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This paper considers the work that attentiveness can and can't do in generating more ethical relations with non‐humans. How to build better relations with non‐humans has been a central debate in geography and cognate disciplines. These concerns include ethical relations with non‐humans who both pervade and create liveable environments, such as soil biota. Scholars have specifically identified attentiveness as key in generating more‐than‐human ethics. However, how attentiveness may arise, and what work attentiveness may be able to do in generating ethical relations, has not been sufficiently explored. Additionally, soils as relational materialities remain underexplored in social sciences. In this paper, I address these two important gaps in scholarship. Investigating the rising concern with soil biota in conventional English farming, I propose the care network as a way of conceptualising and investigating the ethical potential of attentiveness. As concerns grow about soil degradation, and the dangers this is posing to food production and to human survival, land managers are attending to soil ecosystems as part of caring for their farm businesses. While this attentiveness is producing some transformative effects, its potential is limited by the configuration of the soil care network. As long as soil care is configured primarily as farmers' concern, the potential of attentiveness in generating ethical regard to the needs of soil biota will be limited. In the Conclusions, I suggest ways of expanding attentiveness to soils and of building a wider and practical relational ethic of soil care. I also argue we need more attention in geographic research to attentiveness and care as systemic, unequally distributed, and operating at multiple scales. Human life depends on the life of soil ecosystems. This paper draws attention to soils as underexplored in social sciences, and asks how we may form better ethical and practical relations with soil biota. In doing this, it shows the need for a more nuanced understanding of the work that attentiveness can do in generating more‐than‐human care ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper production is among the industrial branches generating significant amounts of waste. Organic waste from paper manufacturing is mostly used in gardening and agriculture or converted for energy purposes, while inorganic waste, including green liquor dregs (GLD), is usually deposited on landfills. GLD has a highly alkaline reaction, suggestive of its possible utilization for land reclamation or for improvement of soil's physico‐chemical properties. The research results originate from a pot experiment with maize as the test plant. GLD was added to soil in doses 10–40 t ha−1. The trials consisted of two series: with and without tree bark (TB). GLD contributed to neutralization of the soil's acidic pH, enrichment of the sorption complex with alkaline cations, and to greater salinity of the soil. In the series with TB, it is demonstrated that GLD led to a decrease in the soil content of total organic carbon; while the content of total nitrogen increased, the C:N ratio is considerably narrowed. In response to GLD, the greenness of leaves significantly improves, but this does not translate into an increase in the yield of plants. Regarding the chemical composition of plants grown in soil treated with elevated GLD doses, the content of N and Na is demonstrably higher, although no such effect is discernible in the case of P and K. For the environment, safe doses of the applied waste, not causing significant deterioration of soil properties or depressing crop yields, are 10 and 20 t GLD ha−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the study of the homogeneous resistivity and two‐layer soil influences on the performance of the electrodes of grounding systems subjected to lightning strikes is carried out considering soil ionization. The study is done on the behaviour of the ground electrodes while the resistivity of the soil is altered from small to high value in the case of homogeneous soil, while the study is obtained on two‐layer soils in the case of diverse values of the reflection factor. In the suggested algorithm for two‐layer soils, each layer has its resistivity and dielectric constant, where the dielectric constant and soil resistivity depend on the lightning frequency. The field resulting from lightning strikes, which causes soil ionization, has been studied, and the results have been used to understand the behaviour of ground rods under the influence of lightning strikes. The credibility of the results has been strengthened by comparing it with what others have obtained recently. The article's novelty can be summarized in the investigation of the performance of the electrodes of grounding grids that are installed in high soil resistivity of uniform and two‐layer soils containing the impacts of soil ionization, lightning frequency, soil resistivity, and permittivity variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have read with interest an opinion paper recently published in the European Journal of Soil Science (Berthelin et al., 2022). This paper presents some interesting considerations, at least one of which is already well known to soil scientists working on soil organic carbon (SOC), that is, a large portion (80%–90%) of fresh carbon inputs to soil is subject to rapid mineralization. The short‐term mineralization kinetics of organic inputs is well‐known and accounted for in soil organic matter models. Thus, clearly, the long‐term predictions based on these models do not overlook short‐term mineralization. We point out that many agronomic practices can significantly contribute to SOC sequestration. If conducted responsibly whilst fully recognising the caveats, SOC sequestration can lead to a win‐win situation where agriculture can both contribute to the mitigation of climate change and adapt to it, whilst at the same time delivering other co‐benefits such as reduced soil erosion and enhanced biodiversity. Highlights: Rapid mineralization of organic inputs is an important factor for soil carbon sequestration.Mineralization kinetics of organic inputs are well‐known and accounted for in soil organic matter models.Many agronomic practices can contribute significantly to SOC sequestration.SOC sequestration can lead to a win‐win situation where agriculture can both contribute to the mitigation of climate change and adapt to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method to estimate soil parameters of horizontally multilayered earth model in frequency domain is developed with considering high‐frequency field. The theoretical formula of complex apparent resistivity with considering high‐frequency field is derived from Green's function. To avoid time‐consuming numerical integration, complex image method is introduced to solve Sommerfeld integral. Simulated annealing algorithm is applied to optimise soil parameters. The accuracy of this method is confirmed by interpreting field data under the DC field. As the inversion results of this method are different from other literature's results in a four‐layer model, the posterior analysis is made. Then this method is applied to the inversion of frequency domain soil parameters under both quasi‐static field and high‐frequency field. The differences of complex apparent resistivity distribution between quasi‐static field and high‐frequency field are compared at different frequencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research article outlines a provocation for diverse and experimentally open, situated approaches to exploring care and caring. The diversely positioned authors discuss this idea using the subject of soil, in the place and context of Aotearoa New Zealand. Little is known about the diversity of ways that everyday people value, or, have caring relationships for/with soil, among a plethora of research that positions soil ‘care’ around, for example, commercial food production, waste‐sinking, or property land value. To study diverse care in relation to soil, as with many relational subjects, requires equivalent diversity in the ways in which we might explore it. Here we outline the basis for diverse, situated methodologies that necessarily lead to a diversity of methods. This paper looks at the methodological imperatives that lead to exploring care, and discusses a variety of methods that generate different forms of ‘data’ with different forms of representation of that care. We observe that to holistically observe care relations with soil requires a diversity of methodologies, inherently ontological and epistemological – worldmaking. We discuss situated and enactive, affective approaches of Kaupapa Māori enquiry, monitoring and arts‐based approaches to ‘measure’ soil care taking place, in place, and contextualise this with our own author positionality. We discuss this suite of experimental, reflexive, affective and responsive ways to measure soil care that are contingent on that being cared about, for, with and by, and which reciprocally give care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most talked about issues of the 21st century is climate change, as it affects not just our health but also forestry, agriculture, biodiversity, the ecosystem, and the energy supply. Greenhouse gases are the primary cause of climate change, having dramatic effects on the environment. Climate change has an impact on the function and composition of the terrestrial microbial community both directly and indirectly. Changes in the prevailing climatic conditions brought about by climate change will lead to modifications in plant physiology, root exudation, signal alteration, and the quantity, makeup, and diversity of soil microbial communities. Microbiological activity is very crucial in organic production systems due to the organic