Characteristics and formation of rain forest soils from Quaternary basalt in Leyte, Philippines

The classical view about soils of tropical rain forest ecosystems is that these soils are old, acidic, and infertile. It is now widely ackno...

Lead pollution due to vehicular emissions in urban areas in the Philippines

Lead (Pb) has been known to be toxic since ancient times. It is a widespread contaminant in soils and Pb poisoning is one of the most preval...

The causes of the Guinsaugon landslide

On 17 February 2006, a catastrophic landslide buried the village of Guinsaugon, the second largest village of St. Bernard town (Southern Le...

The problem of high levels of nickel in soils and plants in the ultramafic area in Samar, Philippines

Contributed by Janice P. Susaya, Sejong University, Seoul, Korea One of the heavy metals that commonly occur in elevated amounts in natural ...

A superheavy new element is named "copernicium"

Source: Website of GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research, Darmstadt Element 112 in the periodic table is named in honor of the great ...

Heavy metals in the environment and their health effects

Heavy metals have a density of 6.0 g/cm3 or more (much higher than the average particle density of soils which is 2.65 g/cm3) and occur natu...

Environmental pollution and the safety of herbal and alternative medicinal products

There is scientific evidence that many over-the-counter health foods, neutraceuticals, and alternative medicinal products may not be safe. T...

F.A. Fallou: The Father of Soil Science

History is one of the most complicated and subjective academic fields since it is greatly influenced by the knowledge, experience, interest,...

Selection of plants for phytoremediation of sites contaminated with several metals

Phytoremediation refers to the use of higher plants to rehabilitate contaminated sites without the need to excavate the contaminant material...

Brief history of soil science in the Philippines

Soil science in the Philippines owes its early development to the Americans. The first soil survey was conducted by C. W. Dorsey an American...

Heavy metal pollution and nutrient deficiency problems in the abandoned Bagacay mine in Samar island

The National Policy Agenda on the Revitalization of Mining in the Philippines in 2004 gives top priority to the remediation and rehabilitati...

Is soil science in an upswing?

In many countries, soil science has been traditionally associated with agriculture because of the major function of soil as a medium for pla...

Effects of biosolids application on N mineralization

Sewage sludge is the solid, semi-solid or liquid residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewage. Biosolids are the treated form o...

Could the alkaline soils of the world be the missing carbon sink?

The missing carbon sink is the large amount of unidentified carbon sink in the global carbon budget. According to the Woods Hole Research Ce...

Native tree species affect changes in chemical properties of a highly weathered soil

Contributed by Juvia P. Sueta, University of Göttingen, Germany There is growing interest in the use of indigenous tree species in reforesta...

Does Sago palm respond to nitrogen application?

Sago palm ( Metroxylon sagu Rottb.) is widely found in the tropical lowland forest and freshwater swamps across Southeast Asia and New Guin...

Sofja Kovalevskaja Award for Top Level Junior Scientists and Scholars

The Alexander von Humboldt Foundation based in Bonn , Germany , announces that it now accepts application for the prestigious Sofja Kovalev...

Report on the 12th PSSST Conference held on May 21-22, 2009 in Davao City

Contributed by Judith Carla P. dela Torre (PhilRice) The 12 th Annual Meeting and Scientific Conference of the Philippine Society of Soil...

Continuous cultivation does not always decrease soil organic carbon content

It is generally known that continuous cultivation causes a decline in soil organic carbon and nutrient contents. This has been shown by ...

Organic fertilization improves soil fungi population

While organic fertilization is now widely known to improve the general soil quality, more data from field experiments are still needed to su...

Leaf decomposition of exotic and native tree species: rates and effect on soil

Decomposition of organic materials on the forest floor is a vital link between the various components of the forest ecosystem. Through...