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IUSS Alert 161 (November 2018)

IUSS News

21WCSS in words and pictures

During the 21st World Congress of Soil Science, eight conferences from highly renowned scientists and authorities were held, with subjects related to the event theme – Soil Science: beyond food and fuel. There were also 73 conferences in 16 Interdivisional Symposia, and 5 Technical & Innovation Symposia.
Photos from this major soil science event that was held 12-17 August in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil are available on the Congress website. The organisers are sharing the images taken at the Convention Center to remind the participants of the great time during the event and to give others insights into what happened during this wonderful week of soil science.
The Programme of the congress can be downloaded as pdf document from the WCSS website. The Proceedings of the 21st WCSS with the abstracts of the 2,256 papers, presented orally or as poster will be available for download on the 21st WCSS homepage soon.

Commission 1.1 Soil Morphology and Micromorphology – Newsletter published

The most recent newsletter of Commission 1.1 (volume 23) was published in October. It contains a number of interesting articles including an introduction of the two new commission officers Fabio Terribile (chair) and Richard J. Heck (vice-chair), and a new section called “PILLS OF WISDOM for soils and soil scientists” featuring a contribution of Johan Bouma “Every soil has a story to tell: the soil morphologist acting as interpreter”. This is followed by an overview of the Commission’s activities during 21WCSS, forthcoming meetings and courses.

Margaret Oliver Award for Early-Career Pedometricians Call for Nominations, 2019 award

The Pedometrics Commission of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) makes a biennial award, which is intended to recognize up-and-coming talent in pedometrics. The next award will be at Pedometrics 2019, Guelph, Ontario, Canada, 2–6 June 2019. Nominees must have received a PhD degree or equivalent no more than six years before the nomination deadline of 1st-February-2019, have made high-quality contributions to pedometrics. Nominations should be sent before 1 February 2019 to the Chairman of the Pedometrics award committee RM Lark at .

Best Paper in Pedometrics, 2018

Nominations are invited for the best paper in pedometrics, 2018. The Pedometrics Commission awards committee will assess all nominations, along with their own, and prepare a shortlist for a public vote in advance of the Pedometrics 2019 meeting next June. Please send nominations before 1st February 2019 to the committee chair, R.M. Lark, .

IUMRS Survey on the Evolution of Scientific Publishing

The International Union of Materials Research Societies (IUMRS), a member of the International Science Council as IUSS is, has launched a Survey on the Evolution of Scientific Publishing. IUMRS is composed of individual professional societies that span the globe. The Survey is seeking responses from a broad spectrum of researchers in many fields of science as well as from professionals associated with the many aspects of scientific publishing such as editors, publishers, educators, librarians, archivists, sponsors of research, experts in intellectual property, and managers of research at corporate and government laboratories. IUSS asks you to support the IUMRS by participating in this survey and forward this survey participation request to colleagues who work in those fields within your organization and beyond. The Survey is anonymous and should take no more than 5 to 15 minutes to complete, depending on the respondent’s relationship to scientific publishing.

Video related to World Soil Day on December 5

The Soil Science Society of Mexico would like to share a short video in Spanish accompanied by the request to celebrate World Soil Day on December 5. The IUSS supports this message and kindly asks you to provide reports including high resolution photos from your events celebrating the World Soil Day for sharing on the IUSS website and for publication in the IUSS Bulletin.

General News

Be the Solution to Soil Pollution

#StopSoilPollution is the objective of this World Soil Day on 5 December and throughout the year. #StopSoilPollution is at the heart of the Global Soil Partnership’s mandate as demonstrated by the Global Symposium on Soil Pollution. We work to ensure that people have safe and nutritious food to ensure active and healthy life without endangering essential ecosystems services.

The dollars and cents of soil health: A farmer’s perspective

Last year, the United States lost 2 million acres of land in active crop production. As the global population grows towards a projected 9.8 billion people by 2050, so does demand for the food, fuel and fiber grown in America. The result? American farmers are looking for sustainable ways to produce high yields year after year. To support this growing demand, many farmers are incorporating soil health management principles into their operations. Conservation practices such as cover crops and no-till are widely recommended to build soil health over time, but do these practices actually improve crop yields and lead to stable profit margins? To answer this question fully we will rely on universities, private scientists, government researchers and those most directly impacted: farmers themselves.

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report, 14 November 2018]

Conferences, Meetings and Workshops

2018

2nd “4 per 1000” Initiative Day during the UNFCCC COP 24

December 13, 2018, Katowice, Poland.

On the occasion of the UNFCCC COP 24 (3-14 December 2018) the “4 per 1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security and Climate” organizes, in partnership with the University of Silesia, the 2nd “4 per 1000 Initiative Day” on December 13, 2018. This day, that will be held one year after the first edition, will become annual on the sidelines of the UNFCCC COPs and will bring together the 4th meeting of the Consortium of Members and the 3rd meeting of the Forum of Partners of the Initiative.

2019

EGU General Assembly – SSS5.13/BG2.68 Advances in remote sensing for biogeochemical cycling at the landscape scale

7-11 April 2019, Vienna.

