial herbaceous species cover was higher where mean annual precipitation and soil water resources were relatively high. Exotic annual grass cover was higher where resin exchangeable H2PO4− was high and gaps between perennial plants were large. Prescribed fire, mowing, and tebuthiuron were successful at increasing perennial herbaceous cover, but the results were often ephemeral and inconsistent among sites. Locations with sandy soil, low mean annual precipitation, or low soil water holding capacity were more likely to experience increased exotic annual grass cover after treatment, and treatments that result in slow release of resources are needed on these sites. This is one of few studies that correlate abiotic variables to native and exotic species cover across a broad geographic setting, and that demonstrates how soil resources potentially influence the outcome of management treatments.

  2. The stage of soil development modulates rhizosphere effect along a High Arctic desert chronosequence.

    PubMed

    Mapelli, Francesca; Marasco, Ramona; Fusi, Marco; Scaglia, Barbara; Tsiamis, George; Rolli, Eleonora; Fodelianakis, Stilianos; Bourtzis, Kostas; Ventura, Stefano; Tambone, Fulvia; Adani, Fabrizio; Borin, Sara; Daffonchio, Daniele

    2018-05-01

    In mature soils, plant species and soil type determine the selection of root microbiota. Which of these two factors drives rhizosphere selection in barren substrates of developing desert soils has, however, not yet been established. Chronosequences of glacier forelands provide ideal natural environments to identify primary rhizosphere selection factors along the changing edaphic conditions of a developing soil. Here, we analyze changes in bacterial diversity in bulk soils and rhizospheres of a pioneer plant across a High Arctic glacier chronosequence. We show that the developmental stage of soil strongly modulates rhizosphere community assembly, even though plant-induced selection buffers the effect of changing edaphic factors. Bulk and rhizosphere soils host distinct bacterial communities that differentially vary along the chronosequence. Cation exchange capacity, exchangeable potassium, and metabolite concentration in the soil account for the rhizosphere bacterial diversity. Although the soil fraction (bulk soil and rhizosphere) explains up to 17.2% of the variation in bacterial microbiota, the soil developmental stage explains up to 47.7% of this variation. In addition, the operational taxonomic unit (OTU) co-occurrence network of the rhizosphere, whose complexity increases along the chronosequence, is loosely structured in barren compared with mature soils, corroborating our hypothesis that soil development tunes the rhizosphere effect.

  3. Diffusion of radon through concrete block walls: A significant source of indoor radon

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lively, R.S.; Goldberg, L.F.

    1999-01-01

    Basement modules located in southern Minnesota have been the site of continuous radon and environmental measurements during heating seasons since 1993. Concentrations of radon within the basement modules ranged from 70 Bq.m-3 to over 4000 Bq.m-3 between November to April during the three measurement periods. In the soil gas for the same times, concentrations of radon ranged between 25,000 and 70,000 Bq.m-3. Levels of radon within the basement modules changed by factors of five or more within 24 h, in concert with pressure gradients of 4 to 20 Pa that developed between the basement modules and their surroundings. Diffusion is identified as the principal method by which radon is transferred into and out of the basement modules, and appears to be relatively independent of insulating materials and vapour retarders. The variability of radon and correlations with differential pressure gradients may be related to air currents in the block walls and soil that interrupt radon diffusing inward. This yields a net decrease of radon in the basement modules by decay and outward diffusion. Levels of radon within the basement modules increase when the pressure differential is zero and air flow ceases, allowing diffusion gradients to be re-established. Radon levels in both the soil and the basement modules then increase until an equilibrium is achieved.

  4. Biotic context and soil properties modulate native plant responses to enhanced rainfall.

    PubMed

    Eskelinen, Anu; Harrison, Susan

    2015-11-01

    The environmental and biotic context within which plants grow have a great potential to modify responses to climatic changes, yet few studies have addressed both the direct effects of climate and the modulating roles played by variation in the biotic (e.g. competitors) and abiotic (e.g. soils) environment. In a grassland with highly heterogeneous soils and community composition, small seedlings of two native plants, Lasthenia californica and Calycadenia pauciflora, were transplanted into factorially watered and fertilized plots. Measurements were made to test how the effect of climatic variability (mimicked by the watering treatment) on the survival, growth and seed production of these species was modulated by above-ground competition and by edaphic variables. Increased competition outweighed the direct positive impacts of enhanced rainfall on most fitness measures for both species, resulting in no net effect of enhanced rainfall. Both species benefitted from enhanced rainfall when the absence of competitors was accompanied by high soil water retention capacity. Fertilization did not amplify the watering effects; rather, plants benefitted from enhanced rainfall or competitor removal only in ambient nutrient conditions with high soil water retention capacity. The findings show that the direct effects of climatic variability on plant fitness may be reversed or neutralized by competition and, in addition, may be strongly modulated by soil variation. Specifically, coarse soil texture was identified as a factor that may limit plant responsiveness to altered water availability. These results highlight the importance of considering the abiotic as well as biotic context when making future climate change forecasts. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  5. Climate Controls AM Fungal Distributions from Global to Local Scales

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kivlin, S. N.; Hawkes, C.; Muscarella, R.; Treseder, K. K.; Kazenel, M.; Lynn, J.; Rudgers, J.

    2016-12-01

    Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi have key functions in terrestrial biogeochemical processes; thus, determining the relative importance of climate, edaphic factors, and plant community composition on their geographic distributions can improve predictions of their sensitivity to global change. Local adaptation by AM fungi to plant hosts, soil nutrients, and climate suggests that all of these factors may control fungal geographic distributions, but their relative importance is unknown. We created species distribution models for 142 AM fungal taxa at the global scale with data from GenBank. We compared climate variables (BioClim and soil moisture), edaphic variables (phosphorus, carbon, pH, and clay content), and plant variables using model selection on models with (1) all variables, (2) climatic variables only (including soil moisture) and (3) resource-related variables only (all other soil parameters and NPP) using the MaxEnt algorithm evaluated with ENMEval. We also evaluated whether drivers of AM fungal distributions were phylogenetically conserved. To test whether global correlates of AM fungal distributions were reflected at local scales, we then surveyed AM fungi in nine plant hosts along three elevation gradients in the Upper Gunnison Basin, Colorado, USA. At the global scale, the distributions of 55% of AM fungal taxa were affected by both climate and soil resources, whereas 16% were only affected by climate and 29% were only affected by soil resources. Even for AM fungi that were affected by both climate and resources, the effects of climatic variables nearly always outweighed those of resources. Soil moisture and isothermality were the main climatic and NPP and soil carbon the main resource related factors influencing AM fungal distributions. Distributions of closely related AM fungal taxa were similarly affected by climate, but not by resources. Local scale surveys of AM fungi across elevations confirmed that climate was a key driver of AM fungal composition and root colonization, with weaker influences of plant identity and soil nutrients. These two studies across scales suggest prevailing effects of climate on AM fungal distributions. Thus, incorporating climate when forecasting future ranges of AM fungi will enhance predictions of AM fungal abundance and associated ecosystem functions.

  6. Characterization of the Resource Potential of Martian Soil using the Integrated Dust/Soil Experiment Package (IDEP)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Cooper, Bonnie L.; Mckay, David S.; Allen, Carlton C.; Hoffman, John H.; Gittleman, Mark E.

    1997-01-01

    The Integrated Dust/Soil Experiment Package (IDEP) is a suite of instruments that can detect and quantify the abundances of useful raw materials on Mars. We focus here on its capability for resource characterization in the martian soil; however, it is also capable of detecting and quantifying gases in the atmosphere. This paper describes the scientific rationale and the engineering design behind the IDEP.

  7. The Modeling of the Effects of Soiling, Its Mechanisms, and the Corresponding Abrasion

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Simpson, Lin; Muller, Matthew; Deceglie, Michael

    2016-02-24

    Decreasing LCOE with predictive soiling loss models (using site data to predict annualized energy loss), quantification of different soiling mechanisms (using AFM-based characterization), and developing standards for PV module coatings.

  8. Study of sandy soil grain-size distribution on its deformation properties

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Antropova, L. B.; Gruzin, A. V.; Gildebrandt, M. I.; Malaya, L. D.; Nikulina, V. B.

    2018-04-01

    As a rule, new oil and gas fields' development faces the challenges of providing construction objects with material and mineral resources, for example, medium sand soil for buildings and facilities footings of the technological infrastructure under construction. This problem solution seems to lie in a rational usage of the existing environmental resources, soils included. The study was made of a medium sand soil grain-size distribution impact on its deformation properties. Based on the performed investigations, a technique for controlling sandy soil deformation properties was developed.

  9. Black walnut suitability index: a Natural Resources Conservation Service national soil information system based interpretive model

    Treesearch

    Douglas c. Wallace; Fred J. Young

    2008-01-01

    Suitable site conditions are essential for productive growth of black walnut (Juglans nigra L.). Field officers at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in the Midwest are often asked, "What is a good walnut soil?" Current NRCS information available to most field offices rates soils only as "suitable" or "...

  10. Introductory Soils Online: An Effective Way to Get Online Students in the Field

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reuter, Ron

    2007-01-01

    Traditional soil science courses, especially with a hands-on lab component, have been face-to-face events. Several universities in the United States now offer a distance natural resources related degree, yet few have developed distance soils courses, arguably an essential part of a complete natural resource education. This article discusses the…

  11. Climate and litter quality differently modulate the effects of soil fauna on litter decomposition across biomes.

    PubMed

    García-Palacios, Pablo; Maestre, Fernando T; Kattge, Jens; Wall, Diana H

    2013-08-01

    Climate and litter quality have been identified as major drivers of litter decomposition at large spatial scales. However, the role played by soil fauna remains largely unknown, despite its importance for litter fragmentation and microbial activity. We synthesised litterbag studies to quantify the effect sizes of soil fauna on litter decomposition rates at the global and biome scales, and to assess how climate, litter quality and soil fauna interact to determine such rates. Soil fauna consistently enhanced litter decomposition at both global and biome scales (average increment ~ 37%). [corrected]. However, climate and litter quality differently modulated the effects of soil fauna on decomposition rates between biomes, from climate-driven biomes to those where climate effects were mediated by changes in litter quality. Our results advocate for the inclusion of biome-specific soil fauna effects on litter decomposition as a mean to reduce the unexplained variation in large-scale decomposition models. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  12. Remote sensing techniques for the detection of soil erosion and the identification of soil conservation practices

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Pelletier, R. E.; Griffin, R. H.

    1985-01-01

    The following paper is a summary of a number of techniques initiated under the AgRISTARS (Agriculture and Resources Inventory Surveys Through Aerospace Remote Sensing) project for the detection of soil degradation caused by water erosion and the identification of soil conservation practices for resource inventories. Discussed are methods to utilize a geographic information system to determine potential soil erosion through a USLE (Universal Soil Loss Equation) model; application of the Kauth-Thomas Transform to detect present erosional status; and the identification of conservation practices through visual interpretation and a variety of enhancement procedures applied to digital remotely sensed data.

  13. Clayey Landslide Initiation and Acceleration Strongly Modulated by Soil Swelling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schulz, William H.; Smith, Joel B.; Wang, Gonghui; Jiang, Yao; Roering, Joshua J.

    2018-02-01

    Largely unknown mechanisms restrain motion of clay-rich, slow-moving landslides that are widespread worldwide and rarely accelerate catastrophically. We studied a clayey, slow-moving landslide typical of thousands in Northern California, USA, to decipher hydrologic-mechanical interactions that modulate landslide dynamics. Similar to some other studies, observed pore-water pressures correlated poorly with landslide reactivation and speed. In situ and laboratory measurements strongly suggested that variable pressure along the landslide's lateral shear boundaries resulting from seasonal soil expansion and contraction modulated its reactivation and speed. Slope-stability modeling suggested that the landslide's observed behavior could be predicted by including transient swell pressure as a resistance term, whereas modeling considering only transient hydrologic conditions predicted movement five to six months prior to when it was observed. All clayey soils swell to some degree; hence, our findings suggest that swell pressure likely modulates motion of many landslides and should be considered to improve forecasts of clayey landslide initiation and mobility.

  14. Clayey landslide initiation and acceleration strongly modulated by soil swelling

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Schulz, William; Smith, Joel B.; Wang, Gonghui; Jiang, Yao; Roering, Joshua J.

    2018-01-01

    Largely unknown mechanisms restrain motion of clay-rich, slow-moving landslides that are widespread worldwide and rarely accelerate catastrophically. We studied a clayey, slow-moving landslide typical of thousands in northern California, USA, to decipher hydrologic-mechanical interactions that modulate landslide dynamics. Similar to some other studies, observed pore-water pressures correlated poorly with landslide reactivation and speed. In situ and laboratory measurements strongly suggested that variable pressure along the landslide's lateral shear boundaries resulting from seasonal soil expansion and contraction modulated its reactivation and speed. Slope-stability modeling suggested that the landslide's observed behavior could be predicted by including transient swell pressure as a resistance term, whereas modeling considering only transient hydrologic conditions predicted movement 5–6 months prior to when it was observed. All clayey soils swell to some degree; hence, our findings suggest that swell pressure likely modulates motion of many landslides and should be considered to improve forecasts of clayey landslide initiation and mobility.

  15. Biological Features of the Soil: Advanced Crop and Soil Science. A Course of Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, Larry E.

    The course of study represents the third of six modules in advanced crop and soil science and introduces the agriculture student to biological features of soil. Upon completing the two day lesson, the student will: (1) realize the vast amount of life present in the soil, (2) be able to list representative animal and plant life in the soil by size,…

  16. Impact of environmental hazards on internal soiling within concentrator photovoltaic (CPV) modules

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ellis, Sara

    2014-09-01

    Environmental conditions have a significant impact on internal soiling of a CPV system, which affects overall system performance and efficiency. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 62108, Section 10, standard includes accelerated testing such as temperature cycling, damp heat, and humidity freeze to assess a CPV module's ability to withstand environmental hazards that can compromise the typical 25-year lifetime. This paper discusses the IEC 60529 ingress protection (IP) test protocols and how they can be used to evaluate the performance of CPV modules to block water and particulate contaminants. Studies with GORE® Protective Vents installed in a CPV module and subjected to environmental hazard testing have shown increased reliability of the module over the lifetime of the system by protecting the seals from pressure differentials and keeping out contaminants.

  17. Soil Security Assessment of Tasmania

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Field, Damien; Kidd, Darren; McBratney, Alex

    2017-04-01

    The concept of soil security aligns well with the aspirational and marketing policies of the Tasmanian Government, where increased agricultural expansion through new irrigation schemes and multiple-use State managed production forests co-exists beside pristine World Heritage conservation land, a major drawcard of the economically important tourism industry . Regarding the Sustainable Development Gaols (SDG's) this could be seen as a exemplar of the emerging tool for quantification of spatial soil security to effectively protect our soil resource in terms of food (SDG 2.4, 3.9) and water security (SDG 6.4, 6.6), biodiversity maintenance and safeguarding fragile ecosystems (SDG 15.3, 15.9). The recent development and application of Digital Soil Mapping and Assessment capacities in Tasmania to stimulate agricultural production and better target appropriate soil resources has formed the foundational systems that can enable the first efforts in quantifying and mapping Tasmanian Soil Security, in particular the five Soil Security dimensions (Capability, Condition, Capital, Codification and Connectivity). However, to provide a measure of overall soil security, it was necessary to separately assess the State's three major soil uses; Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. These products will provide an indication of where different activities are sustainable or at risk, where more soil data is needed, and provide a tool to better plan for a State requiring optimal food and fibre production, without depleting its natural soil resources and impacting on the fragile ecosystems supporting environmental benefits and the tourism industry.

  18. Cultural Resources Survey, Harry S. Truman Dam and Reservoir Project, Missouri, Volume 6. Euro-American Settlement of the Lower Pomme de Terre River Valley.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-02-01

    surficial geology, the historic plant resources, and special studies of the soils and geology or portions of the reservoir. C-, Block 7. Russell L...Distribution of Plant - - .Resources in the Harry S. Truman Reservoir, CP +-by Frances B. King, pp. 33-58 -Part IV: Soils and Soil-Geomorphic...overall a pproach iI aid in understanding and explaining .land use. VEGETATION Plant communities are consideted one of the most important variables in this

  19. The 3D elevation program - Precision agriculture and other farm practices

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sugarbaker, Larry J.; Carswell, Jr., William J.

    2016-12-27

    A founding motto of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), originally the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), explains that “If we take care of the land, it will take care of us.” Digital elevation models (DEMs; see fig. 1) are derived from light detection and ranging (lidar) data and can be processed to derive values such as slope angle, aspect, and topographic curvature. These three measurements are the principal parameters of the NRCS LidarEnhanced Soil Survey (LESS) model, which improves the precision of soil surveys, by more accurately displaying the slopes and soils patterns, while increasing the objectivity and science in line placement. As combined resources, DEMs, LESS model outputs, and similar derived datasets are essential for conserving soil, wetlands, and other natural resources managed and overseen by the NRCS and other Federal and State agencies.

  20. Using a spatial and tabular database to generate statistics from terrain and spectral data for soil surveys

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Horvath , E.A.; Fosnight, E.A.; Klingebiel, A.A.; Moore, D.G.; Stone, J.E.; Reybold, W.U.; Petersen, G.W.

    1987-01-01

    A methodology has been developed to create a spatial database by referencing digital elevation, Landsat multispectral scanner data, and digitized soil premap delineations of a number of adjacent 7.5-min quadrangle areas to a 30-m Universal Transverse Mercator projection. Slope and aspect transformations are calculated from elevation data and grouped according to field office specifications. An unsupervised classification is performed on a brightness and greenness transformation of the spectral data. The resulting spectral, slope, and aspect maps of each of the 7.5-min quadrangle areas are then plotted and submitted to the field office to be incorporated into the soil premapping stages of a soil survey. A tabular database is created from spatial data by generating descriptive statistics for each data layer within each soil premap delineation. The tabular data base is then entered into a data base management system to be accessed by the field office personnel during the soil survey and to be used for subsequent resource management decisions.Large amounts of data are collected and archived during resource inventories for public land management. Often these data are stored as stacks of maps or folders in a file system in someone's office, with the maps in a variety of formats, scales, and with various standards of accuracy depending on their purpose. This system of information storage and retrieval is cumbersome at best when several categories of information are needed simultaneously for analysis or as input to resource management models. Computers now provide the resource scientist with the opportunity to design increasingly complex models that require even more categories of resource-related information, thus compounding the problem.Recently there has been much emphasis on the use of geographic information systems (GIS) as an alternative method for map data archives and as a resource management tool. Considerable effort has been devoted to the generation of tabular databases, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture's SCS/S015 (Soil Survey Staff, 1983), to archive the large amounts of information that are collected in conjunction with mapping of natural resources in an easily retrievable manner.During the past 4 years the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center, in a cooperative effort with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), developed a procedure that uses spatial and tabular databases to generate elevation, slope, aspect, and spectral map products that can be used during soil premapping. The procedure results in tabular data, residing in a database management system, that are indexed to the final soil delineations and help quantify soil map unit composition.The procedure was developed and tested on soil surveys on over 600 000 ha in Wyoming, Nevada, and Idaho. A transfer of technology from the EROS Data Center to the BLM will enable the Denver BLM Service Center to use this procedure in soil survey operations on BLM lands. Also underway is a cooperative effort between the EROS Data Center and SCS to define and evaluate maps that can be produced as derivatives of digital elevation data for 7.5-min quadrangle areas, such as those used during the premapping stage of the soil surveys mentioned above, the idea being to make such products routinely available.The procedure emphasizes the applications of digital elevation and spectral data to order-three soil surveys on rangelands, and will:Incorporate digital terrain and spectral data into a spatial database for soil surveys.Provide hardcopy products (that can be generated from digital elevation model and spectral data) that are useful during the soil pre-mapping process.Incorporate soil premaps into a spatial database that can be accessed during the soil survey process along with terrain and spectral data.Summarize useful quantitative information for soil mapping and for making interpretations for resource management.

  1. Mars Soil-Based Resource Processing and Planetary Protection

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sanders, G. B.; Mueller, R. P.

    2015-01-01

    The ability to extract and process resources at the site of exploration into products and services, commonly referred to as In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), can have significant benefits for robotic and human exploration missions. In particular, the ability to use in situ resources to make propellants, fuel cell reactants, and life support consumables has been shown in studies to significantly reduce mission mass, cost, and risk, while enhancing or enabling missions not possible without the incorporation of ISRU. In December 2007, NASA completed the Mars Human Design Reference Architecture (DRA) 5.0 study. For the first time in a large scale Mars architecture study, water from Mars soil was considered as a potential resource. At the time of the study, knowledge of water resources (their form, concentration, and distribution) was extremely limited. Also, due to lack of understanding of how to apply planetary protection rules and requirements to ISRU soil-based excavation and processing, an extremely conservative approach was incorporated where only the top several centimeters of ultraviolet (UV) radiated soil could be processed (assumed to be 3% water by mass). While results of the Mars DRA 5.0 study showed that combining atmosphere processing to make oxygen and methane with soil processing to extract water provided the lowest mission mass, atmosphere processing to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into oxygen was baselined for the mission since it was the lowest power and risk option. With increased knowledge and further clarification of Mars planetary protection rules, and the recent release of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group (MEPAG) report on "Special Regions and the Human Exploration of Mars", it is time to reexamine potential water resources on Mars, options for soil processing to extract water, and the implications with respect to planetary protection and Special Regions on Mars.

  2. Microbial limitation in a changing world: A stoichiometric approach for predicting microbial resource limitation and fluxes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Midgley, M.; Phillips, R.

    2014-12-01

    Microbes mediate fluxes of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) in soils depending on ratios of available C, N, and P relative to microbial demand. Hence, characterizing microbial C and nutrient limitation in soils is critical for predicting how ecosystems will respond to human alterations of climate and nutrient availability. Here, we take a stoichiometric approach to assessing microbial C, N, and P limitation by using threshold element ratios (TERs). TERs enable shifting resource limitation to be assessed by matching C, N and P ratios from microbial biomass, extracellular enzyme activities, and soil nutrient concentrations. We assessed microbial nutrient limitation in temperate forests dominated by trees that associate with one of two mycorrhizal symbionts: arbsucular mycorrhizal (AM) or ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi. We found that both ECM and AM microbial communities were co-limited by C and N, supporting conventional wisdom that microbes are C-limited and temperate forests are N-limited. However, AM microbial communities were relatively more C-limited than ECM communities (P=0.001). In response to chronic field N fertilization, both AM and ECM communities became relatively more P-limited (P=0.011), but they remained N- and C-limited overall. Thus, realistic levels of N deposition may not dampen microbial N limitation. Reflecting differences in relative limitation, N mineralization rates were higher in AM soils than in ECM soils (P=0.004) while C mineralization rates were higher in ECM soils than in AM soils (P=0.023). There were no significant differences in P flux between AM and ECM soils or detectable mineralization responses to N addition, indicating that mineralization rates are closely tied to C and nutrient limitation. Overall, we found that 1) microbial resource limitation can be detected without resource addition; and 2) TERs and ratios of labile resources are viable tools for predicting mineralization responses to resource additions.

  3. Groundwater protection vs. extractable soil resource usage - approaching the problem with GPR-survey

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kupila, J.

    2012-04-01

    Finland is fully self-sufficient in clean groundwater and even has a capacity of exportation: there are more than 6000 groundwater areas, a total yield of those is 5.4 million m3/day and only 10% of this is in use. Even so, nowadays the protection of groundwater has come more and more important. One of the reasons is effects of extractable soil resource usage, because the most valuable and remarkable resources of groundwater as well as sand and gravel aggregates appear in the same areas. Also in densely populated areas there is lack of aggregate products. Using the best available techniques and methods which take into account sustainable development, the outcomes of this protection vs. usage -dilemma will be beneficent. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) -survey is an efficient tool for examination of areas of groundwater and soil resources. Briefly, GPR is a geophysical method that uses radar pulses to image the subsurface. It uses electromagnetic radiation in the microwave band (UHF/VHF frequencies) of the radio spectrum and detects the reflected signals from subsurface structures. Usually groundwater and soil aggregates appear in areas where the structure of soil layers improves the efficiency of GPR , so an exact image of subsurface layers can be outlined. Also the conditions of groundwater can be interpreted from GPR-data. Results from GPR-survey can be effective in making guidelines for extractable soil resource usage to avoid risks and to address secured sites for both groundwater and soil usage. Geological Survey of Finland has executed many co-operated projects related to these kind of problems, for example in Kainuu area, eastern Finland, 20 areas were studied with over 30 kilometers of GPR-profile. Detailed information from these researches support local authorities and actors in land use planning in future and furthermore assure safe balance in groundwater and soil resource usage.

  4. Soil science. Soil and human security in the 21st century.

    PubMed

    Amundson, Ronald; Berhe, Asmeret Asefaw; Hopmans, Jan W; Olson, Carolyn; Sztein, A Ester; Sparks, Donald L

    2015-05-08

    Human security has and will continue to rely on Earth's diverse soil resources. Yet we have now exploited the planet's most productive soils. Soil erosion greatly exceeds rates of production in many agricultural regions. Nitrogen produced by fossil fuel and geological reservoirs of other fertilizers are headed toward possible scarcity, increased cost, and/or geopolitical conflict. Climate change is accelerating the microbial release of greenhouse gases from soil organic matter and will likely play a large role in our near-term climate future. In this Review, we highlight challenges facing Earth's soil resources in the coming century. The direct and indirect response of soils to past and future human activities will play a major role in human prosperity and survival. Copyright © 2015, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  5. Fundamental Studies of Adhesion of Dust to PV Module Surfaces: Chemical and Physical Relationships at the Microscale

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kazmerski, Lawrence L.; Diniz, Antonia Sonia A. C.; Maia, Cristiana Brasil

    Photovoltaic (PV) module soiling is a growing area of concern for performance and reliability. This paper provides evaluations of the fundamental interactions of dust/soiling particles with several PV module surfaces. The purpose is to investigate the basic mechanisms involving the chemistry, morphology, and resulting particle adhesion to the first photon-incident surface. The evaluation and mapping of the chemistry and composition of single dust particles collected from operating PV module surfaces are presented. The first correlated direct measurements of the adhesive force of individual grains from field-operating collectors on identical PV module glass are reported, including correlations with specific compositions. Specialmore » microscale atomic force microscopy techniques are adapted to determine the force between the particle and the module glass surface. Results are presented for samples under dry and moisture-exposed conditions, confirming the effects of cementation for surfaces having soluble mineral and/or organic concentrations. Additionally, the effects of hydrocarbon fuels on the enhanced bonding of soiling particles to surfaces are determined for samples from urban and highly trafficked regions. Comparisons between glass and dust-mitigating superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic coatings are presented. Potential limitations of this proximal probe technique are discussed in terms of results and initial proof-of-concept experiments.« less

  6. An integrated model for the assessment of global water resources - Part 2: Anthropogenic activities modules and assessments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hanasaki, N.; Kanae, S.; Oki, T.; Shirakawa, N.

    2007-10-01

    To assess global water resources from the perspective of subannual variation in water resources and water use, an integrated water resources model was developed. In a companion report, we presented the global meteorological forcing input used to drive the model and two natural hydrological cycle modules, namely, the land surface hydrology module and the river routing module. Here, we present the remaining four modules, which represent anthropogenic activities: a crop growth module, a reservoir operation module, an environmental flow requirement module, and an anthropogenic withdrawal module. In addition, we discuss the results of a global water resources assessment using the integrated model. The crop growth module is a relatively simple model based on heat unit theory and potential biomass and harvest index concepts. The performance of the crop growth module was examined extensively because agricultural water comprises approximately 70% of total water withdrawal in the world. The estimated crop calendar showed good agreement with earlier reports for wheat, maize, and rice in major countries of production. The estimated irrigation water withdrawal also showed fair agreement with country statistics, but tended to underestimate countries in the Asian monsoon region. In the reservoir operation module, 452 major reservoirs with more than 1 km³ each of storage capacity store and release water according to their own rules of operation. Operating rules were determined for each reservoir using an algorithm that used currently available global data such as reservoir storage capacity, intended purposes, simulated inflow, and water demand in the lower reaches. The environmental flow requirement module was newly developed based on case studies from around the world. The integrated model closes both energy and water balances on land surfaces. Global water resources were assessed on a subannual basis using a newly devised index that locates water-stressed regions that were undetected in earlier studies. These regions, which are indicated by a gap in the subannual distribution of water resources and water use, include the Sahel, the Asian monsoon region, and southern Africa. The integrated model is applicable to assess various global environmental projections such as climate change.

  7. Rethinking Soils: an under-investigated commons?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Short, Chrisopher; Mills, Jane; Ingram, Julie

    2015-04-01

    In a number of global contexts there is a re-awakening of interest in soils in both increasing the resilience of complex social-ecological systems (SES) and as a result of the threats to them, as shown by the UN International Year of Soils in 2015. Consequently the management of soils and their wider role within property regimes and natural resource management might need to be reassessed. At the heart of this is the rise in awareness regarding the connectedness of SES, and in frameworks such as the Ecosystem Approach and the identification and analysis of Ecosystem Services. Whilst not new to some, it has widened the understanding among many, that soils have a valuable role to play in complex SES because they are a slow variable crucial to underlying structure of the SES. The conventional approach that soils are linked to the ecosystem services category of provisioning services (production of food, timber and fibre) remains valid. Not surprisingly this link is strong within natural resource management and property rights regimes but soils remain at risk for a range of threats, for example soil erosion and compaction, salinization, sealing, desertification, loss of organic matter and biodiversity and contamination. However, soils are increasingly seen as a slow variable that can lead to increased resilience within a SES and have a profound importance to human life through a range of regulating services including water quality and purification, water flow and attenuation and , pest and disease control. Given the long-standing importance of soil as a natural resource there are also accompanying legal systems, property regimes, societal values, knowledge, custom and traditions. However, in the light of the wider understanding soil functions are these social frameworks appropriate and fit for purpose or would a shared resource of commons approach be more appropriate. To some extent this examination would also extend to the presence of soils within the cultural services category of ecosystem services. As a result of the increasing evidence regarding soil threats, there is concern that the knowledge relating to soils is fragmented and incomplete. This is particular true regarding the complexity and functioning of soil systems and their interaction with human activities and the effectiveness of governance arrangements to promote resilience in the management of soils. Therefore discussions concerning soils needs to be taken from an interdisciplinary perspectives that embraces both natural and social sciences. This paper will seek to examine soils from a multi-scale governance/complex commons perspective. It will also consider how a commons perspective might be useful in reducing soil threats and in the development of effective prevention, remediation and restoration measures. This often requires a change in thinking about soil, perhaps considering it as a 'slow variable', able to drive long-term change or as a 'cultural asset' and 'knowledge resource'.

  8. Chinese tallow trees (Triadica sebifera) from the invasive range outperform those from the native range with an active soil community or phosphorus fertilization.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Ling; Zhang, Yaojun; Wang, Hong; Zou, Jianwen; Siemann, Evan

    2013-01-01

    Two mechanisms that have been proposed to explain success of invasive plants are unusual biotic interactions, such as enemy release or enhanced mutualisms, and increased resource availability. However, while these mechanisms are usually considered separately, both may be involved in successful invasions. Biotic interactions may be positive or negative and may interact with nutritional resources in determining invasion success. In addition, the effects of different nutrients on invasions may vary. Finally, genetic variation in traits between populations located in introduced versus native ranges may be important for biotic interactions and/or resource use. Here, we investigated the roles of soil biota, resource availability, and plant genetic variation using seedlings of Triadica sebifera in an experiment in the native range (China). We manipulated nitrogen (control or 4 g/m(2)), phosphorus (control or 0.5 g/m(2)), soil biota (untreated or sterilized field soil), and plant origin (4 populations from the invasive range, 4 populations from the native range) in a full factorial experiment. Phosphorus addition increased root, stem, and leaf masses. Leaf mass and height growth depended on population origin and soil sterilization. Invasive populations had higher leaf mass and growth rates than native populations did in fresh soil but they had lower, comparable leaf mass and growth rates in sterilized soil. Invasive populations had higher growth rates with phosphorus addition but native ones did not. Soil sterilization decreased specific leaf area in both native and exotic populations. Negative effects of soil sterilization suggest that soil pathogens may not be as important as soil mutualists for T. sebifera performance. Moreover, interactive effects of sterilization and origin suggest that invasive T. sebifera may have evolved more beneficial relationships with the soil biota. Overall, seedlings from the invasive range outperformed those from the native range, however, an absence of soil biota or low phosphorus removed this advantage.

  9. Chinese Tallow Trees (Triadica sebifera) from the Invasive Range Outperform Those from the Native Range with an Active Soil Community or Phosphorus Fertilization

    PubMed Central

    Zhang, Ling; Zhang, Yaojun; Wang, Hong; Zou, Jianwen; Siemann, Evan

    2013-01-01

    Two mechanisms that have been proposed to explain success of invasive plants are unusual biotic interactions, such as enemy release or enhanced mutualisms, and increased resource availability. However, while these mechanisms are usually considered separately, both may be involved in successful invasions. Biotic interactions may be positive or negative and may interact with nutritional resources in determining invasion success. In addition, the effects of different nutrients on invasions may vary. Finally, genetic variation in traits between populations located in introduced versus native ranges may be important for biotic interactions and/or resource use. Here, we investigated the roles of soil biota, resource availability, and plant genetic variation using seedlings of Triadica sebifera in an experiment in the native range (China). We manipulated nitrogen (control or 4 g/m2), phosphorus (control or 0.5 g/m2), soil biota (untreated or sterilized field soil), and plant origin (4 populations from the invasive range, 4 populations from the native range) in a full factorial experiment. Phosphorus addition increased root, stem, and leaf masses. Leaf mass and height growth depended on population origin and soil sterilization. Invasive populations had higher leaf mass and growth rates than native populations did in fresh soil but they had lower, comparable leaf mass and growth rates in sterilized soil. Invasive populations had higher growth rates with phosphorus addition but native ones did not. Soil sterilization decreased specific leaf area in both native and exotic populations. Negative effects of soil sterilization suggest that soil pathogens may not be as important as soil mutualists for T. sebifera performance. Moreover, interactive effects of sterilization and origin suggest that invasive T. sebifera may have evolved more beneficial relationships with the soil biota. Overall, seedlings from the invasive range outperformed those from the native range, however, an absence of soil biota or low phosphorus removed this advantage. PMID:24023930

  10. Chemical Features of Soil: Advanced Crop and Soil Science. A Course of Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, Larry E.

    The course of study represents the fifth of six modules in advanced crop and soil science and introduces the agriculture student to chemical features of the soil. Upon completing the four day lesson, the student will be able to: (1) list macro- and micro-nutrients, (2) define pH and its effect on plants, (3) outline Cation Exchange of the soil,…

  11. Development of efficient and cost-effective distributed hydrological modeling tool MWEasyDHM based on open-source MapWindow GIS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lei, Xiaohui; Wang, Yuhui; Liao, Weihong; Jiang, Yunzhong; Tian, Yu; Wang, Hao

    2011-09-01

    Many regions are still threatened with frequent floods and water resource shortage problems in China. Consequently, the task of reproducing and predicting the hydrological process in watersheds is hard and unavoidable for reducing the risks of damage and loss. Thus, it is necessary to develop an efficient and cost-effective hydrological tool in China as many areas should be modeled. Currently, developed hydrological tools such as Mike SHE and ArcSWAT (soil and water assessment tool based on ArcGIS) show significant power in improving the precision of hydrological modeling in China by considering spatial variability both in land cover and in soil type. However, adopting developed commercial tools in such a large developing country comes at a high cost. Commercial modeling tools usually contain large numbers of formulas, complicated data formats, and many preprocessing or postprocessing steps that may make it difficult for the user to carry out simulation, thus lowering the efficiency of the modeling process. Besides, commercial hydrological models usually cannot be modified or improved to be suitable for some special hydrological conditions in China. Some other hydrological models are open source, but integrated into commercial GIS systems. Therefore, by integrating hydrological simulation code EasyDHM, a hydrological simulation tool named MWEasyDHM was developed based on open-source MapWindow GIS, the purpose of which is to establish the first open-source GIS-based distributed hydrological model tool in China by integrating modules of preprocessing, model computation, parameter estimation, result display, and analysis. MWEasyDHM provides users with a friendly manipulating MapWindow GIS interface, selectable multifunctional hydrological processing modules, and, more importantly, an efficient and cost-effective hydrological simulation tool. The general construction of MWEasyDHM consists of four major parts: (1) a general GIS module for hydrological analysis, (2) a preprocessing module for modeling inputs, (3) a model calibration module, and (4) a postprocessing module. The general GIS module for hydrological analysis is developed on the basis of totally open-source GIS software, MapWindow, which contains basic GIS functions. The preprocessing module is made up of three submodules including a DEM-based submodule for hydrological analysis, a submodule for default parameter calculation, and a submodule for the spatial interpolation of meteorological data. The calibration module contains parallel computation, real-time computation, and visualization. The postprocessing module includes model calibration and model results spatial visualization using tabular form and spatial grids. MWEasyDHM makes it possible for efficient modeling and calibration of EasyDHM, and promises further development of cost-effective applications in various watersheds.

  12. Forest, Land, and Water: Understanding Our Natural Resources. Natural Resources Education Series.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sunal, Dennis; And Others

    This curriculum consists of a Teacher's Guide and a series of 12 instructional modules, that are centered around concepts important in the study of national resource science. The modules are designed to supplement textbooks with activities for students in primary and middle grades (K-8). The titles of the modules are: (1) Natural History of a…

  13. Linking soil systems to societal value systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Helming, Katharina; Daedlow, Katrin; Techen, Anja; Kaiser, David Brian

    2017-04-01

    Sustainable management of soils is needed to avoid soil degradation and to maintain soil functions. This requires the assessment of how human activities drive soil management, how soil management affect soil functions and soil degradation, which trade-offs occur and how they compromise sustainable development targets. In the frame of the German research programme "Soils as a sustainable resource for the bio-economy - BonaRes", we developed an enhanced approach of the DPSIR (driver-pressure-state-impact-response) cycle which helps to assess these interrelations. Because not all soil functions can be maximized simultaneously in space and time and trade-offs are inevitable, it depends on the societal value system to decide which management practices and respective soil functional performances are valued sustainably. We analysed the applicability of three valuation concepts being prominent in research about social-ecological systems, namely resource efficiency, ecosystem services, and ethics and equity. The concept of resource efficiency is based in the life-cycle thinking and is often applied at the level of the farming systems and in the context of bio-economy strategies. It covers the use of natural (water, energy, nutrients, land) and economic resources. At the landscape level, the concept of ecosystem services is prominent. Here, the contribution of soils to the provisioning, regulating and cultural services of the natural ecosystems is considered. Ethical considerations include the intrinsic values of nature as well as issues of local and global equity between different societal groups, generations, and localities. The three concepts cover different problem dimensions and complexity levels of soil management and decision making. Alone, none of them are capable to discover complex questions of sustainable soil management and development. Rather, the exact spatial and temporal framing of the sustainability problem at stake determines which combination of the value system is appropriate. Exemplified by some studies on soil management, we conclude with an outlook on criteria for selecting and combining value systems to assess the involvement of soil functions to specific Sustainable Development Goals at different spatial, temporal and decision making scales.

  14. Using a spatially-distributed hydrologic biogeochemistry model with nitrogen transport to study the spatial variation of carbon stocks and fluxes in a Critical Zone Observatory

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shi, Y.; Eissenstat, D. M.; He, Y.; Davis, K. J.

    2017-12-01

    Most current biogeochemical models are 1-D and represent one point in space. Therefore, they cannot resolve topographically driven land surface heterogeneity (e.g., lateral water flow, soil moisture, soil temperature, solar radiation) or the spatial pattern of nutrient availability. A spatially distributed forest biogeochemical model with nitrogen transport, Flux-PIHM-BGC, has been developed by coupling a 1-D mechanistic biogeochemical model Biome-BGC (BBGC) with a spatially distributed land surface hydrologic model, Flux-PIHM, and adding an advection dominated nitrogen transport module. Flux-PIHM is a coupled physically based model, which incorporates a land-surface scheme into the Penn State Integrated Hydrologic Model (PIHM). The land surface scheme is adapted from the Noah land surface model, and is augmented by adding a topographic solar radiation module. Flux-PIHM is able to represent the link between groundwater and the surface energy balance, as well as land surface heterogeneities caused by topography. In the coupled Flux-PIHM-BGC model, each Flux-PIHM model grid couples a 1-D BBGC model, while nitrogen is transported among model grids via surface and subsurface water flow. In each grid, Flux-PIHM provides BBGC with soil moisture, soil temperature, and solar radiation, while BBGC provides Flux-PIHM with spatially-distributed leaf area index. The coupled Flux-PIHM-BGC model has been implemented at the Susquehanna/Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory. The model-predicted aboveground vegetation carbon and soil carbon distributions generally agree with the macro patterns observed within the watershed. The importance of abiotic variables (including soil moisture, soil temperature, solar radiation, and soil mineral nitrogen) in predicting aboveground carbon distribution is calculated using a random forest. The result suggests that the spatial pattern of aboveground carbon is controlled by the distribution of soil mineral nitrogen. A Flux-PIHM-BGC simulation without the nitrogen transport module is also executed. The model without nitrogen transport fails in predicting the spatial patterns of vegetation carbon, which indicates the importance of having a nitrogen transport module in spatially distributed ecohydrologic modeling.

  15. Control strategies for planetary rover motion and manipulator control

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Trautwein, W.

    1973-01-01

    An unusual insect-like vehicle designed for planetary surface exploration is made the occasion for a discussion of control concepts in path selection, hazard detection, obstacle negotiation, and soil sampling. A control scheme which actively articulates the pitching motion between a single-loop front module and a dual loop rear module leads to near optimal behavior in soft soil; at the same time the vehicle's front module acts as a reliable tactile forward probe with a detection range much longer than the stopping distance. Some optimal control strategies are discussed, and the photos of a working scale model are displayed.

  16. 7 CFR 600.1 - General.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... soil, water, air, plant, and animal resources with consideration of the many human (economic and... specialties, including soil science, soil conservation, agronomy, biology, agroecology, range conservation... formerly the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) which was established by the Soil Conservation Act of 1935...

  17. 7 CFR 600.1 - General.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... soil, water, air, plant, and animal resources with consideration of the many human (economic and... specialties, including soil science, soil conservation, agronomy, biology, agroecology, range conservation... formerly the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) which was established by the Soil Conservation Act of 1935...

  18. 7 CFR 600.1 - General.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... soil, water, air, plant, and animal resources with consideration of the many human (economic and... specialties, including soil science, soil conservation, agronomy, biology, agroecology, range conservation... formerly the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) which was established by the Soil Conservation Act of 1935...

  19. 7 CFR 600.1 - General.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... soil, water, air, plant, and animal resources with consideration of the many human (economic and... specialties, including soil science, soil conservation, agronomy, biology, agroecology, range conservation... formerly the Soil Conservation Service (SCS) which was established by the Soil Conservation Act of 1935...

  20. Remote Sensing of Soils for Environmental Assessment and Management.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    DeGloria, Stephen D.; Irons, James R.; West, Larry T.

    2014-01-01

    The next generation of imaging systems integrated with complex analytical methods will revolutionize the way we inventory and manage soil resources across a wide range of scientific disciplines and application domains. This special issue highlights those systems and methods for the direct benefit of environmental professionals and students who employ imaging and geospatial information for improved understanding, management, and monitoring of soil resources.

  1. Physically based modeling of rainfall-triggered landslides: a case study in the Luquillo Forest, Puerto Rico

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lepore, C.; Arnone, E.; Noto, L. V.; Sivandran, G.; Bras, R. L.

