The effects of soil properties are explored for each excavation model, for example, soil cohesion and friction, tool soil adhesion, and soil density.
Field visits of geologists, soil scientists or biologists can solve a number of questions, but often, problems remain that only can be studied by microscopic research as, for example, soil micromorphology and palynology.
Biogeochemical processes in the environment lead to different isotopic compositions in, for example, soil, water, and plants.
The selection of tree or shrub species through the use of analogous climates is important as a first step; but this must be amplified by an evaluation of localized factors which can be more important (for example, soil, slope, and biotic factors).
For example, soil organic C and soil enzymatic activities, both indicators of soil health31, were better explained by soil texture than by forest management28,30.
Commonly this involves interactions between one organic material (for example soil organic matter) and an organic ligand (for example a contaminant).
Some forms of degradation are not readily visible, for example, soil compaction, acidification and reduced biological activity.
The dominance of particular species could indicate competitive exclusion of others, explaining negative correlations between, for example, soil mineral nitrogen and the number of AMF sequence groups detected (Santos et al. 2006).
For example, soil depth, sampling collection and sieving type, and rice type all are important in understanding the distribution and uptake of heavy metals.
Although geophysical techniques offer an alternative to traditional soil sampling methods, the resulting data are still often misinterpreted, especially in terms of the inter-relationships between, for example, soil apparent electrical resistivity and several soil physical or chemical properties.
