Human beings strongly depend on the sustainable availability of resources, such as food, water and energy. The continued supply of these resources can only be assured by sustainable land uses but these are easily threatened by inappropriate human activities. Human behavior is intermingled with hydrological, biogeochemical, atmospheric and ecological processes through land use and land cover change (LULCC). LULCC is a locally pervasive and globally significant environmental trend and has become a process of paramount importance to the study of global environmental change. This thesis investigates LULCC and its links with soil hydrology, soil degradation and climate variability through combining results from fieldwork, laboratory work and Remote Sensing. Seasonal, inter-annual and broad timescale land transitions are analyzed for a robust identification of biophysical change. The determinants of LULCC are determined using spatially explicit statistical modelling of most systematic land transitions. This thesis explores soil hydrological impacts of LULCC for a better soil water management. The thesis further explores the climatic factors leading to the observed trends in vegetated land cover for improved understanding of the link between climate and carbon fixation and water use by vegetation.

This study was built to investigate the impact of subsurface drainage on iron toxicity in Tropical Savannah irrigated rice valley bottoms. The research leaned upon two complementary approaches: field investigations and designed experiments. Important results, covering several fields, where achieved. For example, It appeared that single-season irrigation schemes present higher iron toxicity and acidity risks than double-season ones - 750 up to 1800 mg/l of Fe2+ higher in the single-season scheme of Moussodougou than in the double-season scheme of Tiefora. Furthermore, a statistical analysis of flow time series (ARIMA model) data was performed. It showed that with a simple water level measurement probe installed at the main gate of the scheme, it becomes possible not only to quantify irrigation water consumption, but also to diagnose farmers' irrigation schedule, providing them a means to defuse potential conflicts due to inequity in water distribution. Finally, it was shown that subsurface drainage increases ferrous iron concentration in hematite dominant soils soil - from 935 mg/l to more than 1106 mg/l in the case of the soil of Moussodougou - but also fortunately alleviate soil acidity - from pH 5.6 to 7.3 in Moussodougou. This effect will eventually reduce ferrous iron intake by rice roots, alleviating toxicity.

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:

Interest in phytoremediation as a solution for contaminants in groundwater and soil has exploded. The project documented in Phytoremediation of Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soils presents innovative technology for environmental clean up using in situ treatment. It describes the results of a field study focusing on hydrocarbon contamination, especially polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, in surface and near surface soils. The field demonstration used soils contaminated with aged diesel fuels. The random block design enabled the investigators to test the statistical difference in the effects of different vegetated and unvegetated treatments. They tested the degradation of diesel and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbon components in plots containing three different vegetation treatments, two grasses and a legume, and a non-vegetated control. Part one of the monograph gives a complete and thorough account of the results of the field study. Part two covers the design and potential costs of a full-scale implementation of the demonstration system as well as the performance and potential application of the new technology. Phytoremediation of Hydrocarbon Contaminated Soils supplies quantitative results about the use of vegetation in soil remediation. The information given on the niches and limitations of the technologies allows for a more informed selection of remedial solutions for environmental cleanup.

Seed conditioning is the final process that establishes the quality of a seed lot and determines its value. It is a complex process involving a significant series of machines, each of which must be used in the proper sequence of the entire process, and each machine must be carefully and properly adjusted and set up for each lot of seed. If the conditioning plant operator does not have sufficient knowledge of how to set up and adjust each of the machines, then an excessive amount of good seed is lost during conditioning and not all undesirable materials are removed. Therefore, the performance of seed conditioning depends entirely on how effectively the operator sets up and adjusts the machines. Much effort has been spent in developing seed technology so as to produce high quality seed, but performance of seed conditioning by maximizing the operator's knowledge of getting the best performance from each of his machines has not been carefully and completely developed. Improving Seed Conditioning focuses on teaching the conditioning plant operator details of each machine and how to get maximum performance from it in terms of operating efficiency, maximum removal of undesirable particles, and minimum loss of good seed. Organized in a manner that focuses on the specific machine models installed in each operator's specific plant, this manual is set up to be used as text material in training classes or as a guide for operators employed by seed companies.