    2013-01-01

    This paper presents the development of a rainfall-triggered landslide module within a physically based spatially distributed ecohydrologic model. The model, Triangulated Irregular Networks Real-time Integrated Basin Simulator and VEGetation Generator for Interactive Evolution (tRIBS-VEGGIE), is capable of a sophisticated description of many hydrological processes; in particular, the soil moisture dynamics is resolved at a temporal and spatial resolution required to examine the triggering mechanisms of rainfall-induced landslides. The validity of the tRIBS-VEGGIE model to a tropical environment is shown with an evaluation of its performance against direct observations made within the Luquillo Forest (the study area). The newly developed landslide module builds upon the previous version of the tRIBS landslide component. This new module utilizes a numerical solution to the Richards equation to better represent the time evolution of soil moisture transport through the soil column. Moreover, the new landslide module utilizes an extended formulation of the Factor of Safety (FS) to correctly quantify the role of matric suction in slope stability and to account for unsaturated conditions in the evaluation of FS. The new modeling framework couples the capabilities of the detailed hydrologic model to describe soil moisture dynamics with the Infinite Slope model creating a powerful tool for the assessment of landslide risk.

  2. Single Plant Root System Modeling under Soil Moisture Variation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yabusaki, S.; Fang, Y.; Chen, X.; Scheibe, T. D.

    2016-12-01

    A prognostic Virtual Plant-Atmosphere-Soil System (vPASS) model is being developed that integrates comprehensively detailed mechanistic single plant modeling with microbial, atmospheric, and soil system processes in its immediate environment. Three broad areas of process module development are targeted: Incorporating models for root growth and function, rhizosphere interactions with bacteria and other organisms, litter decomposition and soil respiration into established porous media flow and reactive transport models Incorporating root/shoot transport, growth, photosynthesis and carbon allocation process models into an integrated plant physiology model Incorporating transpiration, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) emission, particulate deposition and local atmospheric processes into a coupled plant/atmosphere model. The integrated plant ecosystem simulation capability is being developed as open source process modules and associated interfaces under a modeling framework. The initial focus addresses the coupling of root growth, vascular transport system, and soil under drought scenarios. Two types of root water uptake modeling approaches are tested: continuous root distribution and constitutive root system architecture. The continuous root distribution models are based on spatially averaged root development process parameters, which are relatively straightforward to accommodate in the continuum soil flow and reactive transport module. Conversely, the constitutive root system architecture models use root growth rates, root growth direction, and root branching to evolve explicit root geometries. The branching topologies require more complex data structures and additional input parameters. Preliminary results are presented for root model development and the vascular response to temporal and spatial variations in soil conditions.

  3. Performance of Emcore Third Generation CPV Modules in the Low Latitude Marine Environment of Hawaii

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hoffman, Richard; Buie, Damien; King, David; Glesne, Thomas

    2011-12-01

    Emcore third generation concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) modules were evaluated in the low latitude location of Kihei, Hawaii. For comparison, the best available monocrystalline silicon flat panel modules were included in both dual-axis tracked and fixed mount configurations. The daily DC uncorrected efficiency value for the CPV modules averaged over the six-month performance period was 25.9% compared to 16% to 17% for the flat panels. Higher daily energy was obtained from CPV modules than tracked flat panels when daily direct solar insolation was greater than 5 kWh/m2 and more than fixed mount flat panel when direct insolation was greater than 3 kWh/m2. The module energy conversion performance was demonstrated to be predictable using a parametric model developed by Sandia National Laboratory. Soiling accumulation on module entrance surface was surprisingly rapid in the local environment. Measured energy loss rate due to soiling were two to six times larger for CPV compared to flat panel losses.

  4. Lunar mineral feedstocks from rocks and soils: X-ray digital imaging in resource evaluation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chambers, John G.; Patchen, Allan; Taylor, Lawrence A.; Higgins, Stefan J.; Mckay, David S.

    1994-01-01

    The rocks and soils of the Moon provide raw materials essential to the successful establishment of a lunar base. Efficient exploitation of these resources requires accurate characterization of mineral abundances, sizes/shapes, and association of 'ore' and 'gangue' phases, as well as the technology to generate high-yield/high-grade feedstocks. Only recently have x-ray mapping and digital imaging techniques been applied to lunar resource evaluation. The topics covered include inherent differences between lunar basalts and soils and quantitative comparison of rock-derived and soil-derived ilmenite concentrates. It is concluded that x-ray digital-imaging characterization of lunar raw materials provides a quantitative comparison that is unattainable by traditional petrographic techniques. These data are necessary for accurately determining mineral distributions of soil and crushed rock material. Application of these techniques will provide an important link to choosing the best raw material for mineral beneficiation.

  5. Aspect has a greater impact on alpine soil bacterial community structure than elevation.

    PubMed

    Wu, Jieyun; Anderson, Barbara J; Buckley, Hannah L; Lewis, Gillian; Lear, Gavin

    2017-03-01

    Gradients in environmental conditions, including climate factors and resource availability, occur along mountain inclines, providing a 'natural laboratory' to explore their combined impacts on microbial distributions. Conflicting spatial patterns observed across elevation gradients in soil bacterial community structure suggest that they are driven by various interacting factors at different spatial scales. Here, we investigated the relative impacts of non-resource (e.g. soil temperature, pH) and resource conditions (e.g. soil carbon and nitrogen) on the biogeography of soil bacterial communities across broad (i.e. along a 1500 m mountain elevation gradient) and fine sampling scales (i.e. along sunny and shady aspects of a mountain ridge). Our analysis of 16S rRNA gene data confirmed that when sampling across distances of < 1000 m, bacterial community composition was more closely related to the aspect of a site than its elevation. However, despite large differences in climate and resource-availability factors across elevation- and aspect-related gradients, bacterial community composition and richness were most strongly correlated with soil pH. These findings highlight the need to incorporate knowledge of multiple factors, including site aspect and soil pH for the appropriate use of elevation gradients as a proxy to explore the impacts of climate change on microbial community composition. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  6. Enhancing soil begins with soil biology and a stable soil microclimate

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Protection of the soil resource from erosion requires reducing the surface impact from raindrop energy and maintaining soil structure and stability to allow more efficient infiltration of water into the soil column. These two processes are linked with practices associated with enhancing and maintain...

  7. Prioritization of catchments based on soil erosion using remote sensing and GIS.

    PubMed

    Khadse, Gajanan K; Vijay, Ritesh; Labhasetwar, Pawan K

    2015-06-01

    Water and soil are the most essential natural resources for socioeconomic development and sustenance of life. A study of soil and water dynamics at a watershed level facilitates a scientific approach towards their conservation and management. Remote sensing and Geographic Information System are tools that help to plan and manage natural resources on watershed basis. Studies were conducted for the formulation of catchment area treatment plan based on watershed prioritization with soil erosion studies using remote sensing techniques, corroborated with Geographic Information System (GIS), secondary data and ground truth information. Estimation of runoff and sediment yield is necessary in prioritization of catchment for the design of soil conservation structures and for identifying the critical erosion-prone areas of a catchment for implementation of best management plan with limited resources. The Universal Soil Loss Equation, Sediment Yield Determination and silt yield index methods are used for runoff and soil loss estimation for prioritization of the catchments. On the basis of soil erosion classes, the watersheds were grouped into very high, high, moderate and low priorities. High-priority watersheds need immediate attention for soil and water conservation, whereas low-priority watershed having good vegetative cover and low silt yield index may not need immediate attention for such treatments.

  8. Cyber Shovels in High School: An Online Soil Science Resource for Educators

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Krzic, M.; Basiliko, N.; Bedard-Haughn, A.; Humphreys, E.; Price, G.; Dampier, L.; Grand, S.; Dynatkar, S.; Crowley, C.

    2012-04-01

    Declining enrolment in soil science courses at post-secondary institutions in Canada and around the world tells us that fewer high school students are considering a career in this discipline than ever before. This may be due to soil science programs losing visibility as they are incorporated into other, larger programs; a lack of awareness of what opportunities exist for soil science professionals; or a disinclination of high school educators to use soil science scenarios as examples in their science curriculum. In 2010, we initiated a three-year, multi-institutional project aimed at introducing soil science concepts into high school curricula across Canada. The goals of this project are to promote learning about the importance of soil as a natural resource, provide useful tools that high school educators can incorporate into their lesson plans, and encourage students to pursue soil science in their higher education. The tool (http://soilweb.landfood.ubc.ca/youth/) features five main themes: (1) descriptions of soil research projects currently undertaken by faculty at five universities across Canada; (2) links to age-appropriate soil related resources that provide exercises and examples teachers can easily use; (3) profiles of soil scientists "at work" in a diverse range of careers to motivate future soil scientists; (4) examples of recent news stories about soil to highlight its relevance in our day to day lives; and (5) a soil forum for students and teachers to ask questions. This tool will be further refined by incorporating feedback obtained from high school teachers and students.

  9. Do plants modulate biomass allocation in response to petroleum pollution?

    PubMed Central

    Nie, Ming; Yang, Qiang; Jiang, Li-Fen; Fang, Chang-Ming; Chen, Jia-Kuan; Li, Bo

    2010-01-01

    Biomass allocation is an important plant trait that responds plastically to environmental heterogeneities. However, the effects on this trait of pollutants owing to human activities remain largely unknown. In this study, we investigated the response of biomass allocation of Phragmites australis to petroleum pollution by a 13CO2 pulse-labelling technique. Our data show that plant biomass significantly decreased under petroleum pollution, but the root–shoot ratio for both plant biomass and 13C increased with increasing petroleum concentration, suggesting that plants could increase biomass allocation to roots in petroleum-polluted soil. Furthermore, assimilated 13C was found to be significantly higher in soil, microbial biomass and soil respiration after soils were polluted by petroleum. These results suggested that the carbon released from roots is rapidly turned over by soil microbes under petroleum pollution. This study found that plants can modulate biomass allocation in response to petroleum pollution. PMID:20484231

  10. A review of the methods available for estimating soil moisture and its implications for water resource management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dobriyal, Pariva; Qureshi, Ashi; Badola, Ruchi; Hussain, Syed Ainul

    2012-08-01

    SummaryThe maintenance of elevated soil moisture is an important ecosystem service of the natural ecosystems. Understanding the patterns of soil moisture distribution is useful to a wide range of agencies concerned with the weather and climate, soil conservation, agricultural production and landscape management. However, the great heterogeneity in the spatial and temporal distribution of soil moisture and the lack of standard methods to estimate this property limit its quantification and use in research. This literature based review aims to (i) compile the available knowledge on the methods used to estimate soil moisture at the landscape level, (ii) compare and evaluate the available methods on the basis of common parameters such as resource efficiency, accuracy of results and spatial coverage and (iii) identify the method that will be most useful for forested landscapes in developing countries. On the basis of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the methods reviewed we conclude that the direct method (gravimetric method) is accurate and inexpensive but is destructive, slow and time consuming and does not allow replications thereby having limited spatial coverage. The suitability of indirect methods depends on the cost, accuracy, response time, effort involved in installation, management and durability of the equipment. Our review concludes that measurements of soil moisture using the Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) methods are instantaneously obtained and accurate. GPR may be used over larger areas (up to 500 × 500 m a day) but is not cost-effective and difficult to use in forested landscapes in comparison to TDR. This review will be helpful to researchers, foresters, natural resource managers and agricultural scientists in selecting the appropriate method for estimation of soil moisture keeping in view the time and resources available to them and to generate information for efficient allocation of water resources and maintenance of soil moisture regime.

  11. Field Identification of Andic Soil Properties for Soils of North-central Idaho

    Treesearch

    Brian Gardner

    2007-01-01

    Currently, laboratory measurements are definitive for identifying andic soil properties in both the USDA Soil Taxonomy (Soil Survey Staff 1999) and the World Reference Base for Soil Resources (FAO/ISRIC/ISSS 1998). Andic soil properties, as described in Soil Taxonomy, result mainly from the presence of significant amounts of allophone, imogolite, ferrihydrite or...

  12. 7 CFR 1466.4 - National priorities.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... statutory resource concerns that include soil, water, wildlife, air quality, and related resource concerns..., nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ozone precursors and depleters that contribute to air quality impairment violations of National Ambient Air Quality Standards; (4) Reduction in soil erosion and...

  13. 7 CFR 1466.4 - National priorities.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... statutory resource concerns that include soil, water, wildlife, air quality, and related resource concerns..., nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ozone precursors and depleters that contribute to air quality impairment violations of National Ambient Air Quality Standards; (4) Reduction in soil erosion and...

  14. 7 CFR 1466.4 - National priorities.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... statutory resource concerns that include soil, water, wildlife, air quality, and related resource concerns..., nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ozone precursors and depleters that contribute to air quality impairment violations of National Ambient Air Quality Standards; (4) Reduction in soil erosion and...

  15. 7 CFR 1466.4 - National priorities.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... statutory resource concerns that include soil, water, wildlife, air quality, and related resource concerns..., nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ozone precursors and depleters that contribute to air quality impairment violations of National Ambient Air Quality Standards; (4) Reduction in soil erosion and...

  16. 7 CFR 1466.4 - National priorities.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... statutory resource concerns that include soil, water, wildlife, air quality, and related resource concerns..., nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, and ozone precursors and depleters that contribute to air quality impairment violations of National Ambient Air Quality Standards; (4) Reduction in soil erosion and...

  17. Soil resources and topography shape local tree community structure in tropical forests

    PubMed Central

    Baldeck, Claire A.; Harms, Kyle E.; Yavitt, Joseph B.; John, Robert; Turner, Benjamin L.; Valencia, Renato; Navarrete, Hugo; Davies, Stuart J.; Chuyong, George B.; Kenfack, David; Thomas, Duncan W.; Madawala, Sumedha; Gunatilleke, Nimal; Gunatilleke, Savitri; Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh; Kiratiprayoon, Somboon; Yaacob, Adzmi; Supardi, Mohd N. Nur; Dalling, James W.

    2013-01-01

    Both habitat filtering and dispersal limitation influence the compositional structure of forest communities, but previous studies examining the relative contributions of these processes with variation partitioning have primarily used topography to represent the influence of the environment. Here, we bring together data on both topography and soil resource variation within eight large (24–50 ha) tropical forest plots, and use variation partitioning to decompose community compositional variation into fractions explained by spatial, soil resource and topographic variables. Both soil resources and topography account for significant and approximately equal variation in tree community composition (9–34% and 5–29%, respectively), and all environmental variables together explain 13–39% of compositional variation within a plot. A large fraction of variation (19–37%) was spatially structured, yet unexplained by the environment, suggesting an important role for dispersal processes and unmeasured environmental variables. For the majority of sites, adding soil resource variables to topography nearly doubled the inferred role of habitat filtering, accounting for variation in compositional structure that would previously have been attributable to dispersal. Our results, illustrated using a new graphical depiction of community structure within these plots, demonstrate the importance of small-scale environmental variation in shaping local community structure in diverse tropical forests around the globe. PMID:23256196

  18. Culture, hydrology, and other situational controls on atoll freshwater availability (Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shuster, W.

    2016-12-01

    The comparatively uncertain rainfall catch and rising seas in isolated North Pacific atoll communities has presented serious challenges to maintain human communities with freshwater volume. Moreover, the feudal hierarchy, which structures social and economic relationships among local governance and citizens contributes equally to problems and potential solutions. These relationships modulate the availability of critical ecosystem services generated by freshwater, with additional constraints contributed by climate change, rainfall variability (e.g., current El Niño climate pattern), and continuous threat of drought. The major freshwater resources for an atoll are the groundwater freshwater lens, residential and commercial rainwater harvesting, large-scale rainfall catchments (e.g., an airport runway), imported-virtual water, or desalinization subsidies. The significance of each of these resources scale across different atolls according to size, topography, soils, population, infrastructure, and land ownership. The potential integration and coordination of these water resources is largely unrealized due to land ownership, the lack of a contiguous catchment area, uneven and fractured governance. The situational aspects are further characterized by feuding among families and communities (some resource rich, some resource poor), and conflicting land use priorities where agriculture placement and practice can compromise the quality of already limited freshwater resources. This presentation uses the example of Majuro atoll (Republic of the Marshall Islands), field data and other observations, to illustrate sociohydrologic-drivers of freshwater availability, and suggests approaches that may improve on current and ongoing threats to public health and well-being.

  19. Biocrusts modulate warming and rainfall exclusion effects on soil respiration in a semi-arid grassland

    PubMed Central

    Escolar, Cristina; Maestre, Fernando T.; Rey, Ana

    2015-01-01

    Soil surface communities composed of cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, liverworts, fungi, bacteria and lichens (biocrusts) largely affect soil respiration in dryland ecosystems. Climate change is expected to have large effects on biocrusts and associated ecosystem processes. However, few studies so far have experimentally assessed how expected changes in temperature and rainfall will affect soil respiration in biocrust-dominated ecosystems. We evaluated the impacts of biocrust development, increased air temperature and decreased precipitation on soil respiration dynamics during dry (2009) and wet (2010) years, and investigated the relative importance of soil temperature and moisture as environmental drivers of soil respiration, in a semiarid grassland from central Spain. Soil respiration rates were significantly lower in the dry than during the wet year, regardless of biocrust cover. Warming increased soil respiration rates, but this response was only significant in biocrust-dominated areas (> 50% biocrust cover). Warming also increased the temperature sensitivity (Q10 values) of soil respiration in biocrust-dominated areas, particularly during the wet year. The combination of warming and rainfall exclusion had similar effects in low biocrust cover areas. Our results highlight the importance of biocrusts as a modulator of soil respiration responses to both warming and rainfall exclusion, and indicate that they must be explicitly considered when evaluating soil respiration responses to climate change in drylands. PMID:25914428

  20. Impact of Hydrologic Variability on Ecosystem Dynamics and the Sustainable Use of Soil and Water Resources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Porporato, A. M.

    2013-05-01

    We discuss the key processes by which hydrologic variability affects the probabilistic structure of soil moisture dynamics in water-controlled ecosystems. These in turn impact biogeochemical cycling and ecosystem structure through plant productivity and biodiversity as well as nitrogen availability and soil conditions. Once the long-term probabilistic structure of these processes is quantified, the results become useful to understand the impact of climatic changes and human activities on ecosystem services, and can be used to find optimal strategies of water and soil resources management under unpredictable hydro-climatic fluctuations. Particular applications regard soil salinization, phytoremediation and optimal stochastic irrigation.

  1. 30 CFR 823.14 - Soil replacement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Soil replacement. 823.14 Section 823.14 Mineral... Soil replacement. (a) Soil reconstruction specifications established by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service shall be based upon the standards of the National Cooperative Soil Survey and shall include, as a...

  2. 30 CFR 823.14 - Soil replacement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Soil replacement. 823.14 Section 823.14 Mineral... Soil replacement. (a) Soil reconstruction specifications established by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service shall be based upon the standards of the National Cooperative Soil Survey and shall include, as a...

  3. 30 CFR 823.14 - Soil replacement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Soil replacement. 823.14 Section 823.14 Mineral... Soil replacement. (a) Soil reconstruction specifications established by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service shall be based upon the standards of the National Cooperative Soil Survey and shall include, as a...

  4. 30 CFR 823.14 - Soil replacement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Soil replacement. 823.14 Section 823.14 Mineral... Soil replacement. (a) Soil reconstruction specifications established by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service shall be based upon the standards of the National Cooperative Soil Survey and shall include, as a...

  5. 30 CFR 823.14 - Soil replacement.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Soil replacement. 823.14 Section 823.14 Mineral... Soil replacement. (a) Soil reconstruction specifications established by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service shall be based upon the standards of the National Cooperative Soil Survey and shall include, as a...

  6. July: "Soils are living: Overview of soil biodiversity, global issues, and new resources"

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The July poster will provide an overview of soil biology and the many ecosystem functions that soil organisms drive including their impact on global biodiversity, climate regulation, soil health/stability, and plant growth. Five main global issues related to soil biodiversity will be presented such ...

  7. Evaluating measures to assess soil health in long-term agroecosystem trials

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Monitoring and assessing soil health is an important component of any land management system with a vision of sustaining soil resources. Soil organic matter(SOM)characteristics are key to soil health and responsive to tillage regime and crop management. As metrics of soil health, we evaluated surfac...

  8. Soil biological indicators of soil health for a national soil health assessment

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Soil is one of our nation's most valuable resources that provides life-sustaining functions. Billions of organisms live belowground and perform critical soil processes to support plant, animal, and human health aboveground. By shifting our view of soils from an inert growing material to a biological...

  9. Multiscale variability of soil aggregate stability: implications for rangeland hydrology and erosion

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Conservation of soil and water resources in rangelands is a crucial step in stopping desertification processes. The formation of water-stable soil aggregates reduces soil erodibility and can increase infiltration capacity in many soils. Soil aggregate stability is highly variable at scales ranging f...

  10. Assessing quality of citizen scientists’ soil texture estimates to evaluate land potential

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Texture influences nearly all soil processes and is often the most measured parameter in soil science. Estimating soil texture is a universal and fundamental practice applied by resource scientists to classify and understand the behavior and management of soil systems. While trained soil scientist c...

  11. Evaluating shrub-associated spatial patterns of soil properties in a shrub-steppe ecosystem using multiple-variable geostatistics

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Halvorson, J.J.; Smith, J.L.; Bolton, H. Jr.

    1995-09-01

    Geostatistics are often calculated for a single variable at a time, even though many natural phenomena are functions of several variables. The objective of this work was to demonstrate a nonparametric approach for assessing the spatial characteristics of multiple-variable phenomena. Specifically, we analyzed the spatial characteristics of resource islands in the soil under big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentala Nutt.), a dominant shrub in the intermountain western USA. For our example, we defined resource islands as a function of six soil variables representing concentrations of soil resources, populations of microorganisms, and soil microbial physiological variables. By collectively evaluating the indicator transformations ofmore » these individual variables, we created a new data set, termed a multiple-variable indicator transform or MVIT. Alternate MVITs were obtained by varying the selection criteria. Each MVIT was analyzed with variography to characterize spatial continuity, and with indicator kriging to predict the combined probability of their occurrence at unsampled locations in the landscape. Simple graphical analysis and variography demonstrated spatial dependence for all individual soil variables. Maps derived from ordinary kriging of MVITs suggested that the combined probabilities for encountering zones of above-median resources were greatest near big sagebrush. 51 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.« less

  12. Energy value of soil organic matter and costs of its restoration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kuczuk, Anna

    2017-10-01

    From the point of view of the sustainable soil management, the most important characteristic of soil organic matter (SOM) is associated with the energy content in it. This paper reports the results of an estimation of SOM resources and its energy value for the arable land in a selected farm. For this purpose, soil samples were taken in two fields from a soil depth profile of 30 cm. The testing regarding humus content were conducted at District Chemical and Agricultural Station in Opole. The study involved the assessment of organic matter content at a depth of 30 cm converted per 1 ha, energy value of the SOM resources and the theoretical energy potential was determined. In addition, an example of crop rotation was provided for the analyzed soils, which could be applicable in the process of restoring SOM resources. The cost of restoring the SOM resource was estimated and this value was compared with the energy value of fuel. The total cost of SOM restoration over the period of five years was equal to 3122.26-7845.86 PLN·ha-1 depending on the value of the lost revenue of commercial production, and simultaneously equal to the value of 6.2-16 Mg thermal coal.

  13. The "Vsoil Platform" : a tool to integrate the various physical, chemical and biological processes contributing to the soil functioning at the local scale.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lafolie, François; Cousin, Isabelle; Mollier, Alain; Pot, Valérie; Moitrier, Nicolas; Balesdent, Jérome; bruckler, Laurent; Moitrier, Nathalie; Nouguier, Cédric; Richard, Guy

    2014-05-01

    Models describing the soil functioning are valuable tools for addressing challenging issues related to agricultural production, soil protection or biogeochemical cycles. Coupling models that address different scientific fields is actually required in order to develop numerical tools able to simulate the complex interactions and feed-backs occurring within a soil profile in interaction with climate and human activities. We present here a component-based modelling platform named "VSoil", that aims at designing, developing, implementing and coupling numerical representation of biogeochemical and physical processes in soil, from the aggregate to the profile scales. The platform consists of four softwares, i) Vsoil_Processes dedicated to the conceptual description of processes and of their inputs and outputs, ii) Vsoil_Modules devoted to the development of numerical representation of elementary processes as modules, iii) Vsoil_Models which permits the coupling of modules to create models, iv) Vsoil_Player for the run of the model and the primary analysis of results. The platform is designed to be a collaborative tool, helping scientists to share not only their models, but also the scientific knowledge on which the models are built. The platform is based on the idea that processes of any kind can be described and characterized by their inputs (state variables required) and their outputs. The links between the processes are automatically detected by the platform softwares. For any process, several numerical representations (modules) can be developed and made available to platform users. When developing modules, the platform takes care of many aspects of the development task so that the user can focus on numerical calculations. Fortran2008 and C++ are the supported languages and existing codes can be easily incorporated into platform modules. Building a model from available modules simply requires selecting the processes being accounted for and for each process a module. During this task, the platform displays available modules and checks the compatibility between the modules. The model (main program) is automatically created when compatible modules have been selected for all the processes. A GUI is automatically generated to help the user providing parameters and initial situations. Numerical results can be immediately visualized, archived and exported. The platform also provides facilities to carry out sensitivity analysis. Parameters estimation and links with databases are being developed. The platform can be freely downloaded from the web site (http://www.inra.fr/sol_virtuel/) with a set of processes, variables, modules and models. However, it is designed so that any user can add its own components. Theses adds-on can be shared with co-workers by means of an export/import mechanism using the e-mail. The adds-on can also be made available to the whole community of platform users when developers asked for. A filtering tool is available to explore the content of the platform (processes, variables, modules, models).

  14. Effects of soil water holding capacity on evapotranspiration and irrigation scheduling

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), through the National Cooperative Soil Survey, developed three soil geographic databases that are appropriate for acquiring soil information at the national, regional, and local scales. These relational databases include the National Soil Geogra...

  15. Marginality principle

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Soil is a fragile resource supplying many goods and services. Given the diversity of soil across the world and within a landscape, there are many different capacities among soils to provide the basic soil functions. Marginality of soils is a difficult process to define because the metrics to define ...

  16. Impact of heavy soiling on the power output of PV modules

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schill, Christian; Brachmann, Stefan; Heck, Markus; Weiss, Karl-Anders; Koehl, Michael

    2011-09-01

    Fraunhofer ISE is running a PV-module outdoor testing set-up on the Gran Canaria island, one of the Canary Island located west of Morroco in the Atlantic Ocean. The performance of the modules is assessed by IV-curve monitoring every 10 minutes. The electronic set-up of the monitoring system - consisting of individual electronic loads for each module which go into an MPP-tracking mode between the IV-measurements - will be described in detail. Soiling of the exposed modules happened because of building constructions nearby. We decided not to clean the modules, but the radiation sensors and recorded the decrease of the power output and the efficiency over time. The efficiency dropped to 20 % within 5 months before a heavy rain and subsequently the service personnel on site cleaned the modules. A smaller rain-fall in between washed the dust partly away and accumulated it at the lower part of the module, what could be concluded from the shape of the IV-curves, which were similar to partial shading by hot-spot-tests and by partial snow cover.

  17. View of the orange soil which Apollo 17 crewmen found at Station 4 during EVA

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1972-12-12

    AS17-137-20989 (12 Dec. 1972) --- A close-up view of the much-publicized orange soil which the Apollo 17 crewmen found at Station 4 (Shorty Crater) during the second Apollo 17 extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Taurus-Littrow landing site. The orange soil was first spotted by scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt. While astronauts Schmitt and Eugene A. Cernan descended in the Lunar Module (LM) "Challenger" to explore the lunar surface, astronaut Ronald E. Evans remained with the Apollo 17 Command and Service Modules (CSM) in lunar orbit. The orange soil was never seen by the crewmen of the other lunar landing missions - Apollo 11 (Sea of Tranquility); Apollo 12 (Ocean of Storms); Apollo 14 (Fra Mauro); Apollo 15 (Hadley-Apennines); and Apollo 16 (Descartes).

  18. Nitrogen supply modulates the effect of changes in drying-rewetting frequency on soil C and N cycling and greenhouse gas exchange.

    PubMed

    Morillas, Lourdes; Durán, Jorge; Rodríguez, Alexandra; Roales, Javier; Gallardo, Antonio; Lovett, Gary M; Groffman, Peter M

    2015-10-01

    Climate change and atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition are two of the most important global change drivers. However, the interactions of these drivers have not been well studied. We aimed to assess how the combined effect of soil N additions and more frequent soil drying-rewetting events affects carbon (C) and N cycling, soil:atmosphere greenhouse gas (GHG) exchange, and functional microbial diversity. We manipulated the frequency of soil drying-rewetting events in soils from ambient and N-treated plots in a temperate forest and calculated the Orwin & Wardle Resistance index to compare the response of the different treatments. Increases in drying-rewetting cycles led to reductions in soil NO3- levels, potential net nitrification rate, and soil : atmosphere GHG exchange, and increases in NH4+ and total soil inorganic N levels. N-treated soils were more resistant to changes in the frequency of drying-rewetting cycles, and this resistance was stronger for C- than for N-related variables. Both the long-term N addition and the drying-rewetting treatment altered the functionality of the soil microbial population and its functional diversity. Our results suggest that increasing the frequency of drying-rewetting cycles can affect the ability of soil to cycle C and N and soil : atmosphere GHG exchange and that the response to this increase is modulated by soil N enrichment. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  19. Lunar Soil Erosion Physics for Landing Rockets on the Moon

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Clegg, Ryan N.; Metzger, Philip T.; Huff, Stephen; Roberson, Luke B.

    2008-01-01

    To develop a lunar outpost, we must understand the blowing of soil during launch and landing of the new Altair Lander. For example, the Apollo 12 Lunar Module landed approximately 165 meters from the deactivated Surveyor Ill spacecraft, scouring its surfaces and creating numerous tiny pits. Based on simulations and video analysis from the Apollo missions, blowing lunar soil particles have velocities up to 2000 m/s at low ejection angles relative to the horizon, reach an apogee higher than the orbiting Command and Service Module, and travel nearly the circumference of the Moon [1-3]. The low ejection angle and high velocity are concerns for the lunar outpost.

  20. The BonaRes Centre - A virtual institute for soil research in the context of a sustainable bio-economy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wollschläger, Ute; Helming, Katharina; Heinrich, Uwe; Bartke, Stephan; Kögel-Knabner, Ingrid; Russell, David; Eberhardt, Einar; Vogel, Hans-Jörg

    2016-04-01

    Fertile soils are central resources for the production of biomass and provision of food and energy. A growing world population and latest climate targets lead to an increasing demand for both, food and bio-energy, which require preserving and improving the long-term productivity of soils as a bio-economic resource. At the same time, other soil functions and ecosystem services need to be maintained. To render soil management sustainable, we need to establish a scientific knowledge base about complex soil system processes that allows for the development of model tools to quantitatively predict the impact of a multitude of management measures on soil functions. This, finally, will allow for the provision of site-specific options for sustainable soil management. To face this challenge, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research recently launched the funding program "Soil as a Natural Resource for the Bio-Economy - BonaRes". In a joint effort, ten collaborative projects and the coordinating BonaRes Centre are engaged to close existing knowledge gaps for a profound and systemic understanding of soil functions and their sensitivity to soil management. This presentation provides an overview of the concept of the BonaRes Centre which is responsible for i) setting up a comprehensive data base for soil-related information, ii) the development of model tools aiming to estimate the impact of different management measures on soil functions, and iii) establishing a web-based portal providing decision support tools for a sustainable soil management. A specific focus of the presentation will be laid on the so-called "knowledge-portal" providing the infrastructure for a community effort towards a comprehensive meta-analysis on soil functions as a basis for future model developments.

  1. Effects of land use pattern on soil water in revegetation watersheds in semi-arid Chinese Loess Plateau

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, Lei; Chen, Liding; Wei, Wei

    2017-04-01

    Soil water stored below rainfall infiltration depth is a reliable water resource for plant growth in arid and semi-arid regions. For decreasing serious soil erosion, large-scale human-introduced vegetation restoration was initiated in Chinese Loess Plateau in late 1990s. However, these activities may result in excessive water consumption and soil water deficit if no appropriate scientific guidance were offered. This in turn impacts the regional ecological restoration and sustainable management of water resources. In this study, soil water content data in depth of 0-5 m was obtained by long-term field observation and geostatistical method in 6 small watersheds covered with different land use pattern. Profile characteristics and spatial-temporal patterns of soil water were compared between different land use types, hillslopes, and watersheds. The results showed that: (1) Introduced vegetation consumed excessive amount of water when compared with native grassland and farmland, and induced temporally stable soil desiccation in depth of 0-5 m. The introduced vegetation decreased soil water content to levels lower than the reference value representing no human impact in all soil layers. (2) The analysis of differences in soil water at hillslope and watershed scales indicated that land use determined the spatial and temporal variability of soil water. Soil water at watershed scale increased with the increasing area of farmland, and decreased with increasing percentage of introduced vegetation. Land use structure determined the soil water condition and land use pattern determined the spatial-temporal variability of soil water at watershed scale. (3) Large-scale revegetation with introduced vegetation diminished the spatial heterogeneity of soil water at different scales. Land use pattern adjustment could be used to improve the water resources management and maintain the sustainability of vegetation restoration.

  2. Uncertainty indication in soil function maps - transparent and easy-to-use information to support sustainable use of soil resources

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Greiner, Lucie; Nussbaum, Madlene; Papritz, Andreas; Zimmermann, Stephan; Gubler, Andreas; Grêt-Regamey, Adrienne; Keller, Armin

    2018-05-01

    Spatial information on soil function fulfillment (SFF) is increasingly being used to inform decision-making in spatial planning programs to support sustainable use of soil resources. Soil function maps visualize soils abilities to fulfill their functions, e.g., regulating water and nutrient flows, providing habitats, and supporting biomass production based on soil properties. Such information must be reliable for informed and transparent decision-making in spatial planning programs. In this study, we add to the transparency of soil function maps by (1) indicating uncertainties arising from the prediction of soil properties generated by digital soil mapping (DSM) that are used for soil function assessment (SFA) and (2) showing the response of different SFA methods to the propagation of uncertainties through the assessment. For a study area of 170 km2 in the Swiss Plateau, we map 10 static soil sub-functions for agricultural soils for a spatial resolution of 20 × 20 m together with their uncertainties. Mapping the 10 soil sub-functions using simple ordinal assessment scales reveals pronounced spatial patterns with a high variability of SFF scores across the region, linked to the inherent properties of the soils and terrain attributes and climate conditions. Uncertainties in soil properties propagated through SFA methods generally lead to substantial uncertainty in the mapped soil sub-functions. We propose two types of uncertainty maps that can be readily understood by stakeholders. Cumulative distribution functions of SFF scores indicate that SFA methods respond differently to the propagated uncertainty of soil properties. Even where methods are comparable on the level of complexity and assessment scale, their comparability in view of uncertainty propagation might be different. We conclude that comparable uncertainty indications in soil function maps are relevant to enable informed and transparent decisions on the sustainable use of soil resources.

  3. Soil Erosion: Advanced Crop and Soil Science. A Course of Study.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Miller, Larry E.

    The course of study represents the last of six modules in advanced crop and soil science and introduces the agriculture student to the topic of soil erosion. Upon completion of the two day lesson, the student will be able to: (1) define conservation, (2) understand how erosion takes place, and (3) list ways of controlling wind and water erosion.…

  4. Technology Systems. Laboratory Activities.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brame, Ray; And Others

    This guide contains 43 modules of laboratory activities for technology education courses. Each module includes an instructor's resource sheet and the student laboratory activity. Instructor's resource sheets include some or all of the following elements: module number, course title, activity topic, estimated time, essential elements, objectives,…

  5. Tree seedlings respond to both light and soil nutrients in a Patagonian evergreen-deciduous forest.

    PubMed

    Promis, Alvaro; Allen, Robert B

    2017-01-01

    Seedlings of co-occurring species vary in their response to resource availability and this has implications for the conservation and management of forests. Differential shade-tolerance is thought to influence seedling performance in mixed Nothofagus betuloides-Nothofagus pumilio forests of Patagonia. However, these species also vary in their soil nutrient requirements. To determine the effects of light and soil nutrient resources on small seedlings we examined responses to an experimental reduction in canopy tree root competition through root trenching and restricting soil nutrient depletion through the addition of fertilizer. To understand the effect of light these treatments were undertaken in small canopy gaps and nearby beneath undisturbed canopy with lower light levels. Seedling diameter growth was greater for N. pumilio and height growth was greater for N. betuloides. Overall, diameter and height growth were greater in canopy gaps than beneath undisturbed canopy. Such growths were also greater with fertilizer and root trenching treatments, even beneath undisturbed canopy. Seedling survival was lower under such treatments, potentially reflecting thinning facilitated by resource induced growth. Finally, above-ground biomass did not vary among species although the less shade tolerant N. pumilio had higher below-ground biomass and root to shoot biomass ratio than the more shade tolerant N. betuloides. Above- and below-ground biomass were higher in canopy gaps so that the root to shoot biomass ratio was similar to that beneath undisturbed canopy. Above-ground biomass was also higher with fertilizer and root trenching treatments and that lowered the root to shoot biomass ratio. Restricting soil nutrient depletion allowed seedlings of both species to focus their responses above-ground. Our results support a view that soil nutrient resources, as well as the more commonly studied light resources, are important to seedlings of Nothofagus species occurring on infertile soils.

  6. Modelling surface hydrology with DR2-SAGA 1.0: development of a user-friendly interface for hillslope water balance assessments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    López-Montero, Teresa; López-Vicente, Manuel; Navas, Ana

    2013-04-01

    Soil moisture variability and the depth of water stored in the arable layer of the soil are important topics in agricultural research and rangeland management. Additionally, runoff triggers soil detachment and sediment delivery, and thus is one of the most important factors in the soil erosion dynamic. Overland flow generation and accumulation are non-linear and scale-dependent processes and the development of prediction models helps researchers evaluate different scenarios at different temporal and spatial scales. In this study, we present the DR2-SAGA 1.0 module to the scientific community. The DR2 (Distributed Rainfall-Runoff) water balance model computes the depth of water stored within the soil profile (Waa) distinguishing five scenarios of the upslope contributing area, infiltration processes and climatic parameters, and assesses the soil moisture status (SMS) throughout the year for an average monthly rainfall event. The SAGA program is a free Geographical Information System (GIS) with support for vector and, specially, raster data. Its foundation is its Application Programming Interface (API), which provides data object models and basic definitions for the programming of scientific modules. Module libraries contain the scientific methods and are developed using C++ code. The new module was run in a medium size mountain Mediterranean catchment (246 ha; Spanish Central Pre-Pyrenees) at high spatial resolution (5 x 5 meters of cell size). The Estaña Lakes Catchment is affected by karstic processes which explain the presence of 15 endorheic sub-catchments and three fresh-water lakes. Additionally, this area is ungauged and offers the opportunity to test the performance of the new module in a non-conventional landscape. DR2-SAGA 1.0 demands 16 inputs and generates monthly and annual maps of initial and effective runoff depth, Waa and SMS. One user-friendly tab was created with SAGA 2.0.8 for each input and output file. The new module also includes a water balance routine to obtain accurate maps of effective cumulative runoff for any type of accumulation algorithm used. In order to make more readable the results and their legends, a predefined layout was created for each derived map. Further research seeks the development of an equation to add the Effective Hydrological Depth factor in order to improve the reliability of the model in shallow soils. A basic statistical analysis package will also appear in the next version of the module. The development of the DR2-SAGA 1.0 module in the open-source SAGA platform boosts the simulation capacity of the DR2 model in comparison with its application in other commercial GIS software. As a result, we present a scientific module that brings together the set of equations, mathematical calculations and GIS operations included in the DR2 model. DR2-SAGA 1.0 provides a powerful and efficient tool with an intuitive graphical user interface having a low computational cost. In general, DR2-SAGA 1.0 shows great potential for hydrological studies in small and medium size catchments and can be used by both advanced and non-expert users. The new module will be available in the web site of our research center in spring 2013.

  7. Modelling soil carbon flows and stocks following a carbon balance approach at regional scale for the EU-27

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lesschen, Jan Peter; Sikirica, Natasa; Bonten, Luc; Dibari, Camilla; Sanchez, Berta; Kuikman, Peter

    2014-05-01

    Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) is a key parameter to many soil functions and services. SOC is essential to support water retention and nutrient buffering and mineralization in the soil as well as to enhance soil biodiversity. Consequently, loss of SOC or low SOC levels might threaten soil productivity or even lead to a collapse of a farming system. Identification of areas in Europe with critically low SOC levels or with a negative carbon balance is a challenge in order to apply the appropriate strategies to restore these areas or prevent further SOC losses. The objective of this study is to assess current soil carbon flows and stocks at a regional scale; we follow a carbon balance approach which we developed within the MITERRA-Europe model. MITERRA-Europe is an environmental impact assessment model and calculates nitrogen and greenhouse emission on a deterministic and annual basis using emission and leaching factors at regional level (NUTS2, comparable to province level) in the EU27. The model already contained a soil carbon module based on the IPCC stock change approach. Within the EU FP7 SmartSoil project we developed a SOC balance approach, for which we quantified the input of carbon (manure, crop residues, other organic inputs) and the losses of carbon (decomposition, leaching and erosion). The calculations rules from the Roth-C model were used to estimate SOC decomposition. For the actual soil carbon stocks we used the data from the LUCAS soil sample survey. LUCAS collected soil samples in 2009 at about 22000 locations across the EU, which were analysed for a range of soil properties. Land management practices are accounted for, based on data from the EU wide Survey on Agricultural Production Methods in the 2010 Farm Structure Survey. The survey comprises data on the application of soil tillage, soil cover, crop rotation and irrigation. Based on the simulated soil carbon balance and the actual carbon stocks from LUCAS we now can identify regions within the EU that are at risk. We further present results of the potential soil carbon sequestration by land management practices, such as cover crops, zero and reduced tillage, crop residue management and additional input of organic carbon. These results will be relevant for defining region specific strategies to reach the policy target on preventing loss of soil organic matter as stipulated in the Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe.

  8. Cosmic ray soil moisture observing systems comos in cap fields at El Reno Oklahoma

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Soil water content (SWC) partitions rainfall into runoff and infiltration, modulates surface and atmospheric exchanges of water and energy, affects plant growth and crop yields, and impacts chemical and biological activities of soil, among other things. Thus, SWC, especially over large scales, is a...

  9. Exploring Agribusiness and Natural Resources. Competency Based Education Curriculum. Student Material.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lawrence, Layle D.

    This competency-based prevocational exploration curriculum in agribusiness and natural resources is divided into the following eight areas: agricultural business (sales); animal science (health and grooming); horticulture (grafting and budding); agricultural products (grading eggs); plant science (germination); soil science (soil acidity and…

  10. Moessbauer Spectroscopy for Lunar Resource Assessment: Measurement of Mineralogy and Soil Maturity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Morris, R. V.; Agresti, D. G.; Shelfer, T. D.; Pimperl, M. M.; Shen, M.-H.; Gibson, M. A.; Wills, E. L.

