IUSS Bulletin 112 Hires

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Bulletin of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) | April 2008

112


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International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS)TheIUSSBulletinistheofficialNewsletteroftheIn-

ternationalUnionofSoilSciences.Itisfreelydis-

tributedthroughtheIUSSwebsite.Allcontributions

arewelcomeandshouldbesendtotheeditor.

Editor

Dr.AlfredE.HarteminkISRICWorldSoilInformation

P.O.Box353

6700AJWageningen

TheNetherlands

Phone:+31(0)317471713

Fax:+31(0)317471700

E-mail:[email protected]

Graphic Design

DanilLoos

www.bureaucontrapunt.nl

ISSN0374-0447

Book Review Editor

Drs.J.HansV.vanBarenISRICWorldSoilInformation

P.O.Box353

6700AJWageningen

TheNetherlands

Phone:+31(0)317471711

Fax:+31(0)317471700

E-mail:[email protected]

Copyright

IUSS

P.O.Box353

6700AJWageningen

TheNetherlands

I U S S B U L L E T I N 11 22


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A P R I L 2008 3

Contents

IUSS Council Meeting Agenda Topics -DRAFT ..........................................4

IUSS Alerts November2007April2008 ................................................5

ArticlesStrengthening the Worlds Long-Term Soil Research Base

ByDanieldeB.Richter&SharonA.Billings(USA) ..........................................10

Arsenic in irrigated paddy soils

ByHughBrammer(UK) ...............................................................13

How Good is GLASOD?

ByBenSonneveldandDavidDent(Netherlands) ..........................................17

Need for National Soil Policies for Developing Countries -somefactsByK.JeevanRao(India) ..............................................................19

The 2007 Kerner von Marilaun Declaration on Soils ..................................21

Five questions to a Soil ScientistFivequestionstoRolandPoss(France) ..................................................22

FivequestionstoHans-PeterBlume(Germany) ...........................................23

FivequestionstoHosseinKhademi(Iran) ................................................23

FivequestionstoPandiZdruli(Italy) ....................................................25

FivequestionstoTiborToth(Hungary) ..................................................26

The Favourite Soil Science BooksSergeyGoryachkin(Russia)............................................................27

MaryIdowu(Nigeria) ................................................................27

Course Functions of microbial communities in soils ..................................29

Don Nielsen received the Don and Betty Kirkham Medal ..............................30

ObituariesGeorgesAubert(France)..............................................................31

DomLuisBramao(Portugal) ...........................................................32

B.T.Kang(Indonesia-USA) .............................................................33

Reports of Meetings ...............................................................35

Upcoming Meetings ...............................................................48

New Publications (HansvanBaren) ...................................................49

IUSS Honorary Members ...........................................................61


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IUSS Council Meeting

Agenda TopicsDraft


1. Minutes of the last meeting in Philadelphia

2006(previouslyprintedintheBulletin)

2. BureauactionsJuly2006toJuly2008

3. ReportofthePresident(includingReportofthe

ExecutiveCommitteeMeeting)

4. ReportoftheSecretaryGeneral(includingICSU,

IYPE,Outreach,Bulletin(switchtosolelyelec-

tronicformat))5. Report of the Deputy Secretary General (in-

cludingBulletin,Website,Alerts,..)

6. ReportandBudgetfromChairofStandingCom-

mitteeonBudgetandFinanceRobinHarris

7. Report and presentation of the audited ac-

countsbytheTreasurerJimGauld

8. ReportfromtheChairofStructureandStatutes

JohnKimbletoinclude:proposalsfromASSSI

toincreasefrequencyofWCSSfromafouryear

cycletoatwoyearcycle;proposalsfromASSSI

to separatethe Presidency from thehost of

WCSS;proposalfromASSSItochangethecycle

ofpostholdersfromfourtotwoyears.

9. ReportsfromtheDivisions

10. ElectionProcess2007-8.Resultsandcomments

ontheprocessin2007-8,includingconsidera-

tionsofchangesforthefutureJohnKimble

(ChairofStandingCommitteeonStatutesand

Structure)andStephenNortcliff.

11. Thoughtsonhowtooptimisethecontributions

toIUSSoftheHonoraryMembersD.R.Nielsen

12. Discussionsconcerningtheprogrammefor19th

WCSSBrisbane2010.(ToincludeCommissionOfficersandotherparticipantsinthemeeting)

13. ElectionofHonoraryMembers

14. Nominations and confirmation of Chairs of

StandingCommitteesfrom2010

a. AwardsGerardHeuvelink,Netherlands

b. StructureandStatutesJeanChapelle,Belgium

c. BudgetandFinanceStephenNortcliff,UK

15. Procedures proposedforthe appointmentof

the Secretary General and Deputy Secretary

Generalfrom2010R.S.SwiftandD.Sparks

16. WorldSoilDayProgressReport

17. Review of existing Working Groups. (Report

fromExecutiveCommittee)

18. ProposalsfornewWorkingGroups(Reportfrom

ExecutiveCommittee)

GlobalSoilChangeProposedbyDivisionOne

PaddySoilsproposedbyKSSSF

RareSoilsproposedbyPDrohanandDivi-

sionFour

Proximal Soil Sensing Proposed by Pedo-

metricsCommissions1.5(Pedometrics)and2.1(SoilPhysics)

19. PreliminaryPlansforthe20th WorldCongress,

Seoul,Korea,2014representativesofKSSSF.

20. EndorsementofthenominationsfromKSSSFof

thenominationsfor PresidentElectDr.JaeE.

Yang.Vice-PresidentElecttobeconfirmed

Stephen Nortcliff,

SecretaryGeneral

April2008,Reading


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IUSS AlertsNovember 2007 April 2008

Information for and from the global soilscience community

IUSS Alerts aree-mailedtomorethan12,000

peopleinover100countries.Ifyouhavein-

formation to share please send it to

[email protected] Below are the still

relevant contributions that appeared in the

IUSSAlertsbetweenNovember 2007 andApril

2008.

Global Environmental Outlook 4TheGlobalEnvironmentalOut-

look4isnowpublished;ear-

lier outlookswerepublished

in1997(GEO1),2000(GEO2)

and in 2002 (GEO3). The

GlobalEnvironmentOutlook

(GEO)project istheimplemen-

tation of UNEPs mandate to

keep the global environment

underreview.InitiatedattherequestoftheUNEP

GoverningCouncilin1995,GEOisbothaprocessand

aseriesofreports,analyzingenvironmentalchange,

causes,impacts,andpolicyresponses.Itprovidesin-

formationfordecision-making,supportsearlywarn-

ingandbuildscapacityattheglobalandsub-global

levels.GEOisalsoacommunicationprocessthataims

atraisingawarenessonenvironmentalissuesandpro-

vidingoptionsforaction.Fullreportcanbedown-

loaded(free)here:www.unep.org/geo/geo4/media/

TheGEODataPortalistheauthoritativesourcefordata sets used by UNEP and its partners in the

GlobalEnvironmentOutlook(GEO)report.Itsonline

databaseholdsmorethan450differentvariables,

asnational,subregional,regionalandglobalstatis-

ticsorasgeospatialdatasets,coveringthemeslike

Freshwater,Population,Forests,Emissions,Climate,

Disasters,HealthandGDP.

Seehttp://geodata.grid.unep.ch/

Loess map of EuropeTheINQUALoessMapofEuropehasbeencom-

pletedandpublished.TheInternationalUnionfor

QuaternaryResearchINQUAhaslongfunctioned

viatheactivitiesofCommissions-specialisedre-

searchgroups.TheLoessCommissioncameinto

beinginthe1960s,guidedbyJuliusFinkoftheUni-

versityofVienna.ThemajoraimoftheLoessCom-

missionwastouniteloessstudyacrossEurope,

withsomefocusonstratigraphyandpalaeoclimatic

investigations.AmajorpartoftheLoessCommis-

sionprogrammewastobethepreparationofa

Loess Map of Europe. The map operation waslargelydirectedbyGunterHaaseoftheAcademy

ofSciencesinLeipzig,andhefacedsomeremark-

ableproblems.Alargenumberofinvestigatorscon-

tributedtotheMapandtheyarealllistedinthe

Haaseetal. paper-itwasa remarkableco-opera-

tiveeffort.ThefinalpushhascomefromtheUFZ

CentreforEnvironmentalResearchLeipzig-Hallein

Leipzig([email protected] ).