origin of microorganisms. Microbes that benefit crop plants are known as plant growth‐promoting microorganisms. Thus, the effects of climate change on the environment also have an impact on the abilities of beneficial bacteria to support plant growth, health, and root colonization. In this review, we have covered the effects of temperature, precipitation, drought, and CO2 on plant–microbe interactions, as well as some physiological implications of these changes. Additionally, this paper highlights the ways in which bacteria in plants' rhizosphere react to the dominant climatic conditions in the soil environment. The goal of this study is to analyze the effects of climate change on plant–microbe interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper sludge composted or stored in static piles for six months was compared to raw and lime-stabilized sludge in a three-year pot experiment (loam) and a four-year field experiment (silt loam) at rates of up to 40 t DM ha-l. The original sludge contained equal amounts of fiber sludge and biological sludge, mixed with bark in 1:1 ratio to improve the structure. The N content in composted sludge (1.30%) was markedly lower than that of the uncomposted piles (1.98%), indicating significant loss during composting. The yield results were generally inversely proportionate to the C:N ratios of the sludges applied. Sludge from the uncomposted piles gave significant grain yield increases in the year following sludge application, while the other sludge types gave variable results. In the residual years there was, generally, a small but positive effect on yield from all the sludge types. The N and P content in grain generally increased with sludge application, but only the higher rates gave statistically significant increases. Sludge application also increased the Zn content in grain, while Mn, B and Cu was less affected. The increase in Cd content was very small. The 40 t ha-l sludge rate tended to increase the residual mineral N in soil at the field site and thus the risk of nitrate leaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oxygen isotope ratio of phosphates is a powerful tool to study phosphorus in the soil‐plant system. In the past two decades, the scientific community has made substantial progress in characterizing biogeochemical processes that lead to an alteration of oxygen isotope ratios in phosphates and in evaluating oxygen isotope ratios of phosphates in plants and soils under various environmental conditions around the globe. However, there are still uncertainties with respect to their interpretation in environmental systems. These uncertainties include the comprehensive analysis of isotope endmembers, artifacts during the chemical extractions and the phosphate purification protocols, overlapping isotope values from various processes and sources, gaps of knowledge about isotope effects of metabolic pathways, and the possibly erroneous assumption that insights from experiments under controlled laboratory conditions can be directly translated into the complex soil‐plant system. This paper provides a critical discussion of these uncertainties addressing recommendations and needs for future research and gives an outlook on recent technological advances, such as triple oxygen isotope analysis or the use of high‐resolution mass spectrometry. We conclude by suggesting that a concerted and systematic effort by scientists from a wide range of disciplines will be necessary to remove the uncertainties in the interpretation of oxygen isotope ratios in phosphates as an environmental tracer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen (N) is a key limiting nutrient in terrestrial ecosystems, but there remain critical gaps in our ability to predict and model controls on soil N cycling. This may be in part due to lack of standardized sampling across broad spatial–temporal scales. Here, we introduce a continentally distributed, publicly available data set collected by the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) that can help fill these gaps. First, we detail the sampling design and methods used to collect and analyze soil inorganic N pool and net flux rate data from 47 terrestrial sites. We address methodological challenges in generating a standardized data set, even for a network using uniform protocols. Then, we evaluate sources of variation within the sampling design and compare measured net N mineralization to simulated fluxes from the Community Earth System Model 2 (CESM2). We observed wide spatiotemporal variation in inorganic N pool sizes and net transformation rates. Site explained the most variation in NEON's stratified sampling design, followed by plots within sites. Organic horizons had larger pools and net N transformation rates than mineral horizons on a sample weight basis. The majority of sites showed some degree of seasonality in N dynamics, but overall these temporal patterns were not matched by CESM2, leading to poor correspondence between observed and modeled data. Looking forward, these data can reveal new insights into controls on soil N cycling, especially in the context of other environmental data sets provided by NEON, and should be leveraged to improve predictive modeling of the soil N cycle. Plain Language Summary: Nitrogen (N) is not only a key limiting nutrient that often constrains plant growth but also a major pollutant in places where supply exceeds demand. However, we lack the ability to accurately predict and model rates of soil N cycling. This paper introduces a first of its kind, standardized and publicly available data set of soil inorganic N pools and net transformation rates spanning the United States. We describe the data set in detail, then examine spatiotemporal trends in N pools and fluxes and how those measurements compare to predictions from an Earth system model. Key Points: The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) measures soil inorganic nitrogen (N) pools and net flux rates at continental scaleThe most N cycle variation is observed at the site level, followed by plots within sites. Organic horizons have high N pools and flux ratesThe Community Earth System Model 2 poorly predicts temporal trends in net N mineralization. NEON data can be used to improve predictive power [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large use and the bad management of fertilizers that are applied to soil for improving crop production have dramatically impaired soil, water, and air quality. To meet the requirements to reduce nitrogen (N) losses and all the related negative impacts on the environment and food production, it is mandatory to substitute or at least partially substitute the use of inefficient and unsustainable fertilizers with more efficient alternatives. The aim of this paper was to address the amount and speciation of the N released by a sandy soil fertilized with "slow‐release fertilizers" and traditional fertilizers (urea and liquid digestate) by means of a series of column leaching experiments. The slow‐release alternatives were represented by NH4‐enriched zeolitic tuff and struvite, both obtained by recovering the N from liquid digestate. The treatments consisted of sandy soil fertilized with (i) urea (U) (ii) liquid digestate (LD), (iii) NH4‐enriched zeolitic tuff (N‐CHA) and (iv) struvite (STRV). Eight different flushing events were performed over 38 days, leachates were collected and analysed for total Kjeldahl N, organic‐N, NH4+‐N, NO3−‐N, NO2−‐N and pH. U and LD lost the majority of N within the first 2 flushing events as organic N and NH4+‐N, respectively. On the other hand, STRV and N‐CHA lost less N over the whole course of the experiment and with more balanced speciation. The mass balance outlined that after the experiment, native soil N was mined in U and LD treatments while in N‐CHA and STRV a fraction of N from the fertilizers was still present. The results showed a slow release of N which can be used more efficiently in agricultural applications, minimizing the N losses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

: Despite the determination of zinc (Zn) isotope in soil being undertaken by several laboratories worldwide, sample preparation steps are varied due to diverse soil properties and compositions. This paper proposes a widely applicable soil acid digestion procedure that has been thoroughly evaluated for both soil and geological reference materials. To ensure the general applicability of this method to large varieties of soil samples, synthetic multi‐element solutions of high matrix element: Zn ratios (M/Zn) were prepared by embracing all possible elemental compositions of forty‐three certified reference materials; the chemical preparation procedure was then tested and optimised using these synthetic solutions. Results show that the recovery rate of Zn could reach 99–100% after the pre‐treatment. Based on this method, the δ66/64Zn data relative to JMC‐Lyon 3‐0749L Zn of previously uncharacterised NIST reference materials (including SRM 2709a San Joaquin soil, SRM 2710a Montana Soil and SRM 2711 Montana Soil) and Chinese certified reference materials (GSS‐1a, GSS‐7a, GSS‐5, GSS‐8, GSS‐14, GSS‐18, GSS‐20, GSS‐24, GSS‐31) were measured using MC‐ICP‐MS with a range from ‐0.08‰ to 0.35‰. The Zn isotope compositions of twenty‐nine soil samples from twenty‐one provinces/municipalities across China were also analysed and were found to fall within typical ranges from ‐0.09‰ to 0.28‰. The intermediate precision of several pure Zn standard solutions was better than ± 0.05‰ (2s) over 22 months of measurement. This method and results are useful for comparison and calibration of data between laboratories as well as providing a solid reference soil dataset for future studies dealing with Zn isotopes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounding electrodes have an important role in electric power transmission and