Salinity Improves Performance and Alters Distribution of Soybean Aphids.

We know numerous abiotic factors strongly influence crop plants. Yet we often know much less about abiotic effects on closely interacting organisms including herbivorous insects. This lack of a whole-system perspective may lead to underestimating the threats from changing factors.

Thermal remediation alters soil properties - a review.

Contaminated soils pose a risk to human and ecological health, and thermal remediation is an efficient and reliable way to reduce soil contaminant concentration in a range of situations. A primary benefit of thermal treatment is the speed at which remediation can occur, allowing the return of treated soils to a desired land use as quickly as possible. However, this treatment also alters many soil properties that affect the capacity of the soil to function.

Wheat Growth in Soils Treated by Ex Situ Thermal Desorption.

Successful remediation of oil-contaminated agricultural land may include the goal of returning the land to prespill levels of agricultural productivity. This productivity may be measured by crop yield, quality, and safety, all of which are influenced by soil characteristics. This research was conducted to determine if these metrics are affected in hard red spring wheat ( L.

The Effects of Salinity on the Herbivorous Crop Pest Tetranychus urticae (Trombidiformes: Tetranychidae) on Soybean and Corn.

Many environmental factors, including soil characteristics, are critical for plants, herbivorous arthropods, and their interactions. Despite increasing evidence that soil salinity drastically impacts plants, little is known about how salinity affects the herbivorous arthropod pests feeding on those plants. We investigated how soil salinity affects the twospotted spider mite (Tetranychus urticae Koch) feeding on corn (Zea mays L.

Fine and Coarse-Scale Patterns of Vegetation Diversity on Reclaimed Surface Mine-land Over a 40-Year Chronosequence.

Rangelands are described as heterogeneous, due to patterning in species assemblages and productivity that arise from species dispersal and interactions with environmental gradients and disturbances across multiple scales. The objectives of rangeland reclamation are typically vegetation establishment, plant community productivity, and soil stability. However, while fine-scale diversity is often promoted through species-rich seed mixes, landscape heterogeneity and coarse-scale diversity are largely overlooked.

Implications of Using Thermal Desorption to Remediate Contaminated Agricultural Soil: Physical Characteristics and Hydraulic Processes.

Given the recent increase in crude oil production in regions with predominantly agricultural economies, the determination of methods that remediate oil contamination and allow for the land to return to crop production is increasingly relevant. Ex situ thermal desorption (TD) is a technique used to remediate crude oil pollution that allows for reuse of treated soil, but the properties of that treated soil are unknown. The objectives of this research were to characterize TD-treated soil and to describe implications in using TD to remediate agricultural soil.

Beneficial Use of Dredge Materials for Soil Reconstruction and Development of Dredge Screening Protocols.

Upland placement of dredge sediments has the potential to provide beneficial reuse of suitable sediments for agricultural uses or urban soil reconstruction. However, the use of many dredge materials is limited by contaminants, and most established screening protocols focus on limiting major contaminants such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and generally ignore fundamental agronomic parameters. Since 2001, we have placed over 450,000 m of Potomac River fresh water dredge materials and 250,000 m of saline materials from various locations into monitored confined upland facilities in Charles City, VA, and documented their conversion to agricultural uses.

Parent material and vegetation influence soil microbial community structure following 30-years of rock weathering and pedogenesis.

The process of pedogenesis and the development of biological communities during primary succession begin on recently exposed mineral surfaces. Following 30 years of surface exposure of reclaimed surface mining sites (Appalachian Mountains, USA), it was hypothesized that microbial communities would differ between sandstone and siltstone parent materials and to a lesser extent between vegetation types. Microbial community composition was examined by targeting bacterial and archaeal (16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA)) and fungal (internal transcribed spacer (ITS)) genes and analyzed using Illumina sequencing.

Influence of urban land development and subsequent soil rehabilitation on soil aggregates, carbon, and hydraulic conductivity.

Urban land use change is associated with decreased soil-mediated ecosystem services, including stormwater runoff mitigation and carbon (C) sequestration. To better understand soil structure formation over time and the effects of land use change on surface and subsurface hydrology, we quantified the effects of urban land development and subsequent soil rehabilitation on soil aggregate size distribution and aggregate-associated C and their links to soil hydraulic conductivity. Four treatments [typical practice (A horizon removed, subsoil compacted, A horizon partially replaced), enhanced topsoil (same as typical practice plus tillage), post-development rehabilitated soils (compost incorporation to 60-cm depth in subsoil; A horizon partially replaced plus tillage), and pre-development (undisturbed) soils] were applied to 24 plots in Virginia, USA.