Seealso:Haase,D.,etal.2007.LoessinEurope-its

spatialdistributionbasedonaEuropeanLoessMap,

scale1:2,500,000.QuaternaryScienceReviews26,

1301-1312.TheINQUALoessMapofEuropewillbe

featuredinLoessLetter59,tobepublishedinApril

2008.

[email protected]

New for 2008 - EcohydrologyAn international journal

publishing original scien-

t if ic and review papers

thataimtoimproveunder-

standing of processes atthe interface between

ecologyandhydrologyand

associatedapplicationsre-

lated to environmental

management. Dont miss

out! Be the first to read

theexcitingnewcontentandsignupforRSSFeeds

toreceiveFREETableof ContentAlertsandEar-

lyViewArticlesstraighttoyourdesktopassoonas

theypublishonline.

Visitthejournalhomepagetosetupyouralertsor

alternativelytosubmitapapertothisinternational

publication www.interscience.wiley.com/eco

A P R I L 2008 5


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International Year of Planet Earth

TheInternationalYearofPlanetEarth(IYPE),pro-

claimedbytheGeneralAssemblyoftheUnitedNa-

tions for 2008, has found significant footing oninternationalandnationallevels.IUSSandISRICare

two of the 12Founding Partners of the IYPE. By

today,50countriesandRegionsestablishedaNa-

tionalIYPECommittee.Oneofthe10IYPEthemesis

onSoilsforwhichadedicated16-pagebrochurewas

compiled,nowavailableinEnglish,FrenchandPor-

tuguese.Soilscientificcommunitiesanditsrelated

industriesareinvitedtoparticipateinTheGreatest

Geo-ShowonEarth.Formoreinformation,please

check:www.yearofplanetearth.org

New IPCC and UNDP reportsHereisagoodreador

two.TheIPCChasjust

publishedasynthesisreport.ThisSynthesisReportis

basedontheassessmentcarriedoutbythethree

WorkingGroupsoftheIntergovernmentalPanelon

ClimateChange.Itprovidesanintegratedviewofcli-

matechangeasthefinalpartoftheIPCCsFourthAs-

sessmentReport(AR4)gotohttp://www.ipcc.ch/

ipccreports/ar4-syr.htm forthewebsitetodown-

loadthesynthesisreport.

UNDPpublisheditsHumanDevelopment

Report2007-2008,withtitleFightingcli-

matechange:Humansolidarityinadi-

vided world. The conclusion: Climate

changeisthegreatestchallengefacinghu-

manityatthestartofthe21stCentury.

Failuretomeetthatchallengeraisesthespectreof

unprecedentedreversalsinhumandevelopment.

Forthefullreport(andmorenuance).Goto http://

hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr2007-2008/

Soils brochure in French, Romanian,Japanese and Portuguese

Year2008willbetheInternational

YearofPlanetEarth,withmanyout-

reachprojectsstressingtheimpor-

tance of the earthsciences for

humansocieties.Abrochureonthe

soils was produced in English in

2006.Thebrochureisintendedto

explaintothegeneralpublicandisnowalsoavail-

ableinFrench(Le sol, piderme vivant de la Terre),

bothinelectronicversion(www.iuss.org);for printed

[email protected]

Thebrochureisalsoavailableinseveralotherlan-

guages.

New BookMonitoring and Evaluation of Soil

Conservation and Watershed De-

velopment Projects,editedby:Jan

deGraaff,JohnCameron,S.Som-

batpanit,C.PieriandJ.Woodhill.

Thefocusisontheinformationsys-

temsneededtounderstandthede-

velopmental impact of soil

conservationandwatershedinterventions.Suchin-

terventionsinevitablystartfromphysicalsciencesandequallyinevitablyendupinthesocialsciences.

The book offers accounts of socio-environmental

processesinawiderangeofcontexts.SciencePub-

lishers. Hardcover (2007) 38.90. ISBN-13:

9781578083497

Ten simple rules for scientistsWrittenbyPLoSComputationalBiologyEditor-in-

ChiefPhilipE.Bourne,sometimeswithcollabora-

tors, the Ten Simple Rules provide a quick,

concentratedguideformasteringsomeofthepro-

fessionalchallengesresearchscientistsfaceintheir

careers.DownloadtheTenSimpleRulesCollection:

http://collections.plos.org/ploscompbiol/TenSimple

RulesCollection_Small.pdf

TenSimpleRulesforDoingYourBest

Research,AccordingtoHamming

Ten S imple Rules for a Good

PosterPresentation

TenSimpleRulesforMakingGood

OralPresentations

TenSimpleRulesforaSuccessfulCollaborationTenSimpleRulesforSelectingaPostdoctoralPosition

TenSimpleRulesforReviewers

TenSimpleRulesforGettingGrants

TenSimpleRulesforGettingPublished

WOCAT in Google EarthAllcase studies from the

WOCATdatabasecannow

beviewedinGoogleEarth AWOCATlogoisdis-

playedforcountrieswithcasestudiesdescribed;

smallerclickableWOCATiconsindicatingthelo-

cationofindividualcasestudieswillappearwhen



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zoomingincloser. WorldOverviewofConservation

ApproachesandTechnologies(WOCAT)isaproject

coordinatedbytheUniversityofBern,ISRICand

FAOincollaborationwithmanyinstitutionsworld-

wide. WOCAT aims to promote sustainable landmanagementintolandusesystemsworld-wideby

offeringatoolforstandardizeddocumentationand

evaluation of SLM technologies and approaches.

WOCAThasso farcollectedcomprehensiveinfor-

mation on over 180 technologies and 110 ap-

proachesfrom40countries.

Formoreinformationcontact:[email protected]

[email protected]

New issue of PedometronA new issue (number 23) is

availablefromthewww.pedo-

metrics.org andwww.iuss.org

Inthisissuetherearereports

onPedometrics2007,Markov

Chainrandomfields,geostatis-

ticalbibliometrics,pyrometrie,

profiles,AlexspreferredpapersandanewPedo-

mathemagica and quiz to keep your brain cells

working.TheNewsletterispreparedbytheIUSSof-

ficersDrBudimanMinasnyandDrMurrayLark.As

alwayswithPedometron:Happyreading !

Free Software

LMMproisanewsoftwareprogramforregression

analysisoftheLangmuirEquationand theMichaelis-

MentenEquation.Itcomeswiththreeembedded

datasetsthataresufficientformostteachingob-

jectivesabout regression techniques.Theembed-

deddatasetshelpyouteachabouttheimpactof

dataerrors,theimpactofregressionchoice,andthe

impactofslighttheoryerrors.Youcanalsoshow

yourstudentstheimpactofusingfewdataversus

lotsofdatabyselectingwhichdatapointstousein

the regressions. The program uses 7 regression

techniques,5linearand2non-linear,anditiseasy

toseehowtheydifferfromeachotherandcom-

plimenteachother.ItisaFREEdownload: http://

alfisol.com/IFS/IFS-003/LMMpro-Downloads.php

From the Secretary General

Inter Congress Council Meeting

June 30 to July 4 2008

TheInter-CongressMeetingwilltakeplaceinBris-

bane,AustraliafromJune30toJuly42008.Itisrun-

ningpartlyincollaborationwithascientificmeeting

oftheQueenslandBranchofASSSI. Fulldetailsto-

gether with registration forms will be available

shortly. Ishallbepleasedtoreceiveitemsfordis-

cussionattheBusinessMeetingofCouncilnolaterthanFebruary22 nd 2008.

Honorary Member Nominations

IhavereceivedanumberofnominationsforHon-

oraryMembershipofIUSS.Thefinaldeadlineforre-

ceiptofnominationsisFebruary22nd 2008.Ineeda

shortstatement(maximum750word)aboutthecan-

didateandtheircontributiontoSoilScienceand/or

theworkoftheIUSSanditspredecessorISSS.

Keeping in touch

Oneof themajorproblems facingthe Secretary

GeneraliskeepinguptodateinformationontheOf-

ficersoftheNationalSoilScienceSocieties.Many

Societieschangetheirofficersannually,andifIam

tokeepMemberSocietiesinformedIneeddetails

ofcurrentOfficeHolders,theirpostaladdressesand

currentemailaddresses.Pleaseletmehavedetails

ofyourcurrentSoilScienceSocietyOfficers.

