Soil and Water Research, 2010 (vol. 5), issue 3
Surface irrigation management in relation to water infiltration and distribution in soilsOriginal Paper
Abdelmonem M. AMER, Kamal H. AMER
Soil & Water Res., 2010, 5(3):75-87 | DOI: 10.17221/47/2009-SWR 
Water infiltration and storage under surface irrigation are evaluated, based on the initial soil water content and inflow rate as well as on the irrigation parameters and efficiencies. For that purpose, a field experiment was conducted using fruitful grape grown in alluvial clay soil at Shebin El-Kom in 2008 grape season. To evaluate the water storage and distribution under partially wetted furrow irrigation in comparison to the traditional border irrigation as a control method, two irrigation treatments were applied. They are known as wet (WT) and dry (DT) treatments, at which water was applied when the available soil water (ASW) reached 65% and 50%,...
The International Conference of the European Society for Soil Conservation (ESSC),Průhonice, the Czech Republic, June 22-25, 2009Conference Report
Jana Podhrázská, Jana Konečná, Pavel Novák
Soil & Water Res., 2010, 5(3):88-89 | DOI: 10.17221/36/2010-SWR
Humus content and quality under different soil tillage systemsOriginal Paper
Ľubica Pospíšilová, Naděžda Fasurová, Veronika Petrášová
Soil & Water Res., 2010, 5(3):90-95 | DOI: 10.17221/20/2009-SWR
The main objective of our study was to compare the contents and quality of humic substances in selected soil types under different tillage regimes (deep, reduced, minimum). Non destructive spectroscopic methods such as UV-VIS and synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy were applied. After three years of experiments, no statistically significant differences in the total carbon content, labile carbon content, and humic substances carbon content were found. Humic substances quality and the absorbance in UV-VIS spectral range was the highest in Haplic Chernozem (minimum tillage). Fluorescence intensity varied in dependence on the soil types, however, the...
Ecopedological research for ecological rehabilitation of degraded lands from Eastern RomaniaOriginal Paper
Lazar BIREESCU, Geanina BIREESCU, Cristinel CONSTANDACHE, Michele Vincenzo SELLITTO, Mihail DUMITRU, Iulia ANTON
Soil & Water Res., 2010, 5(3):96-101 | DOI: 10.17221/33/2009-SWR
The assessment study of the global ecological impact tries to highlight the main factors and negative ecological determinants, due to a lack or excess, and it also focuses on highlighting the main negative ecological effects with the aim to rehabilitate and restore the ecological balance within degraded ecosystems. The methodology used in the assessment process was based on graphs, tables in the shape of Leopold matrix, considerably improved by authors. In order to assess qualitatively the negative ecological effects, a reliability scale with 3 indicators and 3 graduations was used, designed to underline the importance of the impact (minor, medium,...
Role of soil multifunctionality in sustainable developmentOriginal Paper
György VÁRALLYAY
Soil & Water Res., 2010, 5(3):102-107 | DOI: 10.17221/37/2009-SWR
Each society wishes to create favourable living conditions for its members. Life quality criteria are formulated in different ways by various societies or individuals, depending on the given geographical and socio-economic conditions, living standards; national, ethnical, and religious traditions; history, policy; age, sex, educational level, position in the social hierarchy; etc. Sustainable development is a global objective that includes efficient multifunctional agriculture: using environment-friendly, energy- and material-saving technologies and paying special attention to quality; and a socially acceptable rural development, simultaneously. The...
Analysis of soil degradation in the Czech Republic: GIS approachOriginal Paper
Bořivoj ŠARAPATKA, Marek BEDNÁŘ, Pavel NOVÁK
Soil & Water Res., 2010, 5(3):108-112 | DOI: 10.17221/487-SWR
In our work, we have evaluated the available data on the individual types of soil damage, which has been processed in the Czech Republic in recent decades. The individual types of degradation (water erosion, wind erosion, soil compaction, extreme soils (clay soils), loss of organic matter, acidification, dryness impact, and intoxication) were classified in one of three groups: physical degradation, desertification and chemical degradation. Each type of degradation was assigned a specific weight reflecting the importance of this kind of soil degradation. The maps of individual areas of degradation were processed by overlay and assigning weighting techniques...
Assessment of the soil quality as a complex of productive and environmental soil function potentialsOriginal Paper
Pavel NOVÁK, Jan VOPRAVIL, Jitka LAGOVÁ
Soil & Water Res., 2010, 5(3):113-119 | DOI: 10.17221/39/2009-SWR
Soil quality is a measure of the ability of soil to carry out particular ecological and plant productive functions. It reflects the combination of chemical, physical, and biological properties. Some of the soil properties are relatively more important than the others and unchangeable. Others can be significantly changed by human activity. Nowadays, three groups of soil functions are usually defined: soil utility function (productive function, infrastructure area, source of materials); functions of soil in the environment (non-productive functions such as: water infiltration and water retention, transport of matter, buffering and sanitary functions);...