During the last decades visible and near infrared (visNIR) spectroscopy proved a high through put tool required for the large number of samples for which the patterns in soil properties such as C, N, clay content are investigated. Pilot studies have demonstrated the potential of remote sensing using platforms from UAV to satellites for mapping these properties. The development of miniature sensors on UAVs as well as hyperspectral sensors on board of satellites is in full progress. This session calls for contributions on calibration of spectral models, mapping of soil properties using these models and application of the soil property maps in biogeochemical cycling studies. Convenors: Bas van Wesemael, Kristof Van Oost, Sabine Chabrillat. Confirmed keynote speaker: Eyal Ben Dor, Tel Aviv University

Deadline for Roland Schlich travel support: 1 December 2018

Abstract submission deadline: 10 January 2019 at 13:00 CET

WRB Summer 2019

June 30th – July 5, 2019, Toruń, Poland.

Globalization itself and solving the global environmental issues, as well as the unification of research and teaching on the global level require harmonization of technical languages, such as the terminology and classifications used in soil science. Rules of soil characterization and classification are an important part of such a professional language. As so many „languages” – national systems are used in the world the common Lingua Franca is needed to understand each other. World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is probably the best proposal to facilitate international exchange of information in soil science. WRB summer workshop is organized under the auspices of IUSS Working Group WRB by experts organizing the soil classification trainings for nearly 10 years. The aim of event is to help the beginners using WRB or enhance skills in soil classification during one day indoor and 3 days intensive field activities. The venue is in the beautiful UNESCO World Heritage city of Toruń. Students, PhD students and young researches are particularly invited (but senior researchers are also welcomed).

9th PEDOFRACT Conference “Advances in soil scaling: theories, techniques and applications”

July 9 – 12, 2019, Barco de Ávila, Spain.

We will be happy to welcome you in El Barco de Ávila and provide an excellent environment for the exchange of ideas and initiation of collaborations within and across research fields.

International Workshop on Archaeological Soil Micromorphology (WASM)

September 2 – 4, 2019, Basel, Switzerland.

We have set the date directly before the Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA) in Bern (4 – 7 September). With this approach, we aim to combine the practical discussion of samples at the workshop and a more theoretical component (geoarchaeology-session at the EAA Annual Meeting).

Contact:

New publications

Microbiology for Sustainable Agriculture, Soil Health, and Environmental Protection

Edited by Deepak Kumar Verma, 1st Edition published 15 November 2018 by Apple Academic Press, 504 pages | 15 Colour Illus. | 24 B/W Illustrations, ISBN: 9781771886697, price hardback: £139.00.

With contributions from a broad range of experts in the field, this volume focuses on important areas of microbiology related to soil and environmental microbiology associated with agricultural importance. The information and research on soil and environmental microbiology presented here seeks to act as a gateway to sustaining and improving agriculture and environmental security.

Part I focuses on soil microbiology, dealing extensively with studies on the isolation, culture, and use of Rhizobium spp. and mycorrhizae to improve soil fertility, plant growth, and yield. This includes research progress on biogeochemical cycles, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR), microbial interactions in soil and other soil activities, microbial diversity in soil, biological control and bioremediation, and improvement of beneficial microorganisms (N2 fixers, phosphate solubilizers, etc.). Part 2 goes on to focus on microbiology for crop disease management and pathogenic control in sustainable environment, with part 3 focusing on Microbiology for Soil Health and Crop Productivity Improvement. Part 4 presents two chapters on the environmental pollution and its control, looking at the interaction of microbes in aqueous environments and eco-friendly approaches.

Soil Basics, Management and Rhizosphere Engineering for Sustainable Agriculture

By Channarayappa C., D P Biradar, 1st Edition published 6 November 2018 by CRC Press, 777 pages | 367 B/W Illustrations, ISBN: 9781138486928, e-book (VitalSource) ISBN: 9781351044271; price hardback: £180.00.

Increase in global population, drastic changes in the environment, soil degradation and decrease in quality and quantity of agricultural productivity warranted us to adapt sustainable farming practices. This book focuses on soil health management and creating biased rhizosphere that can effectively augment the needs of sustainable agriculture.

Field to Palette. Dialogues on Soil and Art in the Anthropocene

1st Edition edited by Alexandra Toland, Jay Stratton Noller, Gerd Wessolek, published 12 November by CRC Press, 683 pages | 340 colour illustrations, paperback ISBN: 9781138297456, hardback ISBN: 9781138585096, e-book (VitalSource) ISBN: 9781315099217; price: £53.99 (paperback); £130.00 (hardback), from £27.00 (eBook – VitalSource).

This tome is an investigation of the cultural meanings, representations, and values of soil in a time of planetary change. The book offers critical reflections on some of the most challenging environmental problems of our time, including land take, groundwater pollution, desertification, and biodiversity loss. At the same time, the book celebrates diverse forms of resilience in the face of such challenges, beginning with its title as a way of honoring locally controlled food production methods championed by “field to plate” movements worldwide. By focusing on concepts of soil functionality, the book weaves together different disciplinary perspectives in a collection of dialogue texts between artists and scientists, interviews by the editors and invited curators, essays and poems by earth scientists and humanities scholars, soil recipes, maps, and DIY experiments. With contributions from over 100 internationally renowned researchers and practitioners, Field to Palette presents a set of visual methodologies and worldviews that expand our understanding of soil and encourage readers to develop their own interpretations of the ground beneath our feet.

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