Election of IUSS Division and Commission Officers

DuringDecemberIcirculatedtoNationalSocietiesthe

listofcandidatesfortheelectionsofIUSSDivisionandCommissionOfficers,togetherwithshortbiographies.

Theelectionperiod runs from January 1,2008 to

March1,2008.EachIUSSmemberisentitledtovote

intheirNationalballotwhichistobeorganisedbythe

NationalSoilScienceSocietyorNationalAcademyof

Science.Eachofyoushouldbeinvitedtoparticipate

inaballoteitherbysubmittingaballotpaperorby

participatinginanelectronicballot.Ifyouarenotin-

vitedtovotepleasecontactyourNationalSoilScience

Societyandcopythemessagetome.

Stephen Nortcliff,SecretaryGeneral,IUSS

[email protected]

A P R I L 2008 7


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2008 International Yearof Planet Earth

On12and13February2008,theInternationalYear

ofPlanetEarthwillbe officiallylaunchedatUN-

ESCOsheadquartersinParis.Thiseventwillbeco-

organizedbytheIYPECorporationandtheNational

Committee of the IYPEin France,together with

IUGS and UNESCO. UNESCOs Director General

KochiroMatsuurawillhosttheEventandseveralHeads o f State have been invited. The so ils

brochure(Soil - Earths living skin)isnowavailable

in English, French, Portuguese, Romanian, and

Japaneseseewww.iuss.org Theremanyactivitiesin

whichtheIUSSandsoilscientistsparticipate,two

examples:

Morethan10,000scientists,

professionals,andstudents

willgatherinHoustonon5-9

October2008inameetingis

sponsoredbytheGeological

SocietyofAmerica,andSoil

ScienceSocietyofAmerica,

andsomeothersocieties.Theintentionofthisfirst-

everjointmeetingistohighlightandstimulatedis-

cussions in areas of common interest. It is held

underthetheme CelebratingtheInternationalYear

ofPlanetEarth.

Moreinformation:www.acsmeetings.org/about/news/

releases/2008/0115/001/

TheNewZealandSocietyofSoilScience&AustralianSo-

ciety of Soi l Science wil l

holdameetingfrom1-5De-

cember2008inconjunction

withtheInternationalYear

of Planet Earth 2008.

ThemeofthemeetingisSoilthelivingskinof

planetearthanditwillbeheldinPalmerston

North,NewZealand.

Moreinformation:http://conferences.massey.ac.nz/

Soils2008/index.htm

World Development Report 2008

The World Bank pub-

lished its World Devel-

opment report 2008.The report calls for

greater investment in

agricultureindeveloping

countriesandwarnsthat

the sector must be

placedatthecentreof

thedevelopmentagenda

ifthegoalsofhalvingex-

tremepovertyandhungerby2015aretobereal-

ized. There is a lo t on so il fertility and soil

conservation in this report and here are somequotesthatmostsoilscientistswillenjoy:Science

and technological innovation are critical for the

agriculture-for-development agendatosucceed..

andtheneedtoincreasefundingfor agricultural

R&Dthroughoutthedeveloping worldcannotbe

overstated.Ifyouwanttoreadmore(thereare386

pages)visittheWorldBankwebsite.

New book on No TillNo-TillFarmingSystems,

SpecialPublicationNo.3

oftheWorldAssociation

ofSoilandWaterConser-

vation.

http://waswc.soil.gd.cn

www.waswc.org edited

by: T. Goddard, M.Zoe-

bisch,Y.Gan,W.Ellis,A.

Watson and S. Sombat-

panit.Thirty-fourcontri-

butions from renowned

expertsandpractitionersaroundtheworldprovideacomprehensivereviewoftherapidgrowthofno-

till,thebarriersthathavebeenovercomeandthe

challengesthatstilllieahead.Chapterscovercur-

rentresearchandnewdirectionsaswellaspolicy

needs, adoption and extension. Five other new

booksonthetopicarealsoreviewed.

ISBN:978-974-8391-60-1.No.ofpages:544.

Dependingonthedestination,pricerangesfrom

US$15-20,includingdelivery.

FordetailscontactSamranSombatpanit

[email protected]



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Is that fun..and for free

Seehowgoodyouaregeographically:

http://www.travelpod.com

Measureyourcarbonfootprint:http://www.breathingearth.net

ThecompleteDarwincollectiononline:

http://darwin-online.org.uk

Whowasthefirstscientist?

http://network.nature.com/forums/sciencewrit-

ers/609?

Onlinelisteningto The Economist?

http://network.nature.com/forums/sciencewrit-

ers/609

ClimateChangePodcasts

http://www.nature.com/climate/podcast.html

The European Soil Databasein Google Earth

TheEuropeanSoilPor-

tal provides access to

the Google Earth Files

(KMZextension)ofthe

EuropeanSoilDatabase.

All73GoogleEarthfiles

relatedtotheEuropean

SoilDatabasecanbedownloaded.KML(zippedKMZfiles)isafileformatusedtodisplaygeographicdata

insuchasGoogleEarthandGoogleMaps.Inorder

to usethe Google Earth Files, downloadGoogle

Earth. FormoreinformationcontactPanosPanagos

[email protected]

(Advertisementproductfocus)

Eijkelkamp wet sieving apparatusThe wet s ieving apparatus from Eijke lkamp

AgrisearchEquipmentisusedtodeterminetheag-

gregatestabilityofsoil.Eightsievesarefilledwitha

certainamountofsoilaggregates.Theyareplaced

inacanfilledwithwater,whichwillmoveupand

downwardforafixedtime.Unstableaggregateswillfallapartandpassthroughthesieveandarecol-

lectedinthewater-filledcanunderneaththesieve.

Benefits:

Determinessusceptibilityforerosion

Worksbasedonsimpledisturbedsamples

Sieveoutthegrainsfrom1.00to2.00mm

Grainsfallingapartaremeasured

Pre-programmedgrain-washtime

Moreinformationclickwww.eijkelkamp.com

No-till on CD ROMThisCDwasplannedasacol-

lection of supplementary

reference materials, to

serveasacompanionto

the printed book No-

Til l Farming Systems

(2008).ThisCDisenti-

tledthe25th Anniversary

Souvenir Edition of the

WorldAssociationofSoilandWaterConservation(WASWC established1983)

anditisacontributiontotheInternationalYearof

Planet Earth. There are 17 sections, comprising

1,008filesin106folders,mostlyinPDF,PPT,Word,

describingno-tillandotherrelatedSWCworksfrom

manynationalandinternationalorganizations.An

applicationformisalsoprovidedforthosewhowish

tojoinWASWC. TheCD,ifpurchasedseparately,

costsUS$5/copy,withdeliverytoanypostaddress

worldwide.Youarewelcometoreproduceanduse

allmaterialsinanyform,withoutrestriction.Toget

yourcopypleasecontactSamranSombatpanitat

[email protected]

A P R I L 2008 9


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Strengthening the Worlds

Long-Term Soil Research BaseBy Daniel deB. Richter & Sharon A. Billingsonbehalfof25participantsatthe2007GlobalSoil

ChangeWorkshop, DukeUniversity, Durham,NC

27708 USA ([email protected]) , University of

Kansas,Lawrence,KS66047( [email protected])

Imaginethescienceofclimatology,iflong-running

weatherstationswereuncoordinatedandoperated

independently with little cross-site comparison.

Suchisthepresentstateofthelong-termsoilsre-searchbase.Theworldslong-termsoilexperiments

arenotwellorganizedoreveninventoried,andthese

studiesareunknowntomostscientistsandtomost

of humanity. In the coming decades, knowledge

gainedfromlong-termsoilexperiments(LTSEs)will

becomeincreasinglyimportanttosustainablypro-

ducehigh-qualityfood,water,andfiber,andpre-

requisitetothescienceofenvironmentalchange

(Figure1).Thetransformationofpedologybyan-

thro-pedogenesis(BidwellandHole1965,Yaalon

andYaron1966,Richter2007)placesLTSEsinnew

light,andmakeitobviousthattheyneedreview,co-

ordination,andexpansion.

A number of societys most important scientific

questionsinvolvethefutureofEarthssoils,andthe

worldslong-termsoilsresearchwillbeimportant

toresolvingthesequestionsaswell.Threemostpressingquestionsare:

Cansoilsmorethandoublefoodproductionina

fewdecades,allwhileminimizingadverseeffects

onthewiderenvironment?

Howcan land management improve soils pro-

cessingofnutrients,organicmatter,wastes,tox-

ics,andwater?


