Evaluating traditional and recent analytical methods according to speed, sensitivity, and cost-efficiency, this reference supports specialists in the selection of effective analytical techniques and equipment for the study of soils, soil contaminants, and environmental samples. Updated and revised, this Third Edition illustrates the advantages, limitations, range, and challenges of the major analytical approaches utilized in modern research laboratories. It includes new chapters and expanded discussions of the measurement of organic pollutants in the environment and gas fluxes between the land surface and atmosphere, and an extensive range of environmental materials.

This compilation has been designed to provide a comprehensive source of theoretical and practical update for scientists working in the broad field of soil science. The book explores all possible mechanisms and means to improve nutrient use efficiencies involving developing and testing of nanofertilizers, developing consortia based microbial formulations for mobilization of soil nutrients, and engineering of nutrient efficient crops using molecular biology and biotechnological tools. This is an all-inclusive collection of information about soil science. This book is of interest to teachers, researchers, soil scientists, capacity builders and policymakers. Also the book serves as additional reading material for undergraduate and graduate students of soil science, quantitative ecology, earth sciences, GIS and geodetic sciences, as well as geologists, geomorphologists, hydrologists and landscape ecology. National and international agriculture and soil scientists, policy makers will also find this to be a useful read.

The only way that millions of people can exist in developing countries is by farming whatever land is available to them. For these people, it is vital that productivity of the land is not only maintained but improved. This manual is for rural development workers faced with land degradation.

The soil water retention curve, the saturated hydraulic conductivity and the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity function are basic soil hydraulic functions and parameters. Ample apprehension of the soil hydraulic functions and parameters is required for a successful formulation of the principles leading to sustainable soil management, agricultural production and environmental protection. From these, all the other parameters, required in the solution of the practical tasks, are derived. The basic soil hydraulic functions are strongly dependent upon the soil porous system. The development of models is characteristic by the gradual transition from the simplest concepts up to the sophisticated approaches, which should correspond to the visual reality studied by soil micromorphology. 2 Soil Porous System and Soil Micromorphometry 2.1 An Overview on the Quantification of the Soil Porous System Quanti? cation of the soil porous system consists of classi? cation of soil pores, ch- acterization of the soil pores shapes and the estimation of the pore size distribution function. When the hydraulic functions of the soil pores are considered, the following laws of hydrostatics and hydrodynamics are applied as best ? tting to the classi? cation criteria of the size of the pores (Kutilek and Nielsen 1994, p. 20, Kutilek 2004): A. Submicroscopic pores that are so small that they preclude clusters of water molecules from forming ? uid particles or continuous water ? ow paths.

The book gives a detailed description of the application of DSSAT in simulating crop and soil processes within various Agro-ecological zones in Africa. The book, an output of a series of 3 workshops, provides examples of the application of DSSAT models to simulate nitrogen applications, soil and water conservation practices including effects of zai technology, phosphorus and maize productivity, generation of genetic coefficients, long-term soil fertility management technologies in the drylands, microdosing, optimization of nitrogen x germplasms x water, spatial analysis of water and nutrient use efficiencies and, tradeoff analysis. The minimum dataset requirements for DSSAT is discussed. This book arises from attempts to address the limited use of models in decision support by African agricultural (both soil scientist and agronomists) scientists.

In large parts of the developed and developing worlds soil tillage by plough or hoe is the main cause of land degradation leading to stagnating or even declining production levels and increasing production cost. It causes the soil to become more dense and compacted, the organic matter content to be reduced and water runoff and soil erosion to increase. It also leads to droughts becoming more severe and the soil becoming less fertile and less responsive to fertiliser.

This book brings together the key notes lectures and other outstanding contributions of the I World Congress on Conservation Agriculture and provides an updated view of the environment and economic advantages of CA and of its implementation in diferent areas of the World.

An authoritative reference on soil physics, Soil Physics Companion is lavishly illustrated with graphs, charts, line drawings, and equations. The book provides a valuable source of material and reference for most contemporary topics of soil physics and the vadose zone - arguably the most comprehensive volume available. In addition to being a reliable reference, it is valuable as an advanced text from which topics of interest can be selected by the teacher and student.

