Written as an authoritative guide for analytical chemists, geochemists, soil scientists, agricultural chemists and environmental scientists at postgraduate level and beyond, "Trace Metals in Soils" provides an up-to-date, balanced and comprehensive review broken up into four sections, covering: basic chemistry and general principles; long-term behaviour of trace metals in soils; environmentally important trace metals, and remediation and management of metal contaminated soils.

Interacting Processes in Soil Science focuses on coupled processes in soil. Topics covered in this important volume include the effects of inorganic salts upon water flow, modeling of sorption, transport and transformation of organic solutes, and the effects of microorganisms on silicate clay minerals. The book presents studies and approaches that can be extended and complemented by innovative work in the future.
Interacting Processes in Soil Science will be an essential reference for all researchers and students in soil science, soil and water engineering, civil and environmental engineering, earth sciences, and hydrology.

Between 1958 and 2008, the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere increased from 316 to 385 ppm. Continued increases in CO2 concentration will significantly affect long-term climate change, including variations in agricultural yields. Focusing on this critical issue, Elevated Carbon Dioxide: Impacts on Soil and Plant Water Relations presents research conducted on field-grown sorghum, winter wheat, and rangeland plants under elevated CO2. It describes specific results from pioneering experiments performed over a seven-year period in the Evapotranspiration Laboratory at Kansas State University, along with experiments appearing in peer-reviewed journal articles. Select articles from the literature serve as examples in the text. For each paper discussed, the author includes the common and scientific name of the plant under investigation. For each experiment, the author provides the type of soil used (if given in the original article) and general conditions of the experiment. All references are carefully documented so that readers can easily find the original source. The first chapter of the book deals with drought, the three types of photosynthesis, and how water moves through the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. With a focus on soil, the next several chapters discuss the composition of the soil atmosphere, the interaction of elevated CO2 with physical factors that affect root growth, variable oxygen concentration of soil, and when the atmosphere above soil is elevated with CO2. The author goes on to examine the use of carbon isotope ratios in plant science; the effects of elevated CO2 on plant water, osmotic, and turgor potentials; and stomata under elevated CO2, including stomatal conductance and density. The text also explains the effects of elevated CO2 on transpiration and evapotranspiration, explores historic

This fourth edition builds on the success of previous editions and for the first time is produced in full colour throughout with improved photos and diagrams. It retains its popular pocket size and is an essential buy for all students working in the field.

The text shows how sedimentary rocks are tackled in the field and has been written for all those with a geological background. It describes how the features of sedimentary rocks can be recorded in the field particularly through the construction of graphic logs. In succeeding chapters the various sedimentary rock types, textures and structures are discussed and shown how they can be described and measured in the field. There are expanded sections on trace fossils and volcaniclastics along with updated reference list. Finally a concluding section deals briefly with facies identification and points the ways towards facies interpretations, and the identification of sequences and cycles.

Key Features: Full colour throughout with improved photos, figures and diagrams in a modern layout.Complete revision and update of best selling textbook which is part of the highly successful "Field Guide" series.Expanded sections on trace fossils and volcaniclastics along with updated reference list.Handy pocket size with laminated cover.Includes supplementary website with downloadable logging sheets for fieldwork activities.

Proceedings of the International Geotechnical Symposium on [title], Fukuoka Kyushu, Oct. '88. No index; acidic paper. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Nitrate Handbook: Environmental, Agricultural, and Health Effects provides an overview of the entire nitrate cycle and the processes influencing nitrate transformation. It clearly identifies the role of nitrate as an essential nutrient in plant growth, food preservation, and human health. Using the most up-to-date knowledge and research, this handbook illustrates how the steadily increasing human population and demand for food, which results in higher amounts of nitrate needed by soils, makes new regulations on the management and usage of nitrates a high priority. A detailed explanation concerning the discrepancies between the public's perception of nitrate's harm versus the reality of its human health benefits is given via a balanced and evidence-based approach. All questions pertaining to the influences of nitrate and its derivatives on plant physiology and human health are explored in depth. This comprehensive resource with contributions from distinguished researches in the field is a must-have for professionals and students who study and work with nitrates. Features: Includes in depth discussion on the wide spectrum of nitrate present in the environment. Focuses on the progress made on nitrate research and its importance. Answers all questions about nitrate and its derivatives' influences on plant physiology and human health. Enables decision makers and public authorities to manage social concerns Compiles in one resource the findings of many distinguished researchers in the field.