Figure 1. OneoftheoldestLTSEs,knownasParkGrassatRothamstedinsouthernEngland,UK.Twore-

searchers,Drs.JoSmithandNicoVanBreemen,examinethevegetationanddetritusofaplotreceiving

elevatednitrogenamendmentssince1856.Thestudyandthearchivedsamplesderivedfromitspan

nearlytheentireIndustrialAge,andhaveresultedincountlessscientificpapers,onawidevarietyof

topicsincludingagriculture,ecology,statistics,andtheenvironment.


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How is the Earths soil interacting with the global

carbon cycle and climate change?

Answerstothesequestionswilldependonhow

soi ls funct ion and change in the coming few

decades,allinresponsetoincreasinghumanforc-ing.Investigatorsemployanumberofapproaches

toaddressthesequestions,includingshort-term

andlaboratorystudies,andmodeling.However,be-

causesoilchangeresultsfromhigh-orderinterac-

tions involving multiple concurrent processes,

answerstothesequestionswillalsodependondi-

rectobservationsfromLTSEs.

Long-termsoilexperimentsareleadingindicatorsof

sustainability,andtheirresultscanprovideearly

warningcapabilitiesindetectingthreatstofuture

cropproduction(Barnettetal.1995).AcrossAsia,forexample,long-termriceexperimentsarecur-

rentlytestingthesustainabilityofintensivelyman-

aged rice systems that supply protein and

carbohydrateforwellovertwobillionpersons.Rice-

yielddeclinesobservedoverrelativelylongtime

framesinseveraloftheseexperimentshavebeen

relatedtounexpecteddecreasesinsoilnitrogen

availability,degradationofirrigationwaterquality,

andtorecentincreasesinnight-timetemperatures

(Olketal.2007;Tirol-PadreandLadha2006).Asec-

ondexampleistheNorthAmericanforestrytrials,

knownastheLong-TermSoilProductivity(LTSP)tri-

als,inwhichdozensofexperimentsevaluatethe

sustainabilityofforest-soilproductivityanditsrela-

tion to timber harvest, soil compaction, and or-

ganic-matter management (Powers et al. 2006).

Giventheseveraldecadesrequiredforforeststo

growandmature,studieslinkingforestproductiv-

itytosoilmanagementorhowelevatedCO 2 will

alterforesttreesandsoils(Figure2)isemblematic

oftheneedforLTSEs.

Ofgraveconcern,however,is theremarkablypoor

fundingandinfrastructurethatsupportsmostLTSEsworldwide(Richteretal.2007).ManyLTSEsfunction

withoutstableinstitutionalsupport,andcontinueto

beproductivedueprimarilytothepersistenceofin-

dividualresearchers.As aresult,theseimportant

studiesarevulnerabletoneglectandabandonment.

Thediscontinuationofthelow-inputYurimaguasex-

perimentsinPeru(SmythandCassel1995)andthe

recent lossof theKwaZuluNatal acidity trials in

SouthAfrica(Farinaetal.2000)bothoccurredde-

spitetheimportanceoftheirresearchoutputstoad-

dressingthethreequestionslistedabove.

Aglobalnetworkoflong-termsoilsresearchwasre-

centlylaunchedwithanadvanced-formatwebsite

(http://ltse.env.duke.edu). Thewebsite currently

networksmorethan200studies,andspecifically

promotescross-siteresearch.Forexample,ques-

tions about C sequestration, N-use efficiency, P

leaching, acidification, atmospheric deposition,trace-elementcycling,cropproductivity,soilecol-

ogy,organicwastemanagement,toxicschemistry,

andwaterquality,allrequireanunderstandingof

howsoilschangeovertimescalesofdecades.To

planthesecross-sitestudies,whetherforreviewpa-

pers,modelingexercises,lab-benchtopstudies,or

fieldresearch,websiteuserscansimplyexportthe

LTSEinventorydatatoaspreadsheet,sortthein-

formationtoobtainwhatismostpertinenttothe

users interests, and generate a potential list of

LTSEsandscientificcontacts.Thisadvancedwebsitetooloriginatedinagraduateclassinsoilsandecol-

A P R I L 2008 11

Figure 2. Soilorganicmatterformationcanbeex-

aminedoveradecadeattheDukeUniversityRe-

search Forest s long-running elevated CO2

experiment,inwhichCO2 thatfumigatestrees(ini-tiatedin1996)isdepletedwithrespectto13C.Soil

organicmatterinsurficial30-cmoftheAlfisolin-

corporatesorganicdetritalcarbonfromtheyoung

pineforestintophysicalfractionsatmarkedlydif-

ferentrates,withcoarsefractionsthemostrapid

andfinefractionthemostsluggish.Bulksoilsac-

cruedCat109gCm-2 year-1,whileindependentes-

timatesofSOCaccrualineachcarbonfractionwere

48inthe500to2000-umsizefraction,38inthe53

to500-umfraction,and22gCm-2 year-1inthe


12/62

ogyamongstudentsfromDukeandNorthCarolina

StateUniversitiesandtheUniversityofNorthCar-

olina,anditencouragesscientistsandstudentsto

workmorecloselytogetherandinwaysunknown

evenintherecentpast.The6December2007issueofNature magazinefea-

tured papers that emphasized the importance of

long-runningmeasurementsoftheEarthsenviron-

ment.Theaccompanyingeditorialproclaimed,Data

setsencapsulatingthebehavioroftheEarthsystem

areoneofthegreatesttechnologicalachievements

ofourageandoneofthemostdeservingoffuture

investment.Long-rangeplanningneedstostrengthen

andexpandscientific commitment to theworlds

long-termsoilsresearchbase.Coordinationoflong-

runningrecordsofEarthsclimate,atmosphericpol-lution,thehydrosphere,wildlifepopulations,and

eventectonicactivityhasbeenpossible-itisnow

timetoextendthisforesightedpracticetoEarths

soil.

Formoreinformationpleaseloginandparticipate

attheLTSEwebsite:http://ltse.env.duke.edu


ReferencesBarnett,V.,R.Payne,andR.Steiner.1995.Agri-

culturalsustainability.John Wiley&Sons,New

York.Bidwell,O.W.andF.D.Hole.1965.Manasafactor

insoilformation.SoilScience99:6572.

Farina,M.P.W.,P.Channon,andG.R.Thibaud.2000.

Acomparisonofstrategiesforamelioratingsubsoil

acidity:I.Long-termgrowtheffects.SoilScience

SocietyofAmericaJournal64:646651.

Olk,D.C.,M.I.Samson,andP.Gapas.2007.Inhibi-

tionofnitrogenmineralizationinyounghumic

fractions by anaerobic decomposition of rice

cropresidues.EuropeanJournalofSoilScience

58:270-281.

Powers,R.F.,D.A.Scott,F.G.Sanchez,R.A.Vold-

seth,D.Page-Dmroese,J.D.Elioff,D.M.Stone.

2006.TheNorthAmericanlong-termsoilpro-

ductivity experiment. Findings from the first

decadeofresearch.ForestEcologyandMan-

agement220:1730.

Richter,D.deB.2007.Humanitystransformation

ofEarthssoil:Pedologysnewfrontier.SoilSci-

ence172:957-967.Richter,D.deB.,M.Hofmockel,M.A.Callaham,D.S.

Powlson,andP.Smith.2007.Long-termsoilex-

periments:KeystomanagingEarthsrapidlychang-

ingecosystems.SoilSci.Soc.Am.J.71:266279.

Smyth, T.J. and D.K. Cassel. 1995. Synthesis of

long-termsoilmanagementresearchonUltisols

andOxisolsintheAmazon.p.1360.In R.Lal

andB.A.Stewart(ed.)Soilmanagement:Exper-

imentalbasisforsustainabilityandenvironmen-

talquality.LewisPubl.,BocaRaton,FL,USA.

Tirol-Padre,A.,andJ.K.Ladha.2006.Integrating

riceandwheatproductivitytrendsusingtheSAS

mixed-procedureandmeta-analysis.FieldCrops

Research95:7588.

Yaalon,D.H.,andB.Yaron.1966.Frameworkfor

man-madesoilchanges-anoutlineofmetape-

dogenesis.SoilScience102:272278.