distribution systems. They are used to prevent excessive hazardous voltages due to ground potential rise in the case of system faults or lightning surges. The electrical properties of soil, which vary substantially with geographical location and time of year, affect the process considerably along with the properties of the grounding electrode itself, such as its dimensions. To have an accurate estimation of the induced overvoltages due to lightning strike, one has to take into account the effect of the value of the soil electrical parameters, such as the electrical conductivity and dielectric constant. This study investigates the high frequency behaviour of the grounding electrodes by solving a full‐wave electromagnetic problem using the finite element method. The focus of this paper is on the effect of the variation of soil relative permittivity on the induced transient voltage in grounding electrodes. This allows an evaluation of the response of grounding systems due to seasonal changes, which would cause its electrical properties to vary significantly. This study demonstrates the importance of considering the variation of relative permittivity of the soil especially in the modelling of electrodes buried in highly resistive soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, there is contrasting evidence between the ongoing continuing and widespread environmental degradation and the many means to implement environmental sustainability actions starting from good policies (e.g. EU New Green Deal, CAP), powerful technologies (e.g. new satellites, drones, IoT sensors), large databases and large stakeholder engagement (e.g. EIP‐AGRI, living labs). Here, we argue that to tackle the above contrasting issues dealing with land degradation, it is very much required to develop and use friendly and freely available web‐based operational tools to support both the implementation of environmental and agriculture policies and enable to take positive environmental sustainability actions by all stakeholders. Our solution is the S‐DSS LANDSUPPORT platform, consisting of a free web‐based smart Geospatial CyberInfrastructure containing 15 macro‐tools (and more than 100 elementary tools), co‐designed with different types of stakeholders and their different needs, dealing with sustainability in agriculture, forestry and spatial planning. LANDSUPPORT condenses many features into one system, the main ones of which were (i) Web‐GIS facilities, connection with (ii) satellite data, (iii) Earth Critical Zone data and (iv) climate datasets including climate change and weather forecast data, (v) data cube technology enabling us to read/write when dealing with very large datasets (e.g. daily climatic data obtained in real time for any region in Europe), (vi) a large set of static and dynamic modelling engines (e.g. crop growth, water balance, rural integrity, etc.) allowing uncertainty analysis and what if modelling and (vii) HPC (both CPU and GPU) to run simulation modelling 'on‐the‐fly' in real time. Two case studies (a third case is reported in the Supplementary materials), with their results and stats, covering different regions and spatial extents and using three distinct operational tools all connected to lower land degradation processes (Crop growth, Machine Learning Forest Simulator and GeOC), are featured in this paper to highlight the platform's functioning. Landsupport is used by a large community of stakeholders and will remain operational, open and free long after the project ends. This position is rooted in the evidence showing that we need to leave these tools as open as possible and engage as much as possible with a large community of users to protect soils and land. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The available metal species are significant for the growth and development of plants. Thus, it is important to detect the content of available metal species in soil at real‐time. Available iron in soil used to be determined by atomic absorption spectrometry or inductive coupled plasma emission spectrometer (ICP) method, which is quite expensive and not easy to operate, especially for farmers. This paper reports a rapid electrochemical method only by applying an electrochemical workstation equipment. Compared to stripping voltammetry method, differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) in this work can detect the available iron species accurately just by directly using the soil extraction solution and does not need the acidic digestion procedure. The DPV strategy we adopted in this work has the advantages of convenience, rapidity and high precision, and can reach the measurement level of ICP method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil phosphorus (P) remains an ever‐increasing topic of importance, notably for its key role as a nutrient for driving food production but with parallel concerns over damaging water quality, all against a backdrop of uncertainty of long‐term rock phosphate supplies. Soil is a key interface that holds P and regulates its onward flow to plants or leakage to waters. Often overlooked are a ubiquitous group of P compounds that exist in alternative oxidation states to that of phosphate (+5). Redox cycling, and the behaviour that chemically reduced P compounds exhibit in soils, introduces alternative routes of cycling P that may become more important as the soil system itself alters, especially due to the external pressures of climate change, bringing about critical dynamics in rainfall and runoff and also wetting and drying. All of these factors are known to affect soil redox potential and consequently the oxidation state of soil P. This review considers the chemically reduced species in the P cycle, exploring their sources and sinks, while considering their importance within the primary global biogeochemical cycling of P and how this may be impacted by climate change in the temperate climate of the northern hemisphere. Highlights: This paper addresses how climate change will affect soil phosphorus cycling.This review is novel as it considers the reduced phosphorus forms when discussing P transfer in soils.Climate change is likely to increase prevalence of reduced P and free phosphate in northern hemisphere temperate soils.Phosphorus cycling relies partly on redox P processes. Their importance will increase as climate alters soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

However, soil scientific research concerning private gardens or urban gardening is often limited to research about soil pollutants or contamination of soils and the foodstuff produced on them (Antoniadis et al., 2017; Bidar et al., 2020; Bretzel et al., 2016; Entwistle et al., 2019; Mathee et al., 2018; McBride et al., 2014; Mitchell et al., 2014). Some studies also address historical developments in soil science, for example, the development of the soil organic matter concept (Manlay et al., 2007), socio-cultural aspects of soil management and soil science (Rabinovich et al., 2019; Willy & Holm-Müller, 2013) or investigate local soil knowledge (Barrera-Bassols & Zinck, 2003; Krasilnikov & Tabor, 2003; WinklerPrins & Sandor, 2003), sometimes even with a focus on the ES framework (Smith & Sullivan, 2014). Keywords: cultural ecosystem services; gardening; interdisciplinary; soil EN cultural ecosystem services gardening interdisciplinary soil 1025 1035 11 10/11/21 20211001 NES 211001 INTRODUCTION Gardens are widespread and created for various reasons, for example, civic engagement (Bendt et al., 2013; Krasny & Tidball, 2009; Maurer, 2020), food production (Aptekar & Myers, 2020; Pourias et al., 2016), restoration (Home & Vieli, 2020), recreation (Bhatti & Church, 2000), aesthetic purposes (Lindemann-Matthies & Marty, 2013) or a combination of them (Teuber et al., 2019). In this paper, I use the framework of cultural ecosystem services (CES) of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) to illustrate the interconnections between soils and the cultural and social dimensions of soil cultivation in gardens. CULTURAL ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, GARDENS AND SOILS By revisiting existing literature about gardens using the CES approach of Fish et al. (2016) I want to provide new insights into the link between the gardeners and the soils they work with (Figure 1). [Extracted from the article]

Societal Impact Statement: Across industrial societies, midsize farms are in decline. A future of sustainable agriculture will require more than industrial and cottage farmers. We show that emergent mycorrhizal science is well‐suited to support applications for an "agriculture of the middle," and note two obstacles to the development of more integrated mycorrhizal technologies: an overreliance on commercial inoculants (industrial agriculture) and a tendency to treat soil biology as a black box (cottage agriculture). In this paper, we aim to provoke conversation among policy makers, research funders, and corporate executives on the development of mycorrhizal technologies for an agriculture of the middle. Summary: Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are dealt with in agriculture in a strongly bifurcated way: products and techniques to optimize AMF communities are designed for either large‐scale (industrial) or small‐scale (cottage) farming operations. We show how research and applications with AMF are bound up in these contrasting visions for what agriculture should be—an industrial system based on economies of scale, or small‐scale operations that cater to regional societies, economies, and ecologies. These distinct socially and technologically bound initiatives—which involve research institutions, government policies, corporate investment, activism, and public relations campaigns—we refer to as sociotechnical imaginaries. Drawing from emergent mycorrhizal research, we argue that mycorrhizal technologies are well‐suited