Australian Journal of Soil Research articles from December 2004

Australian Journal of Soil Research archives from December 2004

The determination of urea in soil extracts and related samples--a review.
December 1, 2004... Introduction Urea is the most widely used nitrogen fertiliser in the world, accounting for 46% of world nitrogen consumption (Watson 2000). Urea-based fertiliser is distributed to soils as dry granules or dissolved in solution, often...

Indices of soil nitrogen availability in five Tasmanian Eucalyptus nitens plantations.
December 1, 2004... Introduction About 20% of Australia's hardwood plantations are in Tasmania, including 120 000 ha of Eucalyptus species (Wood et al. 2001; National Plantation Inventory 2002), of which most are E. nitens. The area planted to E. nitens in...

Effects of nitrogen application rate on soil and plant characteristics in pastures of perennial grass mixtures in the alpine region of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, China.
December 1, 2004... Introduction In the alpine region of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, nitrogen (N) is considered to be the most important nutrient limiting dry matter (DM) production of grasses, as most plants are grown on soils which do not supply sufficient...

Biological and chemical assays to estimate nitrogen supplying power of soils with contrasting management histories.
December 1, 2004... Introduction There is general acceptance that the response of crops to fertiliser N is inversely related to the soil's ability to supply plant-available N. The soil N mineralisation--immobilisation process plays a key role in regulating...

Potassium adsorption characteristics and potassium forms in some New South Wales soils in relation to early senescence in cotton.
December 1, 2004... Introduction Premature senescence (PS) occurs frequently in cotton crops in Australia. The disorder resembles the late season K deficiency symptoms; however, the symptoms appear on young leaves, which is different to classical K deficiency...

The effectiveness of industrial by-products to stop phosphorous loss from a Pallic soil.
December 1, 2004... Introduction The loss of phosphorus (P) from soils to surface waters is recognised as a key factor in eutrophication, causing poor water quality. Mitigation strategies have centred on management to decrease the likelihood of P loss, such...

The systematic effect of soil P buffer capacity on Colwell soil P test v. plant response calibration exists only when field experiments are adjacent.
December 1, 2004... Introduction The Colwell (1963) soil test procedure, a modification of the original sodium bicarbonate soil test procedure (Olsen et al. 1954), is the soil phosphorus (P) test used in much of Australia. Colwell soil test P values are...

Environmental and chemical factors regulating methane oxidation in a New Zealand forest soil.
December 1, 2004... Introduction Methane (C[H.sub.4]) is a biogenic greenhouse gas produced primarily by flooded soils and ruminant animals (Allan et al. 2001). Atmospheric C[H.sub.4] concentration has more than doubled in the last 400 years, to its present...

Soil microbial biomass and microbial biodiversity in some soils from New South Wales, Australia.
December 1, 2004... Introduction Soil microorganisms are an integral part of ecosystems, performing many essential roles including nutrient cycling and the decomposition and transformation of organic matter and xenobiotics. Beneficial organisms act as...

Atrazine mineralisation rates in New Zealand soils are affected by time since atrazine exposure.
December 1, 2004... Introduction The herbicide atrazine is used in New Zealand to control annual grasses and broad-leaf weeds in arable croplands and forests. Atrazine (6-chloro-[N.sup.2]-ethyl-[N.sup.4]isopropyl-1,3,5-triazine-2,4-diamine) and its...

Participatory soil quality assessment: the case of smallholder farmers in Ethiopian highlands.
December 1, 2004... Introduction Continued degradation of agricultural soils is leading to decreased productivity and increased environmental risks. As a result there is urgent need for sustaining the productivity of the soil resource base and improving soil...

Modelling the effects of soil properties on the concentration of Cd extracted by 10mM Ca[Cl.sub.2] from soils of the Sydney Basin.
December 1, 2004... Introduction Exposure of the human population to cadmium (Cd) is a health concern (Staessen et al. 1999; Eklund and Oskarsson 1999; Hartwig et al. 2002) and plant products contribute almost half the Cd ingested by Australians (Anon....

Complexation and release isotherm of arsenic in arsenic-humic/fulvic equilibrium study.
December 1, 2004... Introduction Arsenic is a widely occurring toxic metalloid in natural ecosystems. Arsenic input to the environment, either through natural processes of weathering of arsenic-bearing rocks and/or use of arsenic-contaminated groundwater for...

Changes in soils irrigated with saline groundwater containing excess bicarbonate.
December 1, 2004... Changes in soil properties caused by irrigation with saline groundwater (approx. 2 dS/m) containing excess bicarbonate were measured on Vertosols and Sodosols in the West Wimmera, Victoria, Australia. Irrigation caused soil pH to...