13/62

Arsenic in irrigated paddy soils

By Hugh BrammerE-mail:[email protected]

Naturalarsenicpollutionofdrinkingwaterhasbeen

reportedfromover70countriesworld-wide,affect-

inganestimated150millionpeople(Ravenscroftet.

al.,2008).About50millionofthesepeoplelivein

Bangladesh,30millioninIndiaand33millioninsix

othercountriesofsouthandsouth-eastAsia.Ithas

recentlybeenrecognisedthatarsenic-contaminated

groundwaterusedforirrigationinthesecountries

posesaserioushealthhazardtopeopleeatingfoodfromthecropsirrigated,andthatarsenicaccumu-

latinginirrigatedsoilsposesaseriousthreattosus-

tainable agriculture in affected areas (Heikens,

2006).Rice,thestaplefoodinmanyofthesecoun-

tries, is the principal crop affected. Little is yet

knownabouttheextentandseverityofthisthreatto

foodproduction,humanhealthandlivelihoods,and

assessmentsurveysareurgentlyneeded.

Source of pollutionArsenic(As)pollutionofgroundwaterisassociated

withfourgeochemicalmechanisms:reductivedisso-

lution;alkalidesorption;sulphideoxidation;andge-

othermalactivity.Reductivedissolutionisthemost

importantmodeinsouthandsouth-eastAsia.Itoc-

curswhereAsadsorbedonironoxyhydroxidesinsed-

imentsisliberatedintogroundwaterwhenmicrobial

activityinassociatedorganicmatter(e.g.,inburied

peatlayers)reducestheirontotheferrousform.The

As is mainly contained in relatively-unweathered

HolocenesedimentsderivedfromtheHimalayasand

relatedyoungmountainchains.Thesesedimentsare

notAs-rich,buttheelementistoxicatverylowcon-centrations.Sofarasisknown,Pleistoceneandolder

sedimentsinsouthandsouth-eastAsiaarenotaf-

fectedexceptwheresulphidicores(includingcoalin

China)andgeothermalactivityoccur.

VariabilityIn Bangladesh, the country where the most de-

tailed surveys and research studies have been

madeto-date,pollutionaffectsaquifersbetween

ca20120mdeepinHolocenesediments,mainlyin

abeltacrossthesouth-centreofthecountry.How-

ever, within this area, As concentrations vary

greatlyfromplacetoplace.Overall,about25per-

centofdomesticwellsexceedthenationalstan-dardof50ppbAsandabout50percentexceedthe

WHOstandardof10ppb.However,theproportion

ofwellswithinvillagesthatexceedthenational

standardcanrangebetween>90%and100ppbAs

and62producedwaterwith>200ppb.

Soil loading

RiceisparticularlysusceptibletoAscontaminationbecauseofthelargeamountofwaterusedtoirri-

gatethiscropcommonly1000mmormoreper

cropseasonandtheanaerobicconditionspresent

in flooded paddy fields. Under anaerobic condi-

tions,As ispresentasarsenate,the formthatis

mostreadilyavailabletoplants.Indrylandsoils,As

is readily immobilised by ferric hydroxides. In

Bangladesh,As-levelsinunirrigatedfloodplainsoils

appeartobe10mg/kgat48%of

the sites studied; another country-wide study

showedthat21%ofsampleshadlevels>20mg/kg,

withahighestlevelof81mg/kg.

Applicationof1,000mmofwatercontaining100

ppbAsadds1kg/haAstothesoilperseason.Little

is lost by leaching, volatilisation andremoval in

crops.Therefore,mostoftheaddedAsremainsin

thetopsoil.ManysoilfactorsinfluenceAsavailabil-

itytoplants,includingredoxpotential,pHandthe

contentsofclay,organicmatter,iron,manganese,

phosphorusandcalcium-carbonate.Evenonseem-

inglyflatfloodplains,therecanbesignificantdif-

ferencesinsoiltexture,organicmattercontentanddurationofseasonalfloodingbetweenadjoining

ridgeandbasinsitesonlyafewtensorhundredof

metresapart.Someofthesepropertiesandcon-

stituentsalsovarysignificantlywithintheyearin

floodplainsoilsthatalternateseasonallybetween

floodedandaeratedconditions,andinirrigatedup-

landsitesusedforpaddycultivation.Thustherecan

beconsiderabledifferencesinsoilpropertiesthat

affect As accumulation and availability both be-

tweentubewellcommandareasandwithinthem.

Diurnalandseasonalvariationsinmicrobiological

activitywithinpaddyfields(particularlybyalgae)

mayalsoinfluenceAsaccumulationandavailability.

A P R I L 2008 13


14/62

Not all the As delivered by tubewells actually

reachesthefieldsirrigated.InAs-affectedareasof

Bangladesh,groundwateristovaryingdegreesrich

iniron.Thatironisoxidisedwhenthewaterisex-

posedtotheairandisthenprecipitatedasiron-hy-droxideswhichadsorbAs.Attheonlytwositesfor

whichinformationisavailable(bothinBangladesh),

Asconcentrationsinwateratonesitedecreased

from136ppbatthewell-headto68ppbattheend

ofthe100mdistributionchannel;attheother,they

fellfrom397to314ppbina152mirrigationchan-

nel.Atthefirstsite,whichhadbeenirrigatedfor

about15years,topsoilAsconcentrationsdecreased

from61mg/kginthefieldnearestthewell-headto

11mg/kginafieldatthefarsideofthe4hacom-

mandarea.Attheothersite,irrigatedfor20years,topsoilAs concentrations inone field decreased

from23.0mg/kgnearthewaterinletto11.3mg/kg

atthefarsideofthefield.Withcontinuingirriga-

tion,thesedifferenceswithincommandareasand

withinfieldsarelikelytoincrease,suchthatareas

near well-heads and field inlets will become se-

verelycontaminatedbeforeotherareas.Thesedif-

ferenceswithincommandareasneedtobetaken

intoaccountinsoilandcropsampling.

Oxidation-reductionIndrylandsoils,suchasthoseinwhichcropssuchas

wheat,maizeandmostvegetablesaregrown,Asis

quicklyadsorbedbyferricironandbecomeslargely

unavailabletomostplants.Inwetlandsoilsin-

cludingthefloodedsoilsinwhichtransplantedrice

isgrownAsinthearsenateformisreadilyavail-

abletoplantroots.Inseasonally-floodedsoilsin

monsoonclimates,floodplainsoilschangebetween

theoxidisedstateinthedryseasonandthereduced

statewhensubmergedinthewetseason.Similar

changesoccurinsoilsthatareflood-irrigated:top-

soilsarereducedduringperiodswhentheyarekeptfloodedandbecomeoxidisedwhentheydryoutfor

cropharvestingandbetweencropseasons.Thus,As

maybepresentindifferentformsinthesamesoilat

differenttimesoftheyear.Forrice,thesituationis

furthercomplicatedbytheabilityoftheplantto

carryoxygendownitsstemanddischargeitthrough

itsrootsforminganoxidisedcoating(ironplaque)

ontheroots.

Uptake by riceArsenictakenupfromsoilsbyriceaccumulatesin

differentproportionsindifferentplantpartsinthe

orderroots>stem>leaf>grain.Forexample,ina

pottrialinBangladesh,2.4mg/kgAswasmeasured

inriceroots,0.73mg/kginstemsandleaves,and

0.14mg/kgingrain.However,considerablediffer-

encesinuptakeexistbetweenricevarietiesandbe-

tweenthekindsofricegrownindifferentcountries.Rice grain contents ranged between 0.058 and

1.835mg/kgAsin13differentricevarietiestested

in Bangladesh, 0.20.46 mg/kg in the USA and

0.0630.2mg/kginTaiwan.TheAsinUSvarietiesis

predominantlyinarelativelyharmlessorganicform

(dimethylarsinic acid), whereas most of that in

Bangladeshiricevarietiesisin theinorganicform

whichismosttoxictohumans.Thesedifferences

betweenricetypesandcultivarsneedtobetaken

intoaccountinallstudieswherericeyieldsand

amountseatenaremeasuredorcompared.Somedrylandcropsalsotakeupsignificantamountsof

As,andaccumulateitindifferentplantparts:e.g.,

muchmoreintheskinthaninthebodyofpotatoes.

However,drylandcropsgenerallyprovideasmall

proportionofthetotaldietinrice-growingpartsof

southandsouth-eastAsia.Riceisthecropofgreat-

est concern in the threat which As in irrigation

water poses to agricultural production, human

healthandeconomiclivelihoodsinthosecountries.