Topics include:
· Static and dynamic aspects of soils
· Transport processes and soil water measurements
· Movement of soil water in the context of overall water balance and its key role in the hydrologic cycle
· Energy balance and thermal regime
· Soil-plant-atmospheric interface
· Solute transport and soil-gas movement
· Spatial variability

Building on the work begun in the bestselling Handbook of Soil Science, this reference takes soil physics one step further. Convenient and easy-to-use, it provides in-depth information at your fingertips. When you need easily accessible, readily available facts and theories, you need the Soil Physics Companion.

Dokuchaev carried out most of his research in Ukraine. His student and friend, Volodymyr Vernadsky, went on to create trans-disciplinary environmental sciences and the concept of Earth as a living organism, famously taken up by James Lovelock. That spring of ideas still flows and the researches captured in this volume are relevant to present-day problems, and not only in Ukraine. Soils have always been under stress but, in the Anthropocene, mankind is in the driving seat. As a sequel to Soil Science Working for a Living: Applications of soil science to present-day problems, we consider issues of policy as well as soil genesis, attributes and functions in various environments, natural and man-made. We consider human impacts on the soil cover through its use and misuse, highlight methods of research and assessment of soil quality, and the threats of soil degradation. The distinguished contributors also describe and propose various options for evaluation and remediation of degraded soils, drawing on the latest methods of modelling and cartography as well as long-term field experiments and long experience. The book will be invaluable to researchers and practitioners in soil science including graduate and post-graduate education, academics and professionals.

Despite its many origins in agronomic problems, statistics today is often unrecognizable in this context. Numerous recent methodological approaches and advances originated in other subject-matter areas and agronomists frequently find it difficult to see their immediate relation to questions that their disciplines raise. On the other hand, statisticians often fail to recognize the riches of challenging data analytical problems contemporary plant and soil science provides.

The first book to integrate modern statistics with crop, plant and soil science, Contemporary Statistical Models for the Plant and Soil Sciences bridges this gap. The breadth and depth of topics covered is unusual. Each of the main chapters could be a textbook in its own right on a particular class of data structures or models. The cogent presentation in one text allows research workers to apply modern statistical methods that otherwise are scattered across several specialized texts. The combination of theory and application orientation conveys "why" a particular method works and "how" it is put in to practice.

About the CD-ROM
The accompanying CD-ROM is a key component of the book. For each of the main chapters additional sections of text are available that cover mathematical derivations, special topics, and supplementary applications. It supplies the data sets and SAS code for all applications and examples in the text, macros that the author developed, and SAS tutorials ranging from basic data manipulation to advanced programming techniques and publication quality graphics.

Contemporary statistical models can not be appreciated to their full potential without a good understanding of theory. They also can not be applied to their full potential without the aid of statistical software. Contemporary Statistical Models for the Plant and Soil Science provides the essential mix of theory and applications of statistical methods pertinent to research in life sciences.

In Awakening the Dreamer: Clinical Journeys, Philip Bromberg continues the illuminating explorations into dissociation and clinical process begun in Standing in the Spaces (1998). Bromberg is among our most gifted clinical writers, especially in his unique ability to record peripheral variations in relatedness - those subtle, split-second changes that capture the powerful workings of dissociation and chart the changing self-states that analyst and patient bring to the moment.
For Bromberg, a model of mind premised on the centrality of self-states and dissociation not only offers the optimal lens for comprehending and interpreting clinical data; it also provides maximum leverage for achieving true intersubjective relatedness. And this manner of looking at clinical data offers the best vantage point for integrating psychoanalytic experience with the burgeoning findings of contemporary neuroscience, cognitive and developmental psychology, and attachment research.
Dreams are approached not as texts in need of deciphering but as means of contacting genuine but not yet fully conscious self-states. From here, he explores how the patient's "dreamer" and the analyst's "dreamer" can come together to turn the "real" into the "really real" of mutative therapeutic dialogue. The "difficult," frequently traumatized patient is newly appraised in terms of tensions within the therapeutic dyad. And then there is the "haunted" patient who carries a sense of preordained doom through years of otherwise productive work - until the analyst can finally feel the patient's doom as his or her own.
Laced with Bromberg's characteristic honesty, humor, and thoughtfulness, these essays elegantly attest to the mind's reliance on dissociation, in both normal and pathological variants, in the ongoing effort to maintain self-organization. Awakening the Dreamer, no less than Standing in the Spaces, is destined to become a permanent part of the literature on therapeutic process and change.