    1992-01-01

    First-order assessment of lunar soil as a resource includes measurement of its mineralogy and maturity. Soils in which the mineral ilmenite is present in high concentrations are desirable feedstock for the production of oxygen at a lunar base. The maturity of lunar soils is a measure of their relative residence time in the upper 1 mm of the lunar surface. Increasing maturity implies increasing load of solar wind species (e.g., N, H, and He-3), decreasing mean grain size, and increasing glass content. All these physicochemical properties that vary in a regular way with maturity are important parameters for assessing lunar soil as a resource. For example, He-3 can be extracted and potentially used for nuclear fusion. A commonly used index for lunar soil maturity is I(sub s)/FeO, which is the concentration of fine-grained metal determined by ferromagnetic resonance (I(sub s)) normalized to the total iron content (as FeO). I(sub s)/FeO has been measured for virtually every soil returned by the Apollo and Luna missions to the Moon. Because the technique is sensitive to both oxidation state and mineralogy, iron Moessbauer spectroscopy (FeMS) is a viable technique for in situ lunar resource assessment. Its utility for mineralogy is apparent from examination of published FeMS data for lunar samples. From the data published, it can be inferred that FeMS data can also be used to determine soil maturity. The use of FeMS to determine mineralogy and maturity and progress on development of a FeMS instrument for lunar surface use are discussed.

  11. Introductory Soil Science Exercises Using USDA Web Soil Survey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Post, Christopher J.; Mikhailova, Elena; McWhorter, Christopher M.

    2007-01-01

    The USDA, Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Web Soil Survey is a valuable teaching tool for soil science education. By incorporating the Web Soil Survey into an undergraduate-level course, students are able to use the most detailed digital soil survey information without the steep learning curve associated with geographic information…

  12. Chemical properties of forest soils

    Treesearch

    Charles H. Perry; Michael C. Amacher

    2007-01-01

    Why Is Soil Chemistry Important? The soil quality indicator was initially developed as a tool for assessing the current status of forest soil resources and predicting potential changes in soil properties. Soil chemistry data can be used to diagnose tree vigor and document the deposition of atmospheric pollutants (e.g., acid rain). This chapter focuses on two chemical...

  13. News from Online: Digging up Earth Day Resources

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coldwell, Bernadette A.

    2006-01-01

    The soil science and soil chemistry is incorporated into teaching materials for earth day and beyond. It revealed some of the chemical properties of the soil through color and texture and the chemical processes relevant to soils abound, including the carbon and nitrogen cycles in the soil, acidification of soils through acid deposition, leaching…

  14. PALADYN v1.0, a comprehensive land surface-vegetation-carbon cycle model of intermediate complexity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Willeit, Matteo; Ganopolski, Andrey

    2016-10-01

    PALADYN is presented; it is a new comprehensive and computationally efficient land surface-vegetation-carbon cycle model designed to be used in Earth system models of intermediate complexity for long-term simulations and paleoclimate studies. The model treats in a consistent manner the interaction between atmosphere, terrestrial vegetation and soil through the fluxes of energy, water and carbon. Energy, water and carbon are conserved. PALADYN explicitly treats permafrost, both in physical processes and as an important carbon pool. It distinguishes nine surface types: five different vegetation types, bare soil, land ice, lake and ocean shelf. Including the ocean shelf allows the treatment of continuous changes in sea level and shelf area associated with glacial cycles. Over each surface type, the model solves the surface energy balance and computes the fluxes of sensible, latent and ground heat and upward shortwave and longwave radiation. The model includes a single snow layer. Vegetation and bare soil share a single soil column. The soil is vertically discretized into five layers where prognostic equations for temperature, water and carbon are consistently solved. Phase changes of water in the soil are explicitly considered. A surface hydrology module computes precipitation interception by vegetation, surface runoff and soil infiltration. The soil water equation is based on Darcy's law. Given soil water content, the wetland fraction is computed based on a topographic index. The temperature profile is also computed in the upper part of ice sheets and in the ocean shelf soil. Photosynthesis is computed using a light use efficiency model. Carbon assimilation by vegetation is coupled to the transpiration of water through stomatal conductance. PALADYN includes a dynamic vegetation module with five plant functional types competing for the grid cell share with their respective net primary productivity. PALADYN distinguishes between mineral soil carbon, peat carbon, buried carbon and shelf carbon. Each soil carbon type has its own soil carbon pools generally represented by a litter, a fast and a slow carbon pool in each soil layer. Carbon can be redistributed between the layers by vertical diffusion and advection. For the vegetated macro surface type, decomposition is a function of soil temperature and soil moisture. Carbon in permanently frozen layers is assigned a long turnover time which effectively locks carbon in permafrost. Carbon buried below ice sheets and on flooded ocean shelves is treated differently. The model also includes a dynamic peat module. PALADYN includes carbon isotopes 13C and 14C, which are tracked through all carbon pools. Isotopic discrimination is modelled only during photosynthesis. A simple methane module is implemented to represent methane emissions from anaerobic carbon decomposition in wetlands (including peatlands) and flooded ocean shelf. The model description is accompanied by a thorough model evaluation in offline mode for the present day and the historical period.

  15. Implementation of agronomical and geochemical modules into a 3D groundwater code for assessing nitrate storage and transport through unconfined Chalk aquifer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Picot-Colbeaux, Géraldine; Devau, Nicolas; Thiéry, Dominique; Pettenati, Marie; Surdyk, Nicolas; Parmentier, Marc; Amraoui, Nadia; Crastes de Paulet, François; André, Laurent

    2016-04-01

    Chalk aquifer is the main water resource for domestic water supply in many parts in northern France. In same basin, groundwater is frequently affected by quality problems concerning nitrates. Often close to or above the drinking water standards, nitrate concentration in groundwater is mainly due to historical agriculture practices, combined with leakage and aquifer recharge through the vadose zone. The complexity of processes occurring into such an environment leads to take into account a lot of knowledge on agronomy, geochemistry and hydrogeology in order to understand, model and predict the spatiotemporal evolution of nitrate content and provide a decision support tool for the water producers and stakeholders. To succeed in this challenge, conceptual and numerical models representing accurately the Chalk aquifer specificity need to be developed. A multidisciplinary approach is developed to simulate storage and transport from the ground surface until groundwater. This involves a new agronomic module "NITRATE" (NItrogen TRansfer for Arable soil to groundwaTEr), a soil-crop model allowing to calculate nitrogen mass balance in arable soil, and the "PHREEQC" numerical code for geochemical calculations, both coupled with the 3D transient groundwater numerical code "MARTHE". Otherwise, new development achieved on MARTHE code allows the use of dual porosity and permeability calculations needed in the fissured Chalk aquifer context. This method concerning the integration of existing multi-disciplinary tools is a real challenge to reduce the number of parameters by selecting the relevant equations and simplifying the equations without altering the signal. The robustness and the validity of these numerical developments are tested step by step with several simulations constrained by climate forcing, land use and nitrogen inputs over several decades. In the first time, simulations are performed in a 1D vertical unsaturated soil column for representing experimental nitrates vertical soil profiles (0-30m depth experimental measurements in Somme region). In the second time, this approach is used to simulate with a 3D model a drinking water catchment area in order to compared nitrate contents time series calculated and measured in the domestic water pumping well since 1995 (field in northern France - Avre Basin region). This numerical tool will help the decision-making in all activities in relation with water uses.

  16. Why organic resources and current fertilizer formulations in Southern Africa cannot sustain maize productivity: Evidence from a long-term experiment in Zimbabwe.

    PubMed

    Mtangadura, Tongai J; Mtambanengwe, Florence; Nezomba, Hatirarami; Rurinda, Jairos; Mapfumo, Paul

    2017-01-01

    Sustainability of maize-based cropping systems is a major challenge for southern Africa, yet the demand for maize as staple food and animal feed in the region continues to increase. A study was conducted on a sandy clay loam (220 g clay kg-1 soil) at Domboshawa in Zimbabwe to investigate the long-term effects of organic resource quality and application rate, and nitrogen (N) fertilization on soil chemical properties and maize (Zea mays L.) productivity. Crotalaria juncea (high quality), Calliandra calothyrsus (medium quality), cattle manure (variable quality), maize stover and Pinus patula sawdust (both low quality) were incorporated into soil at 4.0 t C ha-1 (high rate) and 1.2 t C ha-1 (low rate) at the start of each cropping season for nine consecutive years. At both high and low application rates, each of the five organic resources was applied in combination with or without mineral nitrogen (N) fertilizer at 120 kg N ha-1. The nine-year period saw maize grain yields declining by 22% to 84% across treatments despite increases in soil organic carbon, total N and available P from 6% to 80%. Crotalaria, Calliandra and manure led to a less steep yield decline. Exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K), and soil pH explained much of the variation in yield patterns observed under the different organic resource applications. Maize grain yield was positively correlated with exchangeable Ca (r = 0.51), Mg (r = 0.62) and K (r = 0.53), and soil pH (r = 0.49), but negatively correlated with other soil properties over the 9-year period. We concluded that declining soil exchangeable basic cations were the underlying causes of decreasing maize productivity, and was aggravated by use of low rates of organic resource inputs, particularly with N fertilization. Current nutrient management and fertilizer recommendations that emphasize inorganic N, P and K significantly undervalue the role played by organic resources in sustainability of maize cropping systems in southern Africa.

  17. Why organic resources and current fertilizer formulations in Southern Africa cannot sustain maize productivity: Evidence from a long-term experiment in Zimbabwe

    PubMed Central

    Mtangadura, Tongai J.

    2017-01-01

    Sustainability of maize-based cropping systems is a major challenge for southern Africa, yet the demand for maize as staple food and animal feed in the region continues to increase. A study was conducted on a sandy clay loam (220 g clay kg-1 soil) at Domboshawa in Zimbabwe to investigate the long-term effects of organic resource quality and application rate, and nitrogen (N) fertilization on soil chemical properties and maize (Zea mays L.) productivity. Crotalaria juncea (high quality), Calliandra calothyrsus (medium quality), cattle manure (variable quality), maize stover and Pinus patula sawdust (both low quality) were incorporated into soil at 4.0 t C ha-1 (high rate) and 1.2 t C ha-1 (low rate) at the start of each cropping season for nine consecutive years. At both high and low application rates, each of the five organic resources was applied in combination with or without mineral nitrogen (N) fertilizer at 120 kg N ha-1. The nine-year period saw maize grain yields declining by 22% to 84% across treatments despite increases in soil organic carbon, total N and available P from 6% to 80%. Crotalaria, Calliandra and manure led to a less steep yield decline. Exchangeable calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg) and potassium (K), and soil pH explained much of the variation in yield patterns observed under the different organic resource applications. Maize grain yield was positively correlated with exchangeable Ca (r = 0.51), Mg (r = 0.62) and K (r = 0.53), and soil pH (r = 0.49), but negatively correlated with other soil properties over the 9-year period. We concluded that declining soil exchangeable basic cations were the underlying causes of decreasing maize productivity, and was aggravated by use of low rates of organic resource inputs, particularly with N fertilization. Current nutrient management and fertilizer recommendations that emphasize inorganic N, P and K significantly undervalue the role played by organic resources in sustainability of maize cropping systems in southern Africa. PMID:28797062

  18. Soil as a Sustainable Resource for the Bioeconomy - BonaRes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wollschläger, Ute; Amelung, Wulf; Brüggemann, Nicolas; Brunotte, Joachim; Gebbers, Robin; Grosch, Rita; Heinrich, Uwe; Helming, Katharina; Kiese, Ralf; Leinweber, Peter; Reinhold-Hurek, Barbara; Veldkamp, Edzo; Vogel, Hans-Jörg; Winkelmann, Traud

    2017-04-01

    Fertile soils are a fundamental resource for the production of biomass and provision of food and energy. A growing world population and latest climate targets lead to an increasing demand for bio-based products which require preserving and - ideally - improving the long-term productivity of soils as a bio-economic resource. At the same time, other soil functions and ecosystem services need to be maintained: filter for clean water, carbon sequestration, provision and recycling of nutrients, and habitat for biological activity. All these soil functions result from the interaction of a multitude of physical, chemical and biological processes which are insufficiently understood. In addition, we lack understanding about the interplay between the socio-economic system and the soil system and how soil functions benefit human wellbeing, including SDGs. However, a solid and integrated assessment of soil quality requires the consideration of the ensemble of soil functions and its relation to soil management. To make soil management sustainable, we need to establish a scientific knowledge base of complex soil system processes that allows for developing models and tools to quantitatively predict the impact of a multitude of management measures on soil functions. This will finally allow for the provision of options for a site-specific, sustainable soil management. To face this challenge, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) recently launched the funding program "Soil as a Sustainable Resource for the Bioeconomy - BonaRes". In a joint effort, ten collaborative projects and the coordinating BonaRes Centre are engaged to close existing knowledge gaps for a profound and systemic assessment and understanding of soil functions and their sensitivity to soil management. In BonaRes, the complete process chain of sustainable soil use in the context of a sustainable bio-economy is being addressed: from understanding of soil processes using state-of the art and novel measurement and modelling techniques towards soil functions and ecosystem services driving the development of assessment and decision support tools for a sustainable soil management. To this end, soil scientists and researchers from several other disciplines including social sciences are collaborating closely. Besides a better understanding of fundamental soil processes from each of the collaborative projects and the development of novel measurement techniques and models, the outcome of the joint BonaRes programme will be a web-based portal (www.bonares.de) providing information, knowledge, models, a data repository with doi-referenced, internationally available, open soil data from the BonaRes funding initiative and beyond, as well as decision support options for a sustainable soil management. This presentation will provide an overview about the BonaRes funding initiative and the research conducted therein.

  19. Physical and chemical properties of the Martian soil: Review of resources

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stoker, C. R.; Gooding, James L.; Banin, A.; Clark, Benton C.; Roush, Ted

    1991-01-01

    The chemical and physical properties of Martian surface materials are reviewed from the perspective of using these resources to support human settlement. The resource potential of Martian sediments and soils can only be inferred from limited analyses performed by the Viking Landers (VL), from information derived from remote sensing, and from analysis of the SNC meteorites thought to be from Mars. Bulk elemental compositions by the VL inorganic chemical (x ray fluorescence) analysis experiments have been interpreted as evidence for clay minerals (possibly smectites) or mineraloids (palagonite) admixed with sulfate and chloride salts. The materials contained minerals bearing Fe, Ti, Al, Mg and Si. Martian surface materials may be used in many ways. Martian soil, with appropriate preconditioning, can probably be used as a plant growth medium, supplying mechanical support, nutrient elements, and water at optimal conditions to the plants. Loose Martian soils could be used to cover structures and provide radiation shielding for surface habitats. Martian soil could be wetted and formed into abode bricks used for construction. Duricrete bricks, with strength comparable to concrete, can probably be formed using compressed muds made from martian soil.

  20. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Halvorson, J.J.; Bolton, H. Jr.; Smith, J.L.

    Artemisia tridentata is a prominent shrub of cool deserts that affects the soil in which it grows. We sampled adjacent burned and unburned sites to see if resource islands persisted in locations where shrubs had been removed by fire. The concentrations of soil variables near the location of burned Artemisia tridentata were smaller than under live Artemisia tridentata and did not vary as much with distance away from the plant axis. However, the patterns of soil variables in these remnant resource islands were still substantial. Significantly higher concentrations of total N and soil microbial C, and significantly higher electrical conductivitymore » were observed at the location of a burned Artemisia tridentata stem than at distances further away. The differences between burned and unburned soil were greatest in samples collected near the plant. In contrast, samples of burned or unburned soil were not distinguishable from each other at locations greater than about 50 cm away from a live Artemisia tridentata axis or a burned stump indicating that the resource island effect was most affected by removal of the plant and not by the fire.« less

  1. Standard Chinese: A Modular Approach. Resource Modules: Pronunciation and Romanization, Numbers, Classroom Expressions, Time and Dates.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Defense Language Inst., Monterey, CA.

    Texts in spoken Standard Chinese were developed to improve and update Chinese materials to reflect current usage in Beijing and Taipei. The focus is on communicating in Chinese in practical situations. The overall course is organized into 10 situational modules, student workbooks for each module, and resource modules. This text contains resource…

  2. From Process Understanding Via Soil Functions to Sustainable Soil Management - A Systemic Approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wollschlaeger, U.; Bartke, S.; Bartkowski, B.; Daedlow, K.; Helming, K.; Kogel-Knabner, I.; Lang, B.; Rabot, E.; Russell, D.; Stößel, B.; Weller, U.; Wiesmeier, M.; Rabot, E.; Vogel, H. J.

    2017-12-01

    Fertile soils are central resources for the production of biomass and the provision of food and energy. A growing world population and latest climate targets lead to an increasing demand for both, food and bio-energy, which requires preserving and improving the long-term productivity of soils as a bio-economic resource. At the same time, other soil functions and ecosystem services need to be maintained: filter for clean water, carbon sequestration, provision and recycling of nutrients, and habitat for biological activity. All these soil functions result from the interaction of a multitude of physical, chemical and biological processes that are not yet sufficiently understood. In addition, we lack understanding about the interplay between the socio-economic system and the soil system and how soil functions benefit human wellbeing. Hence, a solid and integrated assessment of soil quality requires the consideration of the ensemble of soil functions and its relation to soil management to finally be able to develop site-specific options for sustainable soil management. We present an integrated modeling approach that investigates the influence of soil management on the ensemble of soil functions. It is based on the mechanistic relationships between soil functional attributes, each explained by a network of interacting processes as derived from scientific evidence. As the evidence base required for feeding the model is for the most part stored in the existing scientific literature, another central component of our work is to set up a public "knowledge-portal" providing the infrastructure for a community effort towards a comprehensive knowledge base on soil processes as a basis for model developments. The connection to the socio-economic system is established using the Drivers-Pressures-Impacts-States-Responses (DPSIR) framework where our improved understanding about soil ecosystem processes is linked to ecosystem services and resource efficiency via the soil functions.

  3. Physically based modeling of rainfall-triggered landslides: a case study in the Luquillo forest, Puerto Rico

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lepore, C.; Arnone, E.; Noto, L. V.; Sivandran, G.; Bras, R. L.

    2013-09-01

    This paper presents the development of a rainfall-triggered landslide module within an existing physically based spatially distributed ecohydrologic model. The model, tRIBS-VEGGIE (Triangulated Irregular Networks-based Real-time Integrated Basin Simulator and Vegetation Generator for Interactive Evolution), is capable of a sophisticated description of many hydrological processes; in particular, the soil moisture dynamics are resolved at a temporal and spatial resolution required to examine the triggering mechanisms of rainfall-induced landslides. The validity of the tRIBS-VEGGIE model to a tropical environment is shown with an evaluation of its performance against direct observations made within the study area of Luquillo Forest. The newly developed landslide module builds upon the previous version of the tRIBS landslide component. This new module utilizes a numerical solution to the Richards' equation (present in tRIBS-VEGGIE but not in tRIBS), which better represents the time evolution of soil moisture transport through the soil column. Moreover, the new landslide module utilizes an extended formulation of the factor of safety (FS) to correctly quantify the role of matric suction in slope stability and to account for unsaturated conditions in the evaluation of FS. The new modeling framework couples the capabilities of the detailed hydrologic model to describe soil moisture dynamics with the infinite slope model, creating a powerful tool for the assessment of rainfall-triggered landslide risk.

  4. Undergraduate teaching modules featuring geodesy data applied to critical social topics (GETSI: GEodetic Tools for Societal Issues)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pratt-Sitaula, B. A.; Walker, B.; Douglas, B. J.; Charlevoix, D. J.; Miller, M. M.

    2015-12-01

    The GETSI project, funded by NSF TUES, is developing and disseminating teaching and learning materials that feature geodesy data applied to critical societal issues such as climate change, water resource management, and natural hazards (serc.carleton.edu/getsi). It is collaborative between UNAVCO (NSF's geodetic facility), Mt San Antonio College, and Indiana University. GETSI was initiated after requests by geoscience faculty for geodetic teaching resources for introductory and majors-level students. Full modules take two weeks but module subsets can also be used. Modules are developed and tested by two co-authors and also tested in a third classroom. GETSI is working in partnership with the Science Education Resource Center's (SERC) InTeGrate project on the development, assessment, and dissemination to ensure compatibility with the growing number of resources for geoscience education. Two GETSI modules are being published in October 2015. "Ice mass and sea level changes" includes geodetic data from GRACE, satellite altimetry, and GPS time series. "Imaging Active Tectonics" has students analyzing InSAR and LiDAR data to assess infrastructure earthquake vulnerability. Another three modules are in testing during fall 2015 and will be published in 2016. "Surface process hazards" investigates mass wasting hazard and risk using LiDAR data. "Water resources and geodesy" uses GRACE, vertical GPS, and reflection GPS data to have students investigating droughts in California and the High Great Plains. "GPS, strain, and earthquakes" helps students learn about infinitesimal and coseismic strain through analysis of horizontal GPS data and includes an extension module on the Napa 2014 earthquake. In addition to teaching resources, the GETSI project is compiling recommendations on successful development of geodesy curricula. The chief recommendations so far are the critical importance of including scientific experts in the authorship team and investing significant resources in data preparation (student interns can be excellent for this). GETSI also includes a research element on the way instructors adapt or adopt the resources. After publication, 4 additional testers will be recruited per module. They will provide feedback on how they choose to use the module elements in their courses.

  5. 30 CFR 823.15 - Revegetation and restoration of soil productivity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Revegetation and restoration of soil... STANDARDS-OPERATIONS ON PRIME FARMLAND § 823.15 Revegetation and restoration of soil productivity. (a) Following prime farmland soil replacement, the soil surface shall be stabilized with a vegetative cover or...

  6. 30 CFR 823.15 - Revegetation and restoration of soil productivity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Revegetation and restoration of soil... STANDARDS-OPERATIONS ON PRIME FARMLAND § 823.15 Revegetation and restoration of soil productivity. (a) Following prime farmland soil replacement, the soil surface shall be stabilized with a vegetative cover or...

  7. 30 CFR 823.15 - Revegetation and restoration of soil productivity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Revegetation and restoration of soil... STANDARDS-OPERATIONS ON PRIME FARMLAND § 823.15 Revegetation and restoration of soil productivity. (a) Following prime farmland soil replacement, the soil surface shall be stabilized with a vegetative cover or...

  8. 30 CFR 823.15 - Revegetation and restoration of soil productivity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Revegetation and restoration of soil... STANDARDS-OPERATIONS ON PRIME FARMLAND § 823.15 Revegetation and restoration of soil productivity. (a) Following prime farmland soil replacement, the soil surface shall be stabilized with a vegetative cover or...

  9. 30 CFR 823.15 - Revegetation and restoration of soil productivity.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Revegetation and restoration of soil... STANDARDS-OPERATIONS ON PRIME FARMLAND § 823.15 Revegetation and restoration of soil productivity. (a) Following prime farmland soil replacement, the soil surface shall be stabilized with a vegetative cover or...

  10. Soil aggregation and glomalin in a soil quality management study in a cold, semi-arid region

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Global food insecurity and rapidly diminishing water, soil, and energy resources are putting pressure on agroecosystems to efficiently produce more food while maintaining or enhancing soil quality, particularly soil aggregation. A field study established in 1993 near Mandan, ND sought to evaluate im...

  11. Advanced in-situ measurement of soil carbon content using inelastic neutron scattering

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Measurement and mapping of natural and anthropogenic variations in soil carbon stores is a critical component of any soil resource evaluation process. Emerging modalities for soil carbon analysis in the field is the registration of gamma rays from soil under neutron irradiation. The inelastic neutro...

  12. Land surface-precipitation feedback and ramifications on storm dynamics.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baisya, H.; PV, R.; Pattnaik, S.

    2017-12-01

    A series of numerical experiments are carried out to investigate the sensitivity of a landfalling monsoon depression to land surface conditions using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Results suggest that precipitation is largely modulated by moisture influx and precipitation efficiency. Three cloud microphysical schemes (WSM6, WDM6, and Morrison) are examined, and Morrison is chosen for assessing the land surface-precipitation feedback analysis, owing to better precipitation forecast skills. It is found that increased soil moisture facilitates Moisture Flux Convergence (MFC) with reduced moisture influx, whereas a reduced soil moisture condition facilitates moisture influx but not MFC. A higher Moist Static Energy (MSE) is noted due to increased evapotranspiration in an elevated moisture scenario which enhances moist convection. As opposed to moist surface, sensible heat dominates in a reduced moisture scenario, ensued by an overall reduction in MSE throughout the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL). Stability analysis shows that Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) is comparable in magnitude for both increased and decreased moisture scenarios, whereas Convective Inhibition (CIN) shows increased values for the reduced moisture scenario as a consequence of drier atmosphere leading to suppression of convection. Simulations carried out with various fixed soil moisture levels indicate that the overall precipitation features of the storm are characterized by initial soil moisture condition, but precipitation intensity at any instant is modulated by soil moisture availability. Overall results based on this case study suggest that antecedent soil moisture plays a crucial role in modulating precipitation distribution and intensity of a monsoon depression.

  13. Influence of agricultural practice on trace metals in soils and vegetation in the water conservation area along the East River (Dongjiang River), South China.

    PubMed

    Luo, Chunling; Yang, Renxiu; Wang, Yan; Li, Jun; Zhang, Gan; Li, Xiangdong

    2012-08-01

    Dongjiang (East River) is the key resource of potable water for the Pearl River Delta region, South China. Although industrial activities are limited in the water conservation area along this river, agriculture is very intensive. The present study evaluated trace metals in four soils under different cultivation. The total concentrations of trace metals decreased in the order orchard soil>vegetable soil>paddy soil>natural soil, reflecting decreasing inputs of agrochemicals to soils. Relatively high concentrations of Cd were recorded in the 60-cm soil profiles. The (206)Pb/(207)Pb ratio in the above-ground tissues of plant was significantly lower than their corresponding soils. In combination with the low transfer factor of Pb from soil to plant shoots, atmospheric deposition is probably a major pathway for Pb to enter plant leaves. Regular monitoring on the soil quality in this area is recommended for the safety of water resource and agricultural products. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Modulation of hexavalent chromium toxicity on Οriganum vulgare in an acidic soil amended with peat, lime, and zeolite.

    PubMed

    Antoniadis, Vasileios; Zanni, Anna A; Levizou, Efi; Shaheen, Sabry M; Dimirkou, Anthoula; Bolan, Nanthi; Rinklebe, Jörg

    2018-03-01

    Dynamics of chromate (Cr(VI)) in contaminated soils may be modulated by decreasing its phytoavailability via the addition of organic matter-rich amendments, which might accelerate Cr(VI) reduction to inert chromite (Cr(III)) or high-cation exchange capacity amendments. We studied Cr(VI) phytoavailability of oregano in a Cr(VI)-spiked acidic soil non-treated (S) and treated with peat (SP), lime (SL), and zeolite (SZ). The addition of Cr(VI) increased the concentrations of Cr(VI) and Cr(III) in soils and plants, especially in the lime-amended soil. The plant biomass decreased in the lime-amended soil compared to the un-spiked soil (control) due to decreased plant phosphorus concentrations and high Cr(VI) concentrations in root at that treatment. Oregano in the peat-amended soil exhibited significantly less toxic effects, due to the role of organic matter in reducing toxic Cr(VI) to Cr(III) and boosted plant vigour in this treatment. In the lime-amended soil, the parameters of soil Cr(VI), soil Cr(III), and root Cr(III) increased significantly compared to the non-amended soil, indicating that Cr(VI) reduction to Cr(III) was accelerated at high pH. Added zeolite failed to decreased Cr(VI) level to soil and plant. Oregano achieved a total uptake of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) of 0.275 mg in plant kg -1 soil in a pot in the non-amended soil. We conclude that peat as soil amendment might be considered as a suitable option for decreasing Cr(VI) toxicity in soil and plant, and that oregano as tolerant plant species has a certain potential to be used as a Cr accumulator. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Dennis Whigham

    Science.gov Websites

    the many fascinating ways that orchids interact with soils and soil microbes. Why does soil interest you? Plants root themselves in soil and they get almost all the resources they need from that soil soil fungi? At one or more stages in the life cycle of all orchids, they get all their water and

  16. Secrets of the Soil (LBNL Science at the Theater)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Brodie, Eoin; Northen, Trent; Jansson, Janet

    2011-11-07

    Four Berkeley Lab scientists unveil the "Secrets of the Soil"at this Nov. 7, 2011 Science at the Theater event. Eoin Brodie, Janet Jansson, Margaret Torn and Trent Northen talk about their research and how soil could hold the key to our climate and energy future.The discussion was moderated by John Harte, who holds a joint professorship in the Energy and Resources Group and the Ecosystem Sciences Division of UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources

  17. Assessment of groundwater and soil quality degradation using multivariate and geostatistical analyses, Dakhla Oasis, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Masoud, Alaa A.; El-Horiny, Mohamed M.; Atwia, Mohamed G.; Gemail, Khaled S.; Koike, Katsuaki

    2018-06-01

    Salinization of groundwater and soil resources has long been a serious environmental hazard in arid regions. This study was conducted to investigate and document the factors controlling such salinization and their inter-relationships in the Dakhla Oasis (Egypt). To accomplish this, 60 groundwater samples and 31 soil samples were collected in February 2014. Factor analysis (FA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) were integrated with geostatistical analyses to characterize the chemical properties of groundwater and soil and their spatial patterns, identify the factors controlling the pattern variability, and clarify the salinization mechanism. Groundwater quality standards revealed emergence of salinization (av. 885.8 mg/L) and extreme occurrences of Fe2+ (av. 17.22 mg/L) and Mn2+ (av. 2.38 mg/L). Soils were highly salt-affected (av. 15.2 dS m-1) and slightly alkaline (av. pH = 7.7). Evaporation and ion-exchange processes governed the evolution of two main water types: Na-Cl (52%) and Ca-Mg-Cl (47%), respectively. Salinization leads the chemical variability of both resources. Distinctive patterns of slight salinization marked the northern part and intense salinization marked the middle and southern parts. Congruence in the resources clusters confirmed common geology, soil types, and urban and agricultural practices. Minimizing the environmental and socioeconomic impacts of the resources salinization urges the need for better understanding of the hydrochemical characteristics and prediction of quality changes.

  18. Resource homogenization in degraded arid landscapes induced by fire - erosion interactions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ravi, S.; D'Odorico, P.; Wang, L.; Collins, S. L.; White, C. S.; Okin, G. S.

    2007-12-01

    Hydrological and aeolian processes are major drivers in the dynamics of arid landscapes in that they redistribute soil resources with important implications on the composition and spatial patterns of dryland vegetation. These processes are thought to play a major role in the conversion of disturbed desert grasslands into shrublands, with possible impacts on regional climate and desertification. At its early stages the grassland-to-shrubland transition can be still reversible and fires have been shown to contribute to the reversibility of the system. Even though fires are know to interact both with wind and water erosion, an understanding of these interactions and of their effect on aridland degradation is still missing. Here we use field manipulation experiments in a grass-shrub transition zone in the Chihuahuan desert to show how the interaction of fires with erosion processes may affect the distribution of soil resources with consequent effects on the pace of land degradation processes. Using microtopography measurements and isotopic analyses, we provide experimental evidence for the occurrence of post-fire enhancement of soil erosion, and relate this effect to the weakening of interparticle bonding forces associated with the emergence of fire-induced soil hydrophobicity. We also show how this effect favors the reversibility of the early stages of shrub-to-grass transition through the redistribution of soil resources from the fertile shrub-dominated areas (or "fertility islands") to the bare soil interspaces.

  19. Biogeochemistry: The soil carbon erosion paradox

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sanderman, Jonathan; Berhe, Asmeret Asefaw

    2017-04-01

    Erosion is typically thought to degrade soil resources. However, the redistribution of soil carbon across the landscape, caused by erosion, can actually lead to a substantial sink for atmospheric CO2.

  20. Planning and programing in the soil conservation service

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Gray, R. M.

    1972-01-01

    The historical base is presented for the framework plan for soil conservation. Conservation effects, resource management systems, and accomplishments, activities, and costs of the Soil Conservation Service are discussed.

  1. Career Education for Adults: Community Resources Module.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Auburn Univ., AL. Dept. of Vocational and Adult Education.

    An outgrowth of State-sponsored institutes conducted by Auburn University, Alabama, to produce career education teaching modules for adults, the community resources module is one of five field-tested curriculum guides adopted from findings of the nationally oriented Adult Performance Level Study conducted at the University of Texas. (Basic to the…

  2. Modules in Agricultural Education for Agricultural Resources.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York State Education Dept., Albany. Bureau of Occupational and Career Curriculum Development.

    Each of the 31 curriculum modules in this packet for agricultural resources instruction contains a brief description of the module content, a list of the major division or units, the overall objective, objectives by units, content outline and suggested teaching methods, student application activities, and evaluation procedures. A list of resource…

  3. DATA COLLECTION MANAGER MODULE OF REGION III'S MULTI-CRITERIA INTEGRATED RESOURCE ASSESSMENT (MIRA) ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION MAKING APPROACH

    EPA Science Inventory

    This proposal pertains to the on-going development of the Data Collection Manager (DCM) module, which is one of three modules that compose MIRA, Multi-criteria Integrated Resource Assessment. MIRA is Region III's newly conceived and continually developing decision support approac...

  4. Soil Heat Flow. Physical Processes in Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecosystems, Transport Processes.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simpson, James R.

    These materials were designed to be used by life science students for instruction in the application of physical theory to ecosystem operation. Most modules contain computer programs which are built around a particular application of a physical process. Soil heat flow and the resulting soil temperature distributions have ecological consequences…

  5. Photovoltaic Module Soiling Map | Photovoltaic Research | NREL

    Science.gov Websites

    proposed in: M. Deceglie, L. Micheli, and M. Muller, "Quantifying soiling loss directly from PV yield described in: L. Micheli and M. Muller, "An investigation of the key parameters for predicting PV : M. Muller, L. Micheli, and A.A. Martinez-Morales, "A Method to Extract Soiling Loss Data from

  6. Development and validation of PCR-GLOBWB 2.0: a 5 arc min resolution global hydrology and water resources model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sutanudjaja, Edwin H.; van Beek, Ludovicus P. H.; Wada, Yoshihide; Wisser, Dominik; de Graaf, Inge E. M.; Straatsma, Menno W.; Bierkens, Marc F. P.

    2014-05-01

    PCR-GLOBWB (PCRaster Global Water Balance) is a grid-based global hydrological model developed at the Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht University. For each grid cell, PCR-GLOBWB simulates moisture storage in vertically stacked soil layers, as well as the water exchange to the atmosphere and underlying groundwater reservoir. Exchange to the atmosphere comprises of precipitation, evaporation and transpiration, as well as snow accumulation and melt. All fluxes are all simulated by considering vegetation phenology and sub-grid variations in elevation, land cover and soil saturation. The model includes physically-based schemes for runoff-infiltration partitioning, interflow, groundwater recharge and baseflow, as well as river routing of discharge. Here we present and summarize the latest developments of PCR-GLOBWB. The new version of the model, PCR-GLOBWB 2.0, now runs at a spatial resolution of 5 arc min (about 10 km at the equator) and supersedes the previous generation of the model (30 arc min PCR-GLOBWB 1.0, van Beek et al., 2011). PCR-GLOBWB 2.0 consolidates all components that have been introduced since PCR-GLOWB 1.0 was first published (2011). Examples of these new components are: A comprehensive water demand and irrigation module (Wada et al., 2012). A dynamic attribution and return flow of water demand to surface water and groundwater resources (de Graaf et al., 2013). An advanced surface water routing scheme with wetland, lakes and floodplains of variable extent, thus simulating flooding and flood wave attenuation (Winsemius et al., 2013). An online scheme for dynamic withdrawal, allocation and consumptive use of groundwater and surface water resources, including a progressive introduction of reservoirs (Wada et al., 2013). Further development will include the inclusion of a dynamic reservoir operation/optimization scheme and a MODFLOW lateral groundwater flow module (Sutanudjaja et al., 2011; Sutanudjaja et al., 2014). Also, scripts used for deriving the parameterization from global data sources for the original model have been coupled with the model, resulting in a near-scalable model that facilitates its application for different domains and at varying resolutions. Results are very promising. When comparing simulated discharges to those observed by GRDC stations, the coefficient-of-determination is high. Human impacts, altering the seasonal and inter-annual variability of terrestrial water storage (TWS) signals, are well simulated by PCR-GLOBWB 2.0 and evident in the validation of simulated TWS with GRACE satellite observation (Tapley et al., 2004). Moreover, the simulation results of PCR-GLOBWB 2.0 compare well to several other remote sensing products, such as the soil moisture datasets of ERS/MetOp (Wagner et al., 1999) and AMSR-E (de Jeu and Owe, 2003), as well as the GLEAM evaporation product (Miralles et al., 2011). References: de Graaf et al., Advances in Water Resources (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.advwatres.2013.12.002 de Jeu and Owe, International Journal of Remote Sensing (2003), http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0143116031000095934 Miralles et al., Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (2011), http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-15-967-2011 Sutanudjaja et al., Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (2011), http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-15-2913-2011 Sutanudjaja et al., Water Resources Research (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2013WR013807 Tapley et al., Science (2004), http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1099192 van Beek et al., Water Resources Research (2011), http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2010WR009791 Wada et al., Water Resources Research (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011WR010562 Wada et al., Earth System Dynamics Discussion (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/esdd-4-355-2013 Wagner et al., Remote Sensing of Environment (1999), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0034-4257(99)00036-X Winsemius et al., Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-17-1871-2013

  7. Agricultural management legacy affects microbial energetics, resource utilization and active bacterial community membership during 13C-glucose consumption

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Helgason, B. L.; Levy-Booth, D.; Arcand, M. M.

    2017-12-01

    Over the long-term, differences in soil management can result in fundamental changes in biogeochemical cycling. The Alternative Cropping Systems (ACS) Study at Scott, SK, Canada (est. 1994) compares organic (ORG) vs. conventionally (CON) managed crop rotations in a loamy Typic Borall. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) deficiency in the ORG systems have limited crop growth and thus plant carbon (C) inputs for over two decades, ultimately resulting in a C deficiency which has further altered biogeochemical cycling. We conducted a short-term microcosm experiment using 13C-glucose stable isotope probing (SIP) of DNA to test whether ORG soils have greater microbial C use efficiency due to long term resource limitation. Glucose-utilizing populations were dominated by Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, with differing species-level identities and physiological capacities between CON and ORG systems. Of the 13C-utilizing taxa, relative abundance of Proteobacteria was greater in CON while Actinobacteria (and notably Firmicutes) were more dominant in ORG soils. Using isothermal calorimetry, we measured a thermodynamic efficiency (ηeff) of 0.68, which was not significantly different between soils indicating that the metabolic cost of glucose utilization was similar in CON and ORG soils. In spite of this, differential abundance analysis of 13C-labelled OTUs revealed that ORG soils had distinct active bacterial populations that were positively correlated with ηeff, ηsoil (glucose energy retained in soil) and primed soil organic matter (pSOM). In contrast, differentially abundant OTUs in the CON soils were negatively correlated with measures of thermodynamic efficiency but positively correlated with glucose-derived heat and CO2 production as well as NO3- and PO4- availability. ORG bacterial communities may co-metabolize other resources (N and P) from SOM to meet their metabolic requirements during glucose utilization, while the active bacteria in the CON soils could access these resources from existing available pools, resulting in similar ηeff during glucose utilization. Our work combining isothermal calorimetry coupled with 13C DNA-SIP demonstrates a legacy effect of agricultural management on fundamental aspects microbial ecology and bioenergetics of soil.

  8. Environmental heterogeneity and biotic interactions mediate climate impacts on tropical forest regeneration.

    PubMed

    Uriarte, María; Muscarella, Robert; Zimmerman, Jess K

    2018-02-01

    Predicting the fate of tropical forests under a changing climate requires understanding species responses to climatic variability and extremes. Seedlings may be particularly vulnerable to climatic stress given low stored resources and undeveloped roots; they also portend the potential effects of climate change on future forest composition. Here we use data for ca. 50,000 tropical seedlings representing 25 woody species to assess (i) the effects of interannual variation in rainfall and solar radiation between 2007 and 2016 on seedling survival over 9 years in a subtropical forest; and (ii) how spatial heterogeneity in three environmental factors-soil moisture, understory light, and conspecific neighborhood density-modulate these responses. Community-wide seedling survival was not sensitive to interannual rainfall variability but interspecific variation in these responses was large, overwhelming the average community response. In contrast, community-wide responses to solar radiation were predominantly positive. Spatial heterogeneity in soil moisture and conspecific density were the predominant and most consistent drivers of seedling survival, with the majority of species exhibiting greater survival at low conspecific densities and positive or nonlinear responses to soil moisture. This environmental heterogeneity modulated impacts of rainfall and solar radiation. Negative conspecific effects were amplified during rainy years and at dry sites, whereas the positive effects of radiation on survival were more pronounced for seedlings existing at high understory light levels. These results demonstrate that environmental heterogeneity is not only the main driver of seedling survival in this forest but also plays a central role in buffering or exacerbating impacts of climate fluctuations on forest regeneration. Since seedlings represent a key bottleneck in the demographic cycle of trees, efforts to predict the long-term effects of a changing climate on tropical forests must take into account this environmental heterogeneity and how its effects on regeneration dynamics play out in long-term stand dynamics. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  9. The influence of soil resources and plant traits on invasion and restoration in a subtropical woodland

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Yelenik, Stephanie G.; D'Antonio, Carla M.; August-Schmidt, Elizabeth

    2017-01-01

    It has been shown in some cases that nitrogen (N) addition to soil will increase abundance of plant invaders because many invaders have traits that promote rapid growth in response to high resource supply. Similarly, it has been suggested, and sometimes shown, that decreasing soil N via carbon (C) additions can facilitate native species recovery. Yet all species are unlikely to respond to resource supply in the same way. We asked how soil nutrients and competition affect native and exotic woody species in a restoration experiment where we added N or C, and crossed soil manipulation with the manipulation of dominant exotic grass abundance in a Hawaiian subtropical woodland. We related changes in survival and growth of outplanted individuals to native/exotic status and plant traits. As a group, N-fixers showed reduced survival compared to non-fixers in response to added N, with Morella faya (exotic) and Acacia koa (native) having dramatic negative responses. Among non-fixers, species with greater foliar %N had more positive survival responses to increasing soil N. Specific leaf area was not predictive of responses to nutrients or competition. In general, responses to carbon addition were weak, although reducing competition from existing exotic grasses was beneficial for all outplanted species, with N-fixers showing the most positive response. We conclude that commonly used restoration strategies to clear exotic species or lower soil resources with C addition will most greatly benefit N-fixing species, which themselves may be unwanted invaders. Thus statements about the influence of increased soil N on invasions should be carefully dissected by considering the traits (such as N-fixation status) of the regional species pool.

  10. Regional Soiling Stations for PV: Soling Loss Analysis

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    TamizhMani, G.; King, B.; Venkatesan, A.

    The soiling loss factor (SLF) of photovoltaic (PV) modules/system is an interplay between the dust frequency and intensity of the site, rain frequency and intensity of the site, tilt angle and height of the module installation, and wind speed and humidity of the site. The integrated area of the downward peaks of the SLF time series plots for a year provides the annual soiling loss for the system at each tilt angle. Sandia National Laboratories, in collaboration with Arizona State University, installed five regional soiling stations around the country and collected soiling loss data over a year. Four of thesemore » soiling stations are located at the U.S. Department of Energy Regional Test Centers (Florida, Albuquerque, Colorado and Vermont), while the fifth station is located at the Arizona State University Photovoltaic Reliability Lab (Arizona). This paper presents an analysis on the SLF for each test site at ten different tilt angles. Based on the analysis of a yearlong data obtained in 2015, it appears to indicate that the Arizona site experienced the highest annual soiling loss with a significant dependence on the tilt angle while the other four sites experienced a negligibly small annual soiling loss with practically no dependence on the tilt angle.« less

  11. 30 CFR 823.12 - Soil removal and stockpiling.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Soil removal and stockpiling. 823.12 Section... ON PRIME FARMLAND § 823.12 Soil removal and stockpiling. (a) Prime farmland soils shall be removed from the areas to be disturbed before drilling, blasting, or mining. (b) The minimum depth of soil and...

