IUSS Alerts June 2007 – October 2007
Information for and from the global soil science community
IUSS Alerts are e-mailed to more than 12,000 people in over 100 countries. If you have information to share please send it to alfred.hartemink@wur.nl Below are the still relevant contributions that appeared in the IUSS Alerts between June 2007 and October 2007.
Core Historical Literature of Agriculture
The Core Historical Literature of Agriculture
(CHLA) is a core electronic collection of agricultural texts published between
the early nineteenth century and the middle to late twentieth century.
Full-text materials cover agricultural economics, agricultural engineering,
animal science, crops and their protection, food science,forestry, human
nutrition, rural sociology, and soil science. Scholars have selected the titles
in this collection for their historical importance. Current
online holdings: Pages: 850 264 Books: 1 849, Journals:
6 (288 Volumes). More info http://chla.library.cornell.edu/
Global soil maps and reports on-line
ISRIC
- World Soil Information has built up a collection of more than 20 000 reports,
books and maps, as well as digital databases on soil and land resources. The ISRIC - World Soil
Information Database include:
on-line access to over 3500 soil maps; over 110 full-text reports (PDF);
country-specific searches based on Google maps; and a pull-down menu with soil
science links. Click www.isric.org for further information.
Soil implications of global environmental change
- Proposal for a new IUSS Working Group -
This is a call by Dan Yaalon to the soil science community to establish a Working Group on the Pedological Implications of Environmental Change caused by Global Warming and Human Activities on Soils and Landscapes, with special reference to countries in the tropics and coastal regions which are apparently most threatened by these changes. The objective and mission of the proposed Working Group would be not only to monitor and model the effect on soils accompanying the environmental change but especially to devise best ways of soil system adaptation to these human effects, to cooperate with and to advise various international and regional organizations on these matters concerning soils and pedological aspects. Soil people need to be heard. The Chair of IUSS Commission 1, Ahmet Mermut, has agreed to prepare an appropriate document and program for presenting the proposal to the IUSS Council for official approval. Actual proposals for relevant activity and participation in the Working Group should contact at mermut@skyway.usask.ca
New book:
Agricultural Sustainability: Principles, Processes, and Prospects
Agricultural Sustainability: Principles, Processes, and Prospects by Saroja Raman, PhD, provides a comprehensive examination of all facets of agricultural sustainability, beginning with the history of the evolution of the concept to the present. Challenges to sustainability are clearly presented along with practical strategies to counter prospective problems. This vital resource considers options for the future, as well as reviewing past approaches for their value in today's world. The book is extensively referenced and includes figures and charts to clearly explain data.
Publication Date: 2006 Publisher: The Haworth Press, Inc.
US Dollars $69.95 soft cover. ISBN-13: 978-1-56022-311-5. US Dollars $89.95 hard cover. ISBN-13: 978-1-56022-310-8.474 pp. with index. Includes an Instructor's Manual (available for faculty only).
Soil Science Society of East Africa Conference
The 24th Annual Conference of the Soil Science
Society of East Africa (SSSEA) will be held on 26-30th November 2007
in Embu, Kenya. The event will draw scientists from research organizations,
universities, non-governmental organizations, farmers’ groups and international
soil related organizations operating in the East African region. The theme of
the Conference will be: “Improved Livelihoods through Applied Soil Science and
Land Management”. Abstracts are to be submitted in both hard and electronic
version or as e-mail attachment by 30 August, 2007. The deadline for submission
of full papers is on 15th October, 2007. Send your abstract/paper/posters
to: SSSEA Secretariat, Kenyan Chapter, P.O. Box 14733-00800, Nairobi, Kenya. Email to both of these addresses: kss@iconnect.co.ke and geokironchi@uonbi.ac.ke
Review of FAO
Recently, there has been an Independent
External Evaluation of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the
United Nation. The draft report (2.5 Mb, 395 pp) can be downloaded from the
website www.fao.org and
contains several comments of interest to the global soil science community. One
of the recommendations: “Lands and soils should be given greater priority.”