This book is a much-expanded and updated edition of a previous volume, published in 1996 as No-tillage Seeding: Science and Practice. The base objective remains to describe, in lay terms, a range of international experiments designed to examine the causes of successes and failures in no-tillage. The book summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of no tillage and highlights the pros and cons of a range of features and options, without promoting any particular product. Topics added or covered in more detail in the second edition include:
DT soil carbon and how its retention or sequestration interacts with tillage and no-tillage
DT controlled traffic farming as an adjunct to no-tillage
DT comparison of the performance of generic no-tillage opener designs
DT the role of banding fertilizer in no-tillage
DT the economics of no-tillage
DT small-scale equipment used by poorer farmers
DT forage cropping by no-tillage
DT a method for risk assessment of different levels of machine sophistication

The well being of the humans including animals depend upon very much on how the soil productivity is maintained without ecosystems degradation. Most likely soil can efficiently sustain humanity with food, fibre, feed to animals and clean environmental maintenance only when it is considered and managed from the holistic and ecosystem points of view. Plants need at least 16 essential elements for their normal growth and to complete their life. The soil testing provides the status of the nutrients determined in the laboratory for the application of appropriate rate of fertilizers to eliminate the nutrients limiting for production. The soil testing along with plant analysis gives the true status of plant nutrients affected by soil properties to take the proper care for the plant growth. Our available water resources are diminishing and getting polluted with excess use of fertilizers and pesticides which are ultimately affecting the environment, food produced and water quality. The purpose of this book 'Soil Testing and Analysis' is i to provide the vital plant nutrients functions for which soil testing is to be made; ii to determine the nutrient status of the soil with appropriate methods, measurements and criteria for interpreting those assessments; iii to analyze the appropriate parts of the plant samples for nutrient elements with available methods of analysis; iv to analyze the important water quality parameters with interpretations; and v to prepare the soil, plant and water samples for the analysis of pesticide residues with the different available methods. This is a comprehensive presentation of useful information for the scientific and technical personals involved in such types of analysis.

Co-edited by international earthworm expert Clive A. Edwards, Vermiculture Technology: Earthworms, Organic Wastes, and Environmental Management is the first international, comprehensive, and definitive work on how earthworms and microorganisms interact to break down organic wastes on a commercial basis. Many books cover the importance of composting for reducing the amount of organic wastes in landfills. This reference focuses on innovative vermiculture technology that turns organic waste into a value-added environmentally friendly products that can improve soil fertility and productivity on a large scale. Chronicles more than two decades of growth and changes in earthworm composting technologyBased on the work of an outstanding international cast of scientists, the book explores the dramatic growth and changes in vermiculture technology since 1988 and assesses advances made in government-funded projects in the United States and United Kingdom. The contributors discuss outdoor and indoor windrows, container systems, wedge systems, and low labor-requirement, fully-automated continuous flow vermicomposting reactor systems that can process more than 1000 tons of organic wastes per reactor per annum. They also highlight the science and biology behind the use and efficacy of vermicomposting, examine its importance to developing countries, and detail the technology of the past, present, and future. Although the development of a range of vermicomposting technologies has been rapid and the spread of vermicomposting dramatic, the scientific literature remains scattered throughout a range of journals, newsletters, and online resources. As a compilation of information designed specifically to have an extended shelf life, this volume chronicles how vermiculture can be brought into full commercial and industrial development and find application in integrated waste management systems.

