IUSS Alert 83 (May 2012)
IUSS Intercongress Meeting, Jeju, Korea, 3-8 June 2012
For the intercongress meeting please promptly register here: www.20wcss.org
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Global Soil Science Education
The Monitoring Soil Science Project is a global soil science education project. It seeks to establish innovative and ongoing student-soil scientist partnerships. The project enables school students to receive training in scientific methodologies with support of a soil scientist as a mentor. The website has resources for teachers and students. An initial emphasis on soil fauna is used to attract the attention of students and the project can be expanded to include any aspect of soil science. http://soils.duit.uwa.edu.au/index.php The Monitoring Soil Science Project is an initiative of IUSS Division 4. For further information, contact Lyn Abbott (email )
Nitrogen Meeting
The 6th International Nitrogen Conference (N2013), 18-22 November 2013, Kampala, Uganda. www.N2013.org. Theme: Just enough N: Perspectives on how to get there for “too much” and “too little” Regions. Contrasting access to reactive nitrogen (Nr) has led to either its excessive use in the production of food and energy, resulting in numerous negative ecological and human health consequences, or in inadequate access that consigns such regions to unsustainable agricultural production, land degradation, and food and nutritional insecurity. Scientific and socio-economic studies continue to be conducted in both scenarios so as to identify Nr issues and solutions, novel approaches and policy support for implementation of the solutions, and priorities for further research and development. N2013 will provide a platform for sharing the state of knowledge on the impact of too much or too little use of Nr on the nitrogen cycle, human health and ecosystems in the different regions of the world. It will declare its position on the use of external Nr sources in stimulating increase in food production and rural development, while taking into account prevention of its negative impacts for “too little” regions. Convener: Mateete Bekunda, African Nitrogen Centre ( ). Host: National Agricultural Research Organisation, Uganda. Contact: Crammer K. Kaizzi ( )
New Publications
Clean Soil and Safe Water. Series: NATO Science for Peace and Security. Series C: Environmental Security. Quercia, Francesca F.; Vidojevic, Dragana (Eds.). 2012, 2012, XVII. Springer. ISBN: 978-94-007-2239-2. Hardcover, 299 pages. Price $229.00. ISBN: 978-94-007-2242-2. Softcover, 299 pages. Price $119.00. This book addresses questions of relevance to governments and industry in many countries around the world, in particular concerning the link between contaminated-land-management programs and the protection of drinking water resources and the potential effects of climate changes on the availability of these same resources. On the “problem” side, it reports and analyzes methodologies and experiences in monitoring and characterization of drinking water resources (at basin, country and continental scales), pollution prevention, assessment of background quality and of impacts on safety and public health from land and water contamination and impacts of climate change. On the “solution” side, the book presents results from national cleanup programs, recent advances in research into groundwater and soil remediation techniques, treatment technologies, research needs and information sources, land and wastewater management approaches aimed at the protection of drinking water.
Organic Fertilisation, Soil Quality and Human Health. Series: Sustainable Agriculture Reviews, Vol. 9. Lichtfouse, Eric (Ed.). 2012, 2012, XII. Springer. ISBN: 978-94-007-4112-6. Hardcover, 372 pages. Price $209.00. Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and energy in a sustainable way for humans and their children. Sustainable agriculture is a discipline that addresses current issues such as climate change, increasing food and fuel prices, poor-nation starvation, rich-nation obesity, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control, and biodiversity depletion. Novel, environmentally-friendly solutions are proposed based on integrated knowledge from sciences as diverse as agronomy, soil science, molecular biology, chemistry, toxicology, ecology, economy, and social sciences. Indeed, sustainable agriculture decipher mechanisms of processes that occur from the molecular level to the farming system to the global level at time scales ranging from seconds to centuries. For that, scientists use the system approach that involves studying components and interactions of a whole system to address scientific, economic and social issues. In that respect, sustainable agriculture is not a classical, narrow science. Instead of solving problems using the classical painkiller approach that treats only negative impacts, sustainable agriculture treats problem sources. Because most actual society issues are now intertwined, global, and fast-developing, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions to build a safer world. This book series gathers review articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge, then propose alternative solutions. It will therefore help all scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians who wish to build a safe agriculture, energy and food system for future generations.
