Soil science and management

Geomechanics is the basic science for many engineering fields, including oil and gas recovery, mining, civil engineering, water supply, etc.

SCOPE, the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment, was established by the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU) in 1969 as an international, non- to governmental, non-profit organisation with the mandate - advance knowledge of the influence of humans on their environment, as well as the effects of these environmental changes upon people, their health and their welfare- with particular attention to those influences and effects which are either global or shared by several nations; - to serve as a non-governmental, interdisciplinary and international council of scien- tists and as a source of advice for the benefit of governments and intergovernmental and non-governmental bodies with respect to environmental problems.

In the 100 years since the legume-Rhizobium symbiotic nitrogen fixation interaction was first described, interest in this field has grown rapidly.

Biodegradation is the dominant pathway for the environmental transformation of most chemicals and information on a chemical's biodegradability is essential for proper risk assessment.

Bioremediation - the use of microorganisms for environmental clean-up - is a technology that is experiencing a rapid phase of development.

In situ remediation techniques have experienced a boom over the last few years, thereby producing a wide range of valuable experiences.

The economic significance of boron (B) in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry has been beyond dispute for several decades.

Acknowledgements Conference Summary R.

This book contains the proceedings of the `8th Nitrogen Workshop' which was held at the University of Ghent, Belgium, from 5 to 8 September 1994.

This volume comprises the proceedings of the First International Rehovot Conference on Modem Agriculture and the Environment, held at the Rehovot Campus of the Faculty of Agriculture, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel, 2-6 October 1994.

R.

Environmental Contamination and Remediation Practices at Former and Present Military Bases outlines the different strategies that are useful in the investigation and subsequent remediation of military bases, Particular attention is paid to the pollution of groundwater.

Diazotrophic bacteria convert atmospheric nitrogen to plant-useable form and this input of nitrogen through biological fixation is of great agronomic importance.

Until the late 1970s, most commercial power plant operators outside the United States adopted a spent fuel management policy of immediate reprocessing and recycling of recovered products.

The study of soil nitrogen has long been an active field, but it was generally pivoted on agricultural and forestry production, and animal husbandry.

Shallow lakes differ from deep ones in many aspects of nutrient dynamics, biotic structure and interactions of various trophic levels.

In this study, an overview is presented of agricultural policies on manure and minerals, relating to the Nitrate Directive to remedy excessive surface- and groundwater contamination from intensive agricultural practices.

This is the second volume in the series Nutrients in Ecosystems.

Rice is the major staple food in Asia, and food security means rice security for most Asians.

Co-utilization or blending of residuals offers a unique opportunity to develop products with particular characteristics that are able to target specific customer needs.

The Rhizobiaceae, Molecular Biology of Model Plant-Associated Bacteria.

Inputs of nitrogen to terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems have increased several-fold over the last one hundred and fifty years, with the steepest increases during the last four decades.

Many areas of Eastern Europe have been polluted to an extent unknown in the West.

Among the many technological and legal efforts being made to restore our environment, electrostatic technologies may well hold the solution to the cleaning of air, water and soil.

Fungi are among the most versatile and diverse groups of organisms in their morphology, life cycles, and ecology.

It is only with the ending of the Cold War that the issue of environmental hazards at many former nuclear testing sites around the world has attracted international scientific interest.

In its present condition, the dam of the tailings pond is less stable than is recommended by international practice.

Agriculture is a crucial component of the economies of many of the countries in transition from a centrally-planned to a market economy and the sector is by no means immune to the environmental and socioeconomic problems confronting the countries as a whole.

Over forty years ago, concern was first focussed on cadmium contamination of soils, fertilisers and the food chain.

Modern approaches to microbial classification and identification, particularly those based on nucleic acid analysis, have raised the awareness and interest of microbiologists in systematics during the past decade.

Tropical Africa escaped from the glaciers that covered the temperate parts of the world during the Ice Age.

Water Pollution is a subject of growing concern in our industrial world.

The Fifth International Symposium on Nitrogen Fixation with Non-legumes was held in Florence (Italy) on 10-14 September, 1990.

In the Netherlands the Institute for Soil Fertility Research plays a major role in soil biological, soil physical and plant nutritional research on the availability of nitrogen to crops.

Detailed and comprehensive accounts of pre-liming conditions, liming techniques employed, post-liming changes in water quality and fish restoration.

Saving Our Planet analyses the changes (both positive and negative) that have occurred in the environment in the past two decades.

The Symposium on high salinity tolerant plants, held at the University of Al Ain in December 1990, dealt primarily with plants tolerating salinity levels exceeding that of ocean water and which at the same time are promising for utilization in agriculture or forestry.

Life on the planet depends on microbial activity.

In 1962 Rachel Carson warned of the consequences of man's pollution in her book Silent Spring, a book that some feel marks the real beginning of our environmental awareness.

Nitrogen is the most limiting element for crop production.

This volume contains material first presented at an international workshop on the 'Use of Microorganisms to Combat Pollution', held in Israel, May 10--18, 1992.

From mulching to greenhouses, the air space between the cover and the soil surface is the key to the classification of climates under cover.

The adaptation of desirable agricultural plants to infertile and problem soils is an increasingly important trategy for improving food supplies in many parts of the world.

During the past three decades there has been a large amount of research on biological nitrogen fixation, in part stimulated by increasing world prices of nitrogen-containing fertilizers and environmental concerns.

Desertification (land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas resulting mainly from adverse human impacts) is the main environmental problem of dry lands, which occupy more than 40 per cent of the total global land area.

A knowledge of clay is important in many spheres of scientific endeav- our, particularly in natural sciences such as geology, mineralogy and soil science, but also in more applied areas like environmental and mater- ials science.