Bioremediation is a rapidly advancing field and the technology has been applied successfully to remediate many contaminated sites. The goal of every soil remediation method is to enhance the degradation, transformation, or detoxification of pollutants and to protect, maintain and sustain environmental quality.

Advances in our understanding of the ecology of microbial communities capable of breaking down various pollutants and the molecular and biochemical mechanisms by which biodegradation occurs have helped us in developing practical soil bioremediation strategies. Chapters dealing with the application of biological methods to soil remediation are contributed from experts authorities in the area of environmental science including microbiology and molecular biology from academic institutions and industry."

This book presents evidence-based approaches and techniques used to diagnose and manage organic solutes, oxidative stress, and antioxidant enzymes in crop plants under abiotic stressors. It discusses strategies in abiotic stress tolerance including osmoregulation, osmoprotectants, and the regulation of compatible solutes and antioxidant enzymes in plants. With contributions from 49 scholars worldwide, this authoritative guide is educational for scientists working with plants and abiotic stressors. Provides comprehensive coverage of all aspects of abiotic stress, from abiotic stresses' effects on plant growth, development, and defense mechanisms, to functionality of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidant enzymes in crop plants. Outlines the dangers of reactive oxygen species. Discusses using antioxidant enzymes and antioxidant molecules in plant protection mechanisms. Edited by Arafat Abdel Hamed Abdel Latef, Professor of Plant Physiology at South Valley University, Egypt, this book is written for graduate students and scholars researching abiotic plant stressors. "The book represents an excellent strategy to understand the mechanisms and techniques of antioxidant enzymes in the plant cell under stress conditions." - Professor Mostafa El-sheekh "Provides a thorough and detailed picture of the updated knowledge on the techniques used to manage organic solutes, oxidative stress and stress-related enzymes under abiotic stressors." - Bhoopander Giri, Ph.D. "Will serve as an imperative source of scientific literature in the plant stress biology field." - Narendra Singh Yadav, Ph.D. "The book has eighteen chapters written by scholars of international expertise in plant stress management." - Dr. Sikander PAL, Senior Assistant Professor

This book charts and explains how human activities have shaped and altered the development of soils in many parts of the world, taking advantage of five decades of soil analytical work in many archaeological landscapes from around the globe. The core of this volume describes and illustrates major transformations of soils and the processes involved in these that have occurred during the Holocene and how these relate to human activities as much as natural causes and trajectories of development, right up to the present day. This is done in two ways: first by examining a number of major processes and impacts on the landscape such as Holocene warming and the development of woodland, clearance and agricultural activities, and second by examining the trajectories of these changes in soil systems in different palaeo-environmental situations in several diverse parts of the world. The transformations identified are relevant to prevalent themes of today such as over-development and soil, land and environmental degradation and resilience. The studies articulated relate to Britain, southeastern Europe, the Mediterranean basin, East Africa, northern India and Peru in South America.

Globally, 30% of the world population lived in urban areas in 1950, 54% in 2016 and 66% projected by 2050. The most urbanized regions include North America, Latin America, and Europe. Urban encroachment depletes soil carbon and the aboveground biomass carbon pools, enhancing the flux of carbon from soil and vegetation into the atmosphere. Thus, urbanization has exacerbated ecological and environmental problems. Urban soils are composed of geological material that has been drastically disturbed by anthropogenic activities and compromised their role in the production of food, aesthetics of residential areas, and pollutant dynamics. Properties of urban soils are normally not favorable to plant growth-the soils are contaminated by heavy metals and are compacted and sealed. Therefore, the quality of urban soils must be restored to make use of this valuable resource for delivery of essential ecosystem services (e.g., food, water and air quality, carbon sequestration, temperature moderation, biodiversity). Part of the Advances in Soil Sciences Series, Urban Soils explains properties of urban soils; assesses the effects of urbanization on the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, and water and the impacts of management of urban soils, soil restoration, urban agriculture, and food security; evaluates ecosystem services provisioned by urban soils, and describes synthetic and artificial soils.