  12. 30 CFR 823.12 - Soil removal and stockpiling.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Soil removal and stockpiling. 823.12 Section... ON PRIME FARMLAND § 823.12 Soil removal and stockpiling. (a) Prime farmland soils shall be removed from the areas to be disturbed before drilling, blasting, or mining. (b) The minimum depth of soil and...

  13. 30 CFR 823.12 - Soil removal and stockpiling.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Soil removal and stockpiling. 823.12 Section... ON PRIME FARMLAND § 823.12 Soil removal and stockpiling. (a) Prime farmland soils shall be removed from the areas to be disturbed before drilling, blasting, or mining. (b) The minimum depth of soil and...

  14. 30 CFR 823.12 - Soil removal and stockpiling.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Soil removal and stockpiling. 823.12 Section... ON PRIME FARMLAND § 823.12 Soil removal and stockpiling. (a) Prime farmland soils shall be removed from the areas to be disturbed before drilling, blasting, or mining. (b) The minimum depth of soil and...

  15. 30 CFR 823.12 - Soil removal and stockpiling.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Soil removal and stockpiling. 823.12 Section... ON PRIME FARMLAND § 823.12 Soil removal and stockpiling. (a) Prime farmland soils shall be removed from the areas to be disturbed before drilling, blasting, or mining. (b) The minimum depth of soil and...

  16. Vineyard soil bacterial diversity and composition revealed by 16S rRNA genes: Differentiation by vineyard management

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Here, we demonstrate how vineyard management practices influence shifts in soil resources, which in turn affects shifts in soil-borne bacterial communities. The objective is to determine the hierarchical effects of management practices, soil attributes and location factors on the structure of soil-b...

  17. Species identities, not functional groups, explain the effects of earthworms on litter carbon-derived soil respiration

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Soil respiration is frequently measured as a surrogate for biological activities and is important in soil carbon cycling. The heterotrophic component of soil respiration is primarily driven by microbial decomposition of leaf litter and soil organic matter, and is partially controlled by resource ava...

  18. Lunar Soil Particle Separator

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Berggren, Mark

    2010-01-01

    The Lunar Soil Particle Separator (LSPS) beneficiates soil prior to in situ resource utilization (ISRU). It can improve ISRU oxygen yield by boosting the concentration of ilmenite, or other iron-oxide-bearing materials found in lunar soils, which can substantially reduce hydrogen reduction reactor size, as well as drastically decreasing the power input required for soil heating

  19. Analyses of exobiological and potential resource materials in the Martian soil.

    PubMed

    Mancinelli, R L; Marshall, J R; White, M R

    1992-01-01

    Potential Martian soil components relevant to exobiology include water, organic matter, evaporites, clays, and oxides. These materials are also resources for human expeditions to Mars. When found in particular combinations, some of these materials constitute diagnostic paleobiomarker suites, allowing insight to be gained into the probability of life originating on Mars. Critically important to exobiology is the method of data analysis and data interpretation. To that end we are investigating methods of analysis of potential biomarker and paleobiomarker compounds and resource materials in soils and rocks pertinent to Martian geology. Differential thermal analysis coupled with gas chromatography is shown to be a highly useful analytical technique for detecting this wide and complex variety of materials.

  20. Analyses of exobiological and potential resource materials in the Martian soil

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mancinelli, Rocco L.; Marshall, John R.; White, Melisa R.

    1992-01-01

    Potential Martian soil components relevant to exobiology include water, organic matter, evaporites, clays, and oxides. These materials are also resources for human expeditions to Mars. When found in particular combinations, some of these materials constitute diagnostic paleobiomarker suites, allowing insight to be gained into the probability of life originating on Mars. Critically important to exobiology is the method of data analysis and data interpretation. To that end, methods of analysis of potential biomarker and paleobiomarker compounds and resource materials in soils and rocks pertinent to Martian geology are investigated. Differential thermal analysis coupled with gas chromotography is shown to be a highly useful analytical technique for detecting this wide and complex variety of materials.

  1. Architecture for Control of the K9 Rover

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bresina, John L.; Bualat, maria; Fair, Michael; Wright, Anne; Washington, Richard

    2006-01-01

    Software featuring a multilevel architecture is used to control the hardware on the K9 Rover, which is a mobile robot used in research on robots for scientific exploration and autonomous operation in general. The software consists of five types of modules: Device Drivers - These modules, at the lowest level of the architecture, directly control motors, cameras, data buses, and other hardware devices. Resource Managers - Each of these modules controls several device drivers. Resource managers can be commanded by either a remote operator or the pilot or conditional-executive modules described below. Behaviors and Data Processors - These modules perform computations for such functions as planning paths, avoiding obstacles, visual tracking, and stereoscopy. These modules can be commanded only by the pilot. Pilot - The pilot receives a possibly complex command from the remote operator or the conditional executive, then decomposes the command into (1) more-specific commands to the resource managers and (2) requests for information from the behaviors and data processors. Conditional Executive - This highest-level module interprets a command plan sent by the remote operator, determines whether resources required for execution of the plan are available, monitors execution, and, if necessary, selects an alternate branch of the plan.

  2. [MATCHE: Management Approach to Teaching Consumer and Homemaking Education.] Economically Depressed Areas Strand: Human Development: Module III-E-3: Resources for the Economically Depressed Family.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Boogaert, John

    This competency-based preservice home economics teacher education module on resources for the economically depressed area family is the third in a set of three modules on human development in economically depressed areas. (This set is part of a larger set of sixty-seven modules on the Management Approach to Teaching Consumer and Homemaking…

  3. Soil 4 Youth: Charting New Territory in Canadian High School Soil Science Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Krzic, Maja; Wilson, Julie; Basiliko, Nathan; Bedard-Haughn, Angela; Humphreys, Elyn; Dyanatkar, Saeed; Hazlett, Paul; Strivelli, Rachel; Crowley, Chris; Dampier, Lesley

    2014-01-01

    As global issues continue to place increasing demands on soil resources, the need to provide soil science education to the next generation of soil scientists and the general public is becoming more imminent. In many countries around the world, including Canada, soil is either not included in the high school curriculum or it is not covered in…

  4. A microbial functional group-based module for simulating methane production and consumption: Application to an incubated permafrost soil

    DOE PAGES

    Xu, Xiaofeng; Elias, Dwayne A.; Graham, David E.; ...

    2015-07-23

    In this study, accurately estimating methane (CH 4) flux is critically important for investigating and predicting the biogeochemistry-climate feedback. Better simulating CH 4 flux requires explicit representations of microbial processes on CH 4 dynamics because all processes for CH 4 production and consumption are actually carried out by microbes. A microbial functional group based module was developed and tested against an incubation experiment. The module considers four key mechanisms for CH 4 production and consumption: methanogenesis from acetate or single-carbon compounds and CH 4 oxidation using molecular oxygen or other inorganic electron acceptors. These four processes were carried out bymore » four microbial functional groups: acetoclastic methanogens, hydrogenotrophic methanogens, aerobic methanotrophs, and anaerobic methanotrophs. This module was then linked with the decomposition subroutine of the Community Land Model, and was further used to simulate dynamics of carbon dioxide (CO 2) and CH 4 concentrations from an incubation experiment with permafrost soils. The results show that the model could capture the dynamics of CO 2 and CH 4 concentrations in microcosms with top soils, mineral layer soils and permafrost soils under natural and saturated moisture conditions and a temperature gradient of -2°C, 3°C, and 5°C. Sensitivity analysis confirmed the importance of acetic acid's direct contribution as substrate and indirect effects through pH feedback on CO 2 and CH 4 production and consumption. This study suggests that representing the microbial mechanisms is critical for modeling CH 4 production and consumption; it is urgent to incorporate microbial mechanisms into Earth system models for better predicting the behavior of the climate system.« less

  5. Trajectories of grassland ecosystem change in response to experimental manipulations of precipitation

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Knapp, Alan; Smith, Melinda; Collins, Scott; Blair, John; Briggs, John

    2010-05-01

    Understanding and predicting the dynamics of ecological systems has always been central to Ecology. Today, ecologists recognize that in addition to natural and human-caused disturbances, a fundamentally different type of ecosystem change is being driven by the combined and cumulative effects of anthropogenic activities affecting earth's climate and biogeochemical cycles. This type of change is historically unprecedented in magnitude, and as a consequence, such alterations are leading to trajectories of change in ecological responses that differ radically from those observed in the past. Through both short- and long-term experiments, we have been trying to better understand the mechanisms and consequences of ecological change in grassland ecosystems likely to result from changes in precipitation regimes. We have manipulated a key resource for most grasslands (water) and modulators of water availability (temperature) in field experiments that vary from 1-17 years in duration, and used even longer-term monitoring data from the Konza Prairie LTER program to assess how grassland communities and ecosystems will respond to changes in water availability. Trajectories of change in aboveground net primary production (ANPP) in sites subjected to 17 years of soil water augmentation were strongly non-linear with a marked increase in the stimulation of ANPP after year 8 (from 25% to 65%). Lags in alterations in grassland community composition are posited to be responsible for the form of this trajectory of change. In contrast, responses in ANPP to chronic increases in soil moisture variability appear to have decreased over a 10-yr period of manipulation, although the net effects of more variable precipitation inputs were to reduce ANPP, alter the genetic structure of the dominant grass species, increase soil nitrogen availability and reduce soil respiration. The loss of sensitivity to increased resource variability was not reflected in adjacent plots where precipitation was manipulated for only a single year. And when similar short-term experimental manipulations of precipitation variability were conducted in more arid grasslands, responses in ANPP were opposite those in mesic grassland. This suggests that grassland responses to alterations in precipitation inputs may vary dramatically depending on the long-term hydrologic regime.

  6. Sweet sorghum bagasse for production of biochar

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Sweet sorghum bagasse is an untapped resourceful carbon-rich material that can be thermochemically converted into value-added biochars. These biochars can be applied to the field as soil amendment for soil health enhancement, improved soil carbon content, water holding capacity, soil drainage and a...

  7. Explorers

    Science.gov Websites

    Atmosphere Explorers Patrick Megonigal Melissa McCormick Dennis Whigham Curator and Soil Ecologist Soil Scientist Brigham Young University Sophomore Waiakea High School Hilo, Hawaii Graduate Student USDA/NRCS St. Croix Field Office National Leader for World Soil Resources USDA/NRCS Soil Scientist USDA

  8. Soil management challenges in response to climatic change

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Agriculture has tremendous potential to help solve global food, feed, fiber, and bioenergy challenges and respond to changing climatic conditions provided we do not compromise our soil, water and air resources. This presentation will examine soil management, defined by the Soil Science Society of Am...

  9. 7 CFR 1468.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... to the State or territorial soil conservation district law, or tribal law. The subdivision may be a conservation district, soil conservation district, soil and water conservation district, resource conservation... county or area, in accordance with Sec. 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, as...

  10. 7 CFR 1468.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... to the State or territorial soil conservation district law, or tribal law. The subdivision may be a conservation district, soil conservation district, soil and water conservation district, resource conservation... county or area, in accordance with Sec. 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, as...

  11. 7 CFR 1468.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... to the State or territorial soil conservation district law, or tribal law. The subdivision may be a conservation district, soil conservation district, soil and water conservation district, resource conservation... county or area, in accordance with Sec. 8(b) of the Soil Conservation and Domestic Allotment Act, as...

  12. Integrating Oracle Human Resources with Other Modules

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Sparks, Karl; Shope, Shawn

    1998-01-01

    One of the most challenging aspects of implementing an enterprise-wide business system is achieving integration of the different modules to the satisfaction of diverse customers. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) implementation of the Oracle application suite demonstrates the need to coordinate Oracle Human Resources Management System (HRMS) decision across the Oracle modules.

  13. Seasonal and geothermal production variations in concentrations of He and CO2 in soil gases, Roosevelt Hot Springs Known Geothermal Resource Area, Utah, U.S.A.

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hinkle, M.E.

    1991-01-01

    To increase understanding of natural variations in soil gas concentrations, CO2, He, O2 and N2 were measured in soil gases collected regularly for several months from four sites at the Roosevelt Hot Springs Known Geothermal Resource Area, Utah. Soil temperature, air temperature, per cent relative humidity, barometric pressure and amounts of rain and snowfall were also monitored to determine the effect of meteorological parameters on concentrations of the measured gases. Considerable seasonal variation existed in concentrations of CO2 and He. The parameters that most affected the soil-gas concentrations were soil and air temperatures. Moisture from rain and snow probably affected the soil-gas concentrations also. However, annual variations in meteorological parameters did not appear to affect measurements of anomalous concentrations in samples collected within a time period of a few days. Production from some of the geothermal wells probably affected the soil-gas concentrations. ?? 1990.

  14. 7 CFR 631.1 - Purpose.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... treatment of farm or ranch units with the most severe soil and water resources problems. The purpose of the program is to assist farm, ranch and other land users to make changes in their cropping systems and land uses which are needed to conserve, develop, protect, and utilize the soil and water resources of their...

  15. Stem growth and respiration in loblolly pine plantations differing in soil resource availability

    Treesearch

    Chris A. Maier

    2001-01-01

    Stem respiration and growth in 10-year-old loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.) plantations were measured monthly during the third year of fertilization and irrigation treatments to determine whether soil resource availability differentially altered growth and respiration in stem tissue. Fertilized trees had significantly greater stem biomass, stem...

  16. CPV performance versus soiling effects: Cleaning policies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sanchez, D.; Trujillo, P.; Martinez, M.; Ferrer, J. P.; Rubio, F.

    2012-10-01

    In order to improve the performance of the CPV Plants in a cost effective way it is important to define the best cleaning policies, analyzing the effect of soiling in the surface of CPV modules. The energy generation of a CPV technology based in Fresnel Lens improves up to 7% when the surface of the module is cleaned. Some experimental measurements have been carried out over CPV modules and a model has been defined to analyze what is the best cleaning policy for that Technology in Puertollano. The power losses because of soiling and the critical time until the power losses stabilizes are obtained from the measurements; they are used as an input for the simulation. Using an established cleaning cost and the feeding tariff from Spain in 2007 it has been obtained that cleaning only reports a profit during the summer. The conclusion of the work is that the cleaning tasks have to be carefully planned together with the meteorological forecast in order to maximize the investment made in the cleaning.

  17. An Interactive Real-time Decision Support System for Leachate Irrigation on Evapotranspiration Landfill Covers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Y.

    2015-12-01

    Landfill disposal is still the most common and economical practice for municipal solid waste in most countries. However, heavily polluted leachate generated by excess rainwater percolating through the landfill waste is the major drawback of this practice. Evapotranspiration (ET) cover systems are increasingly being used as alternative cover systems to minimize percolation by evapotranspiration. Leachate recirculation is one of the least expensive options for leachate treatment. The combination of ET cover systems and leachate recirculation can be an economical and environment-friendly practice for landfill leachate management. An interactive real-time decision support system is being developed to better manage leachate irrigation using historical and forecasting weather data, and real time soil moisture data. The main frame of this system includes soil water modules, and plant-soil modules. An inverse simulation module is also included to calibrate certain parameters based on observed data when necessary. It would be an objectives-oriented irrigation management tool to minimize landfill operation costs and negative environmental impacts.

  18. Data set on the effects of conifer control and slash burning on soil carbon, total N, organic matter and extractable micro-nutrients.

    PubMed

    Bates, Jonathan D; Davies, Kirk W

    2017-10-01

    Conifer control in sagebrush steppe of the western United States causes various levels of site disturbance influencing vegetation recovery and resource availability. The data set presented in this article include growing season availability of soil micronutrients and levels of total soil carbon, organic matter, and N spanning a six year period following western juniper ( Juniperus occidentalis spp. occidentalis ) reduction by mechanical cutting and prescribed fire of western juniper woodlands in southeast Oregon. These data can be useful to further evaluate the impacts of conifer woodland reduction to soil resources in sagebrush steppe plant communities.

  19. Linkage of a Physically Based Distributed Watershed Model and a Dynamic Plant Growth Model

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-12-01

    i.e., Universal Soil Loss Equation ( USLE ) factors, K, C, and P). The K, C, and P factors are empiri- cal coefficients with the same conceptual...with general ecosystem models designed to make long-term projections of ecosystem dynamics. This development effort investigated the linkage of soil ...20 EDYS soil module

  20. Integrated assessment of the direct and indirect effects of resource gradients on tree species recruitment.

    PubMed

    Ibáñez, Inés; McCarthy-Neumann, Sarah

    2014-02-01

    Understanding the dynamics of tree establishment is critical to assess forests' composition, management practices, and current responses to global change. We carried out a field seedling transplant experiment to assess not only the direct effects of resources influencing recruitment of four tree species, but also their indirect and combined effects. Our analysis integrated first growing season demographic data together with estimates of mycorrhizal fungal colonization and resource availability (light, soil moisture, and soil nitrogen). Only by considering both the direct and indirect effects of resources we were able to account for most of the variability observed during seedling recruitment. Contrary to expectations, increasing light levels were not always beneficial for recruitment even in low light habitats, and soil moisture availability benefited seedling growth but not survival. In addition, mycorrhizal fungal colonization was not always favored by high light levels or by increasing soil moisture. Seedling survival for all species was lower in plots with higher arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, while the association with ectomycorrhizal fungi varied from beneficial to detrimental. When integrating the direct, indirect, and interactive effects of resource availability and mycorrhizal fungal colonization on tree recruitment dynamics we found that species responded in a nonlinear fashion to increasing resource levels, and we also identified thresholds, i.e., shifts in the direction of the response, along the resource gradient. Our integrated assessment considerably outperformed a null model where only direct effects of resources were accounted for. These results illustrate how the combination of direct, indirect, and combined effects of driving variables better represents the complexity of the processes determining tree species recruitment than simple resource availability mechanisms.

  1. Post-fire redistribution of soil carbon and nitrogen at a grassland-shrubland ecotone

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wang, Guan; Li, Junran; Ravi, Sujith; Dukes, David; Gonzales, Howell B.; Sankey, Joel B.

    2018-01-01

    The rapid conversion of grasslands into shrublands has been observed in many arid and semiarid regions worldwide. Studies have shown that fire can provide certain forms of reversibility for shrub-grass transition due to resource homogenization and shrub mortality, especially in the early stages of shrub encroachment. Field-level post-fire soil resource redistribution has rarely been tested. Here we used prescribed fire in a shrubland-grassland transition zone in the northern Chihuahuan Desert to test the hypothesis that fire facilitates the remobilization of nutrient-enriched soil from shrub microsites to grass and bare microsites and thereby reduces the spatial heterogeneity of soil resources. Results show that the shrub microsites had the lowest water content compared to grass and bare microsites after fire, even when rain events occurred. Significant differences of total soil carbon (TC) and total soil nitrogen (TN) among the three microsites disappeared one year after the fire. The spatial autocorrelation distance increased from 1~2 m, approximately the mean size of an individual shrub canopy, to over 5 m one year after the fire for TC and TN. Patches of high soil C and N decomposed one year after the prescribed fire. Overall, fire stimulates the transfer of soil C and N from shrub microsites to nutrient-depleted grass and bare microsites. Such a redistribution of soil C and N, coupled with the reduced soil water content under the shrub canopies, suggests that fire might influence the competition between shrubs and grasses, leading to a higher grass, compared to shrub, coverage in this ecotone.

  2. Trend and variability in western and central Africa streamflow, and major drivers of variability between 1950 and 2005

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dieppois, B.; Sidibe, M.; Mahe, G. M.; Paturel, J. E.; Anifowose, B. A.; Lawler, D.; Amoussou, E.

    2017-12-01

    Unprecedented drought episodes that struck western and central Africa between the late 1960s and 1980s, triggered many studies investigating rainfall variability and its impacts on water resources and food production systems. However, most studies were focused at the catchment scale. In this study, we aim at investigating the key large-scale controls determining and modulating climate-river flows relationships at the subcontinental scale between 1950 and 2005. Using the first complete monthly streamflow data set (1950-2005) over western and central Africa, streamflow trend and variability are seasonally assessed at this subcontinental scale and compared to those observed in other hydroclimatic variables (precipitation, temperature and potential evapotranspiration). Long-term trends and variability in streamflow are mainly consistent with trends in rainfall. In particular, the recent post-1990s partial recovery in Sahel rainfall could have, at least partially, positively impacted river flows (e.g. the Senegal and Niger rivers). However, these relationships may have been moderated by: i) changes in land use; and ii) contributions from groundwater resources. In addition, the time-evolution of river flows is shown to be primarily driven by very strong decadal fluctuations, which can be interpreted as modulations in the baseflow, as determined using multi-temporal trend and continuous wavelet analysis. These decadal fluctuations, which are also significantly detected in rainfall, are likely related to large-scale sea-surface temperature (SST) anomaly patterns (such as the tropical Atlantic SST variability, the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation, the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation), which are together modulating the West African monsoon. Furthermore, influences of the catchment properties (e.g. size, vegetation and land use cover, soil properties, direction of stream flow across climate zones) on these decadal fluctuations in river flows have been examined. This study therefore aims to improve the ability of current global to regional climate models to simulate such ranges of variability and understand regional hydroclimate, as a means for improving the development of future scenarios for water resources in western and central Africa.

  3. Effects of soil type and light on height growth, biomass partitioning, and nitrogen dynamics on 22 species of tropical dry forest tree seedlings: Comparisons between legumes and nonlegumes.

    PubMed

    Smith-Martin, Christina M; Gei, Maria G; Bergstrom, Ellie; Becklund, Kristen K; Becknell, Justin M; Waring, Bonnie G; Werden, Leland K; Powers, Jennifer S

    2017-03-01

    The seedling stage is particularly vulnerable to resource limitation, with potential consequences for community composition. We investigated how light and soil variation affected early growth, biomass partitioning, morphology, and physiology of 22 tree species common in tropical dry forest, including eight legumes. Our hypothesis was that legume seedlings are better at taking advantage of increased resource availability, which contributes to their successful regeneration in tropical dry forests. We grew seedlings in a full-factorial design under two light levels in two soil types that differed in nutrient concentrations and soil moisture. We measured height biweekly and, at final harvest, biomass partitioning, internode segments, leaf carbon, nitrogen, δ 13 C, and δ 15 N. Legumes initially grew taller and maintained that height advantage over time under all experimental conditions. Legumes also had the highest final total biomass and water-use efficiency in the high-light and high-resource soil. For nitrogen-fixing legumes, the amount of nitrogen derived from fixation was highest in the richer soil. Although seed mass tended to be larger in legumes, seed size alone did not account for all the differences between legumes and nonlegumes. Both belowground and aboveground resources were limiting to early seedling growth and function. Legumes may have a different regeneration niche, in that they germinate rapidly and grow taller than other species immediately after germination, maximizing their performance when light and belowground resources are readily available, and potentially permitting them to take advantage of high light, nutrient, and water availability at the beginning of the wet season. © 2017 Botanical Society of America.

  4. Lianas always outperform tree seedlings regardless of soil nutrients: results from a long-term fertilization experiment.

    PubMed

    Pasquini, Sarah C; Wright, S Joseph; Santiago, Louis S

    2015-07-01

    Lianas are a prominent growth form in tropical forests, and there is compelling evidence that they are increasing in abundance throughout the Neotropics. While recent evidence shows that soil resources limit tree growth even in deep shade, the degree to which soil resources limit lianas in forest understories, where they coexist with trees for decades, remains unknown. Regardless, the physiological underpinnings of soil resource limitation in deeply shaded tropical habitats remain largely unexplored for either trees or lianas. Theory predicts that lianas should be more limited by soil resources than trees because they occupy the quick-return end of the "leaf economic spectrum," characterized by high rates of photosynthesis, high specific leaf area, short leaf life span, affinity to high-nutrient sites, and greater foliar nutrient concentrations. To address these issues, we asked whether soil resources (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium), alone or in combination, applied experimentally for more than a decade would cause significant changes in the morphology or physiology of tree and liana seedlings in a lowland tropical forest. We found evidence for the first time that phosphorus limits the photosynthetic performance of both trees and lianas in deeply shaded understory habitats. More importantly, lianas always showed significantly greater photosynthetic capacity, quenching, and saturating light levels compared to trees across all treatments. We found little evidence for nutrient x growth form interactions, indicating that lianas were not disproportionately favored in nutrient-rich habitats. Tree and liana seedlings differed markedly for six key morphological traits, demonstrating that architectural differences occurred very early in ontogeny prior to lianas finding a trellis (all seedlings were self-supporting). Overall, our results do not support nutrient loading as a mechanism of increasing liana abundance in the Neotropics. Rather, our finding that lianas always outperform trees, in terms of photosynthetic processes and under contrasting rates of resource supply of macronutrients, will allow lianas to increase in abundance if disturbance and tree turnover rates are increasing in Neotropical forests as has been suggested.

  5. Conversion of sweet sorghum bagasse into value-added biochar

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Sweet sorghum bagasse is an untapped resourceful carbon-rich material that can be thermochemically converted into value-added biochars. These biochars can be applied to the field as soil amendment for soil health enhancement, improved soil carbon content, water holding capacity, soil drainage and a...

  6. Understanding and enhancing soil health: the solution for reversing soil degradation

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    This special issue of Sustainability documents both the magnitude and global prevalence of soil degradation and helps illustrate (1) various factors contributing to the problem, (2) its past and current impacts, and (3) projected consequences to humankind if degradation of our fragile soil resource...

  7. 7 CFR 1470.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ..., tribal, or territorial law for the express purpose of developing and carrying out a local soil and water...,” “soil conservation district,” “soil and water conservation district,” “resource conservation district... practices and conservation management systems. It contains detailed information on the conservation of soil...

  8. 7 CFR 1470.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ..., tribal, or territorial law for the express purpose of developing and carrying out a local soil and water...,” “soil conservation district,” “soil and water conservation district,” “resource conservation district... practices and conservation management systems. It contains detailed information on the conservation of soil...

  9. 7 CFR 1470.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ..., tribal, or territorial law for the express purpose of developing and carrying out a local soil and water...,” “soil conservation district,” “soil and water conservation district,” “resource conservation district... practices and conservation management systems. It contains detailed information on the conservation of soil...

  10. Land surface-precipitation feedback analysis for a landfalling monsoon depression in the Indian region

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baisya, Himadri; Pattnaik, Sandeep; Rajesh, P. V.

    2017-03-01

    A series of numerical experiments are carried out to investigate the sensitivity of a landfalling monsoon depression to land surface conditions using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Results suggest that precipitation is largely modulated by moisture influx and precipitation efficiency. Three cloud microphysical schemes (WSM6, WDM6, and Morrison) are examined, and Morrison is chosen for assessing the land surface-precipitation feedback analysis, owing to better precipitation forecast skills. It is found that increased soil moisture facilitates Moisture Flux Convergence (MFC) with reduced moisture influx, whereas a reduced soil moisture condition facilitates moisture influx but not MFC. A higher Moist Static Energy (MSE) is noted due to increased evapotranspiration in an elevated moisture scenario which enhances moist convection. As opposed to moist surface, sensible heat dominates in a reduced moisture scenario, ensued by an overall reduction in MSE throughout the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL). Stability analysis shows that Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE) is comparable in magnitude for both increased and decreased moisture scenarios, whereas Convective Inhibition (CIN) shows increased values for the reduced moisture scenario as a consequence of drier atmosphere leading to suppression of convection. Simulations carried out with various fixed soil moisture levels indicate that the overall precipitation features of the storm are characterized by initial soil moisture condition, but precipitation intensity at any instant is modulated by soil moisture availability. Overall results based on this case study suggest that antecedent soil moisture plays a crucial role in modulating precipitation distribution and intensity of a monsoon depression.

  11. AQUATOOL, a generalized decision-support system for water-resources planning and operational management

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Andreu, J.; Capilla, J.; Sanchís, E.

    1996-04-01

    This paper describes a generic decision-support system (DSS) which was originally designed for the planning stage of dicision-making associated with complex river basins. Subsequently, it was expanded to incorporate modules relating to the operational stage of decision-making. Computer-assisted design modules allow any complex water-resource system to be represented in graphical form, giving access to geographically referenced databases and knowledge bases. The modelling capability includes basin simulation and optimization modules, an aquifer flow modelling module and two modules for risk assessment. The Segura and Tagus river basins have been used as case studies in the development and validation phases. The value of this DSS is demonstrated by the fact that both River Basin Agencies currently use a version for the efficient management of their water resources.

  12. Hierarchy of responses to resource pulses in arid and semi-arid ecosystems.

    PubMed

    Schwinning, Susanne; Sala, Osvaldo E

    2004-10-01

    In arid/semi-arid ecosystems, biological resources, such as water, soil nutrients, and plant biomass, typically go through periods of high and low abundance. Short periods of high resource abundance are usually triggered by rainfall events, which, despite of the overall scarcity of rain, can saturate the resource demand of some biological processes for a time. This review develops the idea that there exists a hierarchy of soil moisture pulse events with a corresponding hierarchy of ecological responses, such that small pulses only trigger a small number of relatively minor ecological events, and larger pulses trigger a more inclusive set and some larger ecological events. This framework hinges on the observation that many biological state changes, where organisms transition from a state of lower to higher physiological activity, require a minimal triggering event size. Response thresholds are often determined by the ability of organisms to utilize soil moisture pulses of different infiltration depth or duration. For example, brief, shallow pulses can only affect surface dwelling organisms with fast response times and high tolerance for low resource levels, such as some species of the soil micro-fauna and -flora, while it takes more water and deeper infiltration to affect the physiology, growth or reproduction of higher plants. This review first discusses how precipitation, climate and site factors translate into soil moisture pulses of varying magnitude and duration. Next, the idea of the response hierarchy for ecosystem processes is developed, followed by an exploration of the possible evolutionary background for the existence of response thresholds to resource pulses. The review concludes with an outlook on global change: does the hierarchical view of precipitation effects in ecosystems provide new perspectives on the future of arid/semiarid lands?

  13. Evaluation of ERTS-1 imagery in mapping and managing soil and range resources in the Sand Hills region of Nebraska

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Drew, J. V. (Principal Investigator); Seevers, P. M.

    1974-01-01

    The author has identified the following significant results. Interpretations of imagery from the Earth Resources Technology Satellite (ERTS-1) indicate that soil associations and attendant range sites can be identified on the basis of vegetation and topography using multitemporal imagery. Optical density measurements of imagery from the visible red band of the multispectral scanner(MSS band 5) obtained during the growing season were related to field measurements of vegetative biomass, a factor that closely parallels range condition class on specific range sites. ERTS-1 imagery also permitted inventory and assessment of center-pivot irrigation systems in the Sand Hills region in relation to soil and topographic conditions and energy requirements. Four resource maps of the Upper Loup Natural Resource District located entirely within the Sand Hills region were prepared from ERTS-1 imagery.

  14. Reactive transport modeling in the subsurface environment with OGS-IPhreeqc

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    He, Wenkui; Beyer, Christof; Fleckenstein, Jan; Jang, Eunseon; Kalbacher, Thomas; Naumov, Dimitri; Shao, Haibing; Wang, Wenqing; Kolditz, Olaf

    2015-04-01

    Worldwide, sustainable water resource management becomes an increasingly challenging task due to the growth of population and extensive applications of fertilizer in agriculture. Moreover, climate change causes further stresses to both water quantity and quality. Reactive transport modeling in the coupled soil-aquifer system is a viable approach to assess the impacts of different land use and groundwater exploitation scenarios on the water resources. However, the application of this approach is usually limited in spatial scale and to simplified geochemical systems due to the huge computational expense involved. Such computational expense is not only caused by solving the high non-linearity of the initial boundary value problems of water flow in the unsaturated zone numerically with rather fine spatial and temporal discretization for the correct mass balance and numerical stability, but also by the intensive computational task of quantifying geochemical reactions. In the present study, a flexible and efficient tool for large scale reactive transport modeling in variably saturated porous media and its applications are presented. The open source scientific software OpenGeoSys (OGS) is coupled with the IPhreeqc module of the geochemical solver PHREEQC. The new coupling approach makes full use of advantages from both codes: OGS provides a flexible choice of different numerical approaches for simulation of water flow in the vadose zone such as the pressure-based or mixed forms of Richards equation; whereas the IPhreeqc module leads to a simplification of data storage and its communication with OGS, which greatly facilitates the coupling and code updating. Moreover, a parallelization scheme with MPI (Message Passing Interface) is applied, in which the computational task of water flow and mass transport is partitioned through domain decomposition, whereas the efficient parallelization of geochemical reactions is achieved by smart allocation of computational workload over multiple compute nodes. The plausibility of the new coupling is verified by several benchmark tests. In addition, the efficiency of the new coupling approach is demonstrated by its application in a large scale scenario, in which the environmental fate of pesticides in a complex soil-aquifer system is studied.

  15. Reactive transport modeling in variably saturated porous media with OGS-IPhreeqc

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    He, W.; Beyer, C.; Fleckenstein, J. H.; Jang, E.; Kalbacher, T.; Shao, H.; Wang, W.; Kolditz, O.

    2014-12-01

    Worldwide, sustainable water resource management becomes an increasingly challenging task due to the growth of population and extensive applications of fertilizer in agriculture. Moreover, climate change causes further stresses to both water quantity and quality. Reactive transport modeling in the coupled soil-aquifer system is a viable approach to assess the impacts of different land use and groundwater exploitation scenarios on the water resources. However, the application of this approach is usually limited in spatial scale and to simplified geochemical systems due to the huge computational expense involved. Such computational expense is not only caused by solving the high non-linearity of the initial boundary value problems of water flow in the unsaturated zone numerically with rather fine spatial and temporal discretization for the correct mass balance and numerical stability, but also by the intensive computational task of quantifying geochemical reactions. In the present study, a flexible and efficient tool for large scale reactive transport modeling in variably saturated porous media and its applications are presented. The open source scientific software OpenGeoSys (OGS) is coupled with the IPhreeqc module of the geochemical solver PHREEQC. The new coupling approach makes full use of advantages from both codes: OGS provides a flexible choice of different numerical approaches for simulation of water flow in the vadose zone such as the pressure-based or mixed forms of Richards equation; whereas the IPhreeqc module leads to a simplification of data storage and its communication with OGS, which greatly facilitates the coupling and code updating. Moreover, a parallelization scheme with MPI (Message Passing Interface) is applied, in which the computational task of water flow and mass transport is partitioned through domain decomposition, whereas the efficient parallelization of geochemical reactions is achieved by smart allocation of computational workload over multiple compute nodes. The plausibility of the new coupling is verified by several benchmark tests. In addition, the efficiency of the new coupling approach is demonstrated by its application in a large scale scenario, in which the environmental fate of pesticides in a complex soil-aquifer system is studied.

  16. Space resources. Overview

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mckay, Mary Fae (Editor); Mckay, David S. (Editor); Duke, Michael B. (Editor)

    1992-01-01

    Space resources must be used to support life on the Moon and in the exploration of Mars. Just as the pioneers applied the tools they brought with them to resources they found along the way rather than trying to haul all their needs over a long supply line, so too must space travelers apply their high technology tools to local resources. This overview describes the findings of a study on the use of space resources in the development of future space activities and defines the necessary research and development that must precede the practical utilization of these resources. Space resources considered included lunar soil, oxygen derived from lunar soil, material retrieved from near-Earth asteroids, abundant sunlight, low gravity, and high vacuum. The study participants analyzed the direct use of these resources, the potential demand for products from them, the techniques for retrieving and processing space resources, the necessary infrastructure, and the economic tradeoffs.

  17. 30 CFR 817.114 - Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Revegetation: Mulching and other soil... STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND MINING ACTIVITIES § 817.114 Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices. Suitable mulch and other soil stabilizing practices shall be used on all areas that have been...

  18. 30 CFR 817.114 - Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Revegetation: Mulching and other soil... STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND MINING ACTIVITIES § 817.114 Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices. Suitable mulch and other soil stabilizing practices shall be used on all areas that have been...

  19. 30 CFR 816.114 - Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Revegetation: Mulching and other soil... STANDARDS-SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES § 816.114 Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices. Suitable mulch and other soil stabilizing practices shall be used on all areas that have been regraded and...

  20. 30 CFR 817.114 - Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Revegetation: Mulching and other soil... STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND MINING ACTIVITIES § 817.114 Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices. Suitable mulch and other soil stabilizing practices shall be used on all areas that have been...

  1. 30 CFR 816.114 - Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Revegetation: Mulching and other soil... STANDARDS-SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES § 816.114 Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices. Suitable mulch and other soil stabilizing practices shall be used on all areas that have been regraded and...

  2. 30 CFR 816.114 - Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Revegetation: Mulching and other soil... STANDARDS-SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES § 816.114 Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices. Suitable mulch and other soil stabilizing practices shall be used on all areas that have been regraded and...

  3. 30 CFR 817.114 - Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Revegetation: Mulching and other soil... STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND MINING ACTIVITIES § 817.114 Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices. Suitable mulch and other soil stabilizing practices shall be used on all areas that have been...

  4. 75 FR 75961 - Notice of Implementation of the Wind Erosion Prediction System for Soil Erodibility System...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-12-07

    ... Wind Erosion Prediction System for Soil Erodibility System Calculations for the Natural Resources... Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) for soil erodibility system calculations scheduled for implementation for... computer model is a process-based, daily time-step computer model that predicts soil erosion via simulation...

  5. 30 CFR 816.114 - Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Revegetation: Mulching and other soil... STANDARDS-SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES § 816.114 Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices. Suitable mulch and other soil stabilizing practices shall be used on all areas that have been regraded and...

  6. 30 CFR 817.114 - Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Revegetation: Mulching and other soil... STANDARDS-UNDERGROUND MINING ACTIVITIES § 817.114 Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices. Suitable mulch and other soil stabilizing practices shall be used on all areas that have been...

  7. 30 CFR 816.114 - Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Revegetation: Mulching and other soil... STANDARDS-SURFACE MINING ACTIVITIES § 816.114 Revegetation: Mulching and other soil stabilizing practices. Suitable mulch and other soil stabilizing practices shall be used on all areas that have been regraded and...

  8. Using soil water sensors to improve irrigation management

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Irrigation water management has to do with the appropriate application of water to soils, in terms of amounts, rates, and timing to satisfy crop water demands while protecting the soil and water resources from degradation. In this regard, sensors can be used to monitor the soil water status; and som...

  9. An overview of soil water sensors for salinity & irrigation management

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Irrigation water management has to do with the appropriate application of water to soils, in terms of amounts, rates, and timing to satisfy crop water demands while protecting the soil and water resources from degradation. Accurate irrigation management is even more important in salt affected soils ...

  10. Status of the World's Soil Resources Report, Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils

    EPA Science Inventory

    The scope of main objectives of the report are: (a) to provide a global scientific assessment of current and projected soil conditions built on regional data analysis and expertise (b) to explore the implications of these soil conditions for food security, climate change, water q...

  11. Corn stover for advanced biofuels – Soil “Lorax” perspectives

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Crop residues serve numerous agroecosystem function. Harvesting these materials must be done in a manner that protects the soil. Soil is the thin layer that stand be us and starvation. Strategies to protect the soil resource to balance current and future societal needs will be discussed....

  12. 7 CFR 611.1 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS SOIL SURVEYS General § 611.1 Purpose and scope. (a) This part sets forth policy on soil survey operations of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). (b) NRCS is responsible for soil survey activities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). A soil survey provides...

  13. 7 CFR 611.1 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS SOIL SURVEYS General § 611.1 Purpose and scope. (a) This part sets forth policy on soil survey operations of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). (b) NRCS is responsible for soil survey activities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). A soil survey provides...

  14. 7 CFR 611.1 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS SOIL SURVEYS General § 611.1 Purpose and scope. (a) This part sets forth policy on soil survey operations of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). (b) NRCS is responsible for soil survey activities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). A soil survey provides...

  15. 7 CFR 611.1 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS SOIL SURVEYS General § 611.1 Purpose and scope. (a) This part sets forth policy on soil survey operations of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). (b) NRCS is responsible for soil survey activities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). A soil survey provides...

  16. 7 CFR 611.1 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS SOIL SURVEYS General § 611.1 Purpose and scope. (a) This part sets forth policy on soil survey operations of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). (b) NRCS is responsible for soil survey activities of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). A soil survey provides...

  17. 7 CFR 1467.3 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... State by annual tilling of the soil, including tilling by one-trip planters; or sugarcane planted and... or territorial law for the express purpose of developing and carrying out a local soil and water...,” “soil conservation district,” “soil and water conservation district,” “resource conservation district...

  18. A study of the utilization of ERTS-1 data from the Wabash River Basin. [crop identification, water resources, urban land use, soil mapping, and atmospheric modeling

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Landgrebe, D. A. (Principal Investigator)

    1974-01-01

    The author has identified the following significant results. The most significant results were obtained in the water resources research, urban land use mapping, and soil association mapping projects. ERTS-1 data was used to classify water bodies to determine acreages and high agreement was obtained with USGS figures. Quantitative evaluation was achieved of urban land use classifications from ERTS-1 data and an overall test accuracy of 90.3% was observed. ERTS-1 data classifications of soil test sites were compared with soil association maps scaled to match the computer produced map and good agreement was observed. In some cases the ERTS-1 results proved to be more accurate than the soil association map.

  19. Plan of research for integrated soil moisture studies. Recommendations of the Soil Moisture Working Group

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1980-01-01

    Soil moisture information is a potentially powerful tool for applications in agriculture, water resources, and climate. At present, it is difficult for users of this information to clearly define their needs in terms of accuracy, resolution and frequency because of the current sparsity of data. A plan is described for defining and conducting an integrated and coordinated research effort to develop and refine remote sensing techniques which will determine spatial and temporal variations of soil moisture and to utilize soil moisture information in support of agricultural, water resources, and climate applications. The soil moisture requirements of these three different application areas were reviewed in relation to each other so that one plan covering the three areas could be formulated. Four subgroups were established to write and compile the plan, namely models, ground-based studies, aircraft experiments, and spacecraft missions.

  20. The Spanish Society of Soil Science: history and future perspectives

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bellinfante, Nicolás; Arbelo, Dolores; Rodríguez, Antonio

    2013-04-01

    The Spanish Society of Soil Science (SECS; http://www.secs.com.es) has reached sixty years of existence, after being established in 1947 at the Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC) as an initiative of renowned scientists including José María Albareda, Salvador Rivas Goday, Fernando Burriel, Tomás Alvira and others. However, soil studies in Spain began in the first third of XX century, coordinated by Emilio Huguet del Villar, internationally outstanding researcher who was the President of the Subcommittee for the Mediterranean Region of the International Society Soil Science, with the activities of the Forest Research Institute and the Institute of Mediterranean Soils of the Regional Catalonian Government. With the creation of the CSIC and the Spanish Institute of Soil Science and Agrobiology, directed by José M. Albareda, Soil Science research was promoted in all scientific fields and through the Spanish geography. The SECS is considered equally heiress of previously existing organizations, in particular the Spanish Commission of Soil Science and Phytogeography, created in 1925, which was the Spanish voice in various international organizations and meetings related with Soil Science. After these years, Soil Science has developed considerably, showing a great diversification of fields of study and research and its applications, as well as a growing social awareness of the soil degradation processes and the need to implement measures to protect natural resources nonrenewable on a human scale, and an increasing role of universities and CSIC in Soil Science research. Currently, the SECS is a scientific organization dedicated to promoting the study, knowledge, research and protection of soil resources; spread the scientific importance of soil functions as nonrenewable natural resource in society and promote the interest in its protection; and preserve the knowledge about soils, their management and use, both from productive and environmental perspectives. The SECS has helped and sponsored numerous conferences and seminars related to different aspects of Soil Science, and directly organizes the National Congress of Soil Science (since 2004, the Iberian Congress of Soil Science) and National Soil Meetings held annual or biannually without interruption since 1975. Some of the projects currently being carried out include TeSECS (a database of PhD theses), GloSECS (an updated multilingual soil science glossary), promotion of soil museums. Also, the SECS publishes the four-monthly Spanish Journal of Soil Science since 2011 (http://sjss.universia.net).