ToxicityThereisnosinglelevelofsoilAsthatistoxicto

plants. Different plant species tolerate different

amountsofAsinsoils.Some(knownashyperaccu-

mulators)cantolerateveryhighlevelsofsoilAs.

EvendifferentricecultivarsdifferinAstolerance.

Onsoilscontaminatedbyarsenicalpesticidesinthe

USA,yieldreductionsrangedfromvirtuallynonein

oneChinesecultivarto8090%infouroftenUS

cultivarstested.Intheonlyrelevantfieldstudyso

farreportedinBangladesh,yieldsofasinglericeva-

riety grown under floodedconditions decreased

from8.9to3tons/hawithsoil-Aslevelsincreasingfrom26.3to57.5mg/kg.Yieldsofricegrownon

raisedbedsatthesamesitedecreasedfrom8.24to

5.21t/haatsoil-Aslevelsof26.3and57.5mg/kgre-

spectively.Thus,differencesinvarietaltolerance

andinsoilmanagementneedtobekeptinviewin

comparingresultsfromdifferentsitesandcoun-

tries.

Symptoms of As toxicity in rice include delayed

seedlingemergence,reducedplantgrowth,yellow-

ingandwiltingofleaves,brownnecroticspotson

older leaves andreduced grainyields. A disease

knownasstraighthead(becauseofupright,empty

paniclesatmaturity)orparrotbeak(becauseof



15/62

misshapedgrains)isconsideredtobeanindicator

ofAstoxicityintheUSAandAustralia.Straighthead

disease was reported for the first time in

Bangladeshin2006.

Human intakeCropyieldisnottheonlyrelevantcriteriontouse

inconsideringplanttoxicity.TheAscontentofrice

grainalsoneedstobeconsideredbecauseofthe

largedailyamountsofriceeatenbypeopleinmany

partsof southandsouth-eastAsia(commonlyas-

sumed to be 450g /day for a 60kg adult in

Bangladesh). The As content of rice straw also

needstobeconsideredwherethisisfedtolivestock

producingmeatormilkforhumanconsumption.Whenarsenicinricegrainsis0.2mg/kg,adultscon-

suming450gofriceand4litresofwaterperdayat

the10ppbWHOwaterstandardconsume130gof

arsenicperday,whichistheFAOandWHOprovi-

sionaltolerabledietaryintakestandardfora60g

adult;(personsconsuming4litresofwaterat50ppb

nationalstandardsalreadyexceedthatlevelbefore

eatinganyrice).Ineffect,thereisnosafelevelof

arsenicintakefromfoodorwater.Thereisalinear

dose-responserelationshipbetweenarsenicintake

andhealthhazardsdowntoverylowlevelsofAsin-

take.Therefore,effortsneedtobemadetomin-

imiseAsintakefromallsourcesassoonaspossible.

Arseniccausesseriousskinlesions,isapotentcar-

cinogenandcancausedeathsfromawiderangeof

otherseriousdiseases.Symptomstypicallydonot

appearfor210yearsfromthestartofchronicex-

posure,andtheymayalsoappearlongafterexpo-

sureceases.Theyareirreversible.

Research needsMuchmoreinformationisneededontheextentof

As-contaminatedsoilsandonAs-soil-plantrela-

tionships.Moreappropriatelaboratorymethods

fordeterminingAsavailabilityinpaddysoilsare

needed.Soilandcropsamplingneedtotakemore

accountofregionaldifferencesinenvironmental

conditionsandthecomplexpatternsofsoilAscon-tamination between and within tubewell com-

mandareas.Althoughpottrialscanprovideuseful

information on soil and plant processes, many

morefieldtrialsareneeded:itisvirtuallyimpossi-

bletosimulatethephysical,chemicalandbiologi-

cal environment of a paddy soil in a pot

experiment. Considerable strengthening of soil

survey,soillaboratory,agriculturalresearchand

possiblyagriculturalengineeringinstitutionswill

probablybeneededincountrieswithaserious

soil-Asproblem.Noadequately-testedmitigation

methodssuitableforsmall-scalericefarmersare

available.Possibilitiesthatneedtestingindiffer-

A P R I L 2008 15


16/62

entenvironmentsinclude:providinganalternative

safeirrigationsupply;aeratingwaterbeforedeliv-

erytofields;substitutingdrylandcrops;growing

riceasadrylandcroponraisedbeds;usinghyper-

accumulatorplantstoremovearsenic;andremov-ingcontaminatedtopsoil.


ReferencesRavenscroft, P., H. Brammer and K.S. Richards

(2008,inpress)Arsenicpollution:aglobalsyn-

thesis.Wiley-Blackwell,U.K.

Heikens,A.(2006)Arseniccontaminationofirri-

gation water, soils and crops in Bangladesh:

Risk implications for sustainable agriculture

andfoodsafetyinAsia.FAO,Bangkok

ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/009/ag105e/ag105e00.pdf


17/62

How Good is GLASOD?

By B.G.J.S. Sonneveld and D.L. DentCentreforWorldFoodStudies,VUUniversity

Amsterdam,[email protected]

ISRIC-WorldSoilInformation, [email protected]

The Global Assessment of So il Degradation

(GLASOD),commissioned20yearsagobytheUN

EnvironmentProgram(Oldemanetal.,1991),col-

latedexpertjudgmentsofmanysoilscientiststo

produceaworldmapofhuman-inducedsoildegra-

dation.Ithasbeenanimportantsourcefornationalandinternationalenvironmentalpolicydecisions

buthasbeencriticizedonthegroundsthatitsqual-

itativejudgmentswerenevertestedfortheircon-

sistency,themapunitsweretooroughfornational

policypurposes,whiletheassumedrelationshipbe-

tweenlanddegradationandpolicy-pertinentcrite-

rialikecropproductionwasunverified.TheGLASOD

authorswerethefirsttopointoutitslimitations;

criticismshouldbedirectedatitsinappropriateuse

-whichunderlinestheneedforamorerigorousand

detailed assessment. Renewed alarmabout land

degradationfrominternationalorganizationslike

FAOandUNEPclearlywarrantsanewglobalinven-

tory;areviewoftheliteratureshowsthatirrespec-

t ive of the approach, some degree of expert

judgment wil lbe calledfor so it is worthdrawing

lessonsfromtheGLASODexercise.Inthisstudy,wescrutinisetheGLASODassessments

fortheAfricancontinentforreasonsofdataavail-

ability and policy-relevance; the social and eco-

nomicimpactoflanddegradationseemstobemost

severeinAfrica.First,wetesttheGLASODassess-

mentsfortheirconsistencybycomparingexpert

A P R I L 2008 17

Figure 1 Yieldratio(y-axis)againstsoildegradation(SE-NWx-axis)andsoilsuitability(SW-NEx-axis)with

covariatesfertilizeruseandprevalenceofundernutritionrepresentedinsurfaceandgroundplane,re-

spectively.Barchartsrepresentfrequencydistributionoftheestimatedcovariates.


18/62

judgmentsonthestatusofsoildegradationfor sim-

ilarcombinationsoflandandlanduse.Secondly,we

evaluatethereproducibilityofexpertjudgmentsby

estimating an ordered logit model that relates

degradationclassestoeasily-availableinformationonexplanatoryvariables,soastomakelanddegra-

dationassessmentsatunvisitedsites.Thirdly,we

analyzetheimpactofthelanddegradationonfood

production in a cross-sectional analysis relating

GLASODassessmentsto crop productiondata at

sub-nationallevel.Toaccountforclimaticvariability

weexpressproductivityasaratioofactualtopo-

tentialyield,whilesoilfertilityappearsexplicitly.

Furthermore, we analyze the association of the

degradation-productivityrelationshipwithpreva-

lenceofmalnutritionandfertilizerusage.So,howgoodisGLASOD?Wefindthattheexperts

werenotveryconsistentinassigningsoildegrada-

tionclassestosimilarsites,possiblybecausethey

haddifferentconceptsofthedegreesofdegrada-

tion-thesedifferencesarelikelytobemorepro-

nounced when experts come from different

countriesandhavedissimilarexperienceofland

degradation.Becauseofthislackofconsistency,itis

difficulttoreproduceexpertjudgmentswithapara-

metricmodelapproach.Thefindingsconfirmthere-

sults in other studies where deviatingtrends of

expertassessmentsmakeitnecessarytousecoun-

trydummiesinthequalitativeresponsemodelsto

correctforinterpretationdifferencesamongthein-

ternationalforumofexperts.

