News tagged with fertile soil

Plant diversity is key to maintaining productive vegetation

Vegetation, such as a patch of prairie or a forest stand, is more productive in the long run when more plant species are present, a new University of Minnesota study shows. The unprecedented long-term study of plant biodiversity ...

Biology / Ecology

created May 03, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Analysis raises atmospheric, ecologic and economic doubts about forest bioenergy

A large, global move to produce more energy from forest biomass may be possible and already is beginning in some places, but scientists say in a new analysis that such large-scale bioenergy production from ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Apr 18, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

Natural levels of nitrogen in tropical forests may increase vulnerability to pollution

(PhysOrg.com) -- Waterways in remote, pristine tropical forests located in the Caribbean and Central America contain levels of nitrogen comparable to amounts found in streams and rivers flowing through polluted forests in ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Mar 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Diverse ecosystems are crucial climate change buffer

Preserving diverse plant life will be crucial to buffer the negative effects of climate change and desertification in in the world's drylands, according to a new landmark study.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 12, 2012 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Nitrogen in the soil cleans the air

Eutrophication harms the environment in many ways. Unexpectedly, nitrogen fertilizer may also be positive for the environment. And even acidic soils, promoting the destruction of forests, can have a positive ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Aug 19, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Common nanoparticles found to be highly toxic to Arctic ecosystem

Queen's researchers have discovered that nanoparticles, which are now present in everything from socks to salad dressing and suntan lotion, may have irreparably damaging effects on soil systems and the environment.

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Apr 06, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (9) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

More Proof of Outer Membrane Cytochrome Role in Electron Transfer

(PhysOrg.com) -- Another step toward improving understanding of electron exchange between microbes and minerals has been documented in the January 2010 issue of Geobiology. Bacteria such as the metal-reducing Shewan ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 19, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Roots key to second Green Revolution (w/ Video)

Root systems are the basis of the second Green Revolution, and the focus on beans and corn that thrive in poor growing conditions will help some of the world's poorest farmers, according to a Penn State plant ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Feb 21, 2010 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (7) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Squeezing More Crop Out of Each Drop of Water

(PhysOrg.com) -- Studies in China and Colorado by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators have revealed some interesting tactics on how to irrigate with limited water, based on a crop’s ...

Biology / Other

created Oct 09, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (4) | comments 0

Nitrogen research shows how some plants invade, take over others

Biologists know that when plants battle for space, often the actual battle is for getting the nitrogen.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jul 06, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Pesticide exposure found to increase risk of Parkinson's disease

(PhysOrg.com) -- The fertile soil of California's Central Valley has long made it famous as one of the nation's prime crop-growing regions. But it's not just the soil that allows for such productivity. Crops ...

Medicine & Health / Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

created Apr 21, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 2

Drastic changes needed to curb N2O, most potent greenhouse gas: study

Meat consumption in the developed world needs to be cut by 50 per cent per person by 2050 if we are to meet the most aggressive strategy, set out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to reduce one of the ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Apr 12, 2012 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 6

Biodiversity enhances ecosystems global drylands: researchers

An international team of researchers including Dr. Bertrand Boeken of the Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev suggest in a new study that plant biodiversity preservation is ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Jan 30, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Findings prove Miscanthus x giganteus has great potential as an alternative energy source

Concerns about the worldwide energy supply and national, environmental and economic security have resulted in a search for alternative energy sources. A new University of Illinois study shows Miscanthus x ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 19, 2012 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 3

Nitrogen fertilizers' impact on lawn soils

Nitrogen fertilizers from farm fields often end up in aquatic ecosystems, resulting in water quality problems, such as toxic algae and underwater 'dead zones'. There are concerns that fertilizers used on lawns may also contribute ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 04, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0