Papers by Victor Castillo
Soil amendment with organic materials prior to aorestation as well as the use of mycorrhizal inoc... more Soil amendment with organic materials prior to aorestation as well as the use of mycorrhizal inoculation, are advisable practices in aorestation of semiarid areas. In this work, the eect of both organic amendment and mycorrhizal treatment on the microbial activity of a soil aorested with Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Miller) was studied. Labile carbon fractions (water soluble carbon and water soluble carbohydrates), microbiological parameters (microbial biomass carbon, basal respiration and metabolic quotient), and enzyme activities such as oxydoreductases (deshydrogenase and catalase activities) and hydrolases (urease, protease and phosphatase) were determined. All these parameters were found positively in¯uenced by organic amendment and mycorrhizal treatment of plant roots by inoculation of fungi or forest soil addition. The best result was obtained when mycorrhizal inoculation with fungi was supplemented by organic amendment. 7
Survival and growth of Pinus halepensis Miller seedlings in a semi-arid environment after forest soil transfer, terracing and organic amendments
Annals of Forest Science, 1996
... amendments A Roldán, I Querejeta J Albaladejo, V Castillo Centro ... analyser. Avail-able P w... more ... amendments A Roldán, I Querejeta J Albaladejo, V Castillo Centro ... analyser. Avail-able P was extracted with sodium bicarbonate (Olsen et al, 1954) and determined by colori-metry according to Murphy and Riley (1962). K ...
Plant and Soil, 1996
A field experiment was carried out to evaluate the growth response of Pinus halepensis seedlings ... more A field experiment was carried out to evaluate the growth response of Pinus halepensis seedlings inoculated with Pisolithus arhizus and planted in a terraced rangeland amended with urban solid refuse. The application of the organic amendment mediated a significant increase in soil fertility and soil water content. Twenty seven months after planting seedling survival rates did not differ significantly among treatments and were above 95% in all cases. Growth of P. halepensis was significantly (p<0.01) enhanced by the refuse application independently of their mycorrhizal status at the beginning of the experiment. A multiple regression analysis including available soil P concentration and sorptivity as independent variables explained up to 60% of the variance in pine growth observed across treatments. Inoculation with P. arhizus also significantly (p<0.01) enhanced pine growth with repect to the controls grown in both amended and nonamended plots. It was conduded that the combination of soil terracing, refuse amendment and P. arhizus inoculation significantly improved the performance of Pinus halepensis, and this methodology could be successfully applied in afforestation programmes in semiarid and degraded sites.
Revegetation in Semiarid Zones: Influence of Terracing and Organic Refuse on Microbial Activity
Soil Science Society of America Journal, 1998
... as a mea-sure of microbial activity in soil, although some re-searchers have criticized this ... more ... as a mea-sure of microbial activity in soil, although some re-searchers have criticized this hypothesis (Nannipieri et al., 1990; Beyer et al ... plant residues (Hayano and Tubaki, 1985), which contributes to the release of energy for soil microbial activity (Eivazi and Zakaria, 1993). ...
Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 2000
Soil amendment with organic materials prior to aorestation as well as the use of mycorrhizal inoc... more Soil amendment with organic materials prior to aorestation as well as the use of mycorrhizal inoculation, are advisable practices in aorestation of semiarid areas. In this work, the eect of both organic amendment and mycorrhizal treatment on the microbial activity of a soil aorested with Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Miller) was studied. Labile carbon fractions (water soluble carbon and water soluble carbohydrates), microbiological parameters (microbial biomass carbon, basal respiration and metabolic quotient), and enzyme activities such as oxydoreductases (deshydrogenase and catalase activities) and hydrolases (urease, protease and phosphatase) were determined. All these parameters were found positively in¯uenced by organic amendment and mycorrhizal treatment of plant roots by inoculation of fungi or forest soil addition. The best result was obtained when mycorrhizal inoculation with fungi was supplemented by organic amendment. 7
Soil Use and Management, 1998
Abstract. The fragile soils at the transition between semiarid and arid areas are continuously th... more Abstract. The fragile soils at the transition between semiarid and arid areas are continuously threatened by human activity, which frequently involves the elimination of plant cover. We studied the impact of vegetation removal on soil characteristics in senmiarid Mediterranean Spain using two plots (15 m ± 5 m), installed on a north facing slope of 23%. Vegetation was removed from one of the plots (disturbed plot), and changes in the soil characteristics were compared with an undisturbed control plot. Fifty-five months after vegetation removal the organic carbon content decreased by 35%, the percentage of stable aggregates by 31% and soil bulk density increased by 8%. The models that best represented the changes of these parameters with time were linear equations. There were no significant differences between the water retention capacity or saturated hydraulic conductivity of the treatments. The rapid loss of soil organic matter and the consequences in terms of physical soil properties were considered to be the main factors in soil degradation. No symptoms of natural recovery were observed in the disturbed plot and the tendency was for a steady deterioration in soil behaviour. This means that human activity or climatic change leading to less vegetation could result in irreversible soil degradation in semiarid areas.
Annals of Thoracic Surgery, 2005
Background. Closure of a large ventricular septal defect (VSD) in children with elevated pulmonar... more Background. Closure of a large ventricular septal defect (VSD) in children with elevated pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Sophisticated medications and circulatory assist devices may not be available to assist in the care of children with elevated PVR undergoing VSD closure. We designed a fenestrated flap valve double VSD patch to decrease the morbidity and mortality associated with the closure of a large VSD in this high-risk group.
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Papers by Victor Castillo