  1. Impacts of land use and Ugandan farmer's cultural and economic status on soil organic matter and soil fertility

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tiemann, Lisa; Grandy, Stuart; Hartter, Joel

    2014-05-01

    Soil is the keystone in building sustainable agricultural systems, but increased demand for these soil services has led to soil degradation, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In Uganda, where population growth rates are 9th highest in the world, increasing pressure on soil resources and potential losses of SOM are particularly concerning because there is virtually no use of fertilizers or other inputs on farms. In addition, smallholder farmers in Uganda are placing greater emphasis on resource-intensive cash crops like maize, and thereby straining soil resources. In this study we investigate the relationships between land use decisions and soil fertility to better understand declines in soil fertility and how they might be slowed near Kibale National Park (KNP), Uganda, a global biodiversity hotspot. Within 2.5 km of the KNP border, we conducted household surveys and collected soil samples in 160 farms along a 20 km north-south transect. We also collected soils from inside KNP, adjacent to farms we visited, to serve as controls. Cultural differences in land use, such as greater residue removal and a lower likelihood of legumes in rotation with the Bakiga, likely led to the greater declines in SOM and soil fertility we observed in Bakiga compared to Batooro maize fields. We also found that households in areas of high soil fertility are more reliant on maize sales. Surprisingly, these same areas have also seen relatively smaller declines in total SOM, but do show larger relative declines in nutrients (e.g. N, P and K) when compared to the adjacent KNP soils. We found lower depletion of nutrients and overall higher soil fertility measures and more stability of SOM in banana fields compared to maize fields, which is due to transferring maize crop residues to banana plantations as well as no-till practices in banana fields. Our work reveals that complex interactions between edaphic soil properties, land use management, cultural background, perceptions of soil fertility and SOM dynamics will constrain the region's capacity to meet the demands of rapid population growth.

  2. The response of soil microbial communities to variation in annual precipitation depends on soil nutritional status in an oligotrophic desert

    PubMed Central

    Montiel-González, Cristina; Tapia-Torres, Yunuen; Souza, Valeria

    2017-01-01

    Background Soil microbial communities (SMC) play a central role in the structure and function of desert ecosystems. However, the high variability of annual precipitation could results in the alteration of SMC and related biological processes depending on soil water potential. The nature of the physiological adjustments made by SMC in order to obtain energy and nutrients remains unclear under different soil resource availabilities in desert ecosystems. In order to examine this dynamic, the present study examined the effects of variation in annual precipitation on physiological adjustments by the SMC across two vegetation-soil systems of different soil organic matter input in an oligotrophic desert ecosystem. Methods We collected soil samples in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin (Mexico) under two vegetation covers: rosetophylous scrub (RS) and grassland (G), that differ in terms of quantity and quality of organic matter. Collections were conducted during the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, over which a noticeable variation in the annual precipitation occurred. The ecoenzymatic activity involved in the decomposition of organic matter, and the concentration of dissolved, available and microbial biomass nutrients, were determined and compared between sites and years. Results In 2011, we observed differences in bacterial taxonomic composition between the two vegetation covers. The lowest values of dissolved, available and microbial nutrients in both cover types were found in 2012. The G soil showed higher values of dissolved and available nutrients in the wet years. Significant positive correlations were detected between precipitation and the ratios Cmic:Nmic and Cmic:Pmic in the RS soil and Cmic:Pmic and Nmic:Pmic in the G soil. The slopes of the regression with Cmic and Nmic were higher in the G soil and lower in the RS soil. Moreover, the SMC under each vegetation cover were co-limited by different nutrients and responded to the sum of water stress and nutrient limitation. Discussion Soil community within both sites (RS and G) may be vulnerable to drought. However, the community of the site with lower resources (RS) is well adapted to acquire P resources by ecoenzyme upregulation during years with adequate precipitation, suggesting that this community is resilient after drought occurs. Under the Global Climate Change scenarios for desert ecosystems that predict reduced annual precipitation and an increased intensity and frequency of torrential rains and drought events, the soil microbial communities of both sites could be vulnerable to drought through C and P co-limitation and reallocation of resources to physiological acclimatization strategies in order to survive. PMID:29134149

  3. The response of soil microbial communities to variation in annual precipitation depends on soil nutritional status in an oligotrophic desert.

    PubMed

    Montiel-González, Cristina; Tapia-Torres, Yunuen; Souza, Valeria; García-Oliva, Felipe

    2017-01-01

    Soil microbial communities (SMC) play a central role in the structure and function of desert ecosystems. However, the high variability of annual precipitation could results in the alteration of SMC and related biological processes depending on soil water potential. The nature of the physiological adjustments made by SMC in order to obtain energy and nutrients remains unclear under different soil resource availabilities in desert ecosystems. In order to examine this dynamic, the present study examined the effects of variation in annual precipitation on physiological adjustments by the SMC across two vegetation-soil systems of different soil organic matter input in an oligotrophic desert ecosystem. We collected soil samples in the Cuatro Ciénegas Basin (Mexico) under two vegetation covers: rosetophylous scrub (RS) and grassland (G), that differ in terms of quantity and quality of organic matter. Collections were conducted during the years 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014, over which a noticeable variation in the annual precipitation occurred. The ecoenzymatic activity involved in the decomposition of organic matter, and the concentration of dissolved, available and microbial biomass nutrients, were determined and compared between sites and years. In 2011, we observed differences in bacterial taxonomic composition between the two vegetation covers. The lowest values of dissolved, available and microbial nutrients in both cover types were found in 2012. The G soil showed higher values of dissolved and available nutrients in the wet years. Significant positive correlations were detected between precipitation and the ratios Cmic:Nmic and Cmic:Pmic in the RS soil and Cmic:Pmic and Nmic:Pmic in the G soil. The slopes of the regression with Cmic and Nmic were higher in the G soil and lower in the RS soil. Moreover, the SMC under each vegetation cover were co-limited by different nutrients and responded to the sum of water stress and nutrient limitation. Soil community within both sites (RS and G) may be vulnerable to drought. However, the community of the site with lower resources (RS) is well adapted to acquire P resources by ecoenzyme upregulation during years with adequate precipitation, suggesting that this community is resilient after drought occurs. Under the Global Climate Change scenarios for desert ecosystems that predict reduced annual precipitation and an increased intensity and frequency of torrential rains and drought events, the soil microbial communities of both sites could be vulnerable to drought through C and P co-limitation and reallocation of resources to physiological acclimatization strategies in order to survive.

  4. Simulating the carbon, water, energy budgets and greenhouse gas emissions of arctic soils with the ISBA land surface model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Morel, Xavier; Decharme, Bertrand; Delire, Christine

    2017-04-01

    Permafrost soils and boreal wetlands represent an important challenge for future climate simulations. Our aim is to be able to correctly represent the most important thermal, hydrologic and carbon cycle related processes in boreal areas with our land surface model ISBA (Masson et al, 2013). This is particularly important since ISBA is part of the CNRM-CM Climate Model (Voldoire et al, 2012), that is used for projections of future climate changes. To achieve this goal, we replaced the one layer original soil carbon module based on the CENTURY model (Parton et al, 1987) by a multi-layer soil carbon module that represents C pools and fluxes (CO2 and CH4), organic matter decomposition, gas diffusion (Khvorostyanov et al., 2008), CH4 ebullition and plant-mediated transport, and cryoturbation (Koven et al., 2009). The carbon budget of the new model is closed. The soil carbon module is tightly coupled to the ISBA energy and water budget module that solves the one-dimensional Fourier law and the mixed-form of the Richards equation explicitly to calculate the time evolution of the soil energy and water budgets (Boone et al., 2000; Decharme et al. 2011). The carbon, energy and water modules are solved using the same vertical discretization. Snowpack processes are represented by a multi-layer snow model (Decharme et al, 2016). We test this new model on a pair of monitoring sites in Greenland, one in a permafrost area (Zackenberg Ecological Research Operations, Jensen et al, 2014) and the other in a region without permafrost (Nuuk Ecological Research Operations, Jensen et al, 2013); both sites are established within the GeoBasis part of the Greenland Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM) program. The site of Chokurdakh, in a permafrost area of Siberia is is our third studied site. We test the model's ability to represent the physical variables (soil temperature and water profiles, snow height), the energy and water fluxes as well as the carbon dioxyde and methane fluxes. We also test the model behaviour in the case of a flooded fen, hence giving a first insight of the sensitivity of greenhouse gas emissions with respect to surface hydrology. Comparing the model results on these three climatically distinct sites also gives a first insight on the model sensitivity to the forcing climate variables, and show that the model is generic enough to reasonably model methane and carbon dioxyde emission behaviour from different types of boreal ecosystems.

  5. Spacehab

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rossi, David

    1991-01-01

    Information is given in viewgraph form on the Spacehab company and its work on a pressurized module to be carried on the Space Shuttle. The module augments the Shuttle's capability to support man-tended microgravity experiments. The augmentation modules are designed to duplicate the resources, such as power, environmental control, and data management that are available in the Shuttle's middeck. Topics covered include a company overview, company financing, system overview, module description, payload resources, locker accommodations, program status, and a listing of candidate payloads.

  6. A review of the impacts of degradation threats on soil properties in the UK.

    PubMed

    Gregory, A S; Ritz, K; McGrath, S P; Quinton, J N; Goulding, K W T; Jones, R J A; Harris, J A; Bol, R; Wallace, P; Pilgrim, E S; Whitmore, A P

    2015-10-01

    National governments are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of their soil resources and are shaping strategies accordingly. Implicit in any such strategy is that degradation threats and their potential effect on important soil properties and functions are defined and understood. In this paper, we aimed to review the principal degradation threats on important soil properties in the UK, seeking quantitative data where possible. Soil erosion results in the removal of important topsoil and, with it, nutrients, C and porosity. A decline in soil organic matter principally affects soil biological and microbiological properties, but also impacts on soil physical properties because of the link with soil structure. Soil contamination affects soil chemical properties, affecting nutrient availability and degrading microbial properties, whilst soil compaction degrades the soil pore network. Soil sealing removes the link between the soil and most of the 'spheres', significantly affecting hydrological and microbial functions, and soils on re-developed brownfield sites are typically degraded in most soil properties. Having synthesized the literature on the impact on soil properties, we discuss potential subsequent impacts on the important soil functions, including food and fibre production, storage of water and C, support for biodiversity, and protection of cultural and archaeological heritage. Looking forward, we suggest a twin approach of field-based monitoring supported by controlled laboratory experimentation to improve our mechanistic understanding of soils. This would enable us to better predict future impacts of degradation processes, including climate change, on soil properties and functions so that we may manage soil resources sustainably.

  7. Integration of Problem-Based Learning and Web-Based Multimedia to Enhance Soil Management Course

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Strivelli, R.; Krzic, M.; Crowley, C.; Dyanatkar, S.; Bomke, A.; Simard, S.; Grand, S.

    2012-04-01

    In an attempt to address declining enrolment in soil science programs and the changing learning needs of 21st century students, several universities in North America and around the world have re-organized their soil science curriculum and adopted innovative educational approaches and web-based teaching resources. At the University of British Columbia, Canada, an interdisciplinary team set out to integrate teaching approaches to address this trend. The objective of this project was to develop an interactive web-based teaching resource, which combined a face-to-face problem-based learning (PBL) case study with multimedia to illustrate the impacts of three land-uses on soil transformation and quality. The Land Use Impacts (LUI) tool (http://soilweb.landfood.ubc.ca/luitool/) was a collaborative and concentrated effort to maximize the advantages of two educational approaches: (1) the web's interactivity, flexibility, adaptability and accessibility, and (2) PBL's ability to foster an authentic learning environment, encourage group work and promote the application of core concepts. The design of the LUI case study was guided by Herrington's development principles for web-based authentic learning. The LUI tool presented students with rich multimedia (streaming videos, text, data, photographs, maps, and weblinks) and real world tasks (site assessment and soil analysis) to encourage students to utilize knowledge of soil science in collaborative problem-solving. Preliminary student feedback indicated that the LUI tool effectively conveyed case study objectives and was appealing to students. The resource is intended primarily for students enrolled in an upper level undergraduate/graduate university course titled Sustainable Soil Management but it is flexible enough to be adapted to other natural resource courses. Project planning and an interactive overview of the tool will be given during the presentation.

  8. A Cultural Resource Survey of a Proposed Dry Detention Basin in Cape LaCroix Creek Watershed, Cape Girardeau County, Missouri. St. Louis District Cultural Resource Management Report Number 1

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-07-01

    bottomlands constituted the soil parent materials. Limestone bedrock outcrops are present only along portions of the stream beds. Three soils series are...friable and readily tilled (Festervand 1981:21). The other bottomland soil series , the Haymond, extends across the remainder of the alluvial zone within the...parcel. While similar to those of the Elsah series in many respects, Haymond silt loams have better drainage and higher natural fertility (Festervand

  9. Changes in soil physical and chemical properties following organic matter removal and compaction: 20-year response of the aspen Lake-States Long Term Soil Productivity installations

    Treesearch

    Robert A. Slesak; Brian J. Palik; Anthony W. D' Amato; Valerie J. Kurth

    2017-01-01

    Soil functions that control plant resource availability can be altered by management activities such as increased organic matter (OM) removal and soil compaction during forest harvesting. The Long Term Soil Productivity study was established to evaluate how these practices influence soil and site productivity using experimental treatments that span a range of forest...

  10. Seasonality and resource availability control bacterial and archaeal communities in soils of a temperate beech forest

    PubMed Central

    Rasche, Frank; Knapp, Daniela; Kaiser, Christina; Koranda, Marianne; Kitzler, Barbara; Zechmeister-Boltenstern, Sophie; Richter, Andreas; Sessitsch, Angela

    2011-01-01

    It was hypothesized that seasonality and resource availability altered through tree girdling were major determinants of the phylogenetic composition of the archaeal and bacterial community in a temperate beech forest soil. During a 2-year field experiment, involving girdling of beech trees to intercept the transfer of easily available carbon (C) from the canopy to roots, members of the dominant phylogenetic microbial phyla residing in top soils under girdled versus untreated control trees were monitored at bimonthly intervals through 16S rRNA gene-based terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism profiling and quantitative PCR analysis. Effects on nitrifying and denitrifying groups were assessed by measuring the abundances of nirS and nosZ genes as well as bacterial and archaeal amoA genes. Seasonal dynamics displayed by key phylogenetic and nitrogen (N) cycling functional groups were found to be tightly coupled with seasonal alterations in labile C and N pools as well as with variation in soil temperature and soil moisture. In particular, archaea and acidobacteria were highly responsive to soil nutritional and soil climatic changes associated with seasonality, indicating their high metabolic versatility and capability to adapt to environmental changes. For these phyla, significant interrelations with soil chemical and microbial process data were found suggesting their potential, but poorly described contribution to nitrification or denitrification in temperate forest soils. In conclusion, our extensive approach allowed us to get novel insights into effects of seasonality and resource availability on the microbial community, in particular on hitherto poorly studied bacterial phyla and functional groups. PMID:20882059

  11. Effect of soiling in CPV systems

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Vivar, M.; Herrero, R.; Anton, I.

    2010-07-15

    The effect of soiling in flat PV modules has been already studied, causing a reduction of the electrical output of 4% on average. For CPV's, as far as soiling produces light scattering at the optical collector surface, the scattered rays should be definitively lost because they cannot be focused onto the receivers again. While the theoretical study becomes difficult because soiling is variable at different sites, it becomes easier to begin the monitoring of the real field performance of concentrators and then raise the following question: how much does the soiling affect to PV concentrators in comparison with flat panels?'more » The answers allow to predict the PV concentrator electrical performance and to establish a pattern of cleaning frequency. Some experiments have been conducted at the IES-UPM and CSES-ANU sites, consisting in linear reflective concentration systems, a point focus refractive concentrator and a flat module. All the systems have been measured when soiled and then after cleaning, achieving different increases of I{sub SC}. In general, results show that CPV systems are more sensitive to soiling than flat panels, accumulating losses in I{sub SC} of about 14% on average in three different tests conducted at IES-UPM and CSES-ANU test sites in Madrid (Spain) and Canberra (Australia). Some concentrators can reach losses up to 26% when the system is soiled for 4 months of exposure. (author)« less

  12. Evaluation of lunar rocks and soils for resource utilization: Detailed image analysis of raw materials and beneficiated products

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Taylor, Lawrence A.; Chambers, John G.; Patchen, Allan; Jerde, Eric A.; Mckay, David S.; Graf, John; Oder, Robin R.

    1993-01-01

    The rocks and soils of the Moon will be the raw materials for fuels and construction needs at a lunar base. This includes sources of materials for the generation of hydrogen, oxygen, metals, and other potential construction materials. For most of the bulk material needs, the regolith, and its less than 1 cm fraction, the soil, will suffice. But for specific mineral resources, it may be necessary to concentrate minerals from rocks or soils, and it is not always obvious which is the more appropriate feedstock. Besides an appreciation of site geology, the mineralogy and petrography of local rocks and soils is important for consideration of the resources which can provide feedstocks of ilmenite, glass, agglutinates, anorthite, etc. In such studies, it is very time-consuming and practically impossible to correlate particle counts (the traditional method of characterizing lunar soil petrography) with accurate modal analyses and with mineral associations in multi-mineralic grains. But x ray digital imaging, using x rays characteristic of each element, makes all this possible and much more (e.g., size and shape analysis). An application of beneficiation image analysis, in use in our lab (Oxford Instr. EDS and Cameca SX-50 EMP), was demonstrated to study mineral liberation from lunar rocks and soils. Results of x ray image analysis are presented.

  13. Soil nutrients influence spatial distributions of tropical tree species.

    PubMed

    John, Robert; Dalling, James W; Harms, Kyle E; Yavitt, Joseph B; Stallard, Robert F; Mirabello, Matthew; Hubbell, Stephen P; Valencia, Renato; Navarrete, Hugo; Vallejo, Martha; Foster, Robin B

    2007-01-16

    The importance of niche vs. neutral assembly mechanisms in structuring tropical tree communities remains an important unsettled question in community ecology [Bell G (2005) Ecology 86:1757-1770]. There is ample evidence that species distributions are determined by soils and habitat factors at landscape (<10(4) km(2)) and regional scales. At local scales (<1 km(2)), however, habitat factors and species distributions show comparable spatial aggregation, making it difficult to disentangle the importance of niche and dispersal processes. In this article, we test soil resource-based niche assembly at a local scale, using species and soil nutrient distributions obtained at high spatial resolution in three diverse neotropical forest plots in Colombia (La Planada), Ecuador (Yasuni), and Panama (Barro Colorado Island). Using spatial distribution maps of >0.5 million individual trees of 1,400 species and 10 essential plant nutrients, we used Monte Carlo simulations of species distributions to test plant-soil associations against null expectations based on dispersal assembly. We found that the spatial distributions of 36-51% of tree species at these sites show strong associations to soil nutrient distributions. Neutral dispersal assembly cannot account for these plant-soil associations or the observed niche breadths of these species. These results indicate that belowground resource availability plays an important role in the assembly of tropical tree communities at local scales and provide the basis for future investigations on the mechanisms of resource competition among tropical tree species.

  14. Resource use and efficiency, and stomatal responses to environmental drivers of oak and pine species in an Atlantic Coastal Plain forest.

    PubMed

    Renninger, Heidi J; Carlo, Nicholas J; Clark, Kenneth L; Schäfer, Karina V R

    2015-01-01

    Pine-oak ecosystems are globally distributed even though differences in anatomy and leaf habit between many co-occurring oaks and pines suggest different strategies for resource use, efficiency and stomatal behavior. The New Jersey Pinelands contain sandy soils with low water- and nutrient-holding capacity providing an opportunity to examine trade-offs in resource uptake and efficiency. Therefore, we compared resource use in terms of transpiration rates and leaf nitrogen content and resource-use efficiency including water-use efficiency (WUE) via gas exchange and leaf carbon isotopes and photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency (PNUE) between oaks (Quercus alba, Q. prinus, Q. velutina) and pines (Pinus rigida, P. echinata). We also determined environmental drivers [vapor pressure deficit (VPD), soil moisture, solar radiation] of canopy stomatal conductance (GS) estimated via sap flow and stomatal sensitivity to light and soil moisture. Net assimilation rates were similar between genera, but oak leaves used about 10% more water and pine foliage contained about 20% more N per unit leaf area. Therefore, oaks exhibited greater PNUE while pines had higher WUE based on gas exchange, although WUE from carbon isotopes was not significantly different. For the environmental drivers of GS, oaks had about 10% lower stomatal sensitivity to VPD normalized by reference stomatal conductance compared with pines. Pines exhibited a significant positive relationship between shallow soil moisture and GS, but only GS in Q. velutina was positively related to soil moisture. In contrast, stomatal sensitivity to VPD was significantly related to solar radiation in all oak species but only pines at one site. Therefore, oaks rely more heavily on groundwater resources but have lower WUE, while pines have larger leaf areas and nitrogen acquisition but lower PNUE demonstrating a trade-off between using water and nitrogen efficiently in a resource-limited ecosystem.

  15. Resource use and efficiency, and stomatal responses to environmental drivers of oak and pine species in an Atlantic Coastal Plain forest

    PubMed Central

    Renninger, Heidi J.; Carlo, Nicholas J.; Clark, Kenneth L.; Schäfer, Karina V. R.

    2015-01-01

    Pine-oak ecosystems are globally distributed even though differences in anatomy and leaf habit between many co-occurring oaks and pines suggest different strategies for resource use, efficiency and stomatal behavior. The New Jersey Pinelands contain sandy soils with low water- and nutrient-holding capacity providing an opportunity to examine trade-offs in resource uptake and efficiency. Therefore, we compared resource use in terms of transpiration rates and leaf nitrogen content and resource-use efficiency including water-use efficiency (WUE) via gas exchange and leaf carbon isotopes and photosynthetic nitrogen-use efficiency (PNUE) between oaks (Quercus alba, Q. prinus, Q. velutina) and pines (Pinus rigida, P. echinata). We also determined environmental drivers [vapor pressure deficit (VPD), soil moisture, solar radiation] of canopy stomatal conductance (GS) estimated via sap flow and stomatal sensitivity to light and soil moisture. Net assimilation rates were similar between genera, but oak leaves used about 10% more water and pine foliage contained about 20% more N per unit leaf area. Therefore, oaks exhibited greater PNUE while pines had higher WUE based on gas exchange, although WUE from carbon isotopes was not significantly different. For the environmental drivers of GS, oaks had about 10% lower stomatal sensitivity to VPD normalized by reference stomatal conductance compared with pines. Pines exhibited a significant positive relationship between shallow soil moisture and GS, but only GS in Q. velutina was positively related to soil moisture. In contrast, stomatal sensitivity to VPD was significantly related to solar radiation in all oak species but only pines at one site. Therefore, oaks rely more heavily on groundwater resources but have lower WUE, while pines have larger leaf areas and nitrogen acquisition but lower PNUE demonstrating a trade-off between using water and nitrogen efficiently in a resource-limited ecosystem. PMID:25999966

  16. Soil Degradation: A North American perspective

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Soil can be degraded through erosion and formation of undesirable physical, chemical, or biological properties due to industrialization or use of inappropriate farming practices that supersede natural regeneration. Soil degradation reflects unsustainable resource management that is global in scope a...

  17. Soil in the City: Sustainably Improving Urban Soils.

    PubMed

    Kumar, Kuldip; Hundal, Lakhwinder S

    2016-01-01

    Large tracts of abandoned urban land, resulting from the deindustrialization of metropolitan areas, are generating a renewed interest among city planners and community organizations envisioning the productive use of this land not only to produce fresh food but to effectively manage stormwater and mitigate the impact of urban heat islands. Healthy and productive soils are paramount to meet these objectives. However, these urban lands are often severely degraded due to anthropogenic activities and are generally contaminated with priority pollutants, especially heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Characterizing these degraded and contaminated soils and making them productive again to restore the required ecosystem services was the theme of the "Soil in the City- 2014" conference organized by W-2170 Committee (USDA's Sponsored Multi-State Research Project: Soil-Based Use of Residuals, Wastewater, & Reclaimed Water). This special section of comprises 12 targeted papers authored by conference participants to make available much needed information about the characteristics of urban soils. Innovative ways to mitigate the risks from pollutants and to improve the soil quality using local resources are discussed. Such practices include the use of composts and biosolids to grow healthy foods, reclaim brownfields, manage stormwater, and improve the overall ecosystem functioning of urban soils. These papers provide a needed resource for educating policymakers, practitioners, and the general public about using locally available resources to restore fertility, productivity, and ecosystem functioning of degraded urban land to revitalize metropolitan areas for improving the overall quality of life for a large segment of a rapidly growing urban population. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

  18. Live Lectures or Online Videos: Students' Resource Choices in a First-Year University Mathematics Module

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Howard, Emma; Meehan, Maria; Parnell, Andrew

    2018-01-01

    In "Maths for Business", a mathematics module for non-mathematics specialists, students are given the choice of completing the module content via short online videos, live lectures or a combination of both. In this study, we identify students' specific usage patterns with both of these resources and discuss their reasons for the…

  19. Module 3: Workplace Policy, Practice and Culture--Employer and Employee Perspectives. Work-Family Curriculum Guide

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kossek, Ellen Ernst; Leana, Carrie; MacDermid, Shelley; Pitt-Catsouphes, Marcie; Raskin, Patricia; Secret, Mary; Sweet, Stephen

    2006-01-01

    The contents of this module have been prepared to address some of challenges associated with teaching about work-family issues from a human resource management and employment perspective. The goals of this module are: (1) To develop an understanding that work-family policies are part of a human resource management system and the employment…

  20. Analysis of hydrological and geotechnical aspects related to landslides caused by rainfall infiltration

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Capparelli, Giovanna; La Sala, Gabriella; Vena, Mirko; Donato, Antonio

    2015-04-01

    A landslide is defined as a perceptible downward and outward movement of slope-forming soil, rock, and vegetation under the influence of gravity. Landslides can be triggered by both natural and human-induced changes in the environment. However rainfall is recognized as a major precursor for many types of slope movements. As a result of rainfall events and subsequent infiltration into the subsoil, the soil moisture can be significantly changed with a decrease in matric suction in unsaturated soil layers and/or increase in pore-water pressure in saturated layers. As a consequence, in these cases, the shear strength can be reduced enough to trigger the failure. An effective way to develop such an understanding is by means of computer simulation using numerical model. As part of the project PON "Integrated Early Warning System" our main objective was just to develop a numerical models that was able to consider the relation between rainfall, pore pressure and slope stability taking into account several components, including specific site conditions, mechanical, hydraulic and physical soil properties, local seepage conditions, and the contribution of these to soil strength. In this work the mechanism behind rainfall-triggered landslides is modeled by using combined infiltration, seepage and stability analyses. This method allows the evaluation of the terrain and its response based on geological, physical, hydrogeological and mechanical characteristics. The model is based on the combined use of two modules: an hydraulic module, to analyze the subsoil water circulation due to the rainfall infiltration under transient conditions and a geotechnical module, which provides indications regarding the slope stability. With regard to hydraulic module, variably saturated porous media flows have been modeled by the classical nonlinear Richards equation; in the geotechnical module the differential equilibrium equations have been solved taking into account the linear constitutive equations (plane stress) and strain-displacement relationship. By means of the model it is possible to analyze subsoil water circulation, safety factor of the slope subjected to gravity loading and to the pore pressure calculated from hydraulic module, displacement, strain and stress under the effect of rainfall infiltration. As an application case, the analysis and the representative results obtained for the Torre Orsaia landslide (Campania region - Southern Italy) are described.

  1. Land Application of Wastes: An Educational Program. Nitrogen Considerations - Module 15, Objectives, Script and Booklet.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clarkson, W. W.; And Others

    This module expands on the introductory discussion of nitrogen in other modules. The various chemical forms of nitrogen found in land treatment systems are defined. Inputs from waste application as well as natural sources are quantified for typical situations. A discussion of nitrogen transformations in the soil includes mineralization and…

  2. Space Resources Roundtable VI

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2004-01-01

    The topics addressed in the conference paper abstracts contained in this document include: extracting resources from the Moon and Mars, equipment for in situ resource utilization, mission planning for resource extraction, drilling on Mars, and simulants for lunar soil and minerals.

  3. Comprehensive assessment of regional selenium resources in soils based on the analytic hierarchy process: Assessment system construction and case demonstration.

    PubMed

    Liang, Ruoyu; Song, Shuai; Shi, Yajing; Shi, Yajuan; Lu, Yonglong; Zheng, Xiaoqi; Xu, Xiangbo; Wang, Yurong; Han, Xuesong

    2017-12-15

    The redundancy or deficiency of selenium in soils can cause adverse effects on crops and even threaten human health. It was necessary to assess selenium resources with a rigorous scientific appraisal. Previous studies of selenium resource assessment were usually carried out using a single index evaluation. A multi-index evaluation method (analytic hierarchy process) was used in this study to establish a comprehensive assessment system based on consideration of selenium content, soil nutrients and soil environmental quality. The criteria for the comprehensive assessment system were classified by summing critical values in the standards with weights and a Geographical Information System was used to reflect the regional distribution of the assessment results. Boshan, a representative region for developing selenium-rich agriculture, was taken as a case area and classified into Zone I-V, which suggested priority areas for developing selenium-rich agriculture. Most parts of the North and Midlands of Boshan were relatively suitable for development of selenium-rich agriculture. Soils in south fractions were contaminated by Cd, PAHs, HCHs and DDTs, in which it was forbidden to farm. This study was expected to provide the basis for developing selenium-rich agriculture and an example for comprehensive evaluation of relevant resources in a region. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. 7 CFR 610.13 - Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion... RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Soil Erosion Prediction Equations § 610.13 Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion. (a) The...

  5. 7 CFR 610.13 - Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion... RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Soil Erosion Prediction Equations § 610.13 Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion. (a) The...

  6. 7 CFR 610.13 - Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion... RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Soil Erosion Prediction Equations § 610.13 Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion. (a) The...

  7. 7 CFR 610.13 - Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion... RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Soil Erosion Prediction Equations § 610.13 Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion. (a) The...

  8. 7 CFR 610.13 - Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 6 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion... RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Soil Erosion Prediction Equations § 610.13 Equations for predicting soil loss due to wind erosion. (a) The...

  9. Caring for soil improves human health

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Soils have been our precious natural resources that are critical to our public health because of their impact on human and animal food, nutrition, water and air. Naturally, we strongly tied with our soils that are part of us and play major roles in our routine daily life. We rely on soils every day,...

  10. Soil water sensors:Problems, advances and potential for irrigation scheduling

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Irrigation water management has to do with the appropriate application of water to soils, in terms of amounts, rates, and timing to satisfy crop water demands, while protecting the soil and water resources from degradation. In this regard, sensors can be used to monitor the soil water status; and so...

  11. Regional-scale Assessment of Soil Salinity in the Red River Valley Using Multi-year MODIS EVI

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The ability to inventory and map soil salinity at regional scales remains a significant challenge to soil, environmental, and natural resource scientists. Previous attempts to use satellite or aerial imagery to assess and map soil salinity have resulted in limited success due, in part, to the inabi...

  12. Soils [Chapter 4.2

    Treesearch

    Daniel G. Neary; Johannes W. A. Langeveld

    2015-01-01

    Soils are crucial for profitable and sustainable biomass feedstock production. They provide nutrients and water, give support for plants, and provide habitat for enormous numbers of biota. There are several systems for soil classification. FAO has provided a generic classification system that was used for a global soil map (Bot et al., 2000). The USDA Natural Resources...

  13. Criterion I: Soil and water conservation on rangelands [Chapter 2

    Treesearch

    Michael G. (Sherm) Karl; Paul T. Tueller; Gerald E. Schuman; Mark R. Vinson; James L. Fogg; Ronald W. Shafer; David A. Pyke; D. Terrance Booth; Steven J. Borchard; William G. Ypsilantis; Richard H. Barrett

    2010-01-01

    The Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable (SRR) has explicitly included conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources as a criterion of rangeland sustainability. Within the soil/water criterion, 10 indicators ­ five soil-based and five water-based - were developed through the expert opinions of rangeland scientists, rangeland management agency personnel, non-...

  14. How People Have Used Soils, How Soils Have Affected U.S. History.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Polak, Julia

    1996-01-01

    Presents a lesson plan that investigates social aspects of the land and soil and how people use these resources. Following an introduction by the teacher on land and soil use, students answer related questions on handouts. Later handouts direct the students to group research projects and class presentations. (MJP)

  15. Relative importance of competition and plant-soil feedback, their synergy, context dependency and implications for coexistence.

    PubMed

    Lekberg, Ylva; Bever, James D; Bunn, Rebecca A; Callaway, Ragan M; Hart, Miranda M; Kivlin, Stephanie N; Klironomos, John; Larkin, Beau G; Maron, John L; Reinhart, Kurt O; Remke, Michael; van der Putten, Wim H

    2018-06-12

    Plants interact simultaneously with each other and with soil biota, yet the relative importance of competition vs. plant-soil feedback (PSF) on plant performance is poorly understood. Using a meta-analysis of 38 published studies and 150 plant species, we show that effects of interspecific competition (either growing plants with a competitor or singly, or comparing inter- vs. intraspecific competition) and PSF (comparing home vs. away soil, live vs. sterile soil, or control vs. fungicide-treated soil) depended on treatments but were predominantly negative, broadly comparable in magnitude, and additive or synergistic. Stronger competitors experienced more negative PSF than weaker competitors when controlling for density (inter- to intraspecific competition), suggesting that PSF could prevent competitive dominance and promote coexistence. When competition was measured against plants growing singly, the strength of competition overwhelmed PSF, indicating that the relative importance of PSF may depend not only on neighbour identity but also density. We evaluate how competition and PSFs might interact across resource gradients; PSF will likely strengthen competitive interactions in high resource environments and enhance facilitative interactions in low-resource environments. Finally, we provide a framework for filling key knowledge gaps and advancing our understanding of how these biotic interactions influence community structure. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  16. Ecological strategies in california chaparral: Interacting effects of soils, climate, and fire on specific leaf area

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Anacker, Brian; Rajakaruna, Nishanta; Ackerly, David; Harrison, Susan; Keeley, Jon E.; Vasey, Michael

    2011-01-01

    Background: High values of specific leaf area (SLA) are generally associated with high maximal growth rates in resource-rich conditions, such as mesic climates and fertile soils. However, fire may complicate this relationship since its frequency varies with both climate and soil fertility, and fire frequency selects for regeneration strategies (resprouting versus seeding) that are not independent of resource-acquisition strategies. Shared ancestry is also expected to affect the distribution of resource-use and regeneration traits.Aims: We examined climate, soil, and fire as drivers of community-level variation in a key functional trait, SLA, in chaparral in California.Methods: We quantified the phylogenetic, functional, and environmental non-independence of key traits for 87 species in 115 plots.Results: Among species, SLA was higher in resprouters than seeders, although not after phylogeny correction. Among communities, mean SLA was lower in harsh interior climates, but in these climates it was higher on more fertile soils and on more recently burned sites; in mesic coastal climates, mean SLA was uniformly high despite variation in soil fertility and fire history.Conclusions: We conclude that because important correlations exist among both species traits and environmental filters, interpreting the functional and phylogenetic structure of communities may require an understanding of complex interactive effects.

  17. Research and management of soil, plant, animal, and human resources in the Middle Rio Grande Basin

    Treesearch

    Deborah M. Finch

    1996-01-01

    The Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station initiated a research program in 1994 called. "Ecology, diversity, and sustainability of soil, plant, animal, and human resources of the Rio Grande Basin". This program is funded by an Ecosystem Management grant from Forest Service Research. Its mission focuses on the development and application of new...

  18. Geoinformation evaluation of soil resource potential for horticulture in Krasnodar region and the Republic of Adygea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Savin, I. Yu.; Dragavtseva, I. A.; Mironenko, N. Ya.; Sergeeva, N. N.; Domozhirova, V. V.; Morenets, A. S.; Ovechkin, S. V.

    2016-04-01

    A geoinformation database for assessing soil resource potential for horticulture in Krasnodar region and Adygea has been developed. The results of geoinformation analysis indicate that only 55-60% of soils in these regions are suitable for growing horticultural crops without limitations; about 35-40% of the total soil area is unsuitable for horticultural purposes. For plum trees, the area of unsuitable soils is somewhat lower than for other horticultural crops. Geographically, the areas of soils suitable and unsuitable for horticulture are close to one another. The thickness of the loose earthy soil material, the gravel content, the degree of salinization, the soil texture, and the degree of soil hydromorphism are the major soil properties imposing considerable limitations for the development of fruit-growing industry in the studied regions. The highest portions of soils suitable for horticulture are found in Eiskii, Kushchevskii, Krylovskii, Shcherbinovskii, and Novokubanskii districts of Krasnodar region. The development of horticulture in Tuapsinskii, Slavyanskii, and Primorsko-Akhtarskii districts is limited because of the unsuitability of soils for this purpose. About 8% of the existing orchards are found on soils recognized as unsuitable for horticulture, and only about 20% of the existing orchards are found on soils suitable for fruit growing without limitations. About 70% of the existing fruit orchards are located on degraded soils or on soils with certain limitations for horticulture. The profitability of fruit orchards on such soils is lower than that of the orchards planted on soils without limitations for horticulture. This information is necessary for the adequate economic evaluation of the degree of soil degradation.

  19. Islands of biogeodiversity in arid lands on a polygons map study: Detecting scale invariance patterns from natural resources maps.

    PubMed

    Ibáñez, J J; Pérez-Gómez, R; Brevik, Eric C; Cerdà, A

    2016-12-15

    Many maps (geology, hydrology, soil, vegetation, etc.) are created to inventory natural resources. Each of these resources is mapped using a unique set of criteria, including scales and taxonomies. Past research indicates that comparing results of related maps (e.g., soil and geology maps) may aid in identifying mapping deficiencies. Therefore, this study was undertaken in Almeria Province, Spain to (i) compare the underlying map structures of soil and vegetation maps and (ii) investigate if a vegetation map can provide useful soil information that was not shown on a soil map. Soil and vegetation maps were imported into ArcGIS 10.1 for spatial analysis, and results then exported to Microsoft Excel worksheets for statistical analyses to evaluate fits to linear and power law regression models. Vegetative units were grouped according to the driving forces that determined their presence or absence: (i) climatophilous (ii) lithologic-climate; and (iii) edaphophylous. The rank abundance plots for both the soil and vegetation maps conformed to Willis or Hollow Curves, meaning the underlying structures of both maps were the same. Edaphophylous map units, which represent 58.5% of the vegetation units in the study area, did not show a good correlation with the soil map. Further investigation revealed that 87% of the edaphohygrophilous units were found in ramblas, ephemeral riverbeds that are not typically classified and mapped as soils in modern systems, even though they meet the definition of soil given by the most commonly used and most modern soil taxonomic systems. Furthermore, these edaphophylous map units tend to be islands of biodiversity that are threatened by anthropogenic activity in the region. Therefore, this study revealed areas that need to be revisited and studied pedologically. The vegetation mapped in these areas and the soils that support it are key components of the earth's critical zone that must be studied, understood, and preserved. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Interactive biotic and abiotic regulators of soil carbon cycling: evidence from controlled climate experiments on peatland and boreal soils.

    PubMed

    Briones, María Jesús I; McNamara, Niall P; Poskitt, Jan; Crow, Susan E; Ostle, Nicholas J

    2014-09-01

    Partially decomposed plant and animal remains have been accumulating in organic soils (i.e. >40% C content) for millennia, making them the largest terrestrial carbon store. There is growing concern that, in a warming world, soil biotic processing will accelerate and release greenhouse gases that further exacerbate climate change. However, the magnitude of this response remains uncertain as the constraints are abiotic, biotic and interactive. Here, we examined the influence of resource quality and biological activity on the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration under different soil moisture regimes. Organic soils were sampled from 13 boreal and peatland ecosystems located in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Finland and Sweden, representing a natural resource quality range of C, N and P. They were incubated at four temperatures (4, 10, 15 and 20 °C) at either 60% or 100% water holding capacity (WHC). Our results showed that chemical and biological properties play an important role in determining soil respiration responses to temperature and moisture changes. High soil C : P and C : N ratios were symptomatic of slow C turnover and long-term C accumulation. In boreal soils, low bacterial to fungal ratios were related to greater temperature sensitivity of respiration, which was amplified in drier conditions. This contrasted with peatland soils which were dominated by bacterial communities and enchytraeid grazing, resulting in a more rapid C turnover under warmer and wetter conditions. The unexpected acceleration of C mineralization under high moisture contents was possibly linked to the primarily role of fermented organic matter, instead of oxygen, in mediating microbial decomposition. We conclude that to improve C model simulations of soil respiration, a better resolution of the interactions occurring between climate, resource quality and the decomposer community will be required. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  1. Apollo 12 Lunar Module exhaust plume impingement on Lunar Surveyor III

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Immer, Christopher; Metzger, Philip; Hintze, Paul E.; Nick, Andrew; Horan, Ryan

    2011-02-01

    Understanding plume impingement by retrorockets on the surface of the Moon is paramount for safe lunar outpost design in NASA's planned return to the Moon for the Constellation Program. Visual inspection, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and surface scanned topology have been used to investigate the damage to the Lunar Surveyor III spacecraft that was caused by the Apollo 12 Lunar Module's close proximity landing. Two parts of the Surveyor III craft returned by the Apollo 12 astronauts, Coupons 2050 and 2051, which faced the Apollo 12 landing site, show that a fine layer of lunar regolith coated the materials and was subsequently removed by the Apollo 12 Lunar Module landing rocket. The coupons were also pitted by the impact of larger soil particles with an average of 103 pits/cm 2. The average entry size of the pits was 83.7 μm (major diameter) × 74.5 μm (minor diameter) and the average estimated penetration depth was 88.4 μm. Pitting in the surface of the coupons correlates to removal of lunar fines and is likely a signature of lunar material imparting localized momentum/energy sufficient to cause cracking of the paint. Comparison with the lunar soil particle size distribution and the optical density of blowing soil during lunar landings indicates that the Surveyor III spacecraft was not exposed to the direct spray of the landing Lunar Module, but instead experienced only the fringes of the spray of soil. Had Surveyor III been exposed to the direct spray, the damage would have been orders of magnitude higher.

  2. Fault-tolerant rotary actuator

    DOEpatents

    Tesar, Delbert

    2006-10-17

    A fault-tolerant actuator module, in a single containment shell, containing two actuator subsystems that are either asymmetrically or symmetrically laid out is provided. Fault tolerance in the actuators of the present invention is achieved by the employment of dual sets of equal resources. Dual resources are integrated into single modules, with each having the external appearance and functionality of a single set of resources.

  3. Don’t bust the biological soil crust: Preserving and restoring an important desert resource

    Treesearch

    Sue Miller; Steve Warren; Larry St. Clair

    2017-01-01

    Biological soil crusts are a complex of microscopic organisms growing on the soil surface in many arid and semi-arid ecosystems. These crusts perform the important role of stabilizing soil and reducing or eliminating water and wind erosion. One of the largest threats to biological soil crusts in the arid and semi-arid areas of the western United States is mechanical...

