A monthly get-together and workshop to discuss a selected article on environmental soil science.
November article: "Land use driven change in soil pH affects microbial carbon cycling processes" by Malik et al. (2018). Soil scientists consider pH as one of the master variables, that determine many soil processes. The article re-emphasizes this fact, with relevance to carbon cycling.
October article: "Is the Laser Diffraction Method Reliable for Soil Particle Size Distribution Analysis?" by Wang et al. (2019). The article compares the traditional sieve-pipette method of determining particle size distribution with the laser diffraction method. The subject may be of interest to soil scientists and to everyone else considering which method to use in determining soil texture.
May article: "GEMAS: CNS concentrations and C/N ratios in European agricultural soil" by Matschullat et al (2018). The GEMAS project provides geochemical maps that help to identify regional patterns and support land management, policy making as well as identifying processes that control the distribution of individual elements such as carbon and nitrogen.
April article: "An appreciation of the contribution of Frank Stevenson to the advancement of studies of soil organic matter and humic substances" by Hayes & Swift (2018). Continuing the discussion of the current understanding of soil organic carbon. Recommended further reading include:
March article: "Soil Protein as a Rapid Soil Health Indicator of Potentially Available Organic Nitrogen" by Hurisso et al. (2018). A rapid method for determining the availability of organic nitrogen is presented, which may help in evaluating soil fertility as well as the fertilization effect of organic amendments.
February article: "Amino sugars as specific indices for fungal and bacterial residues in soil" by Joergensen (2018). The article provides a foundation for conversation and in addition, Mr. Peltokangas will provide some personal insights from his research visit to the University of Bonn, Germany.
January article: "Sequential extraction procedures for the determination of phosphorus forms in sediment" by Wang et al. (2013). The article provides foundation for wider discussion on phosphorus fractionation.