This book addresses the importance of soil processes in the global carbon cycle.Agricultural activities considered responsible for an increase in CO2 levels in our atmosphere include: deforestation, biomass burning, tillage and intensive cultivation, and drainage of wetlands.However, agriculture can also be a solution to the problem in which carbon can be removed from the atmosphere and permanently sequestered into the soil. Management of Carbon Sequestration in Soil highlights the importance of world soils as a sink for atmospheric carbon and discusses the impact of tillage, conservation reserve programs (CRP), management of grasslands and woodlands, and other soil and crop management and land use practices that lead to carbon sequestration.

In these books, we bring together and correlate recent information known to have a prominent influence on the rate of movement of pollutants from wastes and their leachates in the soil. The emphasis is on those characteristics most amenable to modification and their management, such that secure and rational choices of disposal can be made. Identification of limits of the state of the art are carefully defined. This book presents five distinct but related subject matter sections. The first topic relates to soil as a natural system to prepare the reader with a basic knowledge of soil properties as they must become involved in waste management at the disposal facility. The soil, its depth-profile, and certain characteristics are identified and described.

The fate of heavy metal particles in the environment is important because they tend to be reactive, mobile, and highly toxic. Reactivity and Transport of Heavy Metals in Soils examines the sometimes complex interactions that occur between metals and the soil they occupy. It discusses basic kinetic concepts and covers the predictability and consequences of metal-soil interactions.
This practical guide presents and explains heavy metal issues crucial to hazardous waste site cleanup, including:

The sections in this handbook series reflect the input of different editors and advisory boards, and as a consequence, there is considerable variation in both the depth and coverage offered within a given area. However, an attempt has been made throughout to bring together pertinent information that will serve the needs of nonspecialists, provide a quick reference to material that might otherwise be difficult to locate, and furnish a starting point for further study.The project was undertaken with the realization that the initial volumes in the series could have some obvious deficiencies that will necessitate subsequent revisions. In the meantime, it is felt that the primary objectives of the Sections Editors and their Advisory Boards has been met in this first Edition.

Indigenous soil and water conservation practices are rarely acknowledged in the design of conventional development projects. Instead, the history of soil and water conservation in Africa has been one of imposing external solutions without regard for local practice. There is a remarkably diverse range of locally developed and adapted technologies for the conservation of water and soil, well suited to their particular site and socio-economic conditions. But such measures have been ignored, and sometimes even overturned, by external solutions. Sustaining the Soil documents farmers' practices, exploring the origins and adaptations carried out by farmers over generations, in response to changing circumstances. Through a comparative analysis of conservation measures - from the humid zones of West Africa to the arid lands of the Sudan, from rock terraces in Morocco to the grass strips of Swaziland - the book explores the various factors that influence adoption and adaptation; farmers' perceptions of conservation needs; and the institutional and policy settings most favorable to more effective land husbandry. For the first time on an Africa-wide scale, this book shows that indigenous techniques work, and are being used successfully to conserve and harvest soil and water. These insights combine to suggest new ways forward for governments and agencies attempting to support sustainable land management in Africa, involving a fusion of traditional and modern approaches, which makes the most of both the new and the old.

Loess is a product of aeolian deposition during the Quaternary glaciation cycles and covers approximately 6% of the Earth's land. The Loess Plateau of China, which is home to a population of nearly three hundred million, has the thickest and most complete loess strata, where loess geohazards occur most frequently due to the weak geoenvironment and dense human activities. In recent years, the engineering geological characteristics of loess and geohazards in loess areas have gradually received increasing attention from academic researchers. This book reviews an informative collection of up-to-date literature in this field. It presents the unique features of loess and loess geohazards, and provides a strong foundation for future study via eight systematically structured chapters, e.g., origin and spatial distribution, loess landforms, microstructure, physical properties, permeability, shear strength, tensile strength, and loess geohazard. It can serve as a principal reference for researchers, practical engineers and technicians who are engaged in loess geology and surface processes, and is suitable especially for undergraduate and postgraduate students in the field of loess engineering geology.