to an "agriculture of the middle," a mode of farming that is not strictly scale‐based, yet falls somewhere between the industrial and the cottage. Unlike these two extremes, middle agriculture does not have a well‐established sociotechnical imaginary. Developing this collective vision poses a challenge: will a middle agriculture that uses AMF fall short of the established goals of industrial and cottage modes of farming? The process of determining appropriate compromises on a wide range of parameters is likely to be contested. However, we believe that calling attention to these extreme visions of agriculture, along with the divergent (if potential) roles of mycorrhizal applications, will jumpstart a productive dialogue among stakeholders, including farmers, policy makers, scientists, and industrialists. Highlighting extremes may also help stimulate ideas about building bridges between seemingly irreconcilable and contradictory approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1972 paper by Professor Jack McKee of the California Institute of Technology, consulting engineer Finley Laverty and Raymond Hertzel of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board‐Los Angeles (McKee et al., 1972) was an early, important contribution to the understanding of groundwater contamination with organic liquids and to the integrated use of field, laboratory, and modeling studies to develop remediation approaches. The work presented in the paper was ahead of the curve and helped provide the foundation for the intense research, development, and education in investigation and remediation of groundwater contamination problems that began around 1980 and lasted for two decades. Reading the paper in the current context of more than 40 years of research and field experience provides perspective on how little was known in 1972 about groundwater contamination and how to address it, and how well‐formulated and forward‐looking was the work of McKee et al. Practitioner points: McKee et al. (1972) was an early, important contribution to the understanding of groundwater contamination with organic liquids and to the integrated use of field, laboratory and modeling studies to develop remediation approaches.McKee et al. present the results of site investigation and remediation planning studies for a large‐scale groundwater contamination site in the Los Angeles‐Glendale, California area.Four specific remediation goals were established, and a comprehensive program of site investigation, research, and modeling was developed to support the achievement of the remediation goals.The comprehensive site investigation and remedial planning involving field, laboratory, and modeling studies described by McKee et al. was a forerunner of what came into standard contaminated site remediation practice in the 1980s and 1990s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Serpentine soils are a model system for the study of plant adaptation, speciation, and species interactions. Serpentine soil is an edaphically stressful, low productivity soil type that hosts stunted vegetation and a spectacular level of plant endemism. One of the first papers on serpentine plant endemism was by Arthur Kruckeberg, titled "Intraspecific variability in the response of certain native plant species to serpentine soil." Published in the American Journal of Botany in 1951, it has been cited over 100 times. Here, I review the context and content of the paper, as well as its impact. On the basis of the results of reciprocal transplant experiments in the greenhouse, Kruckeberg made three important conclusions on the nature of serpentine plant endemism: (1) Plants are locally adapted to serpentine soils, forming distinct soil ecotypes; (2) soil ecotypes are the first stage in the evolutionary progression toward serpentine endemism; and (3) serpentine endemics are restricted from more fertile nonserpentine soils by competition. Kruckeberg's paper inspired a substantial amount of research, especially in the three areas reviewed here: local adaptation and plant traits, speciation, and the interaction of climate and soil in plant endemism. In documenting soil ecotypes, Kruckeberg identified serpentine soils as a potent selective factor in plant evolution and helped establish serpentine soils as a model system in evolution and ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Turkey Lakes Watershed (TLW) study is a federal, interdepartmental study established in 1979 to investigate the effects of acid rain on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The 10.5 km2 watershed, located in the Eastern Temperate Mixed Forest on the Canadian Shield, has been the site of multidisciplinary studies on biogeochemical and ecological processes conducted across plot to catchment scales. The whole‐ecosystem investigative approach was adopted from the outset and has allowed research to evolve from its original (and continuing) acidification focus to include investigations on the effects of climate change, forest harvesting and other forest ecosystem perturbations. The extensive scientific and support infrastructure allows for collection of a comprehensive data record essential for understanding long‐term environmental trends. Data include atmospheric deposition, meteorology, stream hydrology and chemistry, soil, pore and ground water properties, understory and overstory vegetation, lake and outflow physical and chemical properties, and aquatic macroinvertebrate and fish community composition and abundance. These data have contributed to over 400 published research papers and graduate theses. The watershed has also figured prominently in many continent‐wide comparisons advancing fundamental watershed theory. The knowledge gained at TLW has influenced pollutant emission and natural resource management policies provincially, nationally and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Preferential water flow and associated solute transport in agricultural soils may influence the quality of groundwater and surface waters like streams and lakes. This is due to the rapid transport of agrochemicals, immediately after application, through subsurface drainpipes and surface water. Multiple field experiments attribute this to the occurrence of continuously connected pathways, called here biopores, connecting the soil surface directly with the drainpipes. We developed a physically based model describing preferential flow and transport in biopores directly connecting the upper soil layers with the drainpipes or deeper layers of the soil matrix. Based on field investigations, biopores with specific characteristics can be parameterized as classes with different vertical and horizontal distributions. Water flow and solute transport in biopores are described with a simple mass balance approach assuming instantaneous movement. The model was tested against experimental data from a column experiment with an artificial biopore and showed good results in simulating biopore flow initiation dynamics. However, further field and laboratory experiments are needed to validate the model across the soil profile. We illustrate the performance of the new approach, by conducting five theoretical simulations assuming a two‐dimensional simulation domain with different biopore parametrizations, from none to several different classes. The simulation results agreed with experimental observations reported in the literature, indicating rapid transport from the soil to the drainpipes. Furthermore, the different biopore parametrizations resulted in distinctly different leaching patterns, raising the expectation that biopore properties could be estimated or constrained based on observed leaching data and direct measurements. Plain Language Summary: This is optional but will help expand the reach of your paper. Information on writing a good plain language summary is available here. Key Points: A new model for describing fast transport of solutes to tile drainsBiopore parameters may be constrained by smoke or tracer experimentsThe new model represents correctly experimental observation on the initiation and termination of biopore flow [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an accompanying paper, we presented an overview of a wide variety of modeling concepts, varying in complexity, used to describe evaporation from soil. Using theoretical analyses, we explained the simplifications and parameterizations in the different approaches. In this paper, we numerically evaluate the consequences of these simplifications and parameterizations. Two sets of simulations were performed. The first set investigates lateral variations in vertical fluxes, which emerge from both homogeneous and heterogeneous porous media, and their importance to capturing evaporation behavior. When evaporation decreases from parts of the heterogeneous soil surface, lateral flow and transport processes in the free flow and in the porous medium generate feedbacks that enhance evaporation from wet surface areas. In the second set of simulations, we assume that the vertical fluxes do not vary considerably in the simulation domain and represent the system using one-dimensional models which also consider dynamic forcing of the evaporation process, for example, due to diurnal variations in net radiation. Simulated evaporation fluxes subjected to dynamic forcing differed considerably between model concepts depending on how vapor transport in the air phase and the interaction at the interface between the free flow and porous medium were represented or parameterized. However, simulated cumulative evaporation losses from initially wet soil profiles were very similar between model concepts and mainly controlled by the desorptivity, Sevap, of the porous medium, which depends mainly on the liquid flow properties of the porous medium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of soil terrestrial ecosystems is