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Phytoremediation refers to the use of higher plants to rehabilitate contaminated sites without the need to excavate the contaminant material and dispose of it elsewhere. The use of plants capable of taking up high amounts of metals has been proven effective in the rehabilitation of metal-contaminated soils. Plants are grown for a certain period of time and are then harvested and subjected to composting, compaction, incineration, ashing, pyrolysis, direct disposal or liquid extraction. In principle, the best plants for the purpose are those that can tolerate the polluted soil condition, can absorb high amounts of the contaminants, and have economic value (e.g. flowering plants) so that they can also be a source of income. Thus, selection of the suitable plant species is crucial to the success of any phytoremediation program. In a recent study by HY Lai of MingDao University and and ZS Chen of National Taiwan University published in the International Journal of Phytoremediation, 33 flowe

First published June 2009. Revised November 2016. Philippine soil science owes its early development to the Americans. The first soil survey was conducted by C. W. Dorsey an American soil surveyor in 1903. In 1921 a Division of Soil and Fertilizer was created under the Bureau of Science which in 1934 was renamed as Division of Soil Survey. In 1951, the Philippine Congress enacted Republic Act No. 622 organizing the Bureau of Soil Conservation with Dr. M. M. Alicante as its first director (BSWM, 2008). Teaching of soil science to students of agricultural science started as early as the 1920s at the University of the Philippines College of Agriculture (UPCA). R. L. Pendleton an American from California was one of the pioneer soil science instructors who taught from 1923 to 1935. Dr. Pendleton was also an outstanding researcher as reflected by the about 50 scientific papers he published (Pendleton, 1942; Carter, 1958). Until about the 1960s, much of the work of soil scientists in the Bur

The National Policy Agenda on the Revitalization of Mining in the Philippines in 2004 gives top priority to the remediation and rehabilitation of abandoned mining sites all over the country. Consequently, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has identified remediation and rehabilitation of several abandoned mining sites as one of its top priorities (MGB-MESD 2006). Among all abandoned mining sites throughout the country needing urgent rehabilitation, the Bagacay Mine ranks first (MGB-MESD 2006). Bagacay Mine, located at the border of a nature reserve in the western part of Samar Island, was formerly worked for the recovery of pyrite (FeS2) and copper (Cu) for nearly 50 years until its abandonment in 1992. It exhibits many environmental problems such as heavy metal pollution of soil and water and the formation of Acid Mine Drainage. Recent efforts to rehabilitate the area by re-vegetating it with introduced trees species such as mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), ma

In many countries, soil science has been traditionally associated with agriculture because of the major function of soil as a medium for plant growth. So it was no surprise that the decline in funding for agricultural research worldwide in the last two decades had taken its toll on student enrolment in agricultural sciences including soil science. But there are good signs that soil science is now experiencing an upswing particularly because of its strong link to environmental management and global warming (soil is a major source and sink of carbon) and to recent increased focus on agriculture. In a recent paper published in Geoderma, Dr. Alfred E. Hartemink of ISRIC in Wageningen, Netherlands, and Prof. Alex McBratney (University of Sydney) think that soil science renaissance (from French word meaning "rebirth") is currentyl taking place "where novel approaches to thought are combined with a revival of ideas from the past." They noted that renewed interest in food,

Sewage sludge is the solid, semi-solid or liquid residue generated during the treatment of domestic sewage. Biosolids are the treated form of sewage sludge. The use of biosolids as soil amendments is widely seen as a way to reduce the accumulation of wastes and at the same time to enhance soil fertility for crop production. Studies have shown that the use of biosolids as soil amendment is an effective means of recovering plant nutrients and improving the physical and microbiological properties of soils. However, there are problems associated with the use of biosolids such as heavy metal contamination and nitrate pollution. Biosolids containing excessive levels of heavy metals should not be used as soil amendments. As for nitrate pollution due to excessive mineralization, Hseu and Huang (2005) proposed that this maybe avoided by regulating the annual rate of application of biosolids to soil based on crop N requirement and the anticipated net amount of organic N mineralized in the soil t

The missing carbon sink is the large amount of unidentified carbon sink in the global carbon budget. According to the Woods Hole Research Center (2007) the average annual carbon emissions amount to 8.5 Pg (1 Pg or petagram is equal to 1 billion metric tonnes) comprising of 6.3 Pg from combustion of fossil fuels and 2.2 Pg from changes in land use. This is greater than the sum of the annual accumulation of carbon in the atmosphere (3.2 Pg) plus the annual uptake by the oceans (2.4 Pg) which is only 5.6 Pg. The difference of 2.9 Pg (i.e. 8.5-5.6=2.9) is unknown carbon sink required to balance the carbon budget. Scientists have been searching for this big amount of unknown carbon sink during the last two decades. It was first thought to be located in the ocean considering that it occupies 70% of the earth’s surface. However, most scientists consider that the ocean sink is not big enough to account for the missing carbon (Xie et al., 2009). The next possible location is the world’s forest

Contributed by Juvia P. Sueta, University of Göttingen, Germany There is growing interest in the use of indigenous tree species in reforestation programs at present. Thought to be well adapted to their native areas, indigenous tree species are able to survive well and strongly influence the soil. However, the lack of published data on their performance often limits their full use and casts uncertainties on whether they have beneficial or negative impacts on the soil. To better understand the role of trees in improving soil quality, an understanding of how nutrient availability changes with time is important (Kelly and Mays, 1999). In this study which we conducted at the VSU-GTZ reforestation project site (see photo) in Mt. Pangasugan, Leyte, Philippines, we looked at the influence of two native tree species- Parashorea plicata and Dipterocarpus warburgii - on the nature and rate of changes on the chemical properties of a highly weathered soil following a change in land use from Impera