Australia and the United States face very similar challenges in dealing with drought. Both countries cover a range of biophysical conditions, both are federations that provide considerable responsibility to state governments for water and land management, and both face the challenges in balancing rural industry and urban development, especially in relation to the allocation of water. Yet there are critical differences in their approaches to drought science and policy. Drought, Risk Management, and Policy: Decision Making under Uncertainty explores the complex relationship between scientific research and decision making with respect to drought in Australia and the United States. Risk Management, not Crisis Management Drawing on the work of respected academic researchers and policy practitioners, the book discusses the issues associated with decision making under uncertainty and the perspectives, needs, and expectations of scientists, policy makers, and resource users. Starting from the position that drought is a risk to be managed, it considers the implications of the predicted impacts of future climate change. The book also examines the policy responses to these challenges and the role of scientific input into the policy process. Contributors look at drought risk management in action and how end users in the community incorporate drought science into their decision making. The book concludes with lessons learned about science, policy, and managing uncertainty. Get Insight into the Relationship between Science and Policy-and How to Turn That into More Effective Decision Making Throughout, the contributors identify possible reasons for differences in the use and application of drought sciences and approach to policy between the two countries, offering valuable insight into the relationship between scientific advice and the policy process. They also highlight the challenges faced at the science-policy interface. Crossing international borders and disciplinary boundaries, this timely collection tackles drought policy development as part of the broader discussion about climate change. Although the focus is on Australia and the United States, many of the lessons learned are relevant for any country dealing with drought.

During the last four decades, tremendous advances have been made towards the understanding of transport characteristics of contaminants in soils, solutes, and tracers in geological media. Transport & Fate of Chemicals in Soils: Principles & Applications offers a comprehensive treatment of the subject complete with supporting examples of mathematical models that describe contaminants reactivity and transport in soils and aquifers. This approach makes it a practical guide for designing experiments and collecting data that focus on characterizing retention as well as release kinetic reactions in soils and contaminant transport experiments in the laboratory, greenhouse), and in the field. The book provides the basic framework of the principals governing the sorption and transport of chemicalsin soils. It focuses on physical processes such as fractured media, multiregion, multiple porosities, and heterogeneity and effect of scale as well as chemical processes such as nonlinear kinetics, release and desorption hysteresis, multisite and multireaction reactions, and competitive-type reactions. The coverage also includes details of sorption behavior of chemicals with soil matrix surfaces as well the integration of sorption characteristics with mechanisms that govern solute transport in soils. The discussions of applications of the principles of sorption and transport are not restricted to contaminants, but also include nitrogen, phosphorus, and trace elements including essential micronutrients, heavy metals, military explosives, pesticides, and radionuclides. Written in a very clear and easy-to-follow language by a pioneer in soil science, this book details the basic framework of the physical and chemical processes governing the transport of contaminants, trace elements, and heavy metals in soils. Highly practical, it includes laboratory methods, examples, and empirical formulations. The approach taken by the author gives you not only the fundamentals of understanding of reactive chemicals retention and their transport in soils and aquifers, but practical guidance you can put to immediate use in designing experiments and collecting data.

The third most important cereal crop after wheat and corn, rice is a staple food for more than half of the world's population. This includes regions of high population density and rapid growth, indicating that rice will continue to be a major food crop in the next century. Mineral Nutrition of Rice brings together a wealth of information on the ecophysiology and nutrient requirements of rice. Compiling the latest scientific research, the book explains how to manage essential nutrients to maximize rice yield. The book examines 15 essential or beneficial nutrients used in irrigated, upland, and floating rice across a range of geographic regions. For each mineral, the text details the cycle in the soil-plant system as well as the mineral's functions, deficiency symptoms, uptake in plants, harvest index, and use efficiency. It then outlines management practices, covering application methods and timing, adequate rates, the use of efficient genotypes, and more. The author, an internationally recognized expert in mineral nutrition for crop plants, also proposes recommendations for the judicious use of fertilizers to reduce the cost of crop production and the risk of environmental pollution. Color photographs help readers identify nutrient deficiency symptoms and take the necessary corrective measures. Packed with useful tables and illustrations, this comprehensive reference guides readers who want to know how to increase rice yield, reduce production costs, and avoid environmental pollution from fertilizers. It offers practical information for those working in agricultural research fields, in laboratories, and in classrooms around the world.