a subject with difficulties to define their maturity and evolutionary state. In the last century, thermodynamics was one of the options considered by ecologists for that goal. Difficulties in quantifying the thermodynamic parameters needed by the evolutionary theories caused that this subject has been practically locked since the end of the last century. Application of thermodynamics needs reactions and one of the main reactions in soil ecosystems are those involved in the decomposition of the soil organic matter. This paper aims to provide an initial step to study those reactions from a thermodynamic perspective. With that goal in mind, thermal analysis and isothermal calorespirometric measurements were made on soil samples collected at three depths in semi‐natural oak woodlands at three different sites in southwest Ireland. It is assumed that the organic matter evolves from a less to a higher mature state as soil depth increases. The maturity state could be chemically defined by the redox state. The proposed methods yield the enthalpy change, Gibbs energy change and entropy change for the microbial catabolism and combustion reactions of the soil organic matter. The degree of reduction was calculated by the enthalpy changes. Results show the soil organic matter becomes more reduced from the soil organic surface to mineral soils. The top layer is characterized by high carbon content, organic materials with low energy content per Cmole, and fast biodegradation rates. Mineral soils are characterized by low carbon content, organic materials with high energy content per Cmole, and slow biodegradation rates. Values obtained for the entropy change were sensitive to these differences among the different soil layers. These results contribute to unlock the thermodynamics of the soil reactions and to develop the bioenergetics of soil ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Rapidly advancing technologies and accumulating information about microbial communities across the globe allow the quantification of microbial properties and functions at a macro‐scale. These emerging microbial biogeographic patterns call for a practical macroecological approach to investigate their underlying mechanisms. Aims: The primary aims of this paper are to review the advancements of microbial macroecology in seeking mechanisms governing microbial biogeographic patterns, and to further lay out a roadmap for microbial macroecology in 10 years. Methods: We reviewed the progress of microbial macroecology and demonstrated the application of the microbial macroecological approach to microbial biogeographic patterns with three case studies. Results: Microbial macroecology provides a platform for understanding microbial abundance, community structure, and functioning across space, time, and taxonomic hierarchy. It emphasizes the integral effects of environmental filtering, microbial responses, diversification, dispersal, and local extinction that drive the microbial biogeographic patterns. The microbial macroecological approach emphasizes the last two stages of the four‐stage scientific method applied to microbial ecology: (a) describing microbial traits across scales to reveal patterns, (b) mathematically representing these patterns, (c) developing and testing conceptual models to build a mechanistic understanding of these patterns from a macroecological perspective, (d) plugging the new knowledge into the theoretical advancements. Three case studies were used to demonstrate the microbial macroecological approach for understanding the global patterns of microbial biomass carbon, microbial composition (fungi : bacteria ratio), and microbial carbon use efficiency. Conclusions: Microbial macroecology offers a platform for understanding the mechanisms that drive biogeographic patterns of microbial abundance, diversity and functions. It is likely that these patterns and mechanisms will be increasingly incorporated into predictive models that link climate, carbon dynamics, and biogeochemical processes. A roadmap is outlined for the growing microbial macroecology field; we expect significant progress will be made in five research directions over the next 10 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil degradation is a worsening global phenomenon driven by socio‐economic pressures, poor land management practices and climate change. A deterioration of soil structure at timescales ranging from seconds to centuries is implicated in most forms of soil degradation including the depletion of nutrients and organic matter, erosion and compaction. New soil–crop models that could account for soil structure dynamics at decadal to centennial timescales would provide insights into the relative importance of the various underlying physical (e.g. tillage, traffic compaction, swell/shrink and freeze/thaw) and biological (e.g. plant root growth, soil microbial and faunal activity) mechanisms, their impacts on soil hydrological processes and plant growth, as well as the relevant timescales of soil degradation and recovery. However, the development of such a model remains a challenge due to the enormous complexity of the interactions in the soil–plant system. In this paper, we focus on the impacts of biological processes on soil structure dynamics, especially the growth of plant roots and the activity of soil fauna and microorganisms. We first define what we mean by soil structure and then review current understanding of how these biological agents impact soil structure. We then develop a new framework for modelling soil structure dynamics, which is designed to be compatible with soil–crop models that operate at the soil profile scale and for long temporal scales (i.e. decades, centuries). We illustrate the modelling concept with a case study on the role of root growth and earthworm bioturbation in restoring the structure of a severely compacted soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As graphene is an emerging carbon nanomaterial, some studies have investigated the ecological effects of graphene‐based materials with generally focusing on physiological changes, enzyme activities, and oxidative stresses, but detailed mechanistic studies are actually lacking. Moreover, the results from previous studies were controversial in the context of ecological mechanisms, because material properties and organism species were quite different, and evaluation criterions were not uniform or reliable. Therefore, relative studies should be systematically initiated. This paper summarizes the research status between graphene related materials and soil–plant organisms, mainly discussing the detrimental influences on terrestrial biology from the perspectives of physiology, biochemistry, and gene expression. Moreover, probable toxicity mechanisms, impact factors, environmental application, and industrialization of graphene materials are also carefully discussed to provide scientific and theoretical basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have demonstrated that fertilization with nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium increases plant productivity in both natural and managed ecosystems, demonstrating that primary productivity is nutrient limited in most terrestrial ecosystems. In contrast, it has been demonstrated that heterotrophic microbial communities in soil are primarily limited by organic carbon or energy. While this concept of contrasting limitations, that is, microbial carbon and plant nutrient limitation, is based on strong evidence that we review in this paper, it is often ignored in discussions of ecosystem response to global environment changes. The plant‐centric perspective has equated plant nutrient limitations with those of whole ecosystems, thereby ignoring the important role of the heterotrophs responsible for soil decomposition in driving ecosystem carbon storage. To truly integrate carbon and nutrient cycles in ecosystem science, we must account for the fact that while plant productivity may be nutrient limited, the secondary productivity by heterotrophic communities is inherently carbon limited. Ecosystem carbon cycling integrates the independent physiological responses of its individual components, as well as tightly coupled exchanges between autotrophs and heterotrophs. To the extent that the interacting autotrophic and heterotrophic processes are controlled by organisms that are limited by nutrient versus carbon accessibility, respectively, we propose that ecosystems by definition cannot be 'limited' by nutrients or carbon alone. Here, we outline how models aimed at predicting non‐steady state ecosystem responses over time can benefit from dissecting ecosystems into the organismal components and their inherent limitations to better represent plant–microbe interactions in coupled carbon and nutrient models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infiltration is the primary mechanism in green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) systems to reduce the runoff volume from urbanized areas. Soil hydraulic conductivity is most important in influencing GSI infiltration rates. Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) is a critical parameter for GSI design and post‐construction performance. However, Ksat measurement in the field is problematic due to temporal and spatial variability and measurement errors. This review paper focuses on a comparison of methods for in‐situ Ksat measurement and the causes of temporal and spatial variations of Ksat within GSI systems. Automated infiltration testing methods, such as the Modified Philip–Dunne (MPD) and SATURO infiltrometers, show promise for efficient Ksat measurements. Soil Ksat values can change over time and substantially vary throughout a GSI, which can be attributed to multiple factors, including but not limited to temperature changes, soil composition and properties, soil compaction level, plant root morphology and distribution, biological and macrofauna activities in the soil, inflow sediment characteristics, quality of infiltrating water, and measurement errors. There is evidence that infiltration rates in vegetated urban GSI systems are sustained given an appropriate GSI design, reasonable concentration of suspended sediments in the inflow runoff, and routine maintenance procedures. These observations indicate that clogging can be counteracted by processes that tend to increase the soil hydraulic conductivity (e.g., plant root and biological activities). This self‐sustainability underlines that infiltration‐based GSI systems are a reliable long‐term stormwater management solution. Recommendations on how to incorporate the temporal changes of Ksat in GSI design and on obtaining a spatially‐representative Ksat for the GSI design are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artisanal and small‐scale gold mining (ASGM) is the primary global source of anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emissions and a large source of landscape change. ASGM occurs throughout the world, including in the Peruvian Amazon. This data set contains measurements of surface water, precipitation, throughfall, leaves, sediment, soil, and air samples from across the Madre de Dios region of Peru, in locations near and remote from ASGM. These data were collected to determine the fate and transport of Hg across the landscape. Samples were collected in 2018 and 2019. Data predominantly included total Hg and methyl Hg concentrations in surface water, precipitation, throughfall, leaves, sediment, soil, and air. Additional water and soil parameters were also measured to better characterize their chemistry. There are no copyright restrictions; please cite this data paper when the data are used in publication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A method to estimate frequency domain soil parameters of horizontally multilayered earth is developed. Cole–Cole model of complex conductivity form is adopted to describe the frequency dependence of soil parameters. The estimation of frequency domain soil parameters includes two stages. In the first stage, soil‐layered structure is determined under the DC field by the interpretation of resistivity sounding data. The obtained model parameters in this stage include the DC soil conductivity and thickness of soil layers. In the second stage, Cole–Cole model parameters are estimated based on the soil‐layered model obtained in the first stage. The theoretical formula of complex apparent resistivity is derived from Green's function with considering dynamic‐state field theory. Since dynamic‐state field is considered in the inversion algorithm, this method can be extended into high‐frequency domain. Discrete complex image method is used to calculate Sommerfeld integral quickly. In order to remove electromagnetic (EM) coupling between cables at high frequencies, a new electrode configuration method is proposed. Genetic algorithm is improved by combining with parallel computing. The parallel genetic algorithm is applied to the optimisation of model parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emission of volatiles is a common, but mostly neglected, ability of bacteria that is important for inter‐ and intraspecific interactions. Currently, limited information is available on how the bacterial volatile (mVOC) signal is integrated into a plant's life at the physiological, transcriptional and metabolic level. Previous results provided evidence for volatile‐dependent regulation of WRKY18, a pathogen‐responsive transcription factor of Arabidopsis thaliana in co‐culture with two rhizobacteria, Serratia plymuthica HRO‐C48 and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia R3089.Dual cultures of these bacteria and A. thaliana; application of the common mVOC 2‐phenyl‐ethanol; extraction of metabolites of A. thaliana after exposure to bacterial volatiles; and analysis of the metabolomes (GC‐TOF/MS) were carried out.The prominent microbial aromatic compound 2‐phenyl‐ethanol, emitted by both bacteria, negatively affects growth of A. thaliana wild type, whereas WRKY18 T‐DNA insertion mutants were significantly more tolerant than wild‐type seedlings. This paper also demonstrates for the first time the impact of the rhizobacterial volatiles on the metabolome of A. thaliana. Upon mVOC exposure the plants rearrange their metabolism by accumulation of e.g. amino acids and TCA intermediates that potentially allow plants to cope with and survive this stress.Our findings illustrate the high degree of complexity of metabolic rearrangements underlying the interactions of bacterial volatile elicitors and resulting plant responses. Furthermore, the impact of the volatile 2‐phenyl‐ethanol as a signal in the WRKY18‐dependent pathway highlights this compound as an important molecular player. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of the physical and chemical landscape changes that have occurred at four reference sites due to historical mining and smelting activities within Slovenia, and their comparison with similar sites around the World. Literature review has been made with the intention to identify major pollutant sources, its dispersion control factors, and effects. The four reference sites are Idrija, with more than 500‐year Hg mining and ore smelting history, the Meža Valley, also with a 500‐year PbZn mining and smelting history, the Celje area where Zn was smelted for 100 years and the Drava River alluvial plain, which is contaminated because of historical PbZn mining upstream. Based on the comparison between the four abovementioned reference sites and similar sites around the world that are situated in different landscapes and climates, we identified major sources of contamination, which are the erosion of mine and ore processing wastes, and atmospheric emissions of metal‐containing particles from smelters. In the first case, major control factors are rainfall pattern and river gradient, controlling erosion and sediment deposition patterns. In the second case, the prevailing control factors are topography and the dominant wind directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a good environmental microorganism capable of degrading decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209). This paper studied the effect of Cu 2+ and humic acid (HA) extracted from e-waste contaminated soils on biodegradation of BDE-209 by P. aeruginosa. The adsorption isotherms of Cu 2+ on HA, the crude enzyme activity, cell surface morphology, and biodegradation pathway were also investigated. The results showed that BDE-209 biodegradation by P. aeruginosa was inhibited at Cu 2+ concentrations above 5 mg L -1 , but exhibited the best effect at the condition of 40 mg L -1 Cu 2+  + 3 g L -1 HA. At the condition of 40 mg L -1 Cu 2+  + 3 g L -1 HA, 97.35 ± 2.33% of the initial BDE-209 was degraded after 5 days, debromination efficiency was 72.14 ± 1.89%, crude enzyme activity reached the maximum of 0.519 ± 0.022U g -1 protein, cell surface of P. aeruginosa was smooth with normal short-rod shapes, and biodegradation pathway mainly include debromination, hydroxylation, and cleavage of the diphenyl ether bond. It was suggested that soil HA could eliminate the toxic effect of high Cu 2+ concentrations and biodegradation of BDE-209 was improved by synergistic effect of HA and Cu 2+ ., (© 2017 The Authors. MicrobiologyOpen published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Dust is nearly ubiquitous on Mars, covering much of the planet's surface, having been redistributed by dust storms. Analysis of dust via landed instrumentation indicates a basaltic composition for its protolith; the same is interpreted for the dark dune sands encountered at rover field sites. In this paper, we used samples of eolian sands derived from basaltic volcanoes in an experiment to simulate dust production from basalt dune sands within an abrasion chamber. In addition, we used samples from gypsum dunes because gypsum is found within dune fields on the northern plains of Mars. The results, expressed as weight percent of sample reduced to dust, show a remarkably broad range over 4 orders of magnitude. Eolian abrasion of basalt sands can produce similar amounts of dust, as is the case for some desert sands on Earth. Some plausible Mars analogue materials can produce large amounts of dust, suggesting that eolian movement of basaltic sand and volcanic sediments on the surface of Mars is a potential source of fine‐grained sediment or dust. Plain Language Summary: Mars is covered in dust that is stirred up and spread around the planet by dust storms. But where did the dust come from, and how was it made? We explore these questions using sands from volcanoes that were blown around in a large test tube that acts as an abrasion chamber. The results show that wind‐blown particles of basalt sands and volcanic ash can produce dust. The volcanic ash produced more dust than the basalt sand and is a likely source for some of the dust on Mars. Key Points: Collisions between particles and surfaces during eolian abrasion of basalt sands can produce dustExperimental results from an abrasion chamber range from less than 0.005% to 50%, by mass, of sample reduced to dust in 72 hrA Mars analogue weathered volcaniclastic sediment produced 2 orders of magnitude more dust than basalt dune sands [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The authors propose a course delivery method for the contaminant transport through a saturated soil layer to explain contamination of soils in the Environmental Geotechnology course. In civil and environmental engineering education, analytical simulation models help students to understand the processes. MATLAB©‐based simulation method is proposed in this paper, to enhance learning of students of contaminant migration phenomena, and the simulation program is written by the students within the course based on an existing analytical solution for two‐dimensional transport of contaminants in a saturated soil layer. Students use systematic, step‐by‐step problem solving approach while identifying, formulating and solving the contaminant migration problem. The program is written for pulse source and includes advective and dispersive transport as well as sorption and the simulation is used to obtain the profiles of contaminant concentration as a function of distance from the source and time for a steady groundwater velocity. It is shown that the contaminant concentration profiles obtained by simulation demonstrate the processes involved, by this way, the software tool integrates with the rest of the course content. It was seen by the author that, almost all of the students, who are taking Environmental Geotechnology course, could write matlab codes for contaminant migration if guided properly by the instructor/assistant. In this regard, it seems important to conduct studies which will allow students to increase their matlab programming practice. Also the use of the computer simulation encourages the students to ask “what if” questions and to carry out parametric studies and to learn by “discovery.