With the increasing concern over rural livelihoods and the food security of poor communities in developing countries, it is vital that land quality is maintained. Yet, land degradation is widespread and is lowering the productive capacity of the land in these countries. This practical handbook presents simple, non-technical indicators for assessing land degradation in the field. Based on the perspective of the farmer, the methods selected lend meaning to real farming situations, helping the field professional to understand not only the impact of degradation but also the benefits to be gained from reversing it. The handbook shows how to calculate indicators such as those of soil loss, explains the interpretation of results and in particular how combinations of different indicators can give conclusive evidence of the severity of land degradation. The focus of the book is firmly on understanding the farmer's interaction with the land, and how environmental protection, food security and the well-being of rural land users may be assured. With detailed figures, photographs, worked examples and sample forms based on assessment techniques validated by field professionals in Africa, Asia and Latin America, this will be an essential training manual will be invaluable for field-workers in NGOs and in governmental and educational institutions. It will also be of interest to researchers and academics in development, environment and agriculture.

This book discusses bioavailability concepts and methods, summarizing the current knowledge on bioavailability science, as well as possible pathways for integrating bioavailability into risk assessment and the regulation of organic chemicals. Divided into 5 parts, it begins with an overview of chemical distribution in soil and sediment, as well as the bioavailability and bioaccumulation of chemicals in plants, soil, invertebrates and vertebrates (including humans). It then focuses on the impact of sorption processes and reviews bioavailability measurement methods. The closing chapters discuss the impact of bioavailability studies on chemical risk assessment, and highlights further research needs. Written by a multi-disciplinary team of authors, it is an essential resource for scientists in academia and industry, students, as well as for authorities.

"Reviews a wide range of methods for soil physical analysis. Considers applications, accuracy, measurement time, and cost of equipment. Provides examples of applications."

This book provides the first comprehensive overview of saline and alkaline soils in Latin America, known for having one of the most extensive surface of salt-affected soils in the world. It is organized along two main axes: soils and vegetation. The book discusses the occurrence of such soils in the region, focusing mainly in management strategies for their sustainable use, and it presents accounts of natural vegetation and crops in the various environments of the region. Social impacts of such conditions and ongoing projects to overcome them are considered. Likewise, the book highlights physiological mechanisms that are responsible for the negative effects these soils exert on crops and forest resources and determine vegetation distribution in them. Plant breeding challenges and new perspectives for such environments are discussed. Technologies such as irrigation and drainage are included. The readership includes soil and plant scientists, as well as policy makers.

This book presents state-of-the-art methodologies for the design and analysis of buried steel pipelines subjected to severe ground-induced action, including tectonic (quasi-static) effects, slope movements (landslides), liquefaction-induced actions or excavation-induced settlements. The text is an amended version of the final deliverables of the GIPIPE project, sponsored by the European Commission (Research Fund for Coal and Steel programme, 2011-2014). Geohazards and Pipelines presents an integrated investigation of this subject, using advanced and innovative experimental techniques, high-performance numerical simulations and novel analytical methodologies, which account for the particularities of buried steel pipelines with an emphasis on soil-pipeline interaction. Geohazards and Pipelines will be of use to professionals working in the field of pipeline engineering, including design consultants and industrial practitioners involved in projects related to pipeline infrastructure. Structural engineers, mechanical engineers, geotechnical engineers, geologists and seismologists may also find this book of interest, as may graduate students and researchers in these areas.