Despite the apparently desperate situation of sub-Saharan Africa, rainwater harvesting and management is a viable intervention for upgrading rain-fed agriculture, improving water supply and sustainable livelihoods in water-scarce river basins. If strategies are developed to ensure equity allocation of basin water, a win-win situation for diverse water users can be achieved. This thesis assesses the hydrological impacts of land use changes on water resources management and socio-economic development of the upper Ewaso Ng iro river basin in Kenya. It considers the impact of irrigation on dry season river flows and highlights the challenge of flood storage strategies. While flood storage can reduce dry season irrigation water abstractions by more than a half, without affecting hydro-ecological functions downstream, unplanned flood harvesting may impact negatively on flood flow, being detrimental to natural ecosystems and groundwater downstream.

Conservation tillage systems have been adopted by farmers in many countries to solve the problem of land degradation and declining water productivity. Direct application of such tillage systems has not been possible among resource-poor, smallholder farmers in semi-arid areas of Ethiopia. Problems such as the lack of rainfall, the costs of herbicides and implements, and the special cultivation needs of the crop tef, which can not be planted in rows, have developed locally-adapted conservation tillage systems. This book considers traditional tillage systems and the results of tests carried out on appropriate conservation tillage implements and systems for smallholder farmers in semi-arid regions of Ethiopia. The traditional tillage implement, the Maresha Plough, and the related tillage systems were identified as being the main cause of repeated and cross-ploughing, leading to land degradation and reduced water productivity. Modified implements were found to be suitable for conservation tillage systems while being simple, light and affordable. Two types of tillage systems developed for maize and tef were found to reduce surface runoff, increase availability of water to crops and increase yields.

"This thought-provoking book demonstrates how processes of landscape transformation, usually illustrated only in simplified or idealized form, play out over time in real, complex landscapes. Trimble illustrates how a simple landscape disturbance, generated in this case by agriculture, can spread an astonishing variety of altered hydrologic and sedimentation processes throughout a drainage basin. The changes have spatial and temporal patterns forced on them by the distinctive topographic structure of drainage basins. "Through painstaking field surveys, comparative photographic records, careful dating, a skillful eye for subtle landscape features, and a geographer's interdisciplinary understanding of landscape processes, the author leads the reader through the arc of an instructive and encouraging story. Farmers-whose unfamiliarity with new environmental conditions led initially to landscape destruction, impoverishment, and instability-eventually adapted their land use and settlement practices and, supported by government institutions, recovered and enriched the same working landscape. "For the natural scientist, Historical Agriculture and Soil Erosion in the Upper Mississippi Valley Hill Country illustrates how an initially simple alteration of land cover can set off a train of unanticipated changes to runoff, erosion, and sedimentation processes that spread through a landscape over decades-impoverishing downstream landscapes and communities. Distinct zones of the landscape respond differently and in sequence. The effects take a surprisingly long time to spread through a landscape because sediment moves short distances during storms and can persist for decades or centuries in relatively stable forms where it resists further movement because of consolidation, plant reinforcement, and low gradients. "For the social scientist, the book raises questions of whether and how people can be alerted early to their potential for environmental disturbance, but also for learning and adopting restorative practices. Trimble's commitment to all aspects of this problem should energize both groups." -Professor Thomas Dunne, Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, UC Santa Barbara

Over the past decade the sediments of many rivers, lakes, and estuaries have been contaminated by inorganic and organic materials. Contaminants from sediments, under certain conditions, can be released into overlying waters. Thus, sediments may be an important source of contaminants to waters in which littoral and atmospheric contaminants have been reduced or eliminated. Often found in aquatic sediments, metals are exposed to many reactions, such as sorption and precipitation, and are greatly influenced by the redox conditions in the sediment. The reactions - usually over a period of time - reflect biotic processing as well as chemical transformations. This book describes these important processes. Metal Contaminated Aquatic Sediments outlines advances in environmental chemistry, effective new modeling techniques, applications for biological treatment, and cycling and transport of trace metals in sedimentary environments. Each chapter contains a detailed reference section that draws upon a stunning array of sources. The book includes many figures and tables that illustrate the process under discussion. Features

This volume covers such areas in the field of soil salinity and water quality as: origin and distribution of salt-affected soils; management of alkali soils; quality criteria of irrigation water; wastewaters as a source of irrigation; and grasses and trees in the management of salt-affected soils.