As a natural science, silviculture has a large say in how humans interact with the terrestrial world. Although the perspective taken here that the production of wood is narrow, the amount of land area consumed is extensive; the indirect consequences of wood production on natural processes are larger still. Through the amount of land engaged, the flora and fauna affected and the environmental consequences, good or bad; silviculture is a frequent constituent in applied ecology, environmental science, conservation ecology and other broad land-use disciplines. Silvicultural expertize is essential when trees and wood are an economic output; often best promoted when silviculture is allied with hydrology, ecology, soil science, wildlife management, etc. This book touches upon the following important areas of the subject in detail.

If you?re an agronomist, horticulturalist, plant and soil scientist, breeder, or soil microbiologist, you?ll want to read Nutrient Use in Crop Production to find everything you need to know about judicious nutrient management and maximizing nutrient utilization in the agricultural landscape. In this book, you?ll discover ways to minimize undesirable nutrient losses and techniques for preserving the environment while meeting the challenges of providing the earth?s increasing population with sufficient food, feed, and fiber to sustain life. Your existing knowledge base concerning this vital area of science will expand and grow as you become more open to the new ideas and applications contained in Nutrient Use in Crop Production. Most importantly, you?ll avoid the narrow scope found in most crop nutrition books and take a broader, more globally minded view of how to maximize nutrient use and minimize nutrient losses in the soil of agricultural systems. Specifically, you?ll find these and other areas covered: population growth, food production, and nutrient requirements managing soil fertility decline the role of nitrogen fixation in crop production delivering fertilizers through seed coatings micronutrient fertilizers the role of nutrient-efficient crops in modern agricultureFeeding the world without depleting the world?s viable soil nutrients is a monumental task--but one that can be achieved, as evidenced in the pages of Nutrient Use in Crop Production. You and your circle of students, professionals, and administrators will benefit greatly from this in-depth view of nutrient use in both developed and non-industrialized counties to give you a better sense of how to allow both the world and the world?s crops to grow.

The proceedings represent a valuable reference on geotechnical problems peculiar to Africa and for engineering solutions to local problems. Topics covered are: Foundation engineering and lateral support; Methods of design and analysis; Monitoring, laboratory and field testing; Municipal, industrial and mining waste and environmental geotechnics; Soil improvement; Transportation geotechnics; Case studies.

The proceedings are also an invaluable source of data on the properties of African soils, the properties of residual and tropical soils, as well as climate related problems.

This work examines the issue of accelerated soil erosion, which has become an increasingly serious concern in the twentieth century. Aspects considered include on-site impact of erosion; application of soil science to problems of non-agricultural uses of soil, such as mineland restoration, urban uses and disposal of urban wastes; soil contamination and pollution by industrial activities; and athletic and recreational uses of soil. Soil Quality and Soil Erosion will be a useful text for soil scientists, agronomists, foresters, and environmental scientists as we enter the next century.

This volume concentrates on research information on the beneficial effects of nitrates and their fate in the environment. Adopting an integrated approach it covers the agricultural, environmental and medical aspects of this emotive topic. In addition, there is an extensive description of the biochemistry of nitrates in plants, animals and humans including the positive aspects as well as the hazards.

Aiming to improve work efficiency in such areas as tillage in agriculture, earth-moving in civil engineering, and tunnel-making in sea-bed operations, this work offers an introduction to Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis of soil-machine systems. It explains the advantage of FEM's numerical approach over traditional analytical and empirical methods of dealing with complex factors from nonlinear mechanical behaviour to geometric configurations.

This unique book examines the beneficial aspects of animal waste as a soil resource - not simply as an agricultural by-product with minimal practical use. Topics include o types of livestock waste - swine, poultry, dairy o methods and management of waste utilization o storage, handling, processing and application of animal waste o supplying crop nutrients o economics of waste utilization o new modeling and management techniques o nonpoint source pollution, water quality, leaching, and air quality.

Soil degradation has serious global impacts on agronomic, economic, and sociopolitical conditions, however, statistics regarding the degree of these impacts has been largely unreliable. This book aims to standardize the methodology for obtaining reliable and objective data on soil degradation. It will also identify and develop criteria for assessing the severity of soil degradation, providing a realistic scenario of the problem.

World soils contain about 1500 gigatons of organic carbon. This large carbon reserve can increase atmospheric concentrations of CO2 by soil misuse or mismanagement, or it can reverse the 'greenhouse' effect by judicious land use and proper soil management.
Soil Processes and the Carbon Cycle describes soil processes and their effects on the global carbon cycle while relating soil properties to soil quality and potential and actual carbon reserves in the soil. In addition, this book deals with modeling the carbon cycle in soil, and with methods of soil carbon determinations.