This book comprises select proceedings of the annual conference of the Indian Geotechnical Society. The conference brings together research and case histories on various aspects of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering. The book presents papers on geotechnical applications and case histories, covering topics such as (i) Characterization of Geomaterials and Physical Modelling; (ii) Foundations and Deep Excavations; (iii) Soil Stabilization and Ground Improvement; (iv) Geoenvironmental Engineering and Waste Material Utilization; (v) Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering; (vi) Earth Retaining Structures, Dams and Embankments; (vii) Slope Stability and Landslides; (viii) Transportation Geotechnics; (ix) Geosynthetics Applications; (x) Computational, Analytical and Numerical Modelling; (xi) Rock Engineering, Tunnelling and Underground Constructions; (xii) Forensic Geotechnical Engineering and Case Studies; and (xiii) Others Topics: Behaviour of Unsaturated Soils, Offshore and Marine Geotechnics, Remote Sensing and GIS, Field Investigations, Instrumentation and Monitoring, Retrofitting of Geotechnical Structures, Reliability in Geotechnical Engineering, Geotechnical Education, Codes and Standards, and other relevant topics. The contents of this book are of interest to researchers and practicing engineers alike.

The search for new strategies of pest control with safer molecules is currently of great importance and interest. Microbe-mediated biological crop protection is an attractive and promising technology with no concern for a negative impact on the environment and biodiversity. Microbial hydrolytic enzymes such as proteases, chitinases, lipases, etc. are attractive for this purpose. They present toxic properties and act synergistically to control pest attacks. Also, some metabolites, that microorganisms produce for their survival or defense, can be explored and exploited for plant protection. The focus of this Volume is on the potential of microbial hydrolytic enzymes and their metabolites in agroecosystem functioning. Subsequent chapters review topics such as microbial hydrolytic enzymes as powerful management tools, chitinases in IPM of agro-horticultural crops, metabolites as pesticides and the importance of the metabolites of entomopathogenic fungi, metabolites and virulence factors. Other topicas include: microbial-based nanoparticles, recombinant DNA technologies to improve the efficacy of microbial insecticides, the effects of entomopathogens on insect predators and parasitoids, and the management of major vegetable insect pests. This Volume provides detailed accounts on the safe use of microbial products for sustainable management of insect pests. Its aim is to build solid foundations for the students, teachers, and researchers interested in eco-friendly management of important insect crop pests.

In their rapid colonization of soil exposed by fires, floods, and grazing animals, weeds resemble the human specialists we label Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs). Weeds are the first responders when disasters occur in nature. They occupy bare soil and prevent erosion by wind and water. In extreme cases such as a landslide, weeds are essential to the healing processes that replace the lost soil. Like a Band-Aid on a skinned knee, weeds protect the land while it recovers. Besides protecting the soil after disaster, weeds provide food for wildlife, and some of them provide food and medicine for people. Able to withstand harsh conditions, weeds will proliferate as global warming and other human impacts intensify. Thus, nature's EMTs will increase while all other plants decline. The book provides a succinct definition of weeds according to their form and function in ecosystem processes. The narrative uses a representative set of weed species from a desert location to illustrate the full range of weed characteristics.

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

When stresses are applied to saturated soil, deformation will occur as water in voids is squeezed out. Consolidation Analyses of Soils focuses on the consolidation of fully saturated soils. The book follows a classic approach by beginning with one-dimensional constitutive relations of soils and one-dimensional consolidation. It then moves on to analytical solutions to several one-dimensional consolidation problems and one-dimensional finite strain consolidation. The authors also present a finite element method for consolidation analysis of one-dimensional problems, analytical solutions to consolidation of soil with vertical drains, and a finite difference method for consolidation analysis of one-dimensional problems. Simplified methods for consolidation analysis of soils exhibiting creep are introduced and applied to different cases. Three-dimensional consolidation equations and solutions of typical three-dimensional consolidation problems are covered, as well as simplified finite element consolidation analysis of soils with vertical drain and finite element method for three-dimensional consolidation problems. The book is unique in that it covers both classic solutions and state-of-the-art work in consolidation analyses of soils. Authors Jian-Hua Yin is Chair Professor of Soil Mechanics in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Guofu Zhu is a Professor in the Department of Engineering Structures and Mechanics at Wuhan University of Technology, China.

