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Articles 1 - 27 of 27

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Slotted Drainage Pipe For Sub-Irrigation, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2015

Slotted Drainage Pipe For Sub-Irrigation, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Subirrigation with drainage pipe was effective for planting a windbreak in the Mojave Desert. The pipe was refilled periodically with a water truck. Survival was very good.


Capillary Wick Irrigation For A Pot From A Reservoir, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2015

Capillary Wick Irrigation For A Pot From A Reservoir, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Capillary wicks are very effective for watering container plants. Ideal for water wise gardens, landscaping and interior plants capes.


Gardening With Less Water -- Access To Literature, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2015

Gardening With Less Water -- Access To Literature, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Super efficient irrigation systems can reduce water use and weeding dramatically. In many cases the savings are from 50-90% These systems have also been shown to increase plant health, hasten maturity and increase yields.


Upgrade A Hanging Basket With A Capillary Wick Irrigation System, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2015

Upgrade A Hanging Basket With A Capillary Wick Irrigation System, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Capillary wicks can improve health and performance of container plants. Plants in hanging baskets benefit from steady and very efficient water supply from a reservoir.


Gwlw Suppliers, Videos And More, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2015

Gwlw Suppliers, Videos And More, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Super efficient irrigation systems can be made with simple materials. These can cut water use and weeding 50-90% and improve plant health, speed maturity and increase yield.


Mitigation Site Soil Characteristics And The Effects Of Inoculation, Nursery Fertilizer Practices And Irrigation On Survival And Growth Of Mesquite (Prosopis Glandulosa) In The Coachella Valley, California, David A. Bainbridge, Marcelle M. Darby Jul 2014

Mitigation Site Soil Characteristics And The Effects Of Inoculation, Nursery Fertilizer Practices And Irrigation On Survival And Growth Of Mesquite (Prosopis Glandulosa) In The Coachella Valley, California, David A. Bainbridge, Marcelle M. Darby

David A Bainbridge

Prosopis glandulosa var. torreyana (mesquite, honey mesquite) is a small to medium sized leguminous tree that was once common in the low desert of California. Widespread destruction of mesquite woodlands in the Coachella Valley of southern California for fuel wood, agricultural and urban development, and urbanization has reduced once vast stands to isolated remnants. The rerouting and widening of Highway 86 in the Coachella Valley was a typical example of ongoing mesquite woodland removal. Despite the recognized need for mitigation, relatively little information on mesquite establishment in California is available. This research explored mesquite establishment by replanting on an abandoned …


Recreating Mesquite Mounds (Nebkas) In The Colorado Desert, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2014

Recreating Mesquite Mounds (Nebkas) In The Colorado Desert, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Accretion dunes or mounds (also known as nebkas or nebkhas) are formed when plants capture and then are partially buried in wind-blown sand. In the San Felipe drainage in the western Colorado Desert, mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa Torrey var. torreyana (L. D. Benson) M. C. Johnston)) forms dunes up to 5 m high. These are ecologically important for both ecosystem structure (primarily habitat) and function (soil accumulation, moisture retention and nutrient cycling). The widening of California state highway 86 damaged and removed several mesquite mounds and the California Department of Transportation asked us to explore techniques for recreating them to reduce …


Soil Penetrometer, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2014

Soil Penetrometer, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

A simple easy to build impact soil penetrometer can provide very useful information on soil strength. This can be very important for restoration planning and management of soils in agriculture and forestry.


Soil Solarization, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2014

Soil Solarization, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Soil solarization makes use of the energy of the sun to heat soil and kill weeds and pathogens. Single, double, or bubblepack plastic and be used to increase soil temperature. Multiple growth benefits are often realized.


Deep Pipe Irrigation, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2013

Deep Pipe Irrigation, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Deep pipe irrigation uses a vertically placed section of pipe to deliver water to the roots of plants. This reduces evaporation and increases water use efficiency. Deep pipes can be filled by hand, drip or rainwater catchment.


The Hudson’S Bay Company Brigades Of 1832-33 And The Malaria Epidemic In California, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2013

The Hudson’S Bay Company Brigades Of 1832-33 And The Malaria Epidemic In California, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

The ecological and cultural impacts of the Hudson’s Bay Company fur brigades to California were long term and important, but the expedition of 1832-33 caused a catastrophe by introducing the intermittent fever. The “intermittent fever” led to mortality rates from 50-90 percent or more, and it is likely more than 30,000 people died from the fever in the affected areas of California.


Buried Clay Pipe Irrigation, David A. Bainbridge Dec 2012

Buried Clay Pipe Irrigation, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

The buried clay pipe method of irrigation is one of the most efficient systems known and is ideal for gardeners and small farmers. Buried clay pipe irrigation uses a buried, unglazed clay pipe filled with water to provide controlled irrigation to plants as the water seeps out through the clay wall at a rate that is influenced by the plant's water use. It has been used for more than one hundred years.This auto-regulation leads to very high efficiency--considerably better than drip irrigation and many times better than conventional surface irrigation. This also reduces weeds, increases yields, and can speed maturity …


Wick Irrigation, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2012

Wick Irrigation, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Wick irrigation offers the potential for very low cost, robust microirrigation in difficult environments. Wick irrigation was first used in India in combination with buried clay pot irrigation. It has proven itself in the most severe desert conditions.