On water availability in saline soils.
December 1, 2004... Introduction Groenevelt et al. (2001) introduced a procedure to determine soil water availability based on weighting the differential water capacity to account for various limiting physical factors such as aeration, hydraulic conductivity,...

Relating model parameters to basic soil properties.
December 1, 2004... Introduction The degree of preferential flow and transport differs from soil to soil and within a soil due to significant point-to-point changes in soil properties such as texture, structure, soil water content, bulk density or porosity,...

Soil compaction and recovery cycle on a Southland dairy farm: implications for soil monitoring.
December 1, 2004... Introduction The detrimental effects of cattle treading on soil physical properties are well documented (e.g. Betteridge et al. 1999; Drewry and Paton 2000; Menneer et al. 2001; Ward and Greenwood 2002). To some extent, these detrimental...

Damage to soil physical properties caused by soil sampler devices as assessed by gamma ray computed tomography.
December 1, 2004... Introduction Many soil scientists have investigated the influence of sampling volume on the evaluation of soil physical properties such as soil bulk density, air volume, water volume, and porosity (Rogasik et al. 1999). VandenBygaart and...

Clay mineralogy effects on sodium fluoride pH of non-allophanic tropical soils.
December 15, 2004... Introduction Increase in pH of 1 M NaF solution ([pH.sub.NaF]) after its contact with soil was recommended by Fieldes and Perrott (1966) as a suitable field or laboratory test to evidence the presence of allophanic material. Subsequently,...

Soil carbon sequestration and density distribution in a Vertosol under different farming practices.
December 15, 2004... Introduction The upper 1 m surface of the 1.3 billion ha of cultivated soils in the world stores approximately 168 Gt (gigatonne) organic carbon (C), equivalent to 22% of the total C[O.sub.2]-C storage in the atmosphere (750 Gt; Cole et...

Calibration of the RothC model to turnover of soil carbon under eucalypts and pines.
December 15, 2004... Introduction Establishment of plantations on agricultural land (afforestation) is one option for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels. However, while most available carbon budgets give projections for carbon accumulation...

Effect of soil properties on growth promotion of wheat by Penicillium radicum.
December 15, 2004... Introduction The fungus Penicillium radicum A.D. Hocking & Whitelaw was originally isolated from the rhizosphere of wheat plants grown in Australia (Whitelaw et al. 1999). When inoculated onto wheat seeds, P. radicum can stimulate...

Scattered paddock trees, litter chemistry, and surface soil properties in pastures of the New England Tablelands, New South Wales.
December 15, 2004... Introduction Since European settlement, the native vegetation communities of Australia have been subject to significant clearance and fragmentation (Smith et al. 2000). Over extensive areas of the landscape, the native vegetation cover...

Response of field-grown cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) to phosphorus fertilisation on alkaline soils in eastern Australia.
December 15, 2004... Introduction Traditionally, irrigated cotton production in Australia has required high rates of nitrogen (N) fertilisation. This has produced average cotton yields of 1700 kg lint/ha, in many cases without the need for inputs of other...

Relative efficiency of rhizobacteria for auxin biosynthesis in rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils.
December 15, 2004... Introduction Auxins are a class of plant hormones that function at low concentrations to regulate the growth and development of plants. The principal naturally occurring auxin is indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). Like other phytohormones, auxins...

Effects of temperature and application rate of a nitrification inhibitor, dicyandiamide (DCD), on nitrification rate and microbial biomass in a grazed pasture soil.
December 15, 2004... Introduction Nitrate (N[O.sub.3.sup.-]) leaching from agricultural land and the contamination of water resources is a major environmental concern in many countries around the globe (Jarvis et al. 1995; Di and Cameron 2002a). High...

Response of excluder, indicator, and hyperaccumulator plants to nickel availability in soils.
December 15, 2004... Introduction Plants exhibit 3 main strategies for managing potentially toxic metals. They can be classified as: (i) excluders, when elemental concentration in the shoot is maintained constant over a wide range of soil-metal contents; (ii)...

Simulation of water and solute transport with MACRO model in Cecil loamy sand soil.
December 15, 2004... Introduction Researchers have used modelling to understand the mechanisms and factors affecting chemical transport in macroporous soils in the vadose zone and inexpensively quantify their effect on groundwater contamination. Complex models...

Gypsum solubility in seawater, and its application to bauxite residue amelioration.
December 15, 2004... Introduction Approximately 30Mt of highly alkaline (pH 12) and sodic (ESP 100%) residues are produced throughout the world annually from the refining of bauxite (Oeberg and Steinlechner 1996). Bauxite residues are generally separated into...

Absorption of artificial piggery effluent by soil: a laboratory study.
December 15, 2004... Introduction Intensive piggeries often flush urine, faeces, and waste feed from pens, and irrigation is generally the most productive way to use the resulting effluent. Nutrient concentrations are high, however, so care is required to...