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Archaeological field survey data can be biased by many factors, such as ground visibility conditions (e.g. vegetation, plowing) and geomorphological processes (erosion, deposition). Both visibility and geomorphological factors need, therefore, to be assessed when patterns of settlement and location preferences are inferred from survey data. Although both factors have been taken into account in a variety of fieldwork projects and studies, their combined effects remain hard to predict. In this paper, we aim to address this issue by presenting a visualization method that helps in evaluating in combination the possible visibility and geomorphological effects in regional, site‐oriented field surveys. Capitalizing on first‐hand data on both archaeology and soil types produced by the recent Leiden University field survey project in the area of Isernia (Roman Aesernia, Central‐Southern Italy), we propose a combined application of statistical tests and geo‐pedological analysis to assess the extent and scale of the main biases possibly affecting the interpretation of the ancient settlement organization. Translating both sets of biases into GIS maps, we indicate the likelihood that negative field survey observations (absence of sites), in specific parts of the landscape, are genuine or rather distorted by biasing factors. The resulting “archaeological detectability” maps allow researchers to formally highlight critical surveyed zones where the recording of evidence is likely unreliable, and thus provide a filter through which archaeologists can calibrate their interpretations of field survey datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burn severity is fundamental to post‐fire impact assessment and emergency response. Vegetation Burn Severity (VBS) can be derived from satellite observations. However, Soil Burn Severity (SBS) assessment—critical for mitigating hydrologic and geologic hazards—requires costly and laborious field recalibration of VBS maps. Here, we develop a physics‐informed Machine Learning model capable of accurately estimating SBS while revealing the intricate relationships between soil and vegetation burn severities. Our SBS classification model uses VBS, as well as climatological, meteorological, ecological, geological, and topographical wildfire covariates. This model demonstrated an overall accuracy of 89% for out‐of‐sample test data. The model exhibited scalability with additional data, and was able to extract universal functional relationships between vegetation and soil burn severities across the western US. VBS had the largest control on SBS, followed by weather (e.g., wind, fire danger, temperature), climate (e.g., annual precipitation), topography (e.g., elevation), and soil characteristics (e.g., soil organic carbon content). The relative control of processes on SBS changes across regions. Our model revealed nuanced relationships between VBS and SBS; for example, a similar VBS with lower wind speeds—that is, higher fire residence time—translates to a higher SBS. This transferrable model develops reliable and timely SBS maps using satellite and publicly accessible data, providing science‐based insights for managers and diverse stakeholders. Plain Language Summary: Post‐fire impact assessment and hazard mitigation heavily relies on burn severity metrics. Vegetation burn severity (VBS)—most relevant for ecological impacts—can be remotely sensed, but soil burn severity (SBS)—most relevant for hydrological impacts—requires laborious field recalibration of VBS maps. Lack of near real‐time SBS information is currently a data gap. Climate change‐driven weather whiplash can narrow the time interval between large wildfires and the ensuing precipitation events, requiring tools for rapid and accurate assessment of SBS without the need for laborious field recalibration of satellite‐derived metrics. Here we developed a physic‐informed Machine Learning model that can accurately develop SBS maps using readily available data without the need for resource and time intensive field assessments of burn severity. Additionally, SBS maps are developed for only a small fraction (less than 0.1%) of all wildfires in the US. Our model can develop SBS maps for all satellite‐observed wildfires in the western US, and has the potential to accomplish this task globally with further training. Finally, our model exhibited scalability with additional data, and was able to extract universal functional relationships between vegetation and soil burn severities across the western US. Key Points: Soil burn severity (SBS) assessment is key for hydrological hazard mitigationVegetation burn severity (VBS) can be remotely sensed, SBS is measured in the fieldPhysics‐informed Machine Learning models to translate VBS to SBS are developed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil salinisation is one of the major soil degradation problems for Southern European countries and global warming is expected to increase the threat of secondary salinisation. This paper investigates salinisation in the village of Belozem, Bulgaria. The central argument is that the technical solutions and policy measures need to be backed up by appropriate institutional settings. This paper focuses on the natural and institutional factors involved. Further, it examines the causes driving the current salinisation process in this village. It is based on data collected by means of interviews with local people, and analysis of the existing farming practices and policy. The paper concludes that the new institutional settings do not support the technical decisions implemented in the past, and the implementation of possible new technical measures. The findings of this paper could provide lessons for land conservation policy that may apply beyond the case study region. The implementations of technical solutions need to be supported by appropriate institutions. The formal legislation and the incentive measures might not have the desired impact if cooperation among all participants is not sufficient or if farmers are discouraged from applying because of difficult application procedures. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1. Plant–soil interactions play a central role in the biogeochemical carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and hydrological cycles. In the context of global environmental change, they are important both in modulating the impact of climate change and in regulating the feedback of greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CH4 and N2O) to the climate system. 2. Dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs) represent the most advanced tools available to predict the impacts of global change on terrestrial ecosystem functions and to examine their feedbacks to climate change. The accurate representation of plant–soil interactions in these models is crucial to improving predictions of the effects of climate change on a global scale. 3. In this paper, we describe the general structure of DGVMs that use plant functional types (PFTs) classifications as a means to integrate plant–soil interactions and illustrate how models have been developed to improve the simulation of: (a) soil carbon dynamics, (b) nitrogen cycling, (c) drought impacts and (d) vegetation dynamics. For each of these, we discuss some recent advances and identify knowledge gaps. 4. We identify three ongoing challenges, requiring collaboration between the global modelling community and process ecologists. First, the need for a critical evaluation of the representation of plant–soil processes in global models; second, the need to supply and integrate knowledge into global models; third, the testing of global model simulations against large-scale multifactor experiments and data from observatory gradients. 