  4. Impacts of Urban Sprawl on Soil Resources in the Changchun⁻Jilin Economic Zone, China, 2000⁻2015.

    PubMed

    Li, Xiaoyan; Yang, Limin; Ren, Yongxing; Li, Huiying; Wang, Zongming

    2018-06-06

    The Changchun⁻Jilin Economic Zone (CJEZ) is one of the most rapidly developing areas in Northeast China, as well as one of the famous golden maize belts in the world. This is a case study to assess the impacts of urban sprawl on soil resources using remote sensing imagery and geographic spatial analysis methods. The common urbanization intensity index (CUII), soil quality index, and soil landscape metrics were calculated to reflect urbanization and the response of soil resource. Results showed that the area of soil sealing changed from 112,460 ha in 2000 to 139,233 ha in 2015, and in the rural region, the area occupied by urbanization nearly kept balance with the area of rural residential expansion. Urban land increased by 26,767 ha at an annual rate of 3.23% from 2000 to 2015. All seven soil types were occupied during the urbanization process, among which black soil ranked the highest (18,560 ha) and accounted for 69.34% of the total occupied area. Soils of Grades I (3927 ha) and II (15,016 ha) were 64.75% of the total occupied soil areas. Urban land expanded in an irregular shape and a disordered way, which led to an increasing large patch index (LPI) and aggregation index (AI), and a decreasing edge density (ED) and Shannon’s diversity index (SHDI) of the soil landscape in the study area during 2000⁻2015. According to the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model analysis, the R ² between the CUII and soil landscape metrics decreased from the LPI and ED to SHDI and in turn to AI. The local R ² between SHDI, ED, and CUII showed a gradient structure from the inner city to peri-urban areas, in which larger values appeared with strongly intensive urbanization in urban fringes. Soil sealing induced by urbanization has become a significant factor threatening soil, the environment, and food security. How to coordinate regional development and ensure the sustainability of the multiple functions of soil is a problem that needs to be taken into account in the future development of the region.

  5. Completing the land resource hierarchy

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The Land Resource Hierarchy of the NRCS is a hierarchal landscape classification consisting of resource areas which represent both conceptual and spatially discrete landscape units stratifying agency programs and practices. The Land Resource Hierarchy (LRH) scales from discrete points (soil pedon an...

  6. Modeling coupled interactions of carbon, water, and ozone exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. I: model description.

    PubMed

    Nikolov, Ned; Zeller, Karl F

    2003-01-01

    A new biophysical model (FORFLUX) is presented to study the simultaneous exchange of ozone, carbon dioxide, and water vapor between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. The model mechanistically couples all major processes controlling ecosystem flows trace gases and water implementing recent concepts in plant eco-physiology, micrometeorology, and soil hydrology. FORFLUX consists of four interconnected modules-a leaf photosynthesis model, a canopy flux model, a soil heat-, water- and CO2- transport model, and a snow pack model. Photosynthesis, water-vapor flux and ozone uptake at the leaf level are computed by the LEAFC3 sub-model. The canopy module scales leaf responses to a stand level by numerical integration of the LEAFC3model over canopy leaf area index (LAI). The integration takes into account (1) radiative transfer inside the canopy, (2) variation of foliage photosynthetic capacity with canopy depth, (3) wind speed attenuation throughout the canopy, and (4) rainfall interception by foliage elements. The soil module uses principles of the diffusion theory to predict temperature and moisture dynamics within the soil column, evaporation, and CO2 efflux from soil. The effect of soil heterogeneity on field-scale fluxes is simulated employing the Bresler-Dagan stochastic concept. The accumulation and melt of snow on the ground is predicted using an explicit energy balance approach. Ozone deposition is modeled as a sum of three fluxes- ozone uptake via plant stomata, deposition to non-transpiring plant surfaces, and ozone flux into the ground. All biophysical interactions are computed hourly while model projections are made at either hourly or daily time step. FORFLUX represents a comprehensive approach to studying ozone deposition and its link to carbon and water cycles in terrestrial ecosystems.

  7. Education on sustainable soil management for the masses? The Soil4Life MOOC

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maroulis, Jerry; Demie, Moore; Riksen, Michel; Ritsema, Coen

    2017-04-01

    Although soil is one of our most important natural resources and the foundation for all life on Earth it remains one of the most neglected of our resources. We, in soil science know this, but what do we do to reach more people more quickly? MOOCs, 'Massive Open Online Courses', are a vehicle for offering learning to virtually unlimited audiences at little cost to the student. Could MOOCs be the format for introducing more people worldwide to the importance of soil and sustainable soil management? MOOCs have their limitations and critics. However, depending on your goals, expectations and resources, they are a means for getting information to a much broader population than is possible through conventional educational formats. Wageningen University (WU) agreed and approved the development of a MOOC on sustainable soil management entitled Soil4Life. This presentation reviews the format and results of Soil4Life, concluding with some observations and reflections about this approach to soil science education. The Soil4Life MOOC introduces the role of soil in life on earth, soil degradation, and socio-economic issues related to generating action for long-term sustainability of the many soil-related ecosystem services. The objectives of Soil4Life are to raise awareness about the many important aspects of soil and sustainable soil management, and to allow the educational materials we produced to be available for use by others. The process of creating the Soil4Life MOOC involved 18 academic staff across all WU soil-related groups plus a vital team of education and technical staff. This number of people posed various challenges. However, with clear guidelines, lots of encouragement and technical support, Soil4Life was started in late 2015 and launched on the edx platform in May 2016. Just over 5000 students from 161 countries enrolled in the first offer of the Soil4Life MOOC - a modest number for MOOCs, but not bad for soil science. The targeted audience was initially high school graduates possessing a general grounding in science. However, only 16.6% fitted this category with most enrolees already having a Bachelors or Master's degree and even 5.9% possessing doctorates. Multiple students mentioned that soil was pertinent to their field of work but they knew little about it or, in the case of teachers, had limited access to current teaching resources. Soil4Life provided a means to broaden knowledge and state of the art information for use in many settings. In the post-survey (n=103), >90% stated that Soil4Life met or exceeded their expectations. Overall, students were happy with the workload (81.2% spent up to 8hr/wk). The WU approved the MOOC as a 2.0 credit course for all WU students. Some revisions were made and the MOOC was relaunched in November 2016. Creating a MOOC is intensive and expensive, however its potential reach is enormous. Expecting a single MOOC to accomplish all goals or provide a return on investment is unrealistic. However, designing a MOOC that is relevant and can be re-used in multiple ways, provides a means for offering soil science education and disseminating WU soils expertise worldwide.

  8. Mangroves Build Land. "Mangroves are a Valuable Resource." Grades 7 and 8. A Two Lesson Unit. Student Learning Activity Module.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frank, James

    This module is an activity and film-oriented unit focusing on the importance of mangroves in the South Florida ecosystem. The module is part of a series designed to be used by teachers, students, and community members to help them utilize community resources in developing and teaching environmental concepts and responsibility, and in seeking ways…

  9. Spatial patterns of soil pH and the factors that influence them in plantation forests of northern China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hong, Songbai; Liu, Yongwen; Piao, Shilong

    2017-04-01

    Climate and anthropogenic activities such as afforestation and nitrogen deposition all impact soil pH. Understanding the spatial pattern of soil pH and the factors that influence it can provide basic information for generating appropriate strategies for soil resource management and protection, especially in light of increasing anthropogenic influences and climate change. In this study, we investigated the spatial and vertical pattern of soil pH and evaluated the influence of climate and nitrogen deposition using 1647 soil profiles 1 meter in depth from 549 plots in plantation forests of northern China. We found that soil pH decreased from the southwest to the northeast in the study region and had a similar spatial pattern before and after afforestation. Furthermore, our results show that climate and nitrogen deposition fundamentally influence the pattern of soil pH. Specifically, increasing precipitation significantly decreased soil pH (with a mean rate of 0.3 for every 100 mm rainfall, p<0.001), whereas increasing temperature significantly increased soil pH (0.13 for every degree centigrade, p<0.001). Nitrogen deposition, especially nitrate nitrogen, significantly decreased soil pH (p<0.01). All these factors impact soil pH directly and indirectly through climate-plant-soil interactions. As the risks from both climate change and nitrogen deposition increase, there is an urgent need to further understanding of soil pH dynamics and to develop informed policies to protect soil resources.

  10. National Program for Inspection of Non-Federal Dams. Thousand Acre Site Number 1 Dam MA 00256, Housatonic River Basin, New Marlborough, Massachusetts. Phase I Inspection Report.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1980-10-01

    Conservation Division Kevin Maguire, Water Resources Comission, Boston, Mass. Edward G. Konieczny, Soil Conservation Service . James J. Elasmar, Soil...34, ’. R~CT C’ A~dJL IST’~CTCN July 1, 1974 BLACKBERRY IM-R WAERS "HED. Blackberry Site On June 24, 1974, the following met at the...Related Resources - Conn. Kevin iAlmguire Water Resources Comm~ission - Boston W. If. tieyers Berkshire Conservation Commissin Stetson Adams Department of

  11. Simple additive simulation overestimates real influence: altered nitrogen and rainfall modulate the effect of warming on soil carbon fluxes.

    PubMed

    Ni, Xiangyin; Yang, Wanqin; Qi, Zemin; Liao, Shu; Xu, Zhenfeng; Tan, Bo; Wang, Bin; Wu, Qinggui; Fu, Changkun; You, Chengming; Wu, Fuzhong

    2017-08-01

    Experiments and models have led to a consensus that there is positive feedback between carbon (C) fluxes and climate warming. However, the effect of warming may be altered by regional and global changes in nitrogen (N) and rainfall levels, but the current understanding is limited. Through synthesizing global data on soil C pool, input and loss from experiments simulating N deposition, drought and increased precipitation, we quantified the responses of soil C fluxes and equilibrium to the three single factors and their interactions with warming. We found that warming slightly increased the soil C input and loss by 5% and 9%, respectively, but had no significant effect on the soil C pool. Nitrogen deposition alone increased the soil C input (+20%), but the interaction of warming and N deposition greatly increased the soil C input by 49%. Drought alone decreased the soil C input by 17%, while the interaction of warming and drought decreased the soil C input to a greater extent (-22%). Increased precipitation stimulated the soil C input by 15%, but the interaction of warming and increased precipitation had no significant effect on the soil C input. However, the soil C loss was not significantly affected by any of the interactions, although it was constrained by drought (-18%). These results implied that the positive C fluxes-climate warming feedback was modulated by the changing N and rainfall regimes. Further, we found that the additive effects of [warming × N deposition] and [warming × drought] on the soil C input and of [warming × increased precipitation] on the soil C loss were greater than their interactions, suggesting that simple additive simulation using single-factor manipulations may overestimate the effects on soil C fluxes in the real world. Therefore, we propose that more multifactorial experiments should be considered in studying Earth systems. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Photonic Quantum Networks formed from NV− centers

    PubMed Central

    Nemoto, Kae; Trupke, Michael; Devitt, Simon J.; Scharfenberger, Burkhard; Buczak, Kathrin; Schmiedmayer, Jörg; Munro, William J.

    2016-01-01

    In this article we present a simple repeater scheme based on the negatively-charged nitrogen vacancy centre in diamond. Each repeater node is built from modules comprising an optical cavity containing a single NV−, with one nuclear spin from 15N as quantum memory. The module uses only deterministic processes and interactions to achieve high fidelity operations (>99%), and modules are connected by optical fiber. In the repeater node architecture, the processes between modules by photons can be in principle deterministic, however current limitations on optical components lead the processes to be probabilistic but heralded. Our resource-modest repeater architecture contains two modules at each node, and the repeater nodes are then connected by entangled photon pairs. We discuss the performance of such a quantum repeater network with modest resources and then incorporate more resource-intense strategies step by step. Our architecture should allow large-scale quantum information networks with existing or near future technology. PMID:27215433

  13. Photonic Quantum Networks formed from NV(-) centers.

    PubMed

    Nemoto, Kae; Trupke, Michael; Devitt, Simon J; Scharfenberger, Burkhard; Buczak, Kathrin; Schmiedmayer, Jörg; Munro, William J

    2016-05-24

    In this article we present a simple repeater scheme based on the negatively-charged nitrogen vacancy centre in diamond. Each repeater node is built from modules comprising an optical cavity containing a single NV(-), with one nuclear spin from (15)N as quantum memory. The module uses only deterministic processes and interactions to achieve high fidelity operations (>99%), and modules are connected by optical fiber. In the repeater node architecture, the processes between modules by photons can be in principle deterministic, however current limitations on optical components lead the processes to be probabilistic but heralded. Our resource-modest repeater architecture contains two modules at each node, and the repeater nodes are then connected by entangled photon pairs. We discuss the performance of such a quantum repeater network with modest resources and then incorporate more resource-intense strategies step by step. Our architecture should allow large-scale quantum information networks with existing or near future technology.

  14. 7 CFR 610.22 - State Technical Committee membership.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... variety of disciplines in soil, water, wetlands, plant, and wildlife sciences. The State Conservationist... resources agency; (iv) Department of agriculture; (v) Association of soil and water conservation districts; and (vi) Soil and water conservation agency; (8) Agricultural producers representing the variety of...

  15. 7 CFR 610.22 - State Technical Committee membership.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... variety of disciplines in soil, water, wetlands, plant, and wildlife sciences. The State Conservationist... resources agency; (iv) Department of agriculture; (v) Association of soil and water conservation districts; and (vi) Soil and water conservation agency; (8) Agricultural producers representing the variety of...

  16. 7 CFR 610.22 - State Technical Committee membership.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... variety of disciplines in soil, water, wetlands, plant, and wildlife sciences. The State Conservationist... resources agency; (iv) Department of agriculture; (v) Association of soil and water conservation districts; and (vi) Soil and water conservation agency; (8) Agricultural producers representing the variety of...

  17. 7 CFR 610.22 - State Technical Committee membership.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... variety of disciplines in soil, water, wetlands, plant, and wildlife sciences. The State Conservationist... resources agency; (iv) Department of agriculture; (v) Association of soil and water conservation districts; and (vi) Soil and water conservation agency; (8) Agricultural producers representing the variety of...

  18. 7 CFR 610.22 - State Technical Committee membership.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... variety of disciplines in soil, water, wetlands, plant, and wildlife sciences. The State Conservationist... resources agency; (iv) Department of agriculture; (v) Association of soil and water conservation districts; and (vi) Soil and water conservation agency; (8) Agricultural producers representing the variety of...

  19. Trait-based characterisation of soil exploitation strategies of banana, weeds and cover plant species

    PubMed Central

    Tardy, Florence; Damour, Gaëlle; Dorel, Marc; Moreau, Delphine

    2017-01-01

    Cover plants can be introduced in cropping systems to provide agroecosystem services, including weed control via competition for resources. There is currently no consensus on how to identify the best cover plant species, while trait-based approaches are promising for screening plant species due to their agroecosystem service provision potential. This study was carried out to characterize soil exploitation strategies of cover plant species in banana agroecosystems using a trait-based approach, and in turn identify cover plant species with a high weed control potential via competition for soil resources in banana cropping systems. A field experiment was conducted on 17 cover plant species, two weed species and two banana cultivars grown individually. Four functional traits were measured. Two of them (i.e., the size of the zone explored by roots and the root impact density) were used to characterize root system soil exploration patterns. Two other traits (i.e., specific root length and root diameter) were used to characterize resource acquisition within the soil zone explored by the roots. All studied traits exhibited marked variations among species. The findings suggested a trade-off between the abilities of species to develop a limited number of large diameter roots exploring a large soil zone versus many thin roots exploring a smaller soil zone. Three soil-resource exploitation strategies were identified among species: (i) with large diameter roots that explore a large soil zone; (ii) with small diameter roots and a high specific length that explore a smaller soil zone; and (iii) with a high total root-impact density and an intermediate specific root length that explore the uppermost soil layers. Interestingly, in our panel of species, no correlations with regard to belowground and aboveground strategies were noted: species with an acquisitive belowground strategy could display an acquisitive or a conservative aboveground strategy. The findings of this study illustrated that a trait-based approach could be used to identify plant species with potential for competing with weeds, while minimising competition with banana. Six of the 17 studied cover crop species were identified as having this potential. The next step will be to assess them for their weed control performances in banana cropping systems with low reliance on herbicides. PMID:28257454

  20. Trait-based characterisation of soil exploitation strategies of banana, weeds and cover plant species.

    PubMed

    Tardy, Florence; Damour, Gaëlle; Dorel, Marc; Moreau, Delphine

    2017-01-01

    Cover plants can be introduced in cropping systems to provide agroecosystem services, including weed control via competition for resources. There is currently no consensus on how to identify the best cover plant species, while trait-based approaches are promising for screening plant species due to their agroecosystem service provision potential. This study was carried out to characterize soil exploitation strategies of cover plant species in banana agroecosystems using a trait-based approach, and in turn identify cover plant species with a high weed control potential via competition for soil resources in banana cropping systems. A field experiment was conducted on 17 cover plant species, two weed species and two banana cultivars grown individually. Four functional traits were measured. Two of them (i.e., the size of the zone explored by roots and the root impact density) were used to characterize root system soil exploration patterns. Two other traits (i.e., specific root length and root diameter) were used to characterize resource acquisition within the soil zone explored by the roots. All studied traits exhibited marked variations among species. The findings suggested a trade-off between the abilities of species to develop a limited number of large diameter roots exploring a large soil zone versus many thin roots exploring a smaller soil zone. Three soil-resource exploitation strategies were identified among species: (i) with large diameter roots that explore a large soil zone; (ii) with small diameter roots and a high specific length that explore a smaller soil zone; and (iii) with a high total root-impact density and an intermediate specific root length that explore the uppermost soil layers. Interestingly, in our panel of species, no correlations with regard to belowground and aboveground strategies were noted: species with an acquisitive belowground strategy could display an acquisitive or a conservative aboveground strategy. The findings of this study illustrated that a trait-based approach could be used to identify plant species with potential for competing with weeds, while minimising competition with banana. Six of the 17 studied cover crop species were identified as having this potential. The next step will be to assess them for their weed control performances in banana cropping systems with low reliance on herbicides.

  1. Lunar Soil Erosion Physics for Landing Rockets on the Moon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Clegg, Ryan; Metzger, Philip; Roberson, Luke; Stephen, Huff

    2010-03-01

    To develop a lunar outpost, we must understand the blowing of soil during launch and landing of the new Altair Lander. For example, the Apollo 12 Lunar Module landed approximately 165 meters from the deactivated Surveyor III spacecraft, scouring its surfaces and creating numerous tiny pits. Based on simulations and video analysis from the Apollo missions, blowing lunar soil particles have velocities up to 2000 m/s at low ejection angles relative to the horizon, reach an apogee higher than the orbiting Command and Service Module, and travel nearly the circumference of the Moon. The low ejection angle and high velocity are concerns for the lunar outpost. As a first step in investigating this concern, we have performed a series of low-velocity impact experiments in a modified sandblasting hood using lunar soil simulant impacted upon various materials that are commonly used in spaceflight hardware. It was seen that considerable damage is inevitable and protective barriers need to be designed.

  2. Three Simple Hands-On Soil Exercises Extension Professionals Can Incorporate into Natural Sciences Curriculum

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kleinschmidt, Andy

    2011-01-01

    The importance of healthy soil and of conveying the importance of soils starts by conveying a few basic concepts of soil science cannot be overstated. This article provides three hands-on exercises Extension professionals can add to natural resources or Master Gardener education curricula. These natural sciences exercises are easy to prepare for…

  3. Soil and Water Indicators of the Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable

    Treesearch

    M.G. Sherm Karl; D.A. Pyke; P.T. Tueller; G.E. Schuman; R.W. Shafer; S.J. Borchard; D.T. Booth; W.G. Ypsilantis; R.H. Jr. Barrett

    2006-01-01

    The Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable (SRR) has explicitly included conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources as a criterion, a category of conditions or processes that can be assessed nationally to determine if the current level of rangeland management will ensure sustainability. Within the soil/water criterion, 10 indicators, 5 soil-based and 5 water-...

  4. Teaching Soil and Water Conservation: A Classroom and Field Guide.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Foster, Albert B.; Fox, Adrian C.

    Compiled in this booklet are 22 activities designed to develop awareness of the importance of conservation and the wise use of soil and moisture on croplands, grasslands, and woodlands. They have been selected by Soil Conservation Service (SCS) personnel and consultants to show that the way we manage our basic natural resources, soil and water,…

  5. Description of the Fork Mountain long-term soil productivity study: site characterization

    Treesearch

    Mary Beth Adams; James Burger; Lucian Zelazny; John Baumgras

    2004-01-01

    The effects of air pollution and timber harvesting on soil resources continue to be an important issue in eastern hardwood forests. This publication describes the Fork Mountain Long-term Soil Productivity Study (LTSP), located on the Fernow Experimental Forest, WV, and the pretreatment stand, soil and climatic conditions. Extensive vegetation surveys, biomass...

  6. Tillage and residue management effects on soil carbon and nitrogen under irrigated continuous corn

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Demand for corn (Zea mays L.) stover as forage or as a cellulosic biofuel has increased the importance of determining the effects of residue removal on biomass production and the soil resource. Objectives were to evaluate grain yield, soil organic carbon (SOC), and total soil N (0 to 150 cm) in a t...

  7. The harm of petroleum-polluted soil and its remediation research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Shuguang; Xu, Yan; Lin, Zhaofeng; Zhang, Jishi; Norbu, Namkha; Liu, Wei

    2017-08-01

    Land resources are the foundation of human's survival and development, and it's one of the most valuable natural resources of each country. In view of the serious problems of petroleum pollution to soil caused during the exploration and development processes, this article based on a large number of literature researches, firstly discussed the compositions and properties of petroleum contaminants, secondly investigated some restoration methods for the current situation of petroleum polluted soil, compared and analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of three kinds of bioremediation technologies. Finally, according to the deficiencies of previous research and existing problems, made an outlook of the physical and chemical remediation, bioremediation, and microbe-plant remediation, to provide some enlightenments for petroleum-contaminated soil remediation.

  8. Building an open academic environment - a new approach to empowering students in their learning of anatomy through 'Shadow Modules'.

    PubMed

    Scott, Jonathan L; Moxham, Bernard J; Rutherford, Stephen M

    2014-03-01

    Teaching and learning in anatomy is undertaken by a variety of methodologies, yet all of these pedagogies benefit from students discussing and reflecting upon their learning activities. An approach of particular potency is peer-mediated learning, through either peer-teaching or collaborative peer-learning. Collaborative, peer-mediated, learning activities help promote deep learning approaches and foster communities of practice in learning. Students generally flourish in collaborative learning settings but there are limitations to the benefits of collaborative learning undertaken solely within the confines of modular curricula. We describe the development of peer-mediated learning through student-focused and student-led study groups we have termed 'Shadow Modules'. The 'Shadow Module' takes place parallel to the formal academically taught module and facilitates collaboration between students to support their learning for that module. In 'Shadow Module' activities, students collaborate towards curating existing online open resources as well as developing learning resources of their own to support their study. Through the use of communication technologies and Web 2.0 tools these resources are able to be shared with their peers, thus enhancing the learning experience of all students following the module. The Shadow Module activities have the potential to lead to participants feeling a greater sense of engagement with the subject material, as well as improving their study and group-working skills and developing digital literacy. The outputs from Shadow Module collaborative work are open-source and may be utilised by subsequent student cohorts, thus building up a repository of learning resources designed by and for students. Shadow Module activities would benefit all pedagogies in the study of anatomy, and support students moving from being passive consumers to active participants in learning. © 2013 Anatomical Society.

  9. Using Combustion Synthesis to Reinforce Berms and Other Regolith Structures

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rodriquez, Gary

    2013-01-01

    The Moonraker Excavator and other tools under development for use on the Moon, Mars, and asteroids will be employed to construct a number of civil engineering projects and to mine the soil. Mounds of loose soil will be subject to the local transport mechanisms plus artificial mechanisms such as blast effects from landers and erosion from surface vehicles. Some of these structures will require some permanence, with a minimum of maintenance and upkeep. Combustion Synthesis (CS) is a family of processes and techniques whereby chemistry is used to transform materials, often creating flame in a hard vacuum. CS can be used to stabilize civil engineering works such as berms, habitat shielding, ramps, pads, roadways, and the like. The method is to unroll thin sheets of CS fabric between layers of regolith and then fire the fabric, creating a continuous sheet of crusty material to be interposed among layers of loose regolith. The combination of low-energy processes, ISRU (in situ resource utilization) excavator, and CS fabrics, seems compelling as a general method for establishing structures of some permanence and utility, especially in the role of robotic missions as precursors to manned exploration and settlement. In robotic precursory missions, excavator/ mobility ensembles mine the Lunar surface, erect constructions of soil, and dispense sheets of CS fabrics that are covered with layers of soil, fired, and then again covered with layers of soil, iterating until the desired dimensions and forms are achieved. At the base of each berm, for example, is a shallow trench lined with CS fabric, fired and filled, mounded, and then covered and fired, iteratively to provide a footing against lateral shear. A larger trench is host to a habitat module, backfilled, covered with fabric, covered with soil, and fired. Covering the applied CS fabric with layers of soil before firing allows the resulting matrix to incorporate soil both above and below the fabric ply into the fused layer, developing a very irregular surface which, like sandpaper, can provide an anchor for loose soil. CS fabrics employ a coarse fiberglass weave that persists as reinforcement for the fired material. The fiberglass softens at a temperature that exceeds the combustion temperature by factors of two to three, and withstands the installation process. This type of structure should be more resistant to rocket blast effects from Lunar landers.

  10. Density and community structure of soil- and bark-dwelling microarthropods along an altitudinal gradient in a tropical montane rainforest.

    PubMed

    Illig, Jens; Norton, Roy A; Scheu, Stefan; Maraun, Mark

    2010-09-01

    Microarthropod communities in the soil and on the bark of trees were investigated along an elevation gradient (1,850, 2,000, 2,150, 2,300 m) in a tropical montane rain forest in southern Ecuador. We hypothesised that the density of microarthropods declines with depth in soil and increases with increasing altitude mainly due to the availability of resources, i.e. organic matter. In addition, we expected bark and soil communities to differ strongly, since the bark of trees is more exposed to harsher factors. In contrast to our hypothesis, the density of major microarthropod groups (Collembola, Oribatida, Gamasina, Uropodina) was generally low and decreased with altitude. However, as we predicted the density of each of the groups decreased with soil depth. Density of microarthropods on tree bark was lower than in soil. Overall, 43 species of oribatid mites were found, with the most abundant higher taxa being Poronota, pycnonotic Apheredermata, Mixonomata and Eupheredermata. The oribatid mite community on bark did not differ significantly from that in soil. The number of oribatid mite species declined with altitude (24, 23, 17 and 13 species at 1,850, 2,000, 2,150 and 2,300 m, respectively). Rarefaction curves indicate that overall about 50 oribatid mite species are to be expected along the studied altitudinal gradient. Results of this study indicate (1) that microarthropods may be limited by the quality of resources at high altitudes and by the amount of resources at deeper soil layers, and (2) that the bark of trees and the soil are habitats of similar quality for oribatid mites.

  11. Helium in soil gases of the Roosevelt Hot Springs Known Geothermal Resource Ares, Beaver County, Utah

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hinkle, M.E.; Denton, E.H.; Bigelow, R.C.; Turner, R.L.

    1978-01-01

    Soil samples were collected in two parallel traverses across the Dome fault zone of the Roosevelt Hot Springs Known Geothermal Resource Area. The samples were sealed in air-tight aluminum cans, and the soil gas was allowed to equilibrate with the atmospheric air in the cans. Gas from the cans was analyzed by mass spectrometry. Samples collected over faults contained anomalously high concentrations of helium. Samples collected close to a geothermal well 884 m deep contained more helium than samples collected near another geothermal well 1370 m deep.

  12. GeoSciML and EarthResourceML Update, 2012

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Richard, S. M.; Commissionthe Management; Application Inte, I.

    2012-12-01

    CGI Interoperability Working Group activities during 2012 include deployment of services using the GeoSciML-Portrayal schema, addition of new vocabularies to support properties added in version 3.0, improvements to server software for deploying services, introduction of EarthResourceML v.2 for mineral resources, and collaboration with the IUSS on a markup language for soils information. GeoSciML and EarthResourceML have been used as the basis for the INSPIRE Geology and Mineral Resources specifications respectively. GeoSciML-Portrayal is an OGC GML simple-feature application schema for presentation of geologic map unit, contact, and shear displacement structure (fault and ductile shear zone) descriptions in web map services. Use of standard vocabularies for geologic age and lithology enables map services using shared legends to achieve visual harmonization of maps provided by different services. New vocabularies have been added to the collection of CGI vocabularies provided to support interoperable GeoSciML services, and can be accessed through http://resource.geosciml.org. Concept URIs can be dereferenced to obtain SKOS rdf or html representations using the SISSVoc vocabulary service. New releases of the FOSS GeoServer application greatly improve support for complex XML feature schemas like GeoSciML, and the ArcGIS for INSPIRE extension implements similar complex feature support for ArcGIS Server. These improved server implementations greatly facilitate deploying GeoSciML services. EarthResourceML v2 adds features for information related to mining activities. SoilML provides an interchange format for soil material, soil profile, and terrain information. Work is underway to add GeoSciML to the portfolio of Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) specifications.

  13. Competition for light and water in a coupled soil-plant system

    DOE PAGES

    Manoli, Gabriele; Huang, Cheng -Wei; Bonetti, Sara; ...

    2017-08-14

    Here, it is generally accepted that resource availability shapes the structure and function of many ecosystems. Within the soil-plant-atmosphere (SPA) system, resource availability fluctuates in space and time whereas access to resources by individuals is further impacted by plant-to-plant competition. Likewise, transport and transformation of resources within an individual plant is governed by numerous interacting biotic and abiotic processes. The work here explores the co-limitations on water losses and carbon uptake within the SPA arising from fluctuating resource availability and competition. In particular, the goal is to unfold the interplay between plant access and competition for water and light, asmore » well as the impact of transport/redistribution processes on leaf-level carbon assimilation and water fluxes within forest stands. A framework is proposed that couples a three-dimensional representation of soil-root exchanges with a one-dimensional description of stem water flow and storage, canopy photosynthesis, and transpiration. The model links soil moisture redistribution, root water uptake, xylem water flow and storage, leaf potential and stomatal conductance as driven by supply and demand for water and carbon. The model is then used to investigate plant drought resilience of overstory-understory trees simultaneously competing for water and light. Simulation results reveal that understory-overstory interactions increase ecosystem resilience to drought (i.e. stand-level carbon assimilation rates and water fluxes can be sustained at lower root-zone soil water potentials). This resilience enhancement originates from reduced transpiration (due to shading) and hydraulic redistribution in soil supporting photosynthesis over prolonged periods of drought. In particular, the presence of different rooting systems generates localized hydraulic redistribution fluxes that sustain understory transpiration through overstory-understory interactions. Such complex SPA dynamics cannot be properly summarized by equivalent ecosystem-scale Resistor-Capacitor (RC) rep- resentation. However our results show that, with proper averaging across water flow paths, RC models can provide reasonable estimates of stand-level water and carbon fluxes during inter-storm periods.« less

  14. Competition for light and water in a coupled soil-plant system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Manoli, Gabriele; Huang, Cheng-Wei; Bonetti, Sara; Domec, Jean-Christophe; Marani, Marco; Katul, Gabriel

    2017-10-01

    It is generally accepted that resource availability shapes the structure and function of many ecosystems. Within the soil-plant-atmosphere (SPA) system, resource availability fluctuates in space and time whereas access to resources by individuals is further impacted by plant-to-plant competition. Likewise, transport and transformation of resources within an individual plant is governed by numerous interacting biotic and abiotic processes. The work here explores the co-limitations on water losses and carbon uptake within the SPA arising from fluctuating resource availability and competition. In particular, the goal is to unfold the interplay between plant access and competition for water and light, as well as the impact of transport/redistribution processes on leaf-level carbon assimilation and water fluxes within forest stands. A framework is proposed that couples a three-dimensional representation of soil-root exchanges with a one-dimensional description of stem water flow and storage, canopy photosynthesis, and transpiration. The model links soil moisture redistribution, root water uptake, xylem water flow and storage, leaf potential and stomatal conductance as driven by supply and demand for water and carbon. The model is then used to investigate plant drought resilience of overstory-understory trees simultaneously competing for water and light. Simulation results reveal that understory-overstory interactions increase ecosystem resilience to drought (i.e. stand-level carbon assimilation rates and water fluxes can be sustained at lower root-zone soil water potentials). This resilience enhancement originates from reduced transpiration (due to shading) and hydraulic redistribution in soil supporting photosynthesis over prolonged periods of drought. In particular, the presence of different rooting systems generates localized hydraulic redistribution fluxes that sustain understory transpiration through overstory-understory interactions. Such complex SPA dynamics cannot be properly summarized by equivalent ecosystem-scale Resistor-Capacitor (RC) representation. However our results show that, with proper averaging across water flow paths, RC models can provide reasonable estimates of stand-level water and carbon fluxes during inter-storm periods.

  15. Agricultural trade and the global phosphorus cycle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schipanski, M.; Bennett, E.; Riskin, S.; Porder, S.

    2012-12-01

    Trends of increasing agricultural trade, increased concentration of livestock production systems, and increased human consumption of livestock products influence the distribution of nutrients across the global landscape. Phosphorus (P) represents a unique management challenge as we are rapidly depleting mineable reserves of this essential and non-renewable resource. At the same time, its overuse can lead to pollution of aquatic ecosystems. We analyzed the relative contributions of food crop, feed crop, and livestock product trade to P flows through agricultural soils for twelve countries from 1961 to 2007. We then used case studies of P fertilizer use in the world's three major soybean export regions: Iowa (USA), Mato Grosso (Brazil), and Buenos Aires (Argentina) to examine the influence of historical P management and soil types on agriculture's environmental consequences. Due to the intensification of agricultural production, average soil surface P balances more than tripled from 6 to 21 kg P per ha between 1961 and 2007 for the twelve study countries. Consequently, countries that are primarily agricultural exporters carried increased risks for water pollution or, for Argentina, reduced soil fertility due to soil P mining to support exports. In 2007, nations imported food and feed from regions with higher apparent P fertilizer use efficiencies than if those crops were produced domestically. However, this was largely because imports were sourced from regions depleting soil P resources to support export crop production. In addition, the pattern of regional specialization and intensification of production systems also reduced the potential to recycle P resources, with greater implications for livestock production than crop production. In a globalizing world, it will be increasingly important to integrate biophysical constraints of our natural resources and environmental impacts of agricultural systems into trade policy and agreements and to develop mechanisms that move us closer to more equitable management of non-renewable resources such as phosphorus.

  16. Competition for light and water in a coupled soil-plant system

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Manoli, Gabriele; Huang, Cheng -Wei; Bonetti, Sara

    Here, it is generally accepted that resource availability shapes the structure and function of many ecosystems. Within the soil-plant-atmosphere (SPA) system, resource availability fluctuates in space and time whereas access to resources by individuals is further impacted by plant-to-plant competition. Likewise, transport and transformation of resources within an individual plant is governed by numerous interacting biotic and abiotic processes. The work here explores the co-limitations on water losses and carbon uptake within the SPA arising from fluctuating resource availability and competition. In particular, the goal is to unfold the interplay between plant access and competition for water and light, asmore » well as the impact of transport/redistribution processes on leaf-level carbon assimilation and water fluxes within forest stands. A framework is proposed that couples a three-dimensional representation of soil-root exchanges with a one-dimensional description of stem water flow and storage, canopy photosynthesis, and transpiration. The model links soil moisture redistribution, root water uptake, xylem water flow and storage, leaf potential and stomatal conductance as driven by supply and demand for water and carbon. The model is then used to investigate plant drought resilience of overstory-understory trees simultaneously competing for water and light. Simulation results reveal that understory-overstory interactions increase ecosystem resilience to drought (i.e. stand-level carbon assimilation rates and water fluxes can be sustained at lower root-zone soil water potentials). This resilience enhancement originates from reduced transpiration (due to shading) and hydraulic redistribution in soil supporting photosynthesis over prolonged periods of drought. In particular, the presence of different rooting systems generates localized hydraulic redistribution fluxes that sustain understory transpiration through overstory-understory interactions. Such complex SPA dynamics cannot be properly summarized by equivalent ecosystem-scale Resistor-Capacitor (RC) rep- resentation. However our results show that, with proper averaging across water flow paths, RC models can provide reasonable estimates of stand-level water and carbon fluxes during inter-storm periods.« less

  17. Effects on environment and agriculture of geothermal wastewater and boron pollution in great Menderes basin.

    PubMed

    Koç, Cengiz

    2007-02-01

    Boron toxicity is an important disorder that can be limit plant growth on soils of arid and semi arid environments through the world. High concentrations of Boron may occur naturally in the soil or in groundwater, or be added to the soil from mining, fertilizers, or irrigation water. Off all the potential resources, irrigation water is the most important contributor to high levels of soil boron, boron is often found in high concentrations in association with saline soil and saline well water. Although of considerable agronomic importance, our understanding of Boron toxicity is rather fragment and limited. In this study, Boron content of Great Menderes River and Basin was researched. Great Menderes Basin is one of the consequence basins having agricultural potential, aspect of water and soil resources in Turkey. Great Menderes River, water resource of the basin was to be polluted by geothermal wastewater and thermal springs including Boron element. Great Menderes Basin has abundant geothermal water resources which contain high amounts of Boron and these ground water are brought to surface and used for various purposes such as power generation, heating or thermal spring and than discharged to Great Menderes River. In order to prevent Boron pollution and hence unproductively in soils, it is necessary not to discharged water with Boron to irrigation water. According to results, it was obtained that Boron content of River was as high in particular Upper Basin where there was a ground thermal water reservoir. Boron has been accumulated more than plant requirement in this area irrigated by this water. Boron content of River was relatively low in rainy months and irrigation season while it was high in dry season. Boron concentration in the River was to decrease from upstream to downstream. If it is no taken measure presently, about 130,000 ha irrigation areas which was constructed irrigation scheme in the Great Menderes basin will expose the Boron pollution and salinity. Even though Boron concentration of river water is under 0.5 ppm limit value, Boron element will store in basin soils, decrease in crop yields, and occur problematic soils in basin.

  18. Teasing apart plant community responses to N enrichment: the roles of resource limitation, competition and soil microbes.

    PubMed

    Farrer, Emily C; Suding, Katharine N

    2016-10-01

    Although ecologists have documented the effects of nitrogen enrichment on productivity, diversity and species composition, we know little about the relative importance of the mechanisms driving these effects. We propose that distinct aspects of environmental change associated with N enrichment (resource limitation, asymmetric competition, and interactions with soil microbes) drive different aspects of plant response. We test this in greenhouse mesocosms, experimentally manipulating each factor across three ecosystems: tallgrass prairie, alpine tundra and desert grassland. We found that resource limitation controlled productivity responses to N enrichment in all systems. Asymmetric competition was responsible for diversity declines in two systems. Plant community composition was impacted by both asymmetric competition and altered soil microbes, with some contributions from resource limitation. Results suggest there may be generality in the mechanisms of plant community change with N enrichment. Understanding these links can help us better predict N response across a wide range of ecosystems. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  19. Human Resources. Unit 14. Level 1. Instructor Guide. PACE: Program for Acquiring Competence in Entrepreneurship. Third Edition. Research & Development Series No. 301-14.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ohio State Univ., Columbus. Center on Education and Training for Employment.

    This instructor guide for a unit on human resources in the PACE (Program for Acquiring Competence in Entrepreneurship) curriculum includes the full text of the student module and lesson plans, instructional suggestions, and other teacher resources. The competencies that are incorporated into this module are at Level 1 of learning--understanding…

  20. Do current European policies support soil multifunctionality?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Helming, Katharina; Glaesner, Nadia; de Vries, Wim

    2017-04-01

    Soils are multifunctional. Maximising one function, e.g. production of biomass, is often at the costs of the other functions, e.g. water purification, carbon sequestration, nutrient recycling, habitat provision. Sustainable soil management actually means the minimization of trade-offs between multiple soil functions. While Europe does not have a policy that explicitly focuses on soil functions, a number of policies exist in the agricultural, environmental and climate domains that may affect soil functions, in particular food production, water purification, climate change mitigation, biodiversity conservation. The objective of this study was to identify gaps and overlaps in existing EU legislation that is related to soil functions. We conducted a cross-policy analysis of 19 legislative policies at European level. Results revealed two key findings: (i) soil functions are addressed in existing legislation but with the approach to their conservation rather than their improvement. (ii) Different legislations addressed isolated soil functions but there is no policy in place that actually addressed the soil multifunctionality, which is the integrated balancing of the multitude of functions. Because soil degradation is ongoing in Europe, it raises the question whether existing legislation is sufficient for maintaining soil resources and achieving sustainable soil management. Addressing soil functions individually in various directives fails to account for the multifunctionality of soil. Here, research has a role to play to better reveal the interacting processes between soil functions and their sensitivity to soil management decisions and to translate such understanding into policy recommendation. We conclude the presentation with some insights into a research approach that integrates the soil systems into the socio-economic systems to improve the understanding of soil management pressures, soil functional reactions and their impacts on societal value systems, including resource efficiency, ecosystem services and intergenerational equity.

  1. 36 CFR 200.3 - Forest Service functions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ..., and (G) Physical and resource improvements needed to develop, protect, and use all resources are built..., including the five basic resources of timber, forest soil and water, range forage, wildlife and fish habitat...

  2. Host discrimination in modular mutualisms: a theoretical framework for meta-populations of mutualists and exploiters

    PubMed Central

    Steidinger, Brian S.; Bever, James D.

    2016-01-01

    Plants in multiple symbioses are exploited by symbionts that consume their resources without providing services. Discriminating hosts are thought to stabilize mutualism by preferentially allocating resources into anatomical structures (modules) where services are generated, with examples of modules including the entire inflorescences of figs and the root nodules of legumes. Modules are often colonized by multiple symbiotic partners, such that exploiters that co-occur with mutualists within mixed modules can share rewards generated by their mutualist competitors. We developed a meta-population model to answer how the population dynamics of mutualists and exploiters change when they interact with hosts with different module occupancies (number of colonists per module) and functionally different patterns of allocation into mixed modules. We find that as module occupancy increases, hosts must increase the magnitude of preferentially allocated resources in order to sustain comparable populations of mutualists. Further, we find that mixed colonization can result in the coexistence of mutualist and exploiter partners, but only when preferential allocation follows a saturating function of the number of mutualists in a module. Finally, using published data from the fig–wasp mutualism as an illustrative example, we derive model predictions that approximate the proportion of exploiter, non-pollinating wasps observed in the field. PMID:26740613

  3. Simultaneous effects of leaf irradiance and soil moisture on growth and root system architecture of novel wheat genotypes: implications for phenotyping

    PubMed Central

    Nagel, Kerstin A.; Bonnett, David; Furbank, Robert; Walter, Achim; Schurr, Ulrich; Watt, Michelle

    2015-01-01

    Plants in the field are exposed to varying light and moisture. Agronomic improvement requires knowledge of whole-plant phenotypes expressed in response to simultaneous variation in these essential resources. Most phenotypes, however, have been described from experiments where resources are varied singularly. To test the importance of varying shoot and root resources for phenotyping studies, sister pre-breeding lines of wheat were phenotyped in response to independent or simultaneous exposure to two light levels and soil moisture profiles. The distribution and architecture of the root systems depended strongly on the moisture of the deeper soil layer. For one genotype, roots, specifically lateral roots, were stimulated to grow into moist soil when the upper zone was well-watered and were inhibited by drier deep zones. In contrast, the other genotype showed much less plasticity and responsiveness to upper moist soil, but maintained deeper penetration of roots into the dry layer. The sum of shoot and root responses was greater when treated simultaneously to low light and low soil water, compared to each treatment alone, suggesting the value of whole plant phenotyping in response to multiple conditions for agronomic improvement. The results suggest that canopy management for increased irradiation of leaves would encourage root growth into deeper drier soil, and that genetic variation within closely related breeding lines may exist to favour surface root growth in response to irrigation or in-season rainfall. PMID:26089535

  4. Soil nutrients influence spatial distributions of tropical tree species

    PubMed Central

    John, Robert; Dalling, James W.; Harms, Kyle E.; Yavitt, Joseph B.; Stallard, Robert F.; Mirabello, Matthew; Hubbell, Stephen P.; Valencia, Renato; Navarrete, Hugo; Vallejo, Martha; Foster, Robin B.