Integrating decades of research conducted by leading scientists in the field, Remote Sensing of Energy Fluxes and Soil Moisture Content provides an overview of state-of-the-art methods and modeling techniques employed for deriving spatio-temporal estimates of energy fluxes and soil surface moisture from remote sensing. It also underscores the range of such techniques available nowadays as well as the operationally distributed networks that provide today in-situ validated relevant observations. The book brings together three types of articles: Comprehensive reviews that examine the developments in concepts, methods, and techniques employed in deriving land surface heat fluxes as well as soil surface moisture on field, regional, and large scales, paying particular emphasis to the techniques exploiting Earth Observation (EO) technology Detailed insights into the principles and operation of the most widely applied approaches for the quantification and analysis of surface fluxes and soil moisture with case studies that directly show the great applicability of remote sensing in this field, or articles discussing specific issues in the retrievals of those parameters from space Focused articles integrating current knowledge and scientific understanding in the remote sensing of energy fluxes and soil moisture, that are highlighting the main issues, challenges, and future prospects of this emerging technology. Designed with different users in mind, the book is organized in four more or less independent units that make specific information easy to find. It presents a discussion on the future trends and prospects, underlying the scientific challenges that need to be addressed adequately in order to derive more accurate estimates of those parameters from space.

Pathogen removal mechanisms in macrophyte and algal-based waste stabilization ponds were studied in Ghana and Colombia. The macrophytes used were water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) and duckweeds (Lemna paucicostata and Spirodela polyrhiza). The selection of the species was based on economic importance and availability. Lemna was used during the initial investigations. However, Lemna could not withstand the ammonia levels in the wastewater used. Spirodela polyrhiza a rarer species in Ghana was therefore used in subsequent studies. The main mechanisms considered in this study were pH, protozoa predation and surface attachment. The microorganisms used were faecal bacteria namely; Escherichia coli, other coliforms, Salmonella sp., other enterobacteria, E. coli, ATCC13706 and enterococci. Studies were conducted using batch scale, continuous flow bench and pilot scale ponds. Results indicated in order of importance that long retention periods, attachment, sedimentation, predation and low pH are mechanisms in macrophyte ponds enhancing faecal bacteria removal, while in the algal ponds long retention periods, sunlight penetration, high pH, attachment and sedimentation are the mechanisms of importance in faecal bacteria removal. Presence of protozoa was also found to be important but true grazing studies could not be quantified. Dissolved oxygen did not play a major role in faecal bacteria removal.

This important text offers a balanced coverage of an area of major human and environmental significance. Lying at the interface of the geosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and atmosphere, soils are of major importance to an understanding of both natural environmental processes and thoses affected by human activity.
Soils and Environment examines the ways in which soils both influence, and are influenced by, the environment. assuming only a basic scientific knowledge, the book analyses the constituents and properties of soils, and the processes and pathways of soil formation within the context of environmental change. examining soils as components of natural environmental systems, this book offers an understanding of soil-human interactions in landuse systems, environmental problems and landuse management, and soil survey and land evaluation.

There are approximately 500 different soil varieties in Malaysia, most is residual soil and coastal alluvial soil. This book presents a comprehensive overview of various aspects of soils in Malaysia. It covers topics including climate; flora and fauna; geology and hydrology; land use changes for agriculture; soil fertility; human-induced soil degradation; and soil contamination sources. It features information on the role of biological, chemical, mechanical, and physical factors in relation to soil properties. The book highlights land use impact, soil problems arising from contamination and its control methods, the management of problem soils, limiting materials as well as future soil issues. The presentation of different soils in Malaysia is organized through chapters based on two major soil groups (a) the sedentary soils formed in the interior on a wide range of rock types, and (b) the soils of the coastal alluvial plains. The book features information on how these various soil types affect the economy of the country and highlights the soil issues and challenges within the context of sustainable agriculture. Useful to graduate students of soil science, professionals, and agriculturalists, it provides extensive knowledge of agriculture soils in Malaysia in a concise and user-friendly manner.

Salt and Sediment Dynamics presents a thorough treatment of salt and sediment interactions and the implications of such interactions for sub-salt exploration. The book emphasizes and utilizes recent discoveries on many aspects of salt and sediment interactions, provides the theoretical framework for interpreting the increasing amount of available data on salt and sediments, and develops a self-consistent dynamical evolution model of salt structures and their interaction with surrounding sediments.
The model developed in the text consists of an evolving salt structure that influences sediment motion with self-consistent evolution of sediments and salt shape. The resulting stress and strain in the sediments and the thermal focusing effects of the salt are evaluated. The salt and sediments in the model are consistent with observed geometries, a result of having freely adjustable, observation-controlled model parameters.
In addition, the book describes case histories in a variety of geological settings, thus explaining aspects of the genesis and development of salt structures, of their impact on sedimentary structural evolution, and of the impact of sediments on salt masses.
The techniques developed by the authors expand the current state of knowledge regarding the evolution and dynamics of salt structures and increase the potential for effective sub-salt hydrocarbon exploration.