I write because I am concerned that I and my agricultural colleagues have avoided addressing the moral dimension of the environmental and social problems we have contributed to. I hope for an exchange of ideas about agriculture's moral dilemmas. I encourage my readers to engage in a collective conversation about the dilemmas and avoid remaining in what Merton calls "the collective arrogance and despair of his own herd." If those engaged in agriculture continue to ignore and fail to realize our common difficulties they will be addressed and resolved by societal pressure and political action, which may not yield the resolution we favor. The book's goal is not to resolve the moral dilemmas raised. It is to raise them and encourage thought and discussion. It will ask but not answer why nearly all involved in agriculture have not addressed the moral concerns voiced by the general public. The agricultural enterprise is committed to the benefits and future success of the present, very productive, chemical, capital, and energy intensive system, which is, in the minds of many, not sustainable. The internal justification invokes the moral claim that they feed the world's population. The question remains whether or not the prevailing moral justification of feeding the world is adequate given all the issues modern, developed country agriculture faces: pesticides in soil, water, and food, cruelty to animals, Biotech/GMO's, corporate agriculture, pollution by animal factory waste, exploitation of and cruelty to migrant labor.

This book discusses Nevada in the context of the history of soil investigations; soil-forming factors; general soil regions; soil geomorphology; taxonomic structure of the soils; taxonomic soil regions; soil-forming processes; benchmark, endemic, rare, and endangered soils; and use of soils. With an average mean annual precipitation of 175 mm (7 in), Nevada is the driest state in the USA. More than three-quarters (89%) of the state has been mapped and the first soil survey was completed in 1909. Nevada is divided into 10 major land-resource areas and features two large deserts (the Great Basin Desert and the Mojave Desert), and over 100 north-south trending enclosed basins separated by mountain ranges (Basin and Range Province), several of which have peaks exceeding 3,400 m. Further, the soils of Nevada represent seven of the 12 globally recognized orders, 29 suborders, 69 great groups, and over 1,800 soil series, and some of the classic research on the origin of duripans and petrocalcic horizons was conducted in the state. This book presents the first report on the soils of Nevada and provides the first soil map of Nevada utilizing soil.

This book provides essential insights into methods and practices of 'Climate-smart Agriculture,' which is driven by the principles of climate resilience and smart resource use in agricultural production. Climate-smart agriculture is a key policy instrument for achieving poverty eradication and a hunger-free world, as well as mitigating the effects of climate change. This book discusses in detail climate-smart agricultural technologies and practices that can reduce the vulnerability of agricultural systems, improve the livelihoods of farmers and other stakeholders, and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from crop production and livestock husbandry. The agriculture, forestry and other land use (AFOLU) sector produces roughly 10-12 gigatons of CO2-equivalent per year; therefore, sustainable practices for agriculture and related land use hold immense potential to mitigate climate change. The potential impacts of climate variability and climate change on agriculture are extensively documented and articulated, especially with regard to global and national environmental agendas that call for innovation, transformation and climate-resilient advances in agriculture. As the book demonstrates, climate-smart agriculture offers an excellent tool for boosting agricultural output to feed the growing global population; for reducing greenhouse gases emissions from agriculture and other land use; and for protecting agricultural production systems from the impending dangers of climate change.

This book describes the development of a constitutive modeling platform for soil testing, which is one of the key components in geomechanics and geotechnics. It discusses the fundamentals of the constitutive modeling of soils and illustrates the use of these models to simulate various laboratory tests. To help readers understand the fundamentals and modeling of soil behaviors, it first introduces the general stress-strain relationship of soils and the principles and modeling approaches of various laboratory tests, before examining the ideas and formulations of constitutive models of soils. Moving on to the application of constitutive models, it presents a modeling platform with a practical, simple interface, which includes various kinds of tests and constitutive models ranging from clay to sand, that is used for simulating most kinds of laboratory tests. The book is intended for undergraduate and graduate-level teaching in soil mechanics and geotechnical engineering and other related engineering specialties. Thanks to the inclusion of real-world applications, it is also of use to industry practitioners, opening the door to advanced courses on modeling within the industrial engineering and operations research fields.

Physical Nonequilibrium in Soils provides cutting-edge knowledge on physical nonequilibrium phenomena in soils, offering unique insight into the complexity of our physical world. With 18 chapters comprising the book, topics cover soil properties fluid properties mechanistic models transfer function geostatistics fractal analysis cellular-automation fluids coupling of physical and chemical nonequilibrium models confirming and quantifying physical nonequilibrium in soils analytical solutions field-scale research environmental impacts.