    2007-01-01

    The importance of niche vs. neutral assembly mechanisms in structuring tropical tree communities remains an important unsettled question in community ecology [Bell G (2005) Ecology 86:1757–1770]. There is ample evidence that species distributions are determined by soils and habitat factors at landscape (<104 km2) and regional scales. At local scales (<1 km2), however, habitat factors and species distributions show comparable spatial aggregation, making it difficult to disentangle the importance of niche and dispersal processes. In this article, we test soil resource-based niche assembly at a local scale, using species and soil nutrient distributions obtained at high spatial resolution in three diverse neotropical forest plots in Colombia (La Planada), Ecuador (Yasuni), and Panama (Barro Colorado Island). Using spatial distribution maps of >0.5 million individual trees of 1,400 species and 10 essential plant nutrients, we used Monte Carlo simulations of species distributions to test plant–soil associations against null expectations based on dispersal assembly. We found that the spatial distributions of 36–51% of tree species at these sites show strong associations to soil nutrient distributions. Neutral dispersal assembly cannot account for these plant–soil associations or the observed niche breadths of these species. These results indicate that belowground resource availability plays an important role in the assembly of tropical tree communities at local scales and provide the basis for future investigations on the mechanisms of resource competition among tropical tree species. PMID:17215353

  5. The Natural Resources Conservation Service land resource hierarchy and ecological sites

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Resource areas of the NRCS have long been important to soil geography. At both regional and landscape scales, resource areas are used to stratify programs and practices based on geographical areas where resource concerns, problems, or treatment needs are similar. However, the inability to quantifiab...

  6. Amendment soil with biochar to control antibiotic resistance genes under unconventional water resources irrigation: Proceed with caution.

    PubMed

    Cui, Er-Ping; Gao, Feng; Liu, Yuan; Fan, Xiang-Yang; Li, Zhong-Yang; Du, Zhen-Jie; Hu, Chao; Neal, Andrew L

    2018-05-10

    The spread of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) has become a cause for serious concern because of its potential risk to public health. The use of unconventional water resources (e.g., reclaimed water or piggery wastewater) in agriculture to relieve groundwater shortages may result in an accumulation of ARGs in soil. Biochar addition has been proven to be a beneficial method to alleviate the pollution of ARGs in manure-amended soil. However, the role of biochar on ARGs in soil-plant systems repeatedly irrigated with unconventional water resources is unknown. Under reclaimed water or piggery wastewater irrigation, rhizobox experiments using maize plants in soil amended with biochar were conducted to investigate the variation of typical ARGs (tet and sul genes) in soil-plant systems during a 60-day cultivation, and ARGs was characterized by high-throughput qPCR with a 48 (assays) × 108 (samples) array. Only piggery wastewater irrigation significantly increased the abundance of ARGs in rhizosphere and bulk soils and root endophytes. Following 30-day cultivation, the abundance of ARGs in soil was significantly lower due to biochar addition. However, by day 60, the abundance of ARGs in soil supplemented with biochar was significantly higher than in the control soils. Antibiotics, bio-available heavy metals, nutrients, bacterial community, and mobile gene elements (MGEs) were detected and analyzed to find factors shaping ARGs dynamics. The behavior of ARGs were associated with antibiotics but not with bio-available heavy metals. The correlation between ARGs and available phosphorus was stronger than that of ARGs with total phosphorus. MGEs had good relationship with ARGs, and MGEs shifts contributed most to ARGs variation in soil and root samples. In summary, this study provides insights into potential options for biochar use in agricultural activities. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Phyllosphere bacterial community of floating macrophytes in paddy soil environments as revealed by illumina high-throughput sequencing.

    PubMed

    Xie, Wan-Ying; Su, Jian-Qiang; Zhu, Yong-Guan

    2015-01-01

    The phyllosphere of floating macrophytes in paddy soil ecosystems, a unique habitat, may support large microbial communities but remains largely unknown. We took Wolffia australiana as a representative floating plant and investigated its phyllosphere bacterial community and the underlying driving forces of community modulation in paddy soil ecosystems using Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform-based 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The results showed that the phyllosphere of W. australiana harbored considerably rich communities of bacteria, with Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes as the predominant phyla. The core microbiome in the phyllosphere contained genera such as Acidovorax, Asticcacaulis, Methylibium, and Methylophilus. Complexity of the phyllosphere bacterial communities in terms of class number and α-diversity was reduced compared to those in corresponding water and soil. Furthermore, the bacterial communities exhibited structures significantly different from those in water and soil. These findings and the following redundancy analysis (RDA) suggest that species sorting played an important role in the recruitment of bacterial species in the phyllosphere. The compositional structures of the phyllosphere bacterial communities were modulated predominantly by water physicochemical properties, while the initial soil bacterial communities had limited impact. Taken together, the findings from this study reveal the diversity and uniqueness of the phyllosphere bacterial communities associated with the floating macrophytes in paddy soil environments. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  8. Phyllosphere Bacterial Community of Floating Macrophytes in Paddy Soil Environments as Revealed by Illumina High-Throughput Sequencing

    PubMed Central

    Xie, Wan-Ying

    2014-01-01

    The phyllosphere of floating macrophytes in paddy soil ecosystems, a unique habitat, may support large microbial communities but remains largely unknown. We took Wolffia australiana as a representative floating plant and investigated its phyllosphere bacterial community and the underlying driving forces of community modulation in paddy soil ecosystems using Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform-based 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. The results showed that the phyllosphere of W. australiana harbored considerably rich communities of bacteria, with Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes as the predominant phyla. The core microbiome in the phyllosphere contained genera such as Acidovorax, Asticcacaulis, Methylibium, and Methylophilus. Complexity of the phyllosphere bacterial communities in terms of class number and α-diversity was reduced compared to those in corresponding water and soil. Furthermore, the bacterial communities exhibited structures significantly different from those in water and soil. These findings and the following redundancy analysis (RDA) suggest that species sorting played an important role in the recruitment of bacterial species in the phyllosphere. The compositional structures of the phyllosphere bacterial communities were modulated predominantly by water physicochemical properties, while the initial soil bacterial communities had limited impact. Taken together, the findings from this study reveal the diversity and uniqueness of the phyllosphere bacterial communities associated with the floating macrophytes in paddy soil environments. PMID:25362067

  9. Do drying and rewetting cycles modulate effects of sulfadiazine spiked manure in soil?

    PubMed

    Jechalke, Sven; Radl, Viviane; Schloter, Michael; Heuer, Holger; Smalla, Kornelia

    2016-05-01

    Naturally occurring drying-rewetting events in soil have been shown to affect the dissipation of veterinary antibiotics entering soil by manure fertilization. However, knowledge of effects on the soil microbial community structure and resistome is scarce. Here, consequences of drying-rewetting cycles on effects of sulfadiazine (SDZ) in soil planted with Dactylis glomerata L. were investigated in microcosms. Manure containing SDZ or not was applied to the pregrown grass and incubated for 56 days in a climate chamber. Water was either added daily or reduced during two drying events of 7 days, each followed by a recovery phase. Total community DNA was analyzed to reveal the effects on the bacterial community structure and on the abundance of sul1, sul2, intI1 ,intI2, qacE+qacEΔ1, traN and korB genes relative to 16S rRNA genes. 16S rRNA gene-based DGGE fingerprints indicated that drying-rewetting cycles modulated the effects of SDZ on the bacterial community structure in the soil. Furthermore, the SDZ treatment increased the relative abundance of sulfonamide resistance and integrase genes compared to the control. However, this increase was not different between moisture regimes, indicating that drying-rewetting had only a negligible effect on the selection of the resistome by SDZ in the manured soil. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  10. Climate change impacts on soil erosion in the Great Lakes Region

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Quantifying changes in potential soil erosion under projections of changing climate is important for the sustainable management of land resources, especially for regions dominated by agricultural land use, as soil loss estimates will be helpful in identifying areas susceptible to erosion, targeting ...

  11. Soil carbon and soil respiration in conservation agriculture with vegetables in Siem Reap, Cambodia

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    A balance between food production and environmental protection is required to sustainably feed a growing population. The resource saving concept of conservation agriculture aims to achieve this balance through implementing simultaneously three conservation practices; no-till, continuous soil cover, ...

  12. Won’t soil be damaged if cattle graze cover crops?

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Integration of crops and livestock could provide economic benefits to producers by intensifying land use and improving resource efficiency, but how this management might affect soil compaction, water infiltration, and soil strength has not been well documented. Key factors in balancing cattle produ...

  13. Petrographic characterization of lunar soils: Application of x ray digital-imaging to quantitative and automated analysis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Higgins, Stefan J.; Patchen, Allan; Chambers, John G.; Taylor, Lawrence A.; Mckay, David S.

    1994-01-01

    The rocks and soils of the moon will be the raw materials for various engineering needs at a lunar base, such as sources of hydrogen, oxygen, metals, etc. The material of choice for most of the bulk needs is the regolith and its less than 1 cm fraction, the soil. For specific mineral resources it may be necessary to concentrate minerals from either rocks or soils. Therefore, quantitative characterizations of these rocks and soils are necessary in order to better define their mineral resource potential. However, using standard point-counting microscopic procedures, it is difficult to quantitatively determine mineral abundances and virtually impossible to obtain data on mineral distributions within grains. As a start to fulfilling these needs, Taylor et al. and Chambers et al. have developed a procedure for characterization of crushed lunar rocks using x ray digital imaging. The development of a similar digital imaging procedure for lunar soils as obtained from a spectrometer is described.

  14. A General Water Resources Regulation Software System in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    LEI, X.

    2017-12-01

    To avoid iterative development of core modules in water resource normal regulation and emergency regulation and improve the capability of maintenance and optimization upgrading of regulation models and business logics, a general water resources regulation software framework was developed based on the collection and analysis of common demands for water resources regulation and emergency management. It can provide a customizable, secondary developed and extensible software framework for the three-level platform "MWR-Basin-Province". Meanwhile, this general software system can realize business collaboration and information sharing of water resources regulation schemes among the three-level platforms, so as to improve the decision-making ability of national water resources regulation. There are four main modules involved in the general software system: 1) A complete set of general water resources regulation modules allows secondary developer to custom-develop water resources regulation decision-making systems; 2) A complete set of model base and model computing software released in the form of Cloud services; 3) A complete set of tools to build the concept map and model system of basin water resources regulation, as well as a model management system to calibrate and configure model parameters; 4) A database which satisfies business functions and functional requirements of general water resources regulation software can finally provide technical support for building basin or regional water resources regulation models.

  15. [Development of an analyzing system for soil parameters based on NIR spectroscopy].

    PubMed

    Zheng, Li-Hua; Li, Min-Zan; Sun, Hong

    2009-10-01

    A rapid estimation system for soil parameters based on spectral analysis was developed by using object-oriented (OO) technology. A class of SOIL was designed. The instance of the SOIL class is the object of the soil samples with the particular type, specific physical properties and spectral characteristics. Through extracting the effective information from the modeling spectral data of soil object, a map model was established between the soil parameters and its spectral data, while it was possible to save the mapping model parameters in the database of the model. When forecasting the content of any soil parameter, the corresponding prediction model of this parameter can be selected with the same soil type and the similar soil physical properties of objects. And after the object of target soil samples was carried into the prediction model and processed by the system, the accurate forecasting content of the target soil samples could be obtained. The system includes modules such as file operations, spectra pretreatment, sample analysis, calibrating and validating, and samples content forecasting. The system was designed to run out of equipment. The parameters and spectral data files (*.xls) of the known soil samples can be input into the system. Due to various data pretreatment being selected according to the concrete conditions, the results of predicting content will appear in the terminal and the forecasting model can be stored in the model database. The system reads the predicting models and their parameters are saved in the model database from the module interface, and then the data of the tested samples are transferred into the selected model. Finally the content of soil parameters can be predicted by the developed system. The system was programmed with Visual C++6.0 and Matlab 7.0. And the Access XP was used to create and manage the model database.

  16. Data Gap Analysis and Database Expansion of Parameters for Munitions Constitutents

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-12-01

    BIOWIN documentation (Boethling et al. 1994). Sediment is briefly considered to be anaerobic soil, with overall conversion factors, and water is aerobic...degradation of a chemical in water, soil, and sediment is determined using the ultimate biodegradation expert survey module of the BIOWIN estimation

  17. Impact of transient soil water simulation to estimated nitrogen leaching and emission at high- and low-deposition forest sites in southern California

    Treesearch

    Yuan Yuan; Thomas Meixner; Mark E. Fenn; Jirka Simunek

    2011-01-01

    Soil water dynamics and drainage are key abiotic factors controlling losses of atmospherically deposited N in Southern California. In this paper soil N leaching and trace gaseous emissions simulated by the DAYCENT biogeochemical model using its original semi‐dynamic water flow module were compared to that coupled with a finite element transient water flow...

  18. Controls on the distribution of productivity and organic resources in Antarctic Dry Valley soils.

    PubMed

    Hopkins, D W; Sparrow, A D; Novis, P M; Gregorich, E G; Elberling, B; Greenfield, L G

    2006-11-07

    The Antarctic Dry Valleys are regarded as one of the harshest terrestrial habitats on Earth because of the extremely cold and dry conditions. Despite the extreme environment and scarcity of conspicuous primary producers, the soils contain organic carbon and heterotrophic micro-organisms and invertebrates. Potential sources of organic compounds to sustain soil organisms include in situ primary production by micro-organisms and mosses, spatial subsidies from lacustrine and marine-derived detritus, and temporal subsidies ('legacies') from ancient lake deposits. The contributions from these sources at different sites are likely to be influenced by local environmental conditions, especially soil moisture content, position in the landscape in relation to lake level oscillations and legacies from previous geomorphic processes. Here we review the abiotic factors that influence biological activity in Dry Valley soils and present a conceptual model that summarizes mechanisms leading to organic resources therein.

  19. Using Lunar Module Shadows To Scale the Effects of Rocket Exhaust Plumes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2008-01-01

    Excavating granular materials beneath a vertical jet of gas involves several physical mechanisms. These occur, for example, beneath the exhaust plume of a rocket landing on the soil of the Moon or Mars. We performed a series of experiments and simulations (Figure 1) to provide a detailed view of the complex gas-soil interactions. Measurements taken from the Apollo lunar landing videos (Figure 2) and from photographs of the resulting terrain helped demonstrate how the interactions extrapolate into the lunar environment. It is important to understand these processes at a fundamental level to support the ongoing design of higher fidelity numerical simulations and larger-scale experiments. These are needed to enable future lunar exploration wherein multiple hardware assets will be placed on the Moon within short distances of one another. The high-velocity spray of soil from the landing spacecraft must be accurately predicted and controlled or it could erode the surfaces of nearby hardware. This analysis indicated that the lunar dust is ejected at an angle of less than 3 degrees above the surface, the results of which can be mitigated by a modest berm of lunar soil. These results assume that future lunar landers will use a single engine. The analysis would need to be adjusted for a multiengine lander. Figure 3 is a detailed schematic of the Lunar Module camera calibration math model. In this chart, formulas relating the known quantities, such as sun angle and Lunar Module dimensions, to the unknown quantities are depicted. The camera angle PSI is determined by measurement of the imaged aspect ratio of a crater, where the crater is assumed to be circular. The final solution is the determination of the camera calibration factor, alpha. Figure 4 is a detailed schematic of the dust angle math model, which again relates known to unknown parameters. The known parameters now include the camera calibration factor and Lunar Module dimensions. The final computation is the ejected dust angle, as a function of Lunar Module altitude.

  20. 7 CFR 610.5 - Interdisciplinary assistance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... Interdisciplinary assistance. Technical assistance is based on the principle that soil, water, plant, and related resources are interdependent and must be managed accordingly. Soil conservationists integrate the various...

  1. 7 CFR 610.5 - Interdisciplinary assistance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... Interdisciplinary assistance. Technical assistance is based on the principle that soil, water, plant, and related resources are interdependent and must be managed accordingly. Soil conservationists integrate the various...

  2. 7 CFR 610.5 - Interdisciplinary assistance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... Interdisciplinary assistance. Technical assistance is based on the principle that soil, water, plant, and related resources are interdependent and must be managed accordingly. Soil conservationists integrate the various...

  3. 7 CFR 610.5 - Interdisciplinary assistance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... Interdisciplinary assistance. Technical assistance is based on the principle that soil, water, plant, and related resources are interdependent and must be managed accordingly. Soil conservationists integrate the various...

  4. 7 CFR 610.5 - Interdisciplinary assistance.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... Interdisciplinary assistance. Technical assistance is based on the principle that soil, water, plant, and related resources are interdependent and must be managed accordingly. Soil conservationists integrate the various...

  5. Agriculture: Soils

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    Productive soils, a favorable climate, and clean and abundant water resources are essential for growing crops, raising livestock, and for ecosystems to continue to provide the critical provisioning services that humans need.

  6. Process-based modelling of the methane balance in periglacial landscapes (JSBACH-methane)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kaiser, Sonja; Göckede, Mathias; Castro-Morales, Karel; Knoblauch, Christian; Ekici, Altug; Kleinen, Thomas; Zubrzycki, Sebastian; Sachs, Torsten; Wille, Christian; Beer, Christian

    2017-01-01

    A detailed process-based methane module for a global land surface scheme has been developed which is general enough to be applied in permafrost regions as well as wetlands outside permafrost areas. Methane production, oxidation and transport by ebullition, diffusion and plants are represented. In this model, oxygen has been explicitly incorporated into diffusion, transport by plants and two oxidation processes, of which one uses soil oxygen, while the other uses oxygen that is available via roots. Permafrost and wetland soils show special behaviour, such as variable soil pore space due to freezing and thawing or water table depths due to changing soil water content. This has been integrated directly into the methane-related processes. A detailed application at the Samoylov polygonal tundra site, Lena River Delta, Russia, is used for evaluation purposes. The application at Samoylov also shows differences in the importance of the several transport processes and in the methane dynamics under varying soil moisture, ice and temperature conditions during different seasons and on different microsites. These microsites are the elevated moist polygonal rim and the depressed wet polygonal centre. The evaluation shows sufficiently good agreement with field observations despite the fact that the module has not been specifically calibrated to these data. This methane module is designed such that the advanced land surface scheme is able to model recent and future methane fluxes from periglacial landscapes across scales. In addition, the methane contribution to carbon cycle-climate feedback mechanisms can be quantified when running coupled to an atmospheric model.

  7. Phytoaccumulation of antimicrobials from biosolids: impacts on environmental fate and relevance to human exposure.

    PubMed

    Aryal, Niroj; Reinhold, Dawn M

    2011-11-01

    Triclocarban and triclosan, two antimicrobials widely used in consumer products, can adversely affect ecosystems and potentially impact human health. The application of biosolids to agricultural fields introduces triclocarban and triclosan to soil and water resources. This research examined the phytoaccumulation of antimicrobials, effects of plant growth on migration of antimicrobials to water resources, and relevance of phytoaccumulation in human exposure to antimicrobials. Pumpkin, zucchini, and switch grass were grown in soil columns to which biosolids were applied. Leachate from soil columns was assessed every other week for triclocarban and triclosan. At the end of the trial, concentrations of triclocarban and triclosan were determined for soil, roots, stems, and leaves. Results indicated that plants can reduce leaching of antimicrobials to water resources. Pumpkin and zucchini growth significantly reduced soil concentrations of triclosan to less than 0.001 mg/kg, while zucchini significantly reduced soil concentrations of triclocarban to 0.04 mg/kg. Pumpkin, zucchini, and switch grass accumulated triclocarban and triclosan in mg per kg (dry) concentrations. Potential human exposure to triclocarban from consumption of pumpkin or zucchini was substantially less than exposure from product use, but was greater than exposure from drinking water consumption. Consequently, research indicated that pumpkin and zucchini may beneficially impact the fate of antimicrobials in agricultural fields, while presenting minimal acute risk to human health. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Societal challenges-oriented data-rich undergraduate teaching resources for geoscience classrooms and field courses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pratt-Sitaula, B. A.; Walker, B.; Douglas, B. J.; Crosby, B. T.; Charlevoix, D. J.; Crosby, C. J.; Shervais, K.

    2016-12-01

    The NSF-funded GEodesy Tools for Societal Issues (GETSI) project is developing modules for use in introductory and majors-level courses that emphasize a broad range of geodetic data and quantitative skills applied to societally important issues of climate change, natural hazards, and water resources (serc.carleton.edu/getsi). The modules fill gaps in existing undergraduate curricula, which seldom include geodetic methods. Published modules are "Ice mass and sea level changes", "Imaging active tectonics with LiDAR and InSAR", "Measuring water resources with GPS, gravity, and traditional methods", "Surface process hazards", and "GPS, strain, and earthquakes". The GETSI Field Collection features geodetic field techniques. The field-oriented module "Analyzing high resolution topography with terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and structure from motion (SfM)" is already published and "High precision positioning with static and kinematic GPS" will be published in 2017. Modules are 1-3 weeks long and include student exercises, data analysis, and extensive supporting materials. For field modules, prepared data sets are provided for courses that cannot collect field data directly. All modules were designed and developed by teams of faculty and content experts and underwent rigorous review and classroom testing. Collaborating institutions are UNAVCO (which runs NSF's Geodetic Facility), Indiana University, Mt San Antonio College, and Idaho State University. Science Education Resource Center (SERC) is providing assessment and evaluation expertise. If future funding is successful, the topic range will be expanded (e.g., volcanic hazards, more water resources, and ecological applications of geodesy). Funding to date has been provided by NSF's TUES (Transforming Undergraduate Education in STEM) and IUSE (Improving Undergraduate STEM Education).

  9. Wildland fire in ecosystems: effects of fire on soils and water

    Treesearch

    Daniel G. Neary; Kevin C. Ryan; Leonard F. DeBano

    2005-01-01

    This state-of-knowledge review about the effects of fire on soils and water can assist land and fire managers with information on the physical, chemical, and biological effects of fire needed to successfully conduct ecosystem management, and effectively inform others about the role and impacts of wildland fire. Chapter topics include the soil resource, soil physical...

  10. Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Programs Miss Full Potential in the Fight against Soil Erosion.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1983-11-28

    Soil Loss Equation ( USLE ) and Wind Erosion Equation can be used with a reasonable degree of accuracy. It is the intention of ASCS to expand VC/SL to...HD-R37 495 AGRICULTURE’S SOIL CONSERVATION PROGRAMS MISS FULL i/i POTENTIAL IN THE FIGHT.(U) GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE WASHINGTON DC RESOURCES...GENERAL Report To The Congress OF THE UNITED STATES Agriculture’s Soil Conservation Programs Miss Full Potential In The Fight Against Soil Erosion

  11. [Review on water eco-environment in vegetation restoration in Loess Plateau].

    PubMed

    Hu, Liangjun; Shao, Mingan

    2002-08-01

    Water is the crucial factor influencing vegetation restoration and eco-environmental reconstruction in Loess Plateau region. In this paper, the previous studies on water eco-environment under vegetation construction were summarized from seven aspects, i.e., soil water resource, background of soil water, dynamics of soil water, dry soil layer, relationship between soil water and vegetarian productivity, classification of soil water position, and strategy for vegetation construction. Meanwhile, some problems in the relevant researches were pointed out and discussed.

  12. Assessment of soil redistribution rates by (137)Cs and (210)Pbex in a typical Malagasy agricultural field.

    PubMed

    Rabesiranana, N; Rasolonirina, M; Solonjara, A F; Ravoson, H N; Raoelina Andriambololona; Mabit, L

    2016-02-01

    Soil degradation processes affect more than one-third of the Malagasy territory and are considered as the major environmental threat impacting the natural resources of the island. This innovative study reports about a pioneer test and use of radio-isotopic techniques (i.e. Cs-137 and Pb-210ex) under Madagascar agroclimatic condition to evaluate soil erosion magnitude. This preliminary investigation has been conducted in a small agricultural field situated in the eastern central highland of Madagascar, 40 km East from Antananarivo. Both anthropogenic Cs-137 and geogenic Pb-210 soil tracers provided similar results highlighting soil erosion rates reaching locally 18 t ha(-1) yr(-1,) a level almost two times higher than the sustainable soil loss rate under Madagascar agroclimatic condition. The sediment delivery ratio established with both radiotracers was above 80% indicating that most of the mobilized sediment exits the field. Assessing soil erosion rate through fallout radionuclides in Madagascar is a first step towards an efficient land and water resource management policy to optimise the effectiveness of future agricultural soil conservation practices. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Soil Fungal Resources in Annual Cropping Systems and Their Potential for Management

    PubMed Central

    Esmaeili Taheri, Ahmad; Bainard, Luke D.; Yang, Chao; Navarro-Borrell, Adriana; Hamel, Chantal

    2014-01-01

    Soil fungi are a critical component of agroecosystems and provide ecological services that impact the production of food and bioproducts. Effective management of fungal resources is essential to optimize the productivity and sustainability of agricultural ecosystems. In this review, we (i) highlight the functional groups of fungi that play key roles in agricultural ecosystems, (ii) examine the influence of agronomic practices on these fungi, and (iii) propose ways to improve the management and contribution of soil fungi to annual cropping systems. Many of these key soil fungal organisms (i.e., arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and fungal root endophytes) interact directly with plants and are determinants of the efficiency of agroecosystems. In turn, plants largely control rhizosphere fungi through the production of carbon and energy rich compounds and of bioactive phytochemicals, making them a powerful tool for the management of soil fungal diversity in agriculture. The use of crop rotations and selection of optimal plant genotypes can be used to improve soil biodiversity and promote beneficial soil fungi. In addition, other agronomic practices (e.g., no-till, microbial inoculants, and biochemical amendments) can be used to enhance the effect of beneficial fungi and increase the health and productivity of cultivated soils. PMID:25247177

  14. Resource seeking strategies of zoosporic true fungi in heterogeneous soil habitats at the microscale level

    PubMed Central

    Gleason, Frank H.; Crawford, John W.; Neuhauser, Sigrid; Henderson, Linda E.; Lilje, Osu

    2012-01-01

    Zoosporic true fungi have frequently been identified in samples from soil and freshwater ecosystems using baiting and molecular techniques. In fact some species can be components of the dominant groups of microorganisms in particular soil habitats. Yet these microorganisms have not yet been directly observed growing in soil ecosystems. Significant physical characteristics and features of the three-dimensional structures of soils which impact microorganisms at the microscale level are discussed. A thorough knowledge of soil structures is important for studying the distribution of assemblages of these fungi and understanding their ecological roles along spatial and temporal gradients. A number of specific adaptations and resource seeking strategies possibly give these fungi advantages over other groups of microorganisms in soil ecosystems. These include chemotactic zoospores, mechanisms for adhesion to substrates, rhizoids which can penetrate substrates in small spaces, structures which are resistant to environmental extremes, rapid growth rates and simple nutritional requirements. These adaptations are discussed in the context of the characteristics of soils ecosystems. Recent advances in instrumentation have led to the development of new and more precise methods for studying microorganisms in three-dimensional space. New molecular techniques have made identification of microbes possible in environmental samples. PMID:22308003

  15. 7 CFR 610.11 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Soil Erosion Prediction Equations § 610.11 Purpose... by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to predict soil erosion due to water and wind... Act, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 3801-3813 specified that the Secretary would publish the universal soil...

  16. 7 CFR 610.11 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Soil Erosion Prediction Equations § 610.11 Purpose... by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to predict soil erosion due to water and wind... Act, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 3801-3813 specified that the Secretary would publish the universal soil...

  17. 7 CFR 610.11 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Soil Erosion Prediction Equations § 610.11 Purpose... by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to predict soil erosion due to water and wind... Act, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 3801-3813 specified that the Secretary would publish the universal soil...

  18. 7 CFR 610.11 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Soil Erosion Prediction Equations § 610.11 Purpose... by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to predict soil erosion due to water and wind... Act, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 3801-3813 specified that the Secretary would publish the universal soil...

  19. The Resource beneath Our Feet

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Clary, Renee

    2015-01-01

    This article describes activities in which students sample, investigate, classify, and compare characteristics (i.e., texture, color, density, porosity) of local soils, evaluating whether the soils are healthy or at risk. Students investigate correlations between geology and geography, predict which soil types may go extinct in their state, and…

  20. 7 CFR 610.11 - Purpose and scope.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... AGRICULTURE CONSERVATION OPERATIONS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Soil Erosion Prediction Equations § 610.11 Purpose... by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to predict soil erosion due to water and wind... Act, as amended, 16 U.S.C. 3801-3813 specified that the Secretary would publish the universal soil...

  1. Moving forward on remote sensing of soil salinity at regional scale

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Soil salinity undermines global agriculture by reducing crop yield and soil quality. Irrigation management can help control salinity levels within the root-zone. To best allocate water resources, accurate regional-scale inventories are needed. Two remote sensing approaches are currently used to moni...

  2. GEOTHERMAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT BASELINE STUDY: VEGETATION AND SOILS OF THE ROOSEVELT HOT SPRINGS GEOTHERMAL RESOURCE AREA

    EPA Science Inventory

    Identification and elemental concentrations of indigenous soil and plant systems found on the Roosevelt Hot Spring KGRA are described. Twenty-three different soils and five separate plant communities are geographically mapped and identified. One hundred forty-seven plant species ...

  3. Simulation of nitrous oxide emissions at field scale using the SPACSYS model

    PubMed Central

    Wu, L.; Rees, R.M.; Tarsitano, D.; Zhang, Xubo; Jones, S.K.; Whitmore, A.P.

    2015-01-01

    Nitrous oxide emitted to the atmosphere via the soil processes of nitrification and denitrification plays an important role in the greenhouse gas balance of the atmosphere and is involved in the destruction of stratospheric ozone. These processes are controlled by biological, physical and chemical factors such as growth and activity of microbes, nitrogen availability, soil temperature and water availability. A comprehensive understanding of these processes embodied in an appropriate model can help develop agricultural mitigation strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and help with estimating emissions at landscape and regional scales. A detailed module to describe the denitrification and nitrification processes and nitrogenous gas emissions was incorporated into the SPACSYS model to replace an earlier module that used a simplified first-order equation to estimate denitrification and was unable to distinguish the emissions of individual nitrogenous gases. A dataset derived from a Scottish grassland experiment in silage production was used to validate soil moisture in the top 10 cm soil, cut biomass, nitrogen offtake and N2O emissions. The comparison between the simulated and observed data suggested that the new module can provide a good representation of these processes and improve prediction of N2O emissions. The model provides an opportunity to estimate gaseous N emissions under a wide range of management scenarios in agriculture, and synthesises our understanding of the interaction and regulation of the processes. PMID:26026411

  4. Soil phosphorus - new insights into a critical cycle across many soil functions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Leinweber, Peter; Zimmer, Dana

    2017-04-01

    The fate of phosphorus (P-) compounds in the soil - plant - water - system is linked with most soil functions such as productivity for agricultural crops, reactor for nutrient cycling, filter and buffer for water, and biodiversity. The P-compounds, mostly phosphates in a multitude of chemical bonds, may have contradicting influences on soil functions. For instance, P-concentrations may be suboptimal for crop yields but at the same time exceeding the soil filter/buffer capacity for water resources. Modern agriculture has increased this misbalance. Therefore, a better soil P management that balances all soil functions requires a deeper understanding of the P-cycling in the environment. The collaborative project "InnoSoilPhos" in the frame of the BonaRes-program of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) aims at disclosing the chemical composition, biogeochemical transformations and microbiological fundamentals of P-cycling and P-transport processes across all relevant scales from atomic to catchment and landscapes. The contribution will give an overview on the project and some examples for the latest findings on P-reactions at mineral surfaces (experimental and theoretical), microorganism diversity involved in soil P-transformations, crop yield responses to P-fertilizer regimes (including new P-recycling products) and, finally, hot spots and hot moments of P-release from soils into adjoining freshwater systems. These findings allow some preliminary demands and frame conditions for an improved soil P management to better balance the soil functions and safe the global mineable P resources.

  5. Final Environmental Assessment Addressing Tree Management at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-09-01

    metamorphic rocks . The Piedmont also contains an abundance of mineral resources such as stone, granite, and soapstone. A major geologic feature of this...rich igneous and metamorphic rocks . Natural Resources Conservation Service soil surveys indicate that soils on and around Dobbins ARB are...Plant-6 AFRC Air Force Reserve Command AICUZ Air Installation Compatible Use Zone APZ Accident Potential Zone AQCR Air Quality Control Region ARB

  6. Preparation of Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) and State Soil Geographic Data Base (STATSGO) data for global change research in the Eastern United States

    Treesearch

    Loius R. Iverson; Anantha M. G. Prasad; Charles T. Scott

    1996-01-01

    The USDA Forest Service's Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) and the Natural Resource Conservation Service's State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) data bases provide valuable natural resource data that can be analyzed at the national scale. When coupled with other data (e.g., climate), these data bases can provide insights into factors associated with current and...

  7. Environmental scan and evaluation of best practices for online systematic review resources.

    PubMed

    Parker, Robin M N; Boulos, Leah M; Visintini, Sarah; Ritchie, Krista; Hayden, Jill

    2018-04-01

    Online training for systematic review methodology is an attractive option due to flexibility and limited availability of in-person instruction. Librarians often direct new reviewers to these online resources, so they should be knowledgeable about the variety of available resources. The objective for this project was to conduct an environmental scan of online systematic review training resources and evaluate those identified resources. The authors systematically searched for electronic learning resources pertaining to systematic review methods. After screening for inclusion, we collected data about characteristics of training resources and assigned scores in the domains of (1) content, (2) design, (3) interactivity, and (4) usability by applying a previously published evaluation rubric for online instruction modules. We described the characteristics and scores for each training resource and compared performance across the domains. Twenty training resources were evaluated. Average overall score of online instructional resources was 61%. Online courses (n=7) averaged 73%, web modules (n=5) 64%, and videos (n=8) 48%. The top 5 highest scoring resources were in course or web module format, featured high interactivity, and required a longer (>5hrs) time commitment from users. This study revealed that resources include appropriate content but are less likely to adhere to principles of online training design and interactivity. Awareness of these resources will allow librarians to make informed recommendations for training based on patrons' needs. Future online systematic review training resources should use established best practices for e-learning to provide high-quality resources, regardless of format or user time commitment.

  8. Relating environmental availability to bioavailability: soil-type-dependent metal accumulation in the oligochaete Eisenia andrei.

    PubMed

    Peijnenburg, W J; Baerselman, R; de Groot, A C; Jager, T; Posthuma, L; Van Veen, R P

    1999-11-01

    Body residues are often better estimates of the amount of a chemical at the sites of toxic action in an organism than ambient soil concentrations, because bioavailability differences among soils are explicitly taken into account in considerations of body residues. Often, however, insufficient attention is paid to the rate and extent at which tissue concentrations respond to soil concentrations and soil characteristics. In this contribution the impact of soil characteristics on the environmental bioavailability of heavy metals for the oligochaete worm Eisenia andrei is reported. Uptake of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn in 20 Dutch field soils and in OECD artificial soil was quantified as a function of time. Internal metal concentrations varied less than the corresponding external levels. Metal uptake and elimination were both metal- and species-dependent. Worms typically attained steady-state concentrations rapidly for Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn. Internal concentrations similar to those in the cultivation medium, linearly increasing body concentrations, or steady-state internal concentrations well above those in the cultivation medium were found for As, Cd, and Pb. Multivariate expressions were derived to describe uptake rate constants, steady-state concentrations, and bioaccumulation factors as a function of soil characteristics. Soil acidity is the most important solid-phase characteristic modulating the availability of As, Cd, and Pb. Although additional semimechanistic calculations yielded evidence of pore-water-related uptake of Cd and Pb modulated by competition between H(+) and metal ions at the active sites of the membranes, the findings for Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn point to additional influences, among which is probably regulation. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

  9. Physical root-soil interactions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kolb, Evelyne; Legué, Valérie; Bogeat-Triboulot, Marie-Béatrice

    2017-12-01

    Plant root system development is highly modulated by the physical properties of the soil and especially by its mechanical resistance to penetration. The interplay between the mechanical stresses exerted by the soil and root growth is of particular interest for many communities, in agronomy and soil science as well as in biomechanics and plant morphogenesis. In contrast to aerial organs, roots apices must exert a growth pressure to penetrate strong soils and reorient their growth trajectory to cope with obstacles like stones or hardpans or to follow the tortuous paths of the soil porosity. In this review, we present the main macroscopic investigations of soil-root physical interactions in the field and combine them with simple mechanistic modeling derived from model experiments at the scale of the individual root apex.

  10. Physical root-soil interactions.

    PubMed

    Kolb, Evelyne; Legué, Valérie; Bogeat-Triboulot, Marie-Béatrice

    2017-11-16

    Plant root system development is highly modulated by the physical properties of the soil and especially by its mechanical resistance to penetration. The interplay between the mechanical stresses exerted by the soil and root growth is of particular interest for many communities, in agronomy and soil science as well as in biomechanics and plant morphogenesis. In contrast to aerial organs, roots apices must exert a growth pressure to penetrate strong soils and reorient their growth trajectory to cope with obstacles like stones or hardpans or to follow the tortuous paths of the soil porosity. In this review, we present the main macroscopic investigations of soil-root physical interactions in the field and combine them with simple mechanistic modeling derived from model experiments at the scale of the individual root apex.

  11. Agricultural implications of providing soil-based constraints on urban expansion: Land use forecasts to 2050.

    PubMed

    Smidt, Samuel J; Tayyebi, Amin; Kendall, Anthony D; Pijanowski, Bryan C; Hyndman, David W

    2018-07-01

    Urbanization onto adjacent farmlands directly reduces the agricultural area available to meet the resource needs of a growing society. Soil conservation is a common objective in urban planning, but little focus has been placed on targeting soil value as a metric for conservation. This study assigns commodity and water storage values to the agricultural soils across all of the watersheds in Michigan's Lower Peninsula to evaluate how cities might respond to a soil conservation-based urbanization strategy. Land Transformation Model (LTM) simulations representing both traditional and soil conservation-based urbanization, are used to forecast urban area growth from 2010 to 2050 at five year intervals. The expansion of urban areas onto adjacent farmland is then evaluated to quantify the conservation effects of soil-based development. Results indicate that a soil-based protection strategy significantly conserves total farmland, especially more fertile soils within each soil type. In terms of revenue, ∼$88 million (in current dollars) would be conserved in 2050 using soil-based constraints, with the projected savings from 2011 to 2050 totaling more than $1.5 billion. Soil-based urbanization also increased urban density for each major metropolitan area. For example, there were 94,640 more acres directly adjacent to urban land by 2050 under traditional development compared to the soil-based urbanization strategy, indicating that urban sprawl was more tightly contained when including soil value as a metric to guide development. This study indicates that implementing a soil-based urbanization strategy would better satisfy future agricultural resource needs than traditional urban planning. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  12. Data Gap Analysis and Database Expansion of Parameters for Munitions Constituents

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-12-01

    the BIOWIN documentation (Boethling et al. 1994). Sediment is briefly considered to be anaerobic soil, with overall conversion factors, and water is...life for degradation of a chemical in water, soil, and sediment is determined using the ultimate biodegradation expert survey module of the BIOWIN

  13. ORCHIDEE-SOM: modeling soil organic carbon (SOC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) dynamics along vertical soil profiles in Europe

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Camino-Serrano, Marta; Guenet, Bertrand; Luyssaert, Sebastiaan; Ciais, Philippe; Bastrikov, Vladislav; De Vos, Bruno; Gielen, Bert; Gleixner, Gerd; Jornet-Puig, Albert; Kaiser, Klaus; Kothawala, Dolly; Lauerwald, Ronny; Peñuelas, Josep; Schrumpf, Marion; Vicca, Sara; Vuichard, Nicolas; Walmsley, David; Janssens, Ivan A.

    2018-03-01

    Current land surface models (LSMs) typically represent soils in a very simplistic way, assuming soil organic carbon (SOC) as a bulk, and thus impeding a correct representation of deep soil carbon dynamics. Moreover, LSMs generally neglect the production and export of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from soils to rivers, leading to overestimations of the potential carbon sequestration on land. This common oversimplified processing of SOC in LSMs is partly responsible for the large uncertainty in the predictions of the soil carbon response to climate change. In this study, we present a new soil carbon module called ORCHIDEE-SOM, embedded within the land surface model ORCHIDEE, which is able to reproduce the DOC and SOC dynamics in a vertically discretized soil to 2 m. The model includes processes of biological production and consumption of SOC and DOC, DOC adsorption on and desorption from soil minerals, diffusion of SOC and DOC, and DOC transport with water through and out of the soils to rivers. We evaluated ORCHIDEE-SOM against observations of DOC concentrations and SOC stocks from four European sites with different vegetation covers: a coniferous forest, a deciduous forest, a grassland, and a cropland. The model was able to reproduce the SOC stocks along their vertical profiles at the four sites and the DOC concentrations within the range of measurements, with the exception of the DOC concentrations in the upper soil horizon at the coniferous forest. However, the model was not able to fully capture the temporal dynamics of DOC concentrations. Further model improvements should focus on a plant- and depth-dependent parameterization of the new input model parameters, such as the turnover times of DOC and the microbial carbon use efficiency. We suggest that this new soil module, when parameterized for global simulations, will improve the representation of the global carbon cycle in LSMs, thus helping to constrain the predictions of the future SOC response to global warming.

  14. Evaluation of snow and frozen soil parameterization in a cryosphere land surface modeling framework in the Tibetan Plateau

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, J.

    2017-12-01

    Snow and frozen soil are important components in the Tibetan Plateau, and influence the water cycle and energy balances through snowpack accumulation and melt and soil freeze-thaw. In this study, a new cryosphere land surface model (LSM) with coupled snow and frozen soil parameterization was developed based on a hydrologically improved LSM (HydroSiB2). First, an energy-balance-based three-layer snow model was incorporated into HydroSiB2 (hereafter HydroSiB2-S) to provide an improved description of the internal processes of the snow pack. Second, a universal and simplified soil model was coupled with HydroSiB2-S to depict soil water freezing and thawing (hereafter HydroSiB2-SF). In order to avoid the instability caused by the uncertainty in estimating water phase changes, enthalpy was adopted as a prognostic variable instead of snow/soil temperature in the energy balance equation of the snow/frozen soil module. The newly developed models were then carefully evaluated at two typical sites of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) (one snow covered and the other snow free, both with underlying frozen soil). At the snow-covered site in northeastern TP (DY), HydroSiB2-SF demonstrated significant improvements over HydroSiB2-F (same as HydroSiB2-SF but using the original single-layer snow module of HydroSiB2), showing the importance of snow internal processes in three-layer snow parameterization. At the snow-free site in southwestern TP (Ngari), HydroSiB2-SF reasonably simulated soil water phase changes while HydroSiB2-S did not, indicating the crucial role of frozen soil parameterization in depicting the soil thermal and water dynamics. Finally, HydroSiB2-SF proved to be capable of simulating upward moisture fluxes toward the freezing front from the underlying soil layers in winter.