* Wide coverage of soils and perennial cropping systems in the tropics * Synthesis of decades of research * Challenges assumptions on the benefits of plantations for soil fertilityIt is generally assumed that soil fertility decline is widespread in the tropics and that this is largely associated with annual cropping and subsistence farming. In contrast, perennial plant cover (as in plantation agriculture) provides better protection for the soil. This book reviews these concepts, focusing on soil chemical changes under different land-use systems in the tropics. These include perennial crops, annual crops and forest plantations. Two case studies, on sisal plantations in Tanzania and sugar cane in Papua New Guinea, are presented for detailed analysis. The author demonstrates that soil fertility decline is also a problem on plantations.

Management Strategies for Water Use Efficiency and Micro Irrigated Crops presents new research and technologies for making better use of water resources for agricultural purposes. The chapters focus on better management to improve allocation and irrigation water efficiency and look at performance factors as well. Chapters look at irrigation technology, environmental conditions, and scheduling of water application. One section of the book focuses on water management in the cultivation of sugarcane, a very important industrial crop used in many fields. Other sections are devoted to principles and challenging technologies, water use efficiency for drip-irrigated crops, performance of fertigated rice under micro irrigation, and evaluation of performance of drip-irrigated crops. This valuable book is a must for those struggling to find ways to address the need to maintain efficient crop production in the midst of water shortages. With chapters from hands-on experts in the field, the book will be an invaluable reference and guide to effective micro irrigation methods.

This new book, Principles and Practices of Sustainable Micro Irrigation, is the first in the new series on micro irrigation, which offers a vast amount of knowledge and techniques necessary to develop and manage a drip/trickle or micro irrigation system. Written by experienced scientists from various parts of the world, the chapters in this book offer basic principles, knowledge, and techniques of micro irrigation management, which are essential in designing, developing, and evaluating an agricultural irrigation management system. The methods and techniques have worldwide applicability to irrigation management in agriculture. The book includes coverage of many important topics in the field, including: * An historical review of micro irrigation * The current global status of the field and its potential * Basic principles and applications * New research on chemigation and fertigation * Technologies for specific crops, such as sugar cane * Irrigation software for micro irrigation design * Affordable and low-cost micro irrigation solutions for small farms and farms in developing countries * Micro irrigation design using Hydrocalc software This book is a must for those interested in irrigation planning and management, namely, researchers, scientists, educators, and students.

This volume comprises three parts: 1) from local to global, 2) what type of sustainable management? 3) territorial approaches. The first chapter demonstrates, from the French example, that better soil management is a societal issue. At the global level, the second chapter raises the question of land grabbing and land use conflicts. This book also raises the question of the legal status of the soil. It then shows how soils need to be integrated when defining sustainable agricultural systems. French and European examples illustrate how taking environmental problems into account depends as much on their acuity as on how problems are perceived by public and private, social or economic actors. Therefore, it is important to promote co-diagnosis involving the scientific community and the various other actors in order to improve the regulation on soils. This multi-actor soil governance is facilitated by the use of simple soil quality indicators. Finally, examples in France and Vietnam show how soils are to be considered as territorial commons within landscapes. This last chapter recommends in particular to put an end to the absolute right of soil ownership and to distribute the usufruct of land between various private and public beneficiaries.

This introductory book to the six volume series includes an introduction defining the critical zone for mankind that extends from tree canopy and the lower atmosphere to water table and unweathered rock. Soils play a crucial role through the functions and the services that they provide to mankind. The spatial and temporal variability of soils is represented by information systems whose importance, recent evolutions and increasingly performing applications in France and in the world must be underlined. The soil functions, discussed in this book, focus on the regulation of the water cycle, biophysicochemical cycles and the habitat role of biodiversity. The main services presented are those related to the provision of agricultural, fodder and forest products, energy, as well as materials and the role of soil as infrastructure support. They also include the different cultural dimensions of soils, their representations being often linked to myths and rites, as well as their values of environmental and archaeological records. Finally, the issue is raised of an off-ground world.