2023 March - 29 articles
Baculoviruses are DNA viruses that can naturally control insects and form the basis for a range of biological insecticides. These viruses are occluded in a crystalline protein matrix, the occlusion body (OB), which favors their persistence in the env...
When residents of Volos, a city in central Greece, are trying to recall their daily life after the end of the quarantine due to COVID-19, the soil pollution survey provided valuable insights, which are compared with a 4-year study carried out in that...
Soils comprise the largest pool of terrestrial carbon yet have lost significant stocks due to human activity. Changes to land management in cropland and grazing systems present opportunities to sequester carbon in soils at large scales. Uncertainty i...
Rapidly increasing salinization of arable land is a major threat to crop production globally, and the soil of regions with arid environments, such as Oman, are more prone to this menace. In this work, two complementary studies were carried out to eva...
Despite the wealth of Late Pleistocene archaeology that exists across southern Africa’s open landscape, it is routinely neglected in favour of rock shelter (re)excavation, biasing interpretation of human–environment interaction. This is c...
The agricultural soils of West Limerick, Ireland, contain very localised, extremely high natural Se concentrations that reach levels that are very toxic to grazing livestock. The Carboniferous shales that formed in anoxic deep-water marine environmen...
Aflatoxins (AFs) are fungal secondary metabolites frequently detected in soil that exhibit in vitro toxicity to certain soil microorganisms. However, microbial responses at different levels and in complex systems such as the soil environment have not...
Healthy soils provide the foundation for sustainable agriculture. However, soil health degradation has been a significant challenge for agricultural sustainability and environmental quality in water-limited environments, such as arid and semi-arid re...
A progressive decline in soil fertility in taro (Colocasia esculenta L., Schott) production systems has contributed to reduced crop productivity and farm profitability, and is recognized to be a threat to soil nutrient and food security in Samoa. Evi...
An innovative soil solarization system based on biochar was recently proposed. The difference with traditional solarization lies in the use, after soil irrigation, of a biodegradable black liquid sprayed on the soil surface in order to obtain a black...
The presence of microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) in soils is becoming pervasive in most agroecosystems. The recent estimates suggest that the soil burden of MNPs in the agroecosystems is more than 0.5 megatons (Mt) annually. In all the agroecosy...
Abandoned anthropogenic sites are transformed when they come into use. In the present study, such objects were abandoned Evangelical cemeteries located in the Land of the Great Mazurian Lakes (northern Poland). This study aims to compare the concentr...
Intensive agriculture causes land degradation and other environmental problems, such as pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, biodiversity decline, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which exacerbate climate change. Sustainable agricultural pract...
In the present study, the adsorption of zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), and cadmium (Cd) was studied in two already polluted urban soil samples with different pH values, an acidic and an alkaline one. The Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isother...
Phosphorus (P) is an indispensable nutrient for arable crops, but at the same time, contributes to excessive eutrophication in aquatic ecosystems. Knowledge about P is essential to assess the possible risks of P being transported towards vulnerable a...
Ongoing rapid climatic changes are expected to modify the structure, composition, and functioning of forest ecosystems. Studying the influence of such changes on biogeochemical processes is thus crucial for a fuller understanding of forest response t...
Perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) has been found in increasing concentrations in the environment. However, its effect on litter decomposition in soils is still unclear. Therefore, the effect of PFBS on the decomposition of various litter types was tes...
Elevated cadmium (Cd) levels in cacao products have been detected in a major cacao-producing region of Colombia, with concentrations well above those permitted for export and posing a potential threat to human health. Geochemical and petrographic ana...
The conversion from native forest to other land-use systems can decline the soil organic carbon (SOC) in tropical soils. However, conservationist management could mitigate SOC losses, promoting the functioning and stability of agricultural soils. Thi...
Time domain reflectometry (TDR) measurements of the volumetric water content (θ) of soils are based on the dielectric permittivity (ε), relating ε to θ, using an empirical calibration function. Accurate determination of &t...
Quartzipsamments are environmentally fragile soils, being highly susceptible to water and wind erosion. Despite this, it seems that political and economic issues favor the advancement of agriculture in these soils. Therefore, studies are necessary fo...
Soil erosion is one of the major problems in the agricultural areas in the world, and straw mulching is a conservation practice that may reduce soil runoff. How much straw mulching is necessary to reduce soil runoff? The objectives of this study were...
In recent times, the existence of microplastics in the food chain has emerged as a physiological stressor and a multifactorial food safety issue, necessitating an immediate strategic perspective due to the associated human health and eco-toxicologica...
Photodegradation is an important mechanism that affects carbon and nutrient cycling; a significant amount of data has been reported previously. The present review includes the effect of a wider spectrum of solar radiation (sun light, UV, and visible...
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Conservation practices (CPs) are used in agricultural watersheds to reduce soil erosion and improve water quality, leading to a sustainable management of natural resources. This is especially important as more pressure is applied on agricultural syst...
Sanding to bury the overgrowth of uprights and promote new growth results in alternate sand and organic sublayers in the 0–30 cm layer of cranberry soils contributing to global carbon storage. The aim of this study was to measure CO2 emission r...
Due to the high value of the fruit, the European chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.), usually grown in agroforestry systems, has been planted as a single species in orchards managed with increasingly intensive cropping practices, such as the regular use...
Today’s fungal plant disease control efforts tend towards environmentally friendly and reduced chemical applications. While traditional broad-spectrum fungicides provide efficient protection to many field crops, they pose a risk to the soil&rsq...