Thefindingsontherelationshipbetweenyieldsand

landdegradationwerecounter-intuitive:yieldsin-

creaseforhigherlevelsoflanddegradation.Appar-

ently,moreintensivecultivationwithoutappropriate

soilprotectionmeasurescauseshigherdegradation

levelsbutdoesnotnecessarilyreduceproductivity.

Moreover,yieldsonmoreproductivebutseverely

degradedsoilsarelargelymaintainedbyapplicationoffertilizer.Bettersoilsalsoseemtoresisttheim-

pactofthelowerlevelsofdegradationwithoutthe

needforfertilizers,yet,yieldsdeterioraterapidlyfor

themoredegradedareaswithpoorersoils.Thehigh

prevalenceofmalnutritioninareaswithdeclining

yields on the poor and highly degraded soils is

alarmingindeed.

WeconcludethattheGLASODexpertassessments

arenotveryreliable.However,ourverdictshould

notbetooharsh.Withslenderresources,andina

veryshorttime,aglobalassessmentwascompleted

thatclearlydepicted,forthefirsttime,theextent

anddegreeoflanddegradation.Itslimitationswere

madeclearbytheauthorsand,inspiteoftheselim-

itations,GLASODunderpinnedenvironmentalpol-

icydiscussions-ithasbeentheonlyinformation

available.Improvedmethodsofassessmentofland

degradationarenowneededtoprovidedecisionmakerswiththeappropriateinformationforthede-

velopmentofsoundenvironmentalpoliciesanditis

likelythatanynewglobalassessmentwillhaveto

resort,insomedegree,toexpertjudgments-sothe

lessonslearnedfromthisGLASODanalysiswillbe

valuable.


ReferencesOldeman L.R., R.T.A. Hakkelingand W.G. Som-

broek(1991)Worldmapofthestatusofhuman

induced soil degradation. ISRIC/UNEP, Wa-geningen

Sonneveld, B.G.J.S.*, Dent, D.L.** (2007) How

goodisGLASOD?JournalofEnvironmentalMan-

agement,doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2007.09.008


19/62

Need for National Soil Policies

for Developing Countries- some facts

By K. Jeevan RaoDepartment of Soil Science & Agricultural

Chemistry, College of Agriculture, Acharya

N G Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar,

Hyderabad 500 030, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Email: rao_ [email protected]

Asasoilscientistworkingformorethan25years,I

amverymuchconcernedwithsoilprotectionand

conservation.Inthisprocess,Istartedcollectingin-

formationrelatedtonationalsoilpoliciesofdiffer-

entcountries.TomysurpriseIcouldnotgetawell

definednationalsoilpolicyforanyoneofthede-

velopingcountry?

Adevelopingcountrycanbedefinedas,thatcoun-

trywhichhasarelativelylowstandardofliving,an

undevelopedindustrialbase,andamoderatetolow

Human Development Index (HDI) score and per

capitaincome,butisinaphaseofeconomicdevel-

opment.Usuallyallcountrieswhichareneitherade-

velopedcountrynorafailedstateareclassifiedas

developingcountries(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Developing_country).

TheUnitedNationsEnvironmentalProgrammeheld

twomeetingsoftheconsultantsin1980and1981

developedadocumentonworldsoilpolicywhich

wasapprovedandendorsedbythegoverningcoun-

ciloftheUNEPforimplementation.Lateronthe

FAO,inNovember1981launchedaprogrammeon

worldsoilscharter.Whiledeliveringakeynoteaddressattheplenary

sessiononworldsoilpolicyat12th International

CongressofSoilScienceatNewDelhiduring8-16

February,1982Dr.J.S.Kanwar,thethenpresident,

ISSS,saidthatweshouldhaveanationalsoilpolicy

tobringdeterioratedsoilsbacktonormalproduc-

tion andto prevent any soil degradation andto

save,improveandutilizeoursoilstotheirhighest

potential.Sincethennothinghasbeendonein

mostofthedevelopingcountries.

InOctober,2000the2nd IUCNWorldConservation

Congress(WCC)atAmman,Jordan,passedthesoil

resolution,callingontheIUCNELPtoprepareguide-

lines for national legislation andpolicyto assist

states to manage their specific soil degradation

problemsandtoinvestigatetheformatforanin-

ternationalinstrumentforthesustainableuseof

soils.Later,atthe16th WCSSinMontpellierinAu-

gust1998,whichwasattendedbyme,theIUSSes-

tablishedaworkinggrouponInternationalActionsfortheSustainableUseofSoils(IASUS).TheIASUS

effortsresultedinthepublicationofSoilsonthe

GlobalAgenda.Thisworkinggroupsuggestedfor

theestablishmentofanIntergovernmentalPanelon

Soils,aproposalalreadytakenupbytheUNEP.At

the17th WCSSinBangkokin2002,IUSSadopteda

WorldSoilsAgenda.Severaldocuments,conven-

tionsandagreementswithparticularreferenceto

soilsexistattheinternationallevel.

Toquoteafew:

FrameWorkConventiononClimateChange-

FCCC

ConventiononBiologicalDiversity-CBD

ConventiontoCombatDesertification-CCD

GlobalEnvironmentOutlook-GEO 4InternationalAssessmentofAgriculturalScience

andTechnologyDevelopment-IAASTD

IntergovernmentalPanelonClimateChange-

IPCC

MillenniumEcosystemAssessment-MAetc.

TheworldCommissiononEnvironmentand

Development-WCED

UNConferenceonEnvironmentandDevelopment-UNCED

ConventionontheConservationofBiological

Diversity-CCBD

CommissiononGlobalGovernance-CGG

RioDeclarationonEnvironmentandDevelop-

ment-UN

Agenda21-UN

The FAO, WRI provides country assessment on

quantityofarablelandandotherindicatorsforna-

tionalandglobalassessments.TheFAO/UNESCO

soilMapoftheWorld,whichisnowdigitallyavail-

ableprovidesforthefirsttimeadigitaldatabaseof

globalsoilresources.FAOsLandandWaterDevel-

A P R I L 2008 19


20/62

opmentDivisionhaveproducednumerousbench-

markpublications.Itremainsthecustodianofthou-

sands o f soil maps and major source of so il

informationworldwide.

EuropeancommissiondevelopedaThematicstrat-egyonsoilprotection.Developingcountriesdoes

nothaveacomprehensivesoilprotectionsystem

liketheEU,totacklethevariousaspectsofsoil

management.

TheRural Development Institute, USAhave con-

ductedfieldresearchandadvisedonlandreformis-

suesin37countriesinAsia,LatinAmerica,Eastern

Europe,AfricaandtheMiddleEast.Someofthede-

veloping countries including India haveNational

landusepolicieswhicharequitedifferentfromsoil

protectionpoliciesofdevelopedworld.InIndiatheNationalLandUseandConservation

Boardisthehighestpolicyplanningandcoordinat-

ingAgencyforallissuesconcerningthehealthand

scientificmanagementofcountryslandresources.

ThebasicobjectivesoftheBoardaretoformulate

andimplementtheNationalLandUsePolicy,topre-

pareperspectiveplanforcountryslandresources,

makeoverallreviewoftheprogressofimplementa-

tionofon-goingschemesandprogramsrelatingto

thelandresources,sponsorstudies,organizesemi-

nars,workshopsetc.andalsotolaunchawareness

campaignforconservationoflandresourcesinthe

country. The policy direction and guidelines are

beingissuedfromtimetotimetocheckthediver-

sionofgoodagriculturallandtonon-agricultural

uses,preparationofStatelevelperspectiveplans

forlandresourcesconservationandimplementing

theNationalLandUsePolicyoutlineetc.

Acomprehensivenationalsoilpolicyshouldinclude:

climate change, Biodiversity, GM crops, Biogeo-

chemicalcycles,carboncredit,landuseandland

coverchange,urbanization,industrialization,river

linking,geogenicpollutants,ecosystems,agricul-ture,forests,animals,genderissues,landrights,ap-

plicationofinterdisciplinaryknowledge,prevention

andmanagementpolicies,soilthresholdvaluesfor

pollutants,standardsforsoilquality,militaryactiv-

ityandotherhumaninducedactivitiesandeco-

nomicsetc.Nationalsoilpoliciescanbeapartof

environmental protection laws of the countries.