New issue of Pedometron
A new
issue (number 22) is available from the www.pedometrics.org and www.iuss.org In this issue an introduction to
Tubingen where the biennial meeting of the Pedometrics commission is held,
Elisabeth Bui has look at Dokuchaev and the zonal soil concept and there are
contribution on self citation in pedometrics, the art of ploughing, digital
soil mapping and soil science, on pyrometrie and pedomathemagica, and much
more. As always: Happy reading!
19th World Congress of Soil Science - Australia
The 19th World Congress of Soil
Science will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, 1 to 6
August 2010.
The Congress, held every four years, presents a global forum at which all those involved in Soil Science can meet with scientists, researchers, academics and professionals to discuss and find Soil Solutions for a Changing World. Details of the 19th World Congress of Soil Science will be regularly updated on the website www.19wcss.org.au Please check register your interest to participate and you will be kept informed.
International Crop Nutrition Award 2008
In its effort to promote research in the field of efficient, balanced and environment friendly fertilization, the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) grants every year the IFA International Crop Nutrition Award for research that has led to significant advances in crop nutrition and that has been communicated successfully to the farmer in the form of practical recommendations.
Any individual researcher involved in crop or soil science is eligible. Applications must be submitted to an IFA member by 15 January 2008, and nominations by IFA members must be forwarded to the IFA Secretariat by 31 January 2008. The candidates will be judged by an independent selection panel on the basis of research quality, originality and practical application.
The recipient of the Award will receive € 10,000 and will be invited as a guest to the IFA Annual Conference in Vienna, Austria, from 19 to 21 May 2008. The recipient will also be sponsored to participate in one international conference during the same year. More info click http://www.fertilizer.org/ifa/aw_info.asp
New books from the
International Association of Hydrological Sciences
Evaporation
by John Gash & Jim Shuttleworth, the second volume in the Benchmark Papers in Hydrology Series is now published. ISBN 978-901502-98-5 (2007) A4 format, softback, 526 + x pp., £40.00
A New Focus on Groundwater–Seawater Interactions
Edited by Ward Sanford, Christian Langevin, Maurizio Polemio & Pavel Povinec
IAHS Publ. 312 (2007) 978-1-901502-04-6 344 + x pp, price £64.00
Quantification and Reduction of Predictive Uncertainty for Sustainable Water Resources Management
Edited by Eva Boegh, Harald Kunstmann, Thorsten Wagener, Alan Hall, Luis Bastidas, Stewart Franks, Hoshin Gupta, Dan Rosbjerg & John Schaake
IAHS Publ. 313 (2007) ISBN 978-1-90150278-09-1 508 + iv pp. price £87.00
Water Quality and Sediment Behaviour of the Future: Predictions for the 21st Century
Edited by Bruce W. Webb & Dirk De Boer. IAHS Publ. 314 (2007) ISBN 978-1-901502-14-5; 322 + x pp. price £62.00
Remote Sensing for Environmental Monitoring and Change Detection
Edited by Manfred Owe & Christopher Neale. IAHS Publ. 316 (2007) ISBN 978-1-901502-24-4, 288 + viii pp. Price £55.00
Please order, or ask your library/department to order from Jill Gash:
- IAHS Press, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB, UK
Heavy metals in European soils
New maps are online that show estimated total heavy metal
concentrations of eight metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, mercury,
nickel, lead and zinc) using 1588 geo-referenced topsoil samples from the European
geochemical database. The concentrations were interpolated using block
regression-kriging. Nice feature: The maps can be viewed in Google earth. See: http://eusoils.jrc.it/foregshmc/
El futuro de la ciencia del suelo
The IUSS book “The Future of Soil Science” has been translated in Spanish by Dr. Miguel Angel Segura Castruita, Professor of Soil Science at the Instituto Tecnológico de Torreón in México. The book contains the views from 55 soil scientists in 28 countries and is a palette of opinions and views reflecting great diversity but also several commonalities. The English and Spanish version can be freely downloaded from the IUSS website – see www.iuss.org