  15. Development of a land surface model with coupled snow and frozen soil physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Lei; Zhou, Jing; Qi, Jia; Sun, Litao; Yang, Kun; Tian, Lide; Lin, Yanluan; Liu, Wenbin; Shrestha, Maheswor; Xue, Yongkang; Koike, Toshio; Ma, Yaoming; Li, Xiuping; Chen, Yingying; Chen, Deliang; Piao, Shilong; Lu, Hui

    2017-06-01

    Snow and frozen soil are important factors that influence terrestrial water and energy balances through snowpack accumulation and melt and soil freeze-thaw. In this study, a new land surface model (LSM) with coupled snow and frozen soil physics was developed based on a hydrologically improved LSM (HydroSiB2). First, an energy-balance-based three-layer snow model was incorporated into HydroSiB2 (hereafter HydroSiB2-S) to provide an improved description of the internal processes of the snow pack. Second, a universal and simplified soil model was coupled with HydroSiB2-S to depict soil water freezing and thawing (hereafter HydroSiB2-SF). In order to avoid the instability caused by the uncertainty in estimating water phase changes, enthalpy was adopted as a prognostic variable instead of snow/soil temperature in the energy balance equation of the snow/frozen soil module. The newly developed models were then carefully evaluated at two typical sites of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) (one snow covered and the other snow free, both with underlying frozen soil). At the snow-covered site in northeastern TP (DY), HydroSiB2-SF demonstrated significant improvements over HydroSiB2-F (same as HydroSiB2-SF but using the original single-layer snow module of HydroSiB2), showing the importance of snow internal processes in three-layer snow parameterization. At the snow-free site in southwestern TP (Ngari), HydroSiB2-SF reasonably simulated soil water phase changes while HydroSiB2-S did not, indicating the crucial role of frozen soil parameterization in depicting the soil thermal and water dynamics. Finally, HydroSiB2-SF proved to be capable of simulating upward moisture fluxes toward the freezing front from the underlying soil layers in winter.

  16. Helping People Understand Soils - Perspectives from the US National Cooperative Soil Survey

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Reich, Paul; Cheever, Tammy; Greene, Linda; Southard, Susan; Levin, Maxine; Lindbo, David L.; Monger, Curtis

    2017-04-01

    Throughout the history of the US National Cooperative Soil Survey (NCSS), soil science education has been a part of the mission to better understand one of our most precious natural resources: the Soil. The poster will highlight the many products and programs related to soils that USDA NRCS (soils.usda.gov) has developed over the years for K-12 and college/professional education. NRCS scientific publications covering topics on soil properties, soil classification, soil health and soil quality have become an important part of the university soil science curriculum. Classroom lesson plans and grade appropriate materials help K-12 teachers introduce soil concepts to students and include detailed instructions and materials for classroom demonstrations of soil properties. A Handbook for Collegiate Soils Contests support universities that conduct Collegiate Soil Judging contests.

  17. 7 CFR 601.1 - Functions assigned.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ...) National Resources Inventory (NRI) that is a statistically-based survey designed and implemented using... both the provisions of the Food Security Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. (ii) Soil surveys.... Soil surveys are based on scientific analysis and classification of the soils and are used to determine...

  18. 7 CFR 601.1 - Functions assigned.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ...) National Resources Inventory (NRI) that is a statistically-based survey designed and implemented using... both the provisions of the Food Security Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. (ii) Soil surveys.... Soil surveys are based on scientific analysis and classification of the soils and are used to determine...

  19. 7 CFR 601.1 - Functions assigned.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ...) National Resources Inventory (NRI) that is a statistically-based survey designed and implemented using... both the provisions of the Food Security Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. (ii) Soil surveys.... Soil surveys are based on scientific analysis and classification of the soils and are used to determine...

  20. 7 CFR 601.1 - Functions assigned.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ...) National Resources Inventory (NRI) that is a statistically-based survey designed and implemented using... both the provisions of the Food Security Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. (ii) Soil surveys.... Soil surveys are based on scientific analysis and classification of the soils and are used to determine...

  1. 7 CFR 601.1 - Functions assigned.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ...) National Resources Inventory (NRI) that is a statistically-based survey designed and implemented using... both the provisions of the Food Security Act and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. (ii) Soil surveys.... Soil surveys are based on scientific analysis and classification of the soils and are used to determine...

  2. Soils and water [Chapter 18

    Treesearch

    Goran Berndes; Heather Youngs; Maria Victoria Ramos Ballester; Heitor Cantarella; Annette L. Cowie; Graham Jewitt; Luiz Antonio Martinelli; Dan Neary

    2015-01-01

    Bioenergy production can have positive or negative impacts on soil and water. To best understand these impacts, the effects of bioenergy systems on water and soil resources should be assessed as part of an integrated analysis considering environmental, social and economic dimensions. Bioenergy production systems that are strategically integrated in the landscape to...

  3. Alternate data sources for soil surveys on rangeland

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Horvath, Emil H.; Klingebiel, A.A.; Moore, D.G.; Fosnight, E.A.

    1983-01-01

    the feasibility of using this approach for producing physiographic maps as an aid for mapping soils and range sites. The project is a cooperative investigation of the Earth Resources Observation Systems Data Center of the U.S. Geological Survey, the Soil Conservation Service, and the Bureau of Land Management.

  4. Anaerobic soil disinfestation for controlling Fusarium wilt in strawberies

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    A strategy to apply a high rate of carbon resource in the conduct of a fall bed anaerobic soil disinfestation (ASD) treatment did not provide effective control of Fusarium wilt in California strawberries. The lack of disease control efficacy resulted from an increase in soil populations of the caus...

  5. Microbial community-level physiological profiling based on O2 consumption as an indicator of nitrogen status of agricultural soils

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Nitrogen-limited soil microbial activity has important implications for soil carbon storage and nutrient availability, but previous methods for assessing resource limitation have been restricted, due to enrichment criteria (i.e., long incubation periods, high substrate amendments) and/or logistical ...

  6. Effects of crop rotations and intercropping on soil health

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Interest in evaluating the health of soil resources has been motivated by growing cognizance that soil is a critically important component of the earth’s biosphere, functioning not only in the production of food and fiber, but also in ecosystems services and global environmental quality. There was a...

  7. 76 FR 43319 - Record of Decision for the Continued Operation of the Y-12 National Security Complex

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-07-20

    ...; visual resources; site infrastructure; traffic and transportation; geology and soils; air quality and... excavation, soil characterization, transportation or disposal associated with the UPF. Response. The Y-12 Final SWEIS includes an analysis of the impacts of the UPF construction, including soil disturbance...

  8. Can conservation trump impacts of climate change and extremes on soil erosion in agricultural landscapes

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Preservation of top soil is critical for the long term sustainability of agricultural productivity, food security, and biodiversity. However, today’s growing population and increasing demand for food and fiber is stressing the agricultural soil and water resources. Climate change imposes additional ...

  9. 7 CFR 631.2 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ..., animal, and related resources. This assistance may include conservation plan formulation, application... information on the conservation of soil, water, plant, animal, and related resources applicable specifically... Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF...

  10. 7 CFR 631.2 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ..., animal, and related resources. This assistance may include conservation plan formulation, application... information on the conservation of soil, water, plant, animal, and related resources applicable specifically... Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF...

  11. 7 CFR 631.2 - Definitions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ..., animal, and related resources. This assistance may include conservation plan formulation, application... information on the conservation of soil, water, plant, animal, and related resources applicable specifically... Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF...

  12. An integrated GIS/remote sensing data base in North Cache soil conservation district, Utah: A pilot project for the Utah Department of Agriculture's RIMS (Resource Inventory and Monitoring System)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wheeler, D. J.; Ridd, M. K.; Merola, J. A.

    1984-01-01

    A basic geographic information system (GIS) for the North Cache Soil Conservation District (SCD) was sought for selected resource problems. Since the resource management issues in the North Cache SCD are very complex, it is not feasible in the initial phase to generate all the physical, socioeconomic, and political baseline data needed for resolving all management issues. A selection of critical varables becomes essential. Thus, there are foud specific objectives: (1) assess resource management needs and determine which resource factors ae most fundamental for building a beginning data base; (2) evaluate the variety of data gathering and analysis techniques for the resource factors selected; (3) incorporate the resulting data into a useful and efficient digital data base; and (4) demonstrate the application of the data base to selected real world resoource management issues.

  13. Inspiring Climate Education Excellence (ICEE): Developing self-directed professional development modules for secondary science teachers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buhr, S. M.; Lynds, S. E.; McCaffrey, M. S.; Morton, E.

    2010-12-01

    Inspiring Climate Education Excellence (ICEE) is a NASA-funded project to develop online course modules and self-directed learning resources aligned with the Essential Principles of Climate Science. Following a national needs assessment survey and a face to face workshop to pilot test topics, a suite of online modules is being developed suitable for self-directed learning by secondary science teachers. Modules are designed around concepts and topics in which teachers express the most interest and need for instruction. Module design also includes attention to effective teaching strategies, such as awareness of student misconceptions, strategies for forestalling controversy and advice from master teachers on implementation and curriculum development. The resources are being developed in partnership with GLOBE, and the National Science Digital Library (NSDL) and is informed by the work of the Climate Literacy and Energy Awareness Network (CLEAN) project. ICEE will help to meet the professional development needs of teachers, including those participating in the GLOBE Student Climate Research Campaign. Modules and self-directed learning resources will be developed and disseminated in partnership with the National Science Digital Library (NSDL). This presentation introduces the needs assessment and pilot workshop data upon which the modules are based, and describes the modules that are available and in development.

  14. Connections between transport in events and transport at landscape-structuring timescales

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harman, C. J.; Lohse, K. A.; Troch, P. A.; Sivapalan, M.

    2012-12-01

    Complex spatial and temporal variability can arise in the critical zone when feedbacks occur at multiple time scales between transported materials and the landscape and soils through which it is transported. This is clearly illustrated where geomorphic transport processes, soil development, and vegetation interact in semi-arid shrublands. Here we use soil and terrain data and a numerical model of overland flow on semi-arid hillslopes to show that microtopography can generate spatial variations in the dominance of transport processes operating at different timescales, with consequences for the direction of resource redistribution between functional units within these ecosystems. Conceptual and numerical models of the redistribution of mineral, organic and water have mostly been developed on low-gradient alluvial fans and pediments. These have focused on the fluvial transport of resources from the inter-spaces between shrub canopies to the areas below the canopy in those few storm events that generate significant run-off. These processes are believed to produce a mosaic of resource islands in which biota are concentrated. We investigated the spatial distribution of soil properties (including organic matter and soil hydraulic properties), vegetation, and microtopography on two steeper hillslopes of contrasting lithology (one granite, one schist) in the Sonoran desert foothills of the Catalina Mountains. Three hypotheses were developed through iteration between fieldwork and data analysis. These tested whether there were significant differences in soil composition and hydraulic properties below- and between-canopy, whether the surface soil organic matter was directly associated with above-ground biomass, and whether soil organic matter distributions measured along transects below shrubs showed downslope asymmetries indicative of the processes that create them. Data from these sites were used in a numerical model to investigate how these structures could be related to the population of runoff events and processes that generate them. The results suggest that over the long term, slope-dependent transport processes (such as rainsplash, bioturbation and trampling) seem to play an important role in these steeper hillslopes in inverting the flow of resources. Over many storm and inter-storm periods, soil organic matter is transported downslope in plumes extending at least two canopy radii downslope from below woody-shrub canopies into the inter-space. This pattern was particularly evident where microtopography and soil properties create micro-sites protected from fluvial transport. While many of the patterns observed are similar to those from more stable geomorphic surfaces, the results suggest that long-term downslope transport processes in sloping terrain can disrupt the autogenic processes that reinforce the redistribution of resources under shrubs. This result has important implications for our understanding of the relationship between ecosystem function and landscape-scale transport in these environments.

  15. Digital spatial soil and land information for agriculture development

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sharma, R. K.; Laghathe, Pankaj; Meena, Ranglal; Barman, Alok Kumar; Das, Satyendra Nath

    2006-12-01

    Natural resource management calls for study of natural system prevailing in the country. In India floods and droughts visit regularly, causing extensive damages of natural wealth including agriculture that are crucial for sustenance of economic growth. The Indian Sub-continent drained by many major rivers and their tributaries where watershed, the hydrological unit forms a natural system that allows management and development of land resources following natural harmony. Acquisition of various kinds and levels of soil and land characteristics using both conventional and remote sensing techniques and subsequent development of digital spatial data base are essential to evolve strategy for planning watershed development programmes, their monitoring and impact evaluation. The multi-temporal capability of remote sensing sensors helps to update the existing data base which are of dynamic in nature. The paper outlines the concept of spatial data base development, generation using remote sensing techniques, designing of data structure, standardization and integration with watershed layers and various non spatial attribute data for various applications covering watershed development planning, alternate land use planning, soil and water conservation, diversified agriculture practices, generation of soil health card, soil and land reclamation, etc. The soil and land characteristics are vital to derive various interpretative groupings or master table that helps to generate the desired level of information of various clients using the GIS platform. The digital spatial data base on soils and watersheds generated by All India Soil and Land Use Survey will act as a sub-server of the main GIS based Web Server being hoisted by the planning commission for application of spatial data for planning purposes under G2G domain. It will facilitate e-governance for natural resource management using modern technology.

  16. 25 CFR 161.202 - How are range units established?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... unified areas for which range management plans can be developed to improve and maintain soil and forage resources. Physical land features, watersheds, drainage patterns, vegetation, soil, resident concentration...

  17. 25 CFR 161.202 - How are range units established?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... unified areas for which range management plans can be developed to improve and maintain soil and forage resources. Physical land features, watersheds, drainage patterns, vegetation, soil, resident concentration...

  18. 25 CFR 161.202 - How are range units established?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... unified areas for which range management plans can be developed to improve and maintain soil and forage resources. Physical land features, watersheds, drainage patterns, vegetation, soil, resident concentration...

  19. 25 CFR 161.202 - How are range units established?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... unified areas for which range management plans can be developed to improve and maintain soil and forage resources. Physical land features, watersheds, drainage patterns, vegetation, soil, resident concentration...

  20. 25 CFR 161.202 - How are range units established?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... unified areas for which range management plans can be developed to improve and maintain soil and forage resources. Physical land features, watersheds, drainage patterns, vegetation, soil, resident concentration...

  1. Live lectures or online videos: students' resource choices in a first-year university mathematics module

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Howard, Emma; Meehan, Maria; Parnell, Andrew

    2018-05-01

    In Maths for Business, a mathematics module for non-mathematics specialists, students are given the choice of completing the module content via short online videos, live lectures or a combination of both. In this study, we identify students' specific usage patterns with both of these resources and discuss their reasons for the preferences they exhibit. In 2015-2016, we collected quantitative data on each student's resource usage (attendance at live lectures and access of online videos) for the entire class of 522 students and employed model-based clustering which identified four distinct resource usage patterns with lectures and/or videos. We also collected qualitative data on students' perceptions of resource usage through a survey administered at the end of the semester, to which 161 students responded. The 161 survey responses were linked to each cluster and analysed using thematic analysis. Perceived benefits of videos include flexibility of scheduling and pace, and avoidance of large, long lectures. In contrast, the main perceived advantages of lectures are the ability to engage in group tasks, to ask questions, and to learn 'gradually'. Students in the two clusters with high lecture attendance achieved, on average, higher marks in the module.

  2. Translating an academic module into an online resource.

    PubMed

    Howatson-Jones, I L

    Blended learning, which combines face-to-face sessions with online work, is used to provide flexible learning and courses for students who are geographically dispersed. Canterbury Christ Church University recognised the importance of developing an academic module for dispensing opticians across the UK and the requirement to address the needs of an increasingly diverse population of students. Following interest in the module from the Association of British Dispensing Opticians, a decision was made to reformat the module into an online resource. This article describes some of the pedagogical processes involved in developing the online resource. Quantitative and qualitative data are analysed to identify challenges and successes. The importance of developing an educational biography to achieve depth of understanding and thought is acknowledged. The article concludes that some face-to-face interaction is still necessary, not least for helping to reduce students' anxiety.

  3. Resource-use efficiencies of three indigenous tree species planted in resource islands created by shrubs: implications for reforestation of subtropical degraded shrublands

    Treesearch

    Nan Liu; Qinfeng Guo

    2012-01-01

    Shrub resource islands are characterized by resources accumulated shrubby areas surrounded by relative barren soils. This research aims to determine resource-use efficiency of native trees species planted on shrub resource islands, and to determine how the planted trees may influence the resource islands in degraded shrublands in South China. Shrub (Rhodomyrtus...

  4. Energy Conservation in Construction Trades. Special Packages: Instructional Resources for Vocational Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ohio State Univ., Columbus. National Center for Research in Vocational Education.

    Designed for secondary and postsecondary vocational teachers and administrators, this resource package on energy conservation in construction trades contains three sections of information. Section I provides an instructional module (developed by the Wisconsin Vocational Studies Center) on solar energy; the module is organized into seven units:…

  5. Maintaining soil productivity during forest or biomass-to-energy thinning harvests in the western United States

    Treesearch

    Deborah S. Page-Dumroese; Martin Jurgensen; Thomas Terry

    2010-01-01

    Forest biomass thinnings, to promote forest health or for energy production, can potentially impact the soil resource by altering soil physical, chemical, and/or biological properties. The extent and degree of impacts within a harvest unit or across a watershed will subsequently determine if site or soil productivity is affected. Although the impacts of stand removal...

  6. Analysis of SURRGO Data and Obtaining Soil Texture Classifications for Simulating Hydrologic Processes

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-07-01

    Note (CHETN) describes a method using the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Soil Survey Geographic...the general texture classifications. 2. Another source for soil information, such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO...science studies such as agriculture , geology, geomorphology, engineering, biology, history, etc. (Soil Survey Division Staff 1993). The procedure pulls

  7. Investigation of Soil Biodiversity in South East China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gao, R.; Li, M.; Li, Z.; Chen, Y.; Liang, Y.; Ye, J.

    2017-12-01

    The United Nations had declared 2015 to be the International Year of Soil to bring to mind the significance of this natural resource. We will describe our initial collaborative effort to investigate soil biodiversity at an organic farm located in South East China. In this session, we will share our early experiences exploring conventional soil biodiversity methods, as well as offer suggestions for future research.

  8. Analysis of in situ resources of for the Soil Moisture Active Passive Validation Experiments in 2015 and 2016

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    With the launch of the Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission (SMAP) in 2015, a new era of soil moisture monitoring was begun. Soil moisture is available on a near daily basis at a 36 km resolution for the globe. But this dataset is only as valuable if its products are accurate and reliableas its acc...

  9. Exogenous nutrients and carbon resource change the responses of soil organic matter decomposition and nitrogen immobilization to nitrogen deposition

    PubMed Central

    He, Ping; Wan, Song-Ze; Fang, Xiang-Min; Wang, Fang-Chao; Chen, Fu-Sheng

    2016-01-01

    It is unclear whether exogenous nutrients and carbon (C) additions alter substrate immobilization to deposited nitrogen (N) during decomposition. In this study, we used laboratory microcosm experiments and 15N isotope tracer techniques with five different treatments including N addition, N+non-N nutrients addition, N+C addition, N+non-N nutrients+C addition and control, to investigate the coupling effects of non-N nutrients, C addition and N deposition on forest floor decomposition in subtropical China. The results indicated that N deposition inhibited soil organic matter and litter decomposition by 66% and 38%, respectively. Soil immobilized 15N following N addition was lowest among treatments. Litter 15N immobilized following N addition was significantly higher and lower than that of combined treatments during the early and late decomposition stage, respectively. Both soil and litter extractable mineral N were lower in combined treatments than in N addition treatment. Since soil N immobilization and litter N release were respectively enhanced and inhibited with elevated non-N nutrient and C resources, it can be speculated that the N leaching due to N deposition decreases with increasing nutrient and C resources. This study should advance our understanding of how forests responds the elevated N deposition. PMID:27020048

  10. An Interprofessional Web-Based Resource for Health Professions Preceptors

    PubMed Central

    McLeod, Elizabeth; Kwong, Mona; Tidball, Glynnis; Collins, John; Neufeld, Lois; Drynan, Donna

    2012-01-01

    Objective. To develop a Web-based preceptor education resource for healthcare professionals and evaluate its usefulness. Methods. Using an open source platform, 8 online modules called “E-tips for Practice Education” (E-tips) were developed that focused on topics identified relevant across healthcare disciplines. A cross-sectional survey design was used to evaluate the online resource. Ninety preceptors from 10 health disciplines affiliated with the University of British Columbia evaluated the E-tips. Results. The modules were well received by preceptors, with all participants indicating that they would recommend these modules to their colleagues, over 80% indicating the modules were very to extremely applicable, and over 60% indicating that E-tips had increased their confidence in their ability to teach. Conclusion. Participants reported E-tips to be highly applicable to their teaching role as preceptors. Given their multidisciplinary focus, these modules address a shared language and ideas about clinical teaching among those working in multi-disciplinary settings. PMID:23193332

  11. Environmental Assessment for Airborne Laser Debris Management Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-07-01

    hazardous waste management, water resources, air quality, and biological resources. Based on the analysis of the Proposed Action and No-Action...aesthetics, hazardous materials management, soils and geology, noise, cultural resources, and environmental justice. The resources analyzed in more detail...include: health and safety, hazardous waste management, water resources, air quality, and biological resources. Environmental Effects Under the

  12. Maryland Water Resources Research Center

    Science.gov Websites

    your links and references accordingly. Celebrating Soil 2015 Maryland Water Symposium Monday, Dec. 7 reception, followed by a screening of the award-winning documentary, "Symphony of the Soil". Click

  13. Simultaneous effects of leaf irradiance and soil moisture on growth and root system architecture of novel wheat genotypes: implications for phenotyping.

    PubMed

    Nagel, Kerstin A; Bonnett, David; Furbank, Robert; Walter, Achim; Schurr, Ulrich; Watt, Michelle

    2015-09-01

    Plants in the field are exposed to varying light and moisture. Agronomic improvement requires knowledge of whole-plant phenotypes expressed in response to simultaneous variation in these essential resources. Most phenotypes, however, have been described from experiments where resources are varied singularly. To test the importance of varying shoot and root resources for phenotyping studies, sister pre-breeding lines of wheat were phenotyped in response to independent or simultaneous exposure to two light levels and soil moisture profiles. The distribution and architecture of the root systems depended strongly on the moisture of the deeper soil layer. For one genotype, roots, specifically lateral roots, were stimulated to grow into moist soil when the upper zone was well-watered and were inhibited by drier deep zones. In contrast, the other genotype showed much less plasticity and responsiveness to upper moist soil, but maintained deeper penetration of roots into the dry layer. The sum of shoot and root responses was greater when treated simultaneously to low light and low soil water, compared to each treatment alone, suggesting the value of whole plant phenotyping in response to multiple conditions for agronomic improvement. The results suggest that canopy management for increased irradiation of leaves would encourage root growth into deeper drier soil, and that genetic variation within closely related breeding lines may exist to favour surface root growth in response to irrigation or in-season rainfall. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology.

  14. A Soil Service Index: Potential Soil Services to Society under Scenarios of Human Land Use and Population Growth

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hugelius, G.; Ahlström, A.; Loisel, J.; Harden, J. W.

    2017-12-01

    Soils provide numerous and indispensable services to ecological systems and human societies. As human populations and human land use changes, the capacity of soils to maintain these services may also change. To investigate this we provide the first global scale study based on the soil service index (SSI; see presentations by Harden et al. and Loisel et al. in this session for more details). In this index multiple soil services are numerically or quantitatively assessed, normalized to a unit-less scale for purposes of intercomparability. Soil services assessed under the SSI include organic matter and/or organic carbon storage; plant productivity; CO2 or GHG exchange with the atmosphere; water storage capacity; and nutrient storage and/or availability. The SSI may be applied at any scale. Here we present a first global application of the SSI and provide broad-scale analyses of soil service spatial distributions. We assess how the SSI will change under projected changes in human societies populations and human land use (following representative concentration pathway scenarios). Present and future potential utilization and vulnerability of soil resources are analyzed in the context of human population distributions and its projected changes. The SSI is designed to be broadly useful across scientific, governance and resource management organizations. To exemplify this, the parameterization of this is global soil service estimate is based on only open source input data.

  15. Building a functional, integrated GIS/remote sensing resource analysis and planning system. [Utah

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ridd, M. K.; Wheeler, D. J.

    1985-01-01

    To be an effective tool for resource analysis and planning, a geographic information system (GIS) needs to be integrated with a digital remote sensing capability. To be truly functional, the paired system must be driven by grass roots local needs. A case study couched in a Soil Conservation District in northern Utah is presented. Agency representatives determined that the most fundamental data sets to be entered into the GIS system analysis system in the first round were: land use/land cover; geomorphic/soil unit data; hydrologic unit data; and digital terrain. The least expensive and best ways to obtain these data were determined. Data were acquired and formatted to enter the state's PRIME/ARC-INFO GIS, and are being interrogated for resource management decisions related to such issues as agricultural preservation, urban expansion, soil erosion control, and dam siting.

  16. 43 CFR 3809.401 - Where do I file my plan of operations and what information must I include with it?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... equipment, devices, or practices you propose to use during operations including, where applicable— (i) Maps..., paleontological resources, cave resources, hydrology, soils, vegetation, wildlife, air quality, cultural resources...

  17. 43 CFR 3809.401 - Where do I file my plan of operations and what information must I include with it?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... equipment, devices, or practices you propose to use during operations including, where applicable— (i) Maps..., paleontological resources, cave resources, hydrology, soils, vegetation, wildlife, air quality, cultural resources...

  18. 43 CFR 3809.401 - Where do I file my plan of operations and what information must I include with it?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... equipment, devices, or practices you propose to use during operations including, where applicable— (i) Maps..., paleontological resources, cave resources, hydrology, soils, vegetation, wildlife, air quality, cultural resources...

  19. Integration of hydrogeology and soil science for sustainable water resources-focus on water quantity

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Increased biofuel production has heightened awareness of the strong linkages between crop water use and depletion of water resources. Irrigated agriculture consumed 90% of global fresh water resources during the past century. Addressing crop water use and depletion of groundwater resources requires ...

  20. 7 CFR 1469.4 - Significant resource concerns.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 10 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Significant resource concerns. 1469.4 Section 1469.4... Provisions § 1469.4 Significant resource concerns. (a) Soil quality and water quality are nationally significant resource concerns for all land uses. (b) For each sign-up, the Chief may determine additional...

  1. Multiple indices of soil nitrogen status and temperature regulate microbial C allocation to CO2, substrate choices, and contributions to SOM

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Billings, S. A.; Ziegler, S. E.

    2012-12-01

    The response of microbial resource demand to many environmental variables, including temperature and natural organic and inorganic N variability, remains poorly understood. Furthermore, we do not understand how these variables can influence CO2 release vs. C retention in cell walls, which as microbial necromass can generate long-lived soil organic matter (SOM). We explore microbial resource demand and C retention vs. release in one temperate forest and two boreal forests along a climate gradient. We characterized SOM C:N and inorganic N, extracellular enzyme activity (E), and phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) concentration and δ13C. Experimental warming permitted us to assess how interactions between soil N status and warming influence resource demand and C flows through microbes in the two boreal soils. For all soils, we used δ13C of respired CO2 and δ13CPLFA to generate indices of C allocation to biomass vs. to respiratory costs (Δ), useful for cross-site comparisons. Decreasing values of Δ indicate a greater proportion of 13C-enriched C allocated to respiration relative to PLFA-C; changes in Δ with warming or N status thus imply that these variables can influence the physiological mechanisms determining the fate of microbial C after it is imported into the cell. We thus were able to assess the influence of soil N status and warming on substrate decay via E, the fate of microbial C from diverse substrates via Δ, and one index of microbial composition relevant to SOM formation [PLFA]. In all soils, E often varied with N status in ways predicted by stoichiometric theory. For example, the ratio of exo-enzymes associated with labile C decay to those linked to organic N decay (EC:N) increased with inorganic N, and EC:N declined as substrate C:N increased. In contrast to measures of decay, all soils exhibited distinct responses of microbial composition and C allocation to N status and warming. In the temperate forest soils, Gram+ bacteria responded positively to organic N availability and Gram- bacteria to inorganic N, while fungi responded positively to declines in both measures of soil N status. In the more northern boreal soils, actinomycete [PLFA] increased with inorganic N, while that of more southern boreal soils increased with substrate C:N; in both boreal soils, Gram+ bacteria increased with temperature. Given that cell walls of these microbes exhibit distinct propensities for forming long-lived SOM, our work illustrates how similar variation in N status and temperature can drive divergent patterns of biomass relevant to SOM formation. Sensitivity of patterns of C allocation to these variables also contrasted between these soils. In the temperate soils, Δ did not vary with soil N status nor with E, implying that microbes' C allocation patterns were not driven N status or by the C's organic precursor. In both boreal soils, Δ declined with warming, and as EC or EC:N increased. Though N status of the boreal soils drove resource demand similarly as in the temperate forest, the fate of boreal microbial C varied with N status and temperature. Because microbial C substrate use varied with warming in the boreal soils, Δ highlights how the fate of microbial C may vary with the identity of its organic precursor, which in turn is influenced by environmental conditions like temperature and soil N status.

  2. Modelling the fate of PAH added with composts in amended soil according to the origin of the exogenous organic matter.

    PubMed

    Brimo, Khaled; Ouvrard, Stéphanie; Houot, Sabine; Lafolie, François; Garnier, Patricia

    2018-03-01

    A new model that was able to simulate the behaviours of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) during composting and after the addition of the composts to agricultural soil is presented here. This model associates modules that describe the physical, biological and biochemical processes involved in PAH dynamics in soils, along with a module describing the compost degradation resulting in PAH release. The model was calibrated from laboratory incubations using three 14 C-PAHs, phenanthrene, fluoranthene and benzo(a)pyrene, and three different composts consisting of two mature and one non-mature composts. First, the labelled PAHs were added to the compost over 28days, and spiked composts were then added to the soil over 55days. The model calculates the proportion of biogenic and physically bound residues in the non-extractable compartment of PAHs at the end of the compost incubation to feed the initial conditions of the model for soil amended with composts. For most of the treatments, a single parameter set enabled to simulate the observed dynamics of PAHs adequately for all the amended soil treatments using a Bayesian approach. However, for fluoranthene, different parameters that were able to simulate the growth of a specific microbial biomass had to be considered for mature compost. Processes that occurred before the compost application to the soil strongly influenced the fate of PAHs in the soil. Our results showed that the PAH dissipation during compost incubation was higher in mature composts because of the higher specific microbial activity, while the PAH dissipation in amended soil was higher in the non-mature compost because of the higher availability of PAHs and the higher co-metabolic microbial activity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Development of wireless sensor network for landslide monitoring system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Suryadi; Puranto, Prabowo; Adinanta, Hendra; Tohari, Adrin; Priambodo, Purnomo S.

    2017-05-01

    A wireless sensor network has been developed to monitor soil movement of some observed areas periodically. The system consists of four nodes and one gateway which installed on a scope area of 0.2 Km2. Each of nodehastwo types of sensor,an inclinometer and an extensometer. An inclinometer sensor is used to measure the tilt of a structure while anextensometer sensor is used to measure the displacement of soil movement. Each of nodeisalso supported by awireless communication device, a solar power supply unit, and a microcontroller unit called sensor module. In this system, there is also gateway module as a main communication system consistinga wireless communication device, power supply unit, and rain gauge to measure the rainfall intensity of the observed area. Each sensor of inclinometer and extensometer isconnected to the sensor module in wiring system but sensor module iscommunicating with gateway in a wireless system. Those four nodes are alsoconnectedeach other in a wireless system collecting the data from inclinometer and extensometer sensors. Module Gateway istransmitting the instruction code to each sensor module one by one and collecting the data from them. Gateway module is an important part to communicate with not only sensor modules but also to the server. This wireless system wasdesigned toreducethe electric consumption powered by 80 WP solar panel and 55Ah battery. This system has been implemented in Pangalengan, Bandung, which has high intensity of rainfall and it can be seen on the website.

  4. Soil biodiversity and human health

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wall, Diana H.; Nielsen, Uffe N.; Six, Johan

    2015-12-01

    Soil biodiversity is increasingly recognized as providing benefits to human health because it can suppress disease-causing soil organisms and provide clean air, water and food. Poor land-management practices and environmental change are, however, affecting belowground communities globally, and the resulting declines in soil biodiversity reduce and impair these benefits. Importantly, current research indicates that soil biodiversity can be maintained and partially restored if managed sustainably. Promoting the ecological complexity and robustness of soil biodiversity through improved management practices represents an underutilized resource with the ability to improve human health.

  5. Machine Learning and Deep Learning Models to Predict Runoff Water Quantity and Quality

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bradford, S. A.; Liang, J.; Li, W.; Murata, T.; Simunek, J.

    2017-12-01

    Contaminants can be rapidly transported at the soil surface by runoff to surface water bodies. Physically-based models, which are based on the mathematical description of main hydrological processes, are key tools for predicting surface water impairment. Along with physically-based models, data-driven models are becoming increasingly popular for describing the behavior of hydrological and water resources systems since these models can be used to complement or even replace physically based-models. In this presentation we propose a new data-driven model as an alternative to a physically-based overland flow and transport model. First, we have developed a physically-based numerical model to simulate overland flow and contaminant transport (the HYDRUS-1D overland flow module). A large number of numerical simulations were carried out to develop a database containing information about the impact of various input parameters (weather patterns, surface topography, vegetation, soil conditions, contaminants, and best management practices) on runoff water quantity and quality outputs. This database was used to train data-driven models. Three different methods (Neural Networks, Support Vector Machines, and Recurrence Neural Networks) were explored to prepare input- output functional relations. Results demonstrate the ability and limitations of machine learning and deep learning models to predict runoff water quantity and quality.

  6. NEON's Mobile Deployment Platform: A Resource for Community Research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sanclements, M.

    2017-12-01

    Here we provide an update on construction of the five NEON Mobile Deployment Platforms (MDPs) as well as a description of the infrastructure and sensors available to researchers in the near future. Additionally, we include information (i.e. timelines and procedures) on requesting MDPs for PI led projects. The MDPs will provide the means to observe stochastic or spatially important events, gradients, or quantities that cannot be reliably observed using fixed location sampling (e.g. fires and floods). Due to the transient temporal and spatial nature of such events, the MDPs are designed to accommodate rapid deployment for time periods up to 1 year. Broadly, the MDPs are comprised of infrastructure and instrumentation capable of functioning individually or in conjunction with one another to support observations of ecological change, as well as education, training and outreach. More specifically, the MDPs include the capability to make tower based measures of ecosystem exchange, radiation, and precipitation in conjunction with baseline soils data such as CO2 flux, and soil temperature and moisture. An aquatics module is also available with the MDP to facilitate research integrating terrestrial and aquatic processes. Ultimately, the NEON MDPs provide a tool for linking PI led research to the continental scale data sets collected by NEON.

  7. Medical Terminology: Suffixes. Health Occupations Education Module.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Temple Univ., Philadelphia, PA. Div. of Vocational Education.

    This module on medical terminology (suffixes) is one of 17 modules designed for individualized instruction in health occupations education programs at both the secondary and postsecondary levels. This module consists of an introduction to the module topic, a list of resources needed, and three learning experiences. The first two learning…

  8. Environmental scan and evaluation of best practices for online systematic review resources

    PubMed Central

    Parker, Robin M. N.; Boulos, Leah M.; Visintini, Sarah; Ritchie, Krista; Hayden, Jill

    2018-01-01

    Objective Online training for systematic review methodology is an attractive option due to flexibility and limited availability of in-person instruction. Librarians often direct new reviewers to these online resources, so they should be knowledgeable about the variety of available resources. The objective for this project was to conduct an environmental scan of online systematic review training resources and evaluate those identified resources. Methods The authors systematically searched for electronic learning resources pertaining to systematic review methods. After screening for inclusion, we collected data about characteristics of training resources and assigned scores in the domains of (1) content, (2) design, (3) interactivity, and (4) usability by applying a previously published evaluation rubric for online instruction modules. We described the characteristics and scores for each training resource and compared performance across the domains. Results Twenty training resources were evaluated. Average overall score of online instructional resources was 61%. Online courses (n=7) averaged 73%, web modules (n=5) 64%, and videos (n=8) 48%. The top 5 highest scoring resources were in course or web module format, featured high interactivity, and required a longer (>5hrs) time commitment from users. Conclusion This study revealed that resources include appropriate content but are less likely to adhere to principles of online training design and interactivity. Awareness of these resources will allow librarians to make informed recommendations for training based on patrons’ needs. Future online systematic review training resources should use established best practices for e-learning to provide high-quality resources, regardless of format or user time commitment. PMID:29632443

  9. Determination of near-saturated hydraulic conductivity by automated minidisk infiltrometer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Klipa, Vladimir; Snehota, Michal; Dohnal, Michal; Zumr, David

    2013-04-01

    Numerical models in surface and subsurface hydrology require knowledge of infiltration properties of soils for their routine use in the field of water management, environmental protection or agriculture. A new automated tension infiltration module has been designed at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague to facilitate the measurements of near-saturated hydraulic conductivity. In the proposed infiltration module the amount of infiltrated water is registered via changes of buoyant force of stationary float attached to the load cell. Presented setup consists of six mini-disk infiltrometer modules held in the light aluminum frame and two Mariotte's bottles. Three infiltrometer modules connected to each Mariotte's bottle allow performing six simultaneous measurements at two different pressure heads. Infiltration modules are connected to the automatic data logging system and consist of: plastic cover with the integrated load cell and the float, reservoir tube (external diameter of 50 mm), and sintered stainless steel plate (diameter of 44.5 mm). The newly developed device was used for determination of near-saturated hydraulic conductivity of soils in experimental catchments Uhlirska (Jizera Mountains, Northern Bohemia) and Kopaninsky creek (Bohemian-Moravian Highlands). The acquired data show a good agreement with the data obtained from previous measurements.

  10. Modulation of SSM/I microwave soil radiances by rainfall

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Heymsfield, Gerald M.; Fulton, Richard

    1992-01-01

    The feasibility of using SSM/I satellite data for estimating the soil moisture content was investigated by correlating the rainfall and soil moisture data with values of the SSM/I microwave brightness temperature obtained for the lower Great Plains in the United States during 1987. It was found that the areas of lowest brightness temperatures coincided with regions of bare soil which had received significant rainfall. The time-history plots of the brightness temperature and the antecedent precipitation index during an extremely large rain event indicated a slow recovery period (about 15 days) back to the dry soil state. However, regions covered with vegetation showed smaller temperature drops and much weaker correlation with rain events, questioning the feasibility of using SSM/I measurements for estimations of soil moisture in regions containing vegetation-covered soil.

  11. Student-Centered Modules to Support Active Learning in Hydrology: Development Experiences and Users' Perspectives

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Tarboton, D. G.; Habib, E. H.; Deshotel, M.; Merck, M. F.; Lall, U.; Farnham, D. J.

    2016-12-01

    Traditional approaches to undergraduate hydrology and water resource education are textbook based, adopt unit processes and rely on idealized examples of specific applications, rather than examining the contextual relations in the processes and the dynamics connecting climate and ecosystems. The overarching goal of this project is to address the needed paradigm shift in undergraduate education of engineering hydrology and water resources education to reflect parallel advances in hydrologic research and technology, mainly in the areas of new observational settings, data and modeling resources and web-based technologies. This study presents efforts to develop a set of learning modules that are case-based, data and simulation driven and delivered via a web user interface. The modules are based on real-world case studies from three regional hydrologic settings: Coastal Louisiana, Utah Rocky Mountains and Florida Everglades. These three systems provide unique learning opportunities on topics such as: regional-scale budget analysis, hydrologic effects of human and natural changes, flashflood protection, climate-hydrology teleconnections and water resource management scenarios. The technical design and contents of the modules aim to support students' ability for transforming their learning outcomes and skills to hydrologic systems other than those used by the specific activity. To promote active learning, the modules take students through a set of highly engaging learning activities that are based on analysis of hydrologic data and model simulations. The modules include user support in the form of feedback and self-assessment mechanisms that are integrated within the online modules. Module effectiveness is assessed through an improvement-focused evaluation model using a mixed-method research approach guiding collection and analysis of evaluation data. Both qualitative and quantitative data are collected through student learning data, product analysis, and staff interviews. The presentation shares with the audience lessons learned from the development and implementation of the modules, students' feedback, guidelines on design and content attributes that support active learning in hydrology, and challenges encountered during the class implementation and evaluation of the modules.

  12. Assessing bioenergy harvest risks: Geospatially explicit tools for maintaining soil productivity in western US forests

    Treesearch

    Mark Kimsey; Deborah Page-Dumroese; Mark Coleman

    2011-01-01

    Biomass harvesting for energy production and forest health can impact the soil resource by altering inherent chemical, physical and biological properties. These impacts raise concern about damaging sensitive forest soils, even with the prospect of maintaining vigorous forest growth through biomass harvesting operations. Current forest biomass harvesting research...

  13. America's Soil and Water: Condition and Trends.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    1981

    A review of conditions and trends regarding soil and water resources of rural nonfederal lands of the United States is presented in this publication. Maps, charts, and graphs illustrate the data collected on various aspects of soil and water use and practice. Topic areas considered include: (1) land use patterns; (2) classes of land; (3)…

  14. Issues of Spatial and Temporal Scale in Modeling the Effects of Field Operatiions on Soil Properties

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Tillage is an important procedure for modifying the soil environment in order to enhance crop growth and conserve soil and water resources. Process-based models of crop production are widely used in decision support, but few explicitly simulate tillage. The Cropping Systems Model (CSM) was modified ...

  15. A differential nursery for testing nodulation effectiveness of rhizobium strains in common beans

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Most common beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in Central America are produced on soils having low nitrogen (N) and phosphorous content. The small-scale farmers do not have resources to use fertilizers or implement soil management practices. Strategies to improve the adaptation of beans to low N soils in...

  16. Responses of Earthworm to Aluminum Toxicity in Latosol

    Treesearch

    Jia-En Zhang; Jiayu Yu; Ying Ouyang; Huaqin Xu

    2012-01-01

    Excess aluminum (Al) in soils due to acid rain leaching is toxic to water resources and harmful to soil organisms and plants. This study investigated adverse impacts of Al levels upon earthworms (Eisenia fetida) from the latosol (acidic red soil). Laboratory experiments were performed to examine the survival and avoidance of earthworms from high Al...

  17. Fire effects on temperate forest soil C and N storage

    Treesearch

    Lucas E. Nave; Eric D. Vance; Christopher W. Swanston; Peter S. Curtis

    2011-01-01

    Temperate forest soils store globally significant amounts of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N). Understanding how soil pools of these two elements change in response to disturbance and management is critical to maintaining ecosystem services such as forest productivity, greenhouse gas mitigation, and water resource protection. Fire is one of the principal disturbances acting...

  18. Landscape position moderates how ant nests affect hydrology and soil chemistry across a Chihuahuan Desert watershed

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Ants moderate the supply of critical resources such as water and nutrients in desert environments by changing the physical arrangement of soils during nest construction. We measured water infiltration and soil physical and chemical properties on and off the nests of two ant species (Pogonomyrmex rug...

  19. Presentations on Soil Fumigation Requirements - PDF Format

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    These provide training, outreach, and other resource materials for applicators and handlers, communities, state and local agencies, and others interested in understanding and implementing the current requirements for safe use of soil fumigant pesticides.

  20. 7 CFR 1468.4 - Establishing Conservation Farm Option (CFO) pilot project areas.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ...) Conservation of soil, water, and related natural resources, (ii) Water quality protection or improvement, (iii... that can be geographically described and has specific environmental sensitivities or significant soil...

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