Super Efficient Irrigation With Buried Clay Pots, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2012

Super Efficient Irrigation With Buried Clay Pots, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Buried clay pot irrigation was first described in an agricultural extension bulletin in China more than 2000 years ago. The clay pot provides demand responsive irrigation at very high efficiency. Clay pot irrigation can be 5-10 times more efficient than conventional irrigation. It is being used more widely in Asia, Africa, Latin American and the US.


Buried Clay Pot Irrigation, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2011

Buried Clay Pot Irrigation, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Buried clay pot irrigation was first described in Chinese texts from more than 2000 years ago. It uses a porous clay pot to provide demand responsive irrigation. Efficiency is often 3-10 times conventional surface irrigation.


Water Walls: An Effective Option For High Performance Buildings, David A. Bainbridge Jul 2007

Water Walls: An Effective Option For High Performance Buildings, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Water wall thermal mass has been proven over the last 40 years on a wide range of residential and commercial projects in temperate and cold climates. It provides better thermal comfort and more efficient energy transfer at reasonable cost.


True Cost Accounting For A Post-Autistic Economy, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2007

True Cost Accounting For A Post-Autistic Economy, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

True cost accounting includes all environmental and social costs. If these are neglected the market fails. The critical link between ecosystem and humanity and the price of goods has been ignored at our peril.


Adding Ecological Considerations To Environmental Accounting, David A. Bainbridge Oct 2006

Adding Ecological Considerations To Environmental Accounting, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Environmental accounting has often neglected ecological costs. These are essential to complete a true cost accounting. Ecological costs are often very large and long term and if they are ignored the costs/benefits of projects are incorrectly calculated.


Acorn Use As Food, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2006

Acorn Use As Food, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

The acorns from oaks (Quercus) and tan oaks (Lithocarpus) have been used as food for many thousands of years. They occur in the archaeological record of the early town sites in the Zagros Mountains, at Catal Hüyük (6000 BC), and oak trees were carefully inventoried by the Assyrians during the reign of Sargon II. In Europe, Asia, North Africa, the Mid-East, and North America, acorns were once a staple food. They are still a commercial food crop in several countries. Acorns are still harvested and used in several areas of the United States, most notably Southern Arizona and California. There …


Houses Of Straw, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2005

Houses Of Straw, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Straw bale building offers high performance at a low cost. Bale building, developed on the grasslands of Nebraska at turn of the last century, has been rediscovered. High insulation values and high interior thermal mass make straw bales a good choice for passive solar design.


Low Cost Seismic Test Platform, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2004

Low Cost Seismic Test Platform, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

The challenge of seismic safety is better testing of building systems rather than just components. This mobile test platform may offer an inexpensive method of testing building performance.


Self Reliant Agriculture For Arid Lands, David A. Bainbridge Jan 2002

Self Reliant Agriculture For Arid Lands, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

More than a billion people face the challenge of supporting themselves in the world's arid lands. Much can be improved by refining and adopting the best traditional practices and crops from around the world. The lessons learned can also help develop new and improved agronomic practices and crops.


Revegetating Desert Plant Communities, David A. Bainbridge Jan 1999

Revegetating Desert Plant Communities, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Desert revegetation is possible but not easy. Careful attention to plant production (root:shoot), site prep, planting, irrigation and aftercare can lead to good survival even under extreme desert conditions. Cost per survivor is a critical consideration.


Soil Pitting For Revegetation, David A. Bainbridge Jan 1999

Soil Pitting For Revegetation, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Soil pitting provides many benefits in ecological restoration of degraded lands. The pits capture rainwater, trap seeds and soil symbionts and protect seedlings from windblast.


Use Of Acorns For Food In California: Past, Present, Future, David A. Bainbridge Jan 1987

Use Of Acorns For Food In California: Past, Present, Future, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Acorns are a neglected food for people, livestock, domestic fowl, and wildlife in California. Acorns are easy to collect, store, and process. In addition to the nutritious nut and meal, acorns yield an oil comparable in quality and flavor with olive oil. The existing acorn market could be greatly expanded and provide new income for rural people. A serious effort to identify and propagate the best oak acorn cultivars for these products is long overdue. It is particularly appropriate for this research to be done in California, which once had an acorn based economy.


Breadbox Water Heater Designs, David A. Bainbridge Jan 1978

Breadbox Water Heater Designs, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Integral solar water heaters (batch, breadbox, ICS) provide the most economical and reliable means of heating water. Simple designs can perform well and provide service for decades. Basic design principles include box insulation, orientation and control of heat loss.


Planning For Energy Conservation, David A. Bainbridge Jan 1976

Planning For Energy Conservation, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

City planning can provide multiple benefits by considering energy conservation, solar orientation and local resource harvesting. Narrower streets reduce construction costs, reduce urban heat island impacts and are safer. Above ground drainage reduces costs and returns rainwater to groundwater.