Genetic Engineering, Biofertilisation, Soil Quality and Organic Farming. Series: Sustainable Agriculture Reviews. Lichtfouse, Eric (Ed.). 1st Edition, 2010, VI. Springer. ISBN: 978-90-481-8740-9. Hardcover, 390 pages. Price $209.00. Sustainable agriculture is a rapidly growing field aiming at producing food and energy in a sustainable way for humans and their children. Sustainable agriculture is a discipline that addresses current issues such as climate change, increasing food and fuel prices, poor-nation starvation, rich-nation obesity, water pollution, soil erosion, fertility loss, pest control, and biodiversity depletion. Novel, environmentally-friendly solutions are proposed based on integrated knowledge from sciences as diverse as agronomy, soil science, molecular biology, chemistry, toxicology, ecology, economy, and social sciences. Indeed, sustainable agriculture decipher mechanisms of processes that occur from the molecular level to the farming system to the global level at time scales ranging from seconds to centuries. For that, scientists use the system approach that involves studying components and interactions of a whole system to address scientific, economic and social issues. In that respect, sustainable agriculture is not a classical, narrow science. Instead of solving problems using the classical painkiller approach that treats only negative impacts, sustainable agriculture treats problem sources. Because most actual society issues are now intertwined, global, and fast-developing, sustainable agriculture will bring solutions to build a safer world. This book series gathers review articles that analyze current agricultural issues and knowledge, then propose alternative solutions. It will therefore help all scientists, decision-makers, professors, farmers and politicians who wish to build a safe agriculture, energy and food system for future generations.
Environmental Soil Properties and Behaviour. ByRaymond N. Yong, Masashi Nakano, Roland Pusch. Published by CRC Press. Taylor and Francis. ISBN: 978-1-43-984529-5. Hardcover, 455 pages. Price $119.95. Environmental Soil Properties and Behaviourexamines changes in soil properties and behaviour caused by short- and long-term stresses from anthropogenic activities and environmental forces. Introducing new concepts of soil behaviour, soil maturation, and soil functionality, it integrates soil physics, soil chemistry, and soil mechanics as vital factors in soil engineering. The book focuses on environmental soil behaviour, with particular attention to two main inter-related groups of soil–environment issues. The first is the use of soil as an environmental tool for management and containment of toxic and hazardous waste materials. The second is the impact of ageing and weathering processes and soil contamination on the properties and behaviour of soils, especially those used in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering projects. To determine short- and long-term soil quality and soil functionality, the authors emphasize the need to be aware of the nature of the stressors involved as well as the kinds of soil-changing processes that are evoked. This book takes a first step toward a much-needed transdisciplinary effort to develop a broader and deeper understanding of what happens to soil and how we can determine and quantify the effect of biogeochemical processes. It offers a timely resource for the study of soil properties and behaviours, effects of environmental changes, and remediation of contaminated soil.
Soil Heavy Metals. Series: Soil Biology, Vol. 19. Sherameti, Irena; Varma, Ajit (Eds.). 1st Edition, 2010, XVIII. Springer. ISBN: 978-3-642-02435-1. Hardcover, 492 pages. Price $229.00. Human activities have dramatically changed the composition and organisation of soils. Industrial and urban wastes, agricultural application and also mining activities resulted in an increased concentration of heavy metals in soils. How plants and soil microorganisms cope with this situation and the sophisticated techniques developed for survival in contaminated soils is discussed in this volume. The topics presented include: the general role of heavy metals in biological soil systems; the relation of inorganic and organic pollutions; heavy metal, salt tolerance and combined effects with salinity; effects on abuscular mycorrhizal and on saprophytic soil fungi; heavy metal resistance by streptomycetes; trace element determination of environmental samples; the use of microbiological communities as indicators; phytostabilization of lead polluted sites by native plants; effects of soil earthworms on removal of heavy metals and the remediation of heavy metal contaminated tropical land.
Plant Nutrition and Soil Fertility Manual. Second Edition. By J. Benton Jones, Jr. Published by CRC Press. Taylor and Francis. ISBN: 978-1-43-981609-7. Softcover, 304 pages. Price $79.95. As soil and crop management procedures have become more complex, County Agricultural Agents, farm advisors, consultants, and fertilizer and chemical dealers have had to specialize in some aspect of soil fertility and crop nutrition management procedures, limiting their ability to provide a range of advice and services. Most farmers and growers can no longer turn to just one source for the information and instruction needed to achieve their production goals. With over 70 percent new material, the second edition of the Plant Nutrition and Soil Fertility Manual discusses the principles determining how plants grow and the elements essential for successful crop production, with a focus on the principles of soil fertility and plant nutrition. The book covers physical and chemical properties of soil, chemical and organic fertilizers, soil acidity and alkalinity, liming and liming materials, and micronutrients essential to plant growth. It also describes elements toxic to plants, soil testing, and plant analysis.
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