This book presents a new way of viewing contaminated soil-as a resource that in many instances can be recovered. The Reuse and Recycling of Contaminated Soils addresses the waste problem associated with contaminated soil and considers alternatives that are environmentally sound, cost-effective, and time efficient. It provides thorough coverage of practical issues associated with reuse and recycling including:

Human excreta is a valuable fertilizer for improving soil quality and crop productivity, with a potential to replace or complement the mineral fertilizers. The main challenges related to human excreta regarding agricultural applications are microbial contamination risks, loss of nutrients, and odor issues. Fertilization by lacto-fermented faeces supplemented by biochar has benefits such as improved soil bulk density, nitrate and potassium concentrations as well as the yield and yield components of corn, compared to untreated, simple stored faeces, urine, cattle manure, and unfertilized controls. Even though the mineral fertilizer produced corn with significantly higher height and leaf length, it did not add significantly higher yields than lacto-fermented faeces supplemented by biochar. A faeces treatment process by combined lacto-fermentation with thermophilic composting and biochar supplementation had better reduction of coliforms, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis and Clostridium perfringens, and higher germination of radish and growth of tomatoes than combined lacto-fermentation with vermicomposting. Urine lacto-fermentation contributed to a pH reduction below 4, a decrease in the ammonium concentration and odor strength, as well as an increase in the germination rates compared to untreated stored urine. The results of this study provide important information that can set the basis for scaling up a sustainable technology for the treatment of source separated human excreta while improving its potential for resource recovery.

This open access book brings together research studies, developments, and application-related flash flood topics on wadi systems in arid regions. The major merit of this comprehensive book is its focus on research and technical papers as well as case study applications in different regions worldwide that cover many topics and answer several scientific questions. The book chapters comprehensively and significantly highlight different scientific research disciplines related to wadi flash floods, including climatology, hydrological models, new monitoring techniques, remote sensing techniques, field investigations, international collaboration projects, risk assessment and mitigation, sedimentation and sediment transport, and groundwater quality and quantity assessment and management. In this book, the contributing authors (engineers, researchers, and professionals) introduce their recent scientific findings to develop suitable, applicable, and innovative tools for forecasting, mitigation, and water management as well as society development under seven main research themes as follows: Part 1. Wadi Flash Flood Challenges and Strategies Part 2. Hydrometeorology and Climate Changes Part 3. Rainfall-Runoff Modeling and Approaches Part 4. Disaster Risk Reduction and Mitigation Part 5. Reservoir Sedimentation and Sediment Yield Part 6. Groundwater Management Part 7. Application and Case Studies The book includes selected high-quality papers from five series of the International Symposium on Flash Floods in Wadi Systems (ISFF) that were held in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020 in Japan, Egypt, Oman, Morocco, and Japan, respectively. These collections of chapters could provide valuable guidance and scientific content not only for academics, researchers, and students but also for decision-makers in the MENA region and worldwide.

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.

This volume presents proceedings from the first Australian-New Zealand Geoenvironment conference. The conference provides a forum for researchers and practitioners in the region to exchange ideas, share information and discuss the effective management of the geoenvironment.

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:

This book addresses an important topic of food security in South Asia with specific reference to climate change. Of the 1 billion food insecure people in the world, more than 30% are in South Asia. The problem of food insecurity may be exacerbated by the projected climate change especially because of the water scarcity caused by rapid melting of the glaciers in the Himalayas and increase in variability in monsoonal rains and frequency of extreme events. Furthermore, large populations of Bangladesh and other coastal regions may be displaced by sea level rise. Thus, this volume addresses recommended land use and soil/water/crop/vegetation management practices which would enable land managers to adapt to climate disruption by enhancing soil/ecosystem/social resilience. In addition to biophysical factors, this book also addresses the issues related to human dimensions including social, ethnical and political considerations.

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.

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.

First published in 1985. This book examines wide variety of ways in which environmental deterioration, in particular soil erosion, can be viewed and the implicit political judgements that often inform them. Using the context of developing countries, where the effects tend to be more acute due to underdevelopment and climatic factors, this work aims to examine this source of uncertainty and make explicit the underlying assumptions in the debate about soil erosion. It also rejects the notion that soil erosion is a politically neutral issue and argues that conservation requires fundamental social change. This title will be of interest to students of environmental and developmental studies.

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