5. Synthesis. This paper reviews how plant–soil interactions are represented in DGVMs that use PFTs and illustrates some model developments. We also identify areas of ecological understanding and experimentation needed to reduce uncertainty in future carbon coupled climate change predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a powerful greenhouse gas. The UK government is committed to reducing all greenhouse gas emissions and is required to make an inventory of the sources and emissions of these gases. Here, we extend work from a pilot study at the catchment scale reported in an earlier paper. This paper reports on the upscaling measurements of emissions to derive annual emission rates for specific combinations of soil type, land management and fertiliser practices to the national scale. Digital soil, climate and land use maps were combined within Geographic Information Systems (GIS) software. Upscaling of field emissions measurements involves adjusting measured annual N2O emissions to fit combinations of crop growth cycles, soil wetness and the amount and timing of fertiliser applications. We have also taken account of the differences in emission rates from grazed pasture land due to differences in land management between land utilised for dairy production and land utilised for beef production. Calculated annual emission rates were then spatially scaled to derive national figures through the use of a GIS modelling framework, termed NitOx. The annual emission of N2O from Scotland was determined as approximately 6 000 000 kg N yr−1 (2.8 Mt carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalents) and compares favourably with other national scale estimates such as the IPCC (1997) . The combination of animal grazing, high N inputs, climatic warmth and poorly drained soils means that the south west contributes significantly to the national total N2O emissions. Localised areas of high emission can also be identified, but identification could be improved by applying this modelling approach at a larger scale. It would be beneficial to target these areas with mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the evaluation of soil particle-size effects on environmental processes, particle-size distributions are measured by either wet or dry sieving. Commonly, size distributions determined by wet and dry sieving differ because some particles disaggregate in water. Whereas the dry-sieve distributions are most relevant to the study of soil adherence to skin, soil can be recovered from skin only by washing with the potential for disaggregation whether or not it is subsequently wet or dry sieved. Thus, the possibility exists that wet-sieving measurements of the particle sizes that adhered to the skin could be skewed toward the smaller fractions. This paper provides a method by which dry-sieve particle-size distributions can be reconstructed from wet-sieve particle-size distributions for the same soil. The approach combines mass balances with a series of experiments in which wet sieving was applied to dry-sieve fractions from the original soil. Unless the soil moisture content is high (i.e., greater than or equal to the water content after equilibration with water-saturated air), only the soil particles of diameters less than about 63 µm adhere to the skin. Because of this, the adhering particle-size distribution calculated using the reconstruction method was not significantly different from the wet-sieving determinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ecosystem and soil scientists frequently use whole soil carbon:nitrogen (C : N) ratios to estimate the rate of N mineralization from decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM). However, SOM is actually composed of several pools and ignoring this heterogeneity leads to incorrect estimations since the smaller pools, which are usually the most active, can be masked by the larger pools. In this paper, we add new evidence against the use of C : N ratios of the whole soil: we show that a disturbance can decrease the whole-soil C : N ratio and yet increase C : N ratios of all SOM pools. This curious numerical response, known as Simpson's paradox, casts doubt on the meaning of frequently reported whole-soil C : N changes following a disturbance, and challenges the N mineralization estimates derived from whole-soil C : N ratio or single-pool modeling approaches. Whole-soil C : N ratio may not only hide features of the labile SOM pool, but also obscure changes of the large recalcitrant SOM pools which determine long-term N availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaporation is an important component of the soil water balance. It is composed of water flow and transport processes in a porous medium that are coupled with heat fluxes and free air flow. This work provides a comprehensive review of model concepts used in different research fields to describe evaporation. Concepts range from nonisothermal two-phase flow, two-component transport in the porous medium that is coupled with one-phase flow, two-component transport in the free air flow to isothermal liquid water flow in the porous medium with upper boundary conditions defined by a potential evaporation flux when available energy and transfer to the free airflow are limiting or by a critical threshold water pressure when soil water availability is limiting. The latter approach corresponds with the classical Richards equation with mixed boundary conditions. We compare the different approaches on a theoretical level by identifying the underlying simplifications that are made for the different compartments of the system: porous medium, free flow and their interface, and by discussing how processes not explicitly considered are parameterized. Simplifications can be grouped into three sets depending on whether lateral variations in vertical fluxes are considered, whether flow and transport in the air phase in the porous medium are considered, and depending on how the interaction at the interface between the free flow and the porous medium is represented. The consequences of the simplifications are illustrated by numerical simulations in an accompanying paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of a genetically engineered Pseudomonas aureofaciens (Ps3732RNLII) strain (GEM) and the parental wild-type (Ps3732RN) on decomposition of cellulose paper, straw and calico cloth was assessed after 18 weeks incubation in laboratory soil microcosms. Effect(s) of inoculum density (10³, 105, and 108 cells/g dry soil) and single versus multiple bacterial inoculations were also investigated. Cellulose paper was completely decomposed after 18 weeks in all treatments. There were no significant differences (95% level), between treatments, in percentage decomposition of either straw or calico cloth. Recovery of the GEM at 18 weeks, using viable plating, was limited to treatments originally receiving 108 cells/g dry soil. Log 1.8 CFU/g dry soil were recovered from the single dose treatment while log 4.2 CFU/g dry soil were recovered from the multiple dose treatment. Biolog metabolic tests were used to determine if the GEM or parental wild-type had any effect on overall carbon utilization in soil. Results suggested they did not. Detection of the recombinant lacZY gene sequence in soil using PCR suggested the possibility of viable but nonculturable cells and/or persistence of chromosomal DNA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An interview with Alastair H. Fitter, an emeritus professor of ecology at the University of York in Great Britain is presented. Topics discussed include the inspiration for his interest in plant science, his decision to pursue a career in plant research, and various factors that motivate him on a day-to-day basis. Also mentioned are his role model, his favourite paper on plant pathology, and his favourite plant.

Organophosphate flame retardants (OPFRs) are classified as re-emerging pollutants and studies on their environmental fate, e.g., sorption behavior on soil are still limited. In this paper, three kinds of OPFRs, tri ( n-butyl) phosphate (TnBP), tris (2-butoxyethyl) phosphate (TBEP), and tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) were selected and their sorption properties on Pahokee peat soil with high organic matter were investigated by solid phase micro-extraction coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The sorption kinetics of TnBP, TBEP, and TCEP was found to confirm to the pseudo-second-order kinetic model and the sorption rate was controlled by boundary layer diffusion. The Langmuir isotherm model expressed the sorption equilibrium data well, in which TnBP exhibited the strongest affinity to Pahokee peat soil followed by TBEP and TCEP. Sorption thermodynamics indicated that lower temperature was beneficial to the sorption process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite 20 years of effort to curb emissions, greenhouse gas ( GHG) emissions grew faster during the 2000s than in the 1990s, which presents a major challenge for meeting the international goal of limiting warming to <2 °C relative to the preindustrial era. Most recent scenarios from integrated assessment models require large-scale deployment of negative emissions technologies ( NETs) to reach the 2 °C target. A recent analysis of NETs, including direct air capture, enhanced weathering, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and afforestation/deforestation, showed that all NETs have significant limits to implementation, including economic cost, energy requirements, land use, and water use. In this paper, I assess the potential for negative emissions from soil carbon sequestration and biochar addition to land, and also the potential global impacts on land use, water, nutrients, albedo, energy and cost. Results indicate that soil carbon sequestration and biochar have useful negative emission potential (each 0.7 GtCeq. yr−1) and that they potentially have lower impact on land, water use, nutrients, albedo, energy requirement and cost, so have fewer disadvantages than many NETs. Limitations of soil carbon sequestration as a NET centre around issues of sink saturation and reversibility. Biochar could be implemented in combination with bioenergy with carbon capture and storage. Current integrated assessment models do not represent soil carbon sequestration or biochar. Given the negative emission potential of SCS and biochar and their potential advantages compared to other NETs, efforts should be made to include these options within IAMs, so that their potential can be explored further in comparison with other NETs for climate stabilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]