With the renewed current emphasis on agricultural production efficiency and environmental quality, the technology of soil and plant analysis has taken on even greater importance. Several states now require soil testing as part of their nutrient management programs. Soil testing and plant analysis are important components of the Food Security Act and under consideration as safeguards for the new Clean Water Act. The Council on Soil Testing and Plant Analysis, established in 1969, promotes soil testing and plant analysis, including efficient use of nutrient resources, maximizing profits, and encouraging proper soil management and environmental protection. Compiled by the Council in response to the growing need for information about soil testing and plant analysis laboratories, Soil and Plant Analysis Laboratory Registry for the United States and Canada, Second Edition provides up-to-date information about public and private laboratory services, including:

For more than 30 years, soil testing has been widely used as a basis for determining lime and fertilizer needs. Today, a number of procedures are used for determining everything from soil pH and lime requirement, to the level of extractable nutrient elements. And as the number of cropped fields being tested increases, more and more farmers and growers will come to rely on soil test results. But if soil testing is to be an effective means of evaluating the fertility status of soils, standardization of methodology is essential. No single test is appropriate for all soils. Soil Analysis Handbook of Reference Methods is a standard laboratory technique manual for the most commonly used soil analysis procedures. First published in 1974, this Handbook has changed over the years to reflect evolving needs. New test methods and modifications have been added, as well as new sections on nitrate, heavy metals, and quality assurance plans for agricultural testing laboratories. Compiled by the Soil and Plant Analysis Council, this latest edition of Soil Analysis Handbook of Reference Methods also addresses the major methods for managing plant nutrition currently in use in the United States and other parts of the world. For soil scientists, farmers, growers, or anyone with an interest in the environment, this reference will prove an invaluable guide to standard methods for soil testing well into the future. Features

Management of Problem Soils in Arid Ecosystems examines the challenges of managing soils in arid and semiarid regions. These soils contain low organic matter, are not leached, and accumulate lime, gypsum, and/or soluble salts, requiring special management and practices. This book discusses how to identify problems, reclaim the soils, and then use them efficiently and economically. Water management and desertification in these areas are also discussed. It contains extensive references as well as 40 tables and illustrations.

Offers a perspective on soils as earth materials, which establishes a pedological hierarchy of materials, processes and factors, and their rationalization in terms of plate tectonics. The book should interest soil and earth scientists.

Soil Management and Greenhouse Effect focuses on proper management of soils and its effects on global change, specifically, the greenhouse effect. It contains up-to-date information on a broad range of important soil management topics, emphasizing the critical role of soil for carbon storage. Sequestration and emission of carbon and other gases are examined in various ecosystems, in both natural and managed environments, to provide a comprehensive overview. This useful reference includes chapters that address policy issues, as well as research and development priorities. The material in this volume is valuable not only to soil scientists but to the entire environmental science community.

Signi?cant technological advances have been few and far between in the past approximately one hundred years of soil survey activities. Perhaps one of the most innovative techniques in the history of soil survey was the introduction of aerial photographs as base maps for ?eld mapping, which replaced the conventional base map laboriously prepared by planetable and alidade. Such a relatively simple idea by today's standards revolutionized soil surveys by vastly increasing the accuracy and ef?ciently. Yet, even this innovative approach did not gain universal acceptance immediately and was hampered by a lack of aerial coverage of the world, funds to cover the costs, and in some cases a reluctance by some soil mappers and cartog- phers to change. Digital Soil Mapping (DSM), which is already being used and tested by groups of dedicated and innovative pedologists, is perhaps the next great advancement in delivering soil survey information. However, like many new technologies, it too has yet to gain universal acceptance and is hampered by ignorance on the part of some pedologists and other scientists. DSM is a spatial soil information system created by numerical models that - count for the spatial and temporal variations of soil properties based on soil - formation and related environmental variables (Lagacheric and McBratney, 2007).