Nature and Properties of the Soils of the Red and Black Complex of the Hawaiian Islands

A study was made of the mineralogical constitution of the soils of the red and black complex of the Hawaiian Islands. The application of differential thermal analysis established kaolin as the dominant mineral in the red soils and montmorillonite as the dominant mineral in the black soils. To aid in the understanding and interpretation of the experimental data a discussion of the differential thermal apparatus and the clay minerals was given. Four major variations in the soils of the red and black complex, differing in modes of formation, were recognized. The first type consists of black soils forming under low rainfall at low elevations adjacent to red soils forming under higher rainfall on upper elevations. Type II black soils may form under heavier rainfall than type I, but are stabilized by seepage waters from adjacent red soils. Type III comprises a number of black soils developing under restricted drainage, as a result of a high water table, near red soils having better internal drainage. Type IV consists of several profiles of alluvial and ash material, where a red top soil rests upon a black subsoil. In every case, except in a red and black profile from Molokai, kaolin was found to be the dominant clay mineral in the red soil and montmorillonite in the black soil, with a kaolin montmorillonite mixture in the transitionary zones. Under intense leaching and oxidation, kaolin formation was favored. In situations where retention of bases and silica was favored, montmorillonite formation occurred. The cause for the soil colors was reviewed. Hematite and goethite were listed as the main cause for the color in the red soils. Investigation of black soils low in organic carbon from Kunia road supports the view that the black color need not necessarily be associated with organic matter

Matching Crop Requirements to Land Characteristics

Examples of matching crop, soil, and season are given; implications for technology transfer in the tropics are mentioned

Carbon Sequestration: Position of the Soil Science Society of America

Increased long term (20-50 year) sequestration of carbon in soils, plants and plant products will benefit the environment and agriculture. Crop, grazing, and forestlands can be managed for both economic productivity and carbon sequestration. In many settings this dual management approach can be achieved by applying currently recognized best management practices such as conservation tillage, efficient nutrient management, erosion control, use of cover crops and restoration of degraded soils. In addition, conversion of marginal arable land to forest or grassland can rapidly increase soil carbon sequestration. Research is needed that better quantifies carbon sequestration obtained by these practices; this research should culminate in a scientifically defensible soil carbon sequestration accounting system that also would be suitable to the business sector, should soil carbon become a marketable commodity. Implementation of these practices will integrate a wide range of disciplines in the basic, agricultural, silvicultural, and environmental sciences as well as in the social, economic and political sciences. SSSA advocates a global increase in soil organic matter as a timely benefit to global well being by reducing the rate of increase in atmospheric CO2 and increasing the productivity of soil, particularly in many areas with degraded soils

Cilostazol Inhibits Accumulation of Triglyceride in Aorta and Platelet Aggregation in Cholesterol-Fed Rabbits

Cilostazol is clinically used for the treatment of ischemic symptoms in patients with chronic peripheral arterial obstruction and for the secondary prevention of brain infarction. Recently, it has been reported that cilostazol has preventive effects on atherogenesis and decreased serum triglyceride in rodent models. There are, however, few reports on the evaluation of cilostazol using atherosclerotic rabbits, which have similar lipid metabolism to humans, and are used for investigating the lipid content in aorta and platelet aggregation under conditions of hyperlipidemia. Therefore, we evaluated the effect of cilostazol on the atherosclerosis and platelet aggregation in rabbits fed a normal diet or a cholesterol-containing diet supplemented with or without cilostazol. We evaluated the effects of cilostazol on the atherogenesis by measuring serum and aortic lipid content, and the lesion area after a 10-week treatment and the effect on platelet aggregation after 1- and 10-week treatment. From the lipid analyses, cilostazol significantly reduced the total cholesterol, triglyceride and phospholipids in serum, and moreover, the triglyceride content in the atherosclerotic aorta. Cilostazol significantly reduced the intimal atherosclerotic area. Platelet aggregation was enhanced in cholesterol-fed rabbits. Cilostazol significantly inhibited the platelet aggregation in rabbits fed both a normal diet and a high cholesterol diet. Cilostazol showed anti-atherosclerotic and anti-platelet effects in cholesterol-fed rabbits possibly due to the improvement of lipid metabolism and the attenuation of platelet activation. The results suggest that cilostazol is useful for prevention and treatment of atherothrombotic diseases with the lipid abnormalities

Biomass production of herbaceous energy crops in the United States: field trial results and yield potential maps from the multiyear regional feedstock partnership

Current knowledge of yield potential and best agronomic management practices for perennial bioenergy grasses is primarily derived from small-scale and short-term studies, yet these studies inform policy at the national scale. In an effort to learn more about how bioenergy grasses perform across multiple locations and years, the U.S. Department of Energy (US DOE)/Sun Grant Initiative Regional Feedstock Partnership was initiated in 2008. The objectives of the Feedstock Partnership were to (1) provide a wide range of information for feedstock selection (species choice) and management practice options for a variety of regions and (2) develop national maps of potential feedstock yield for each of the herbaceous species evaluated. The Feedstock Partnership expands our previous understanding of the bioenergy potential of switchgrass, Miscanthus, sorghum, energycane, and prairie mixtures on Conservation Reserve Program land by conducting long-term, replicated trials of each species at diverse environments in the U.S. Trials were initiated between 2008 and 2010 and completed between 2012 and 2015 depending on species. Field-scale plots were utilized for switchgrass and Conservation Reserve Program trials to use traditional agricultural machinery. This is important as we know that the smaller scale studies often overestimated yield potential of some of these species. Insufficient vegetative propagules of energycane and Miscanthus prohibited farm-scale trials of these species. The Feedstock Partnership studies also confirmed that environmental differences across years and across sites had a large impact on biomass production. Nitrogen application had variable effects across feedstocks, but some nitrogen fertilizer generally had a positive effect. National yield potential maps were developed using PRISM-ELM for each species in the Feedstock Partnership. This manuscript, with the accompanying supplemental data, will be useful in making decisions about feedstock selection as well as agronomic practices across a wide region of the country

Erosion Behavior and Control on a Stripmined Latosolic Soil

Bauxite is an aluminum-rich end product of soil weathering under certain conditions of favorable drainage in tropical regions. The ore is thus concentrated at the surface and its mining entails stripping the soil for some depth. Any stripmining brings with it a danger of devaluating the land by exposing subsoil and compacting its surface. Prior to mining, methods of restoration of the exposed subsoil should thus be studied. To this end, experimental work was started on t e island of Kauai on a site which appeared promising as a first area to be min ed

Desilication of Halloysite and Its Relation to Gibbsite Formation

The evidence presented points to the alteration of halloysite to gibbsite. Mineralogical data, as determined by X-ray and differential analysis, verify identification of halloysite and gibbsite. Chemical data confirm the expected lower silica and higher alumina content for samples which are predominantly gibbsitic. It is reasonable to assume from petrographic evidence that gibbsite develops by desilicarion of halloysite. Halloysite amygdules undergo desilication along the outer peripheries, where acid silica-deficient waters pass, attacking the halloysite by dissolving silica. Halloysite is stable only if it is protected from such solutions, or if the solution passing by is saturated with silica. Whereas alteration of feldspar to halloysite involves a gain in volume, a loss in volume follows desilication of halloysite. This loss in volume is exemplified by the surface cracks clearly visible in the desilicated halloysite