Mostofthedevelopingcountrieshavethelawsre-

latedtoairandwaterpollutioncontrolandprotec-

tion of biodiversity but not on soil protection

directly.Therearenocomprehensivelawstopro-

tectthesoilsindevelopingcountriesduetourban-

izationandindustrializationetc.Anestimated45%

oftheworldspopulationstillmakestheirlivingpri-

marilyfromAgriculture,dependingdirectlyonthe

landfortheirincome,status,andsecurity.Hence

thereisaneedtodevelopnationalsoilpoliciesby

thesecountries.MostoftheNationalSoilScienceSocietiesinde-

velopingcountriesplaysalimitedrolecurrently,

withlittleengagementwiththekeyprofessional

andsocialissuesthat confrontthe soil sciences.

ThereisaneedforallNationalSoilScienceSocieties

indevelopingcountriescanbereformedtolearning

andpartnershipbasedinnovationsystemsapproach

enablingprofessionalexcellence,fieldleveltech-

nologyutilization,alongwithsubstantialpolicyand

donorsupport.

FinallyItakethisopportunitytoappeal,allthena-tionalsoilsciencesocieties,scientists,policymak-

ersandadministratorsinthedevelopingcountries

toprepareacomprehensivesoilprotectionpolicy

oftheirowntosuittheirneedswiththehelpof

IUSSandthiscanbeincorporatedintorespective

environmentallawsofthecountryforeasyimple-

mentation.



21/62

The 2007 Kerner von Marilaun

Declaration on SoilsThefourthreportoftheIntergovernmentalPanel

onClimateChange1 makesitclearthatglobaltem-

peraturesareontheriseduetohumanactivities.

Theroleofsoilsinglobalclimatechangemeritsim-

mediateattentionduetoitsparamountimportance

forhumansustenance.

Soils performa multitude of key environmental,

economic, social, and cultural functions. These

functionsincludeproductionoffoodandotherbio-massproducts;provisionofresources;andthestor-

age,filtering,andtransformationofmaterials(such

aswater)thatarevitalforlife.Soilsareaphysical

andculturalenvironmentforhumankind,anatural

habitat,andtheysustainthelargestgenepoolin

thebiosphere. Pressuresonsoilsareincreasingdra-

matically.Soilsneedtobecomecentraltoglobal

changediscussionsinordertoadvisepolicymakers

intheirunderstandingofthepotentials,limits,and

vulnerabilitiesofsoils.Inparticular,strategiesfor

sustainablemanagementofsoilsinarapidlychang-

ingworldrequireabetterunderstandingofsoil-

humaninteractions.

Weareinthemidstofadramaticaccelerationof

agriculturalchangeastheworldstrivestomeetthe

food andenergy needs of a growing population

withintheframeworkofresourcelimitationsand

thedesiretoreducegreenhousegasemissions.In

itsscopeandsizethechallengeiscomparabletothe

transformationofagriculturewhichtookplaceas

partoftheIndustrialRevolutionofthenineteenth

centuryanditsextensionbytheintroductionofsyn-

theticfertilizerandpesticidesduringthetwentiethcentury.

The recent global environmental outlook by the

UnitedNationsEnvironmentProgram2 understates

the vulnerability of soils when stating that land

degradationismorereversiblethanotherprocesses

ofglobalchange-suchassea-levelriseandspecies

extinction.Soilsareanon-renewableresource,with

soilbuildingtimesbetween10.000sand100.000s

ofyears.Degradationisexacerbatingthenatural

limitationsofsoils,inparticularbyaffectingawide

rangeofprocessesthatmaintainsoils.

Humanimpactsonsoilsarecomplexandsitespe-

cific;resultinginpressuresonbiodiversity,water

availabilityandquality,andtheatmosphere.Our

rapidlyincreasingneedsforfoodandenergyplace

growingandconflictingdemandsonsoil.Develop-

mentissues,foodsecurity,natureconservation,our

dependenceonfossilfuels,socialinequality,and

armedconflict,allhaveabearingonsoils.Wellinformed,effectivepublicpolicyrequiresinte-

gratedknowledgeofsoils,water,air,andbiota.It

requiresthatweunderstandtheroleofsoilsasme-

diatorsinglobalwaterandelementfluxesandthe

linkagesbetweensitespecificandglobalprocesses.

Human-soilinteractionsmustbeacenterofcon-

cernifwearetomeetthechallengeofprovidingfu-

turegenerationswithproductivesoils.

Workshop participants: Barbara Amon, Thomas

Amon,AndreasBaumgarten,WinfriedE.H.Blum,

KlausButterbach-Bahl,GregoryCushman,Michael

Englisch,MarkusFiebig,EmmanuelFrossard,Martin

Gerzabek,GerhardGlatzel,HelmutHaberl,Franz

Heinzlmaier,SigbertHuber,EllenKandeler,Klaus

Katzensteiner,Hans-PeterKaul,FridolinKrausmann,

HelgaKromp-Kolb,ErnstLangthaler,GreggMarland,

AndreasMller,NebojsaNakicenovic,MarionRa-

musch, Kate B. Showers, Heide Spiegel, Verena

Winiwarter,WilfriedWiniwarter,SophieZechmeis-

ter-Boltenstern.

Formoreinformation,pleasecontacttheworkshop

organizers:MartinGerzabek:[email protected] or

VerenaWiniwarter:[email protected]

A P R I L 2008 21

1 IPCCAR4,SynthesisReport:ClimateChange2007.Release:November17,2007

2Global EnvironmentOutlookGEO4,EnvironmentforDevelopment,ed. UnitedNationsEnvironmentProgramme,2007.


22/62

Five Questions to a Soil Scientist

Five Questionsto Roland Poss

Age: 55 years

Position: DirectorofResearchatIRDAddress: IRD,SupAgroBt12

2placeViala,

34060Montpelliercedex

E-mail: [email protected]

1. When did you decide to study soil science?

IdecidedtostudysoilsciencewhenIwas20.Ihad

aninclinationforoutdooractivitiesthathadled

metostudyAgronomywhenIwas18.Inmyfirst

yearintheInstitutNationalAgronomique(Agro

ParisTechtoday)Iwasfascinatedbythesoilsci-

enceclassofJeanBoulaine,anoutstandingpro-

fessorandkeenhistorianofFrenchsoilscience

and agronomy. Unlike other professors, Jean

Boulainehadorganizedhisclassaroundthepro-

jection ofsl ides, which wasmost unusual at the

time.Thismadesoilscienceverylivelyandattrac-

tive.AsaconsequenceImajoredinTropicalSoil

Sciencethenextyear.

2. Who has been your most influential teacher?

Icannotspotanyparticularlyinfluentialteacher.

WehadclasseswithmanyscientistsspecialisedinTropicalSoilScience,mostofthemfromORSTOM

(IRDtoday).GeorgesAubert(anHonorarymem-

berofIUSS)gaveaninterminableclassonpedo-

genesisthatwasthebasisofourtraining,butI

wasnotfascinatedasIwasalreadymoreinter-

estedin soil changesunderpresent cultivation

practices than in past changes. Georges Pdro

(todayPerpetualSecretaryoftheFrenchAcademy

ofAgriculture)impressedmebyaveryinteresting

andremarkablystructuredclassonsoilmineral-

ogy.Ibecamehisbeststudentever,keptaninter-

estinsoilmineralogy,butdidnotworkinthisfield

afterwards.

3. What do you find most exciting about soil science?Well,letstrytoanswerthisone!IfIlookbackatmy

career,Ireckonthatthetwodrivingforceswerea

commitmenttowardstheagriculturaldevelopment

ofthetropicalcountrieswereIworked(CtedIvoire,

TogoandThailand)andthepassiontounravelthe

processesatworkincultivatedsoils.Finally,what

keptmegoingthroughouttheyearswastheideathat

a better understanding of the functioning of the

Tropicalsoilswouldmakepossibletomanagethem

betterand,hopefully,contributetoimprovethewell-

beingofthefarmersoftropicalregionsinthelongrun.IrealizetodaythatIhavelargelyunderestimated

theimportanceofthesocio-economicparameters

(bothlocalandglobal)inruraldevelopment.

4. How would you stimulate teenagers and young

graduates to study soil science?

Inrenewingthewaysoilscienceistaught.Iamcon-

vincedthattodaystudentsneedtomasterdifferent

fieldstoadjusttothechangestheywillhavetoun-

dergointheircareer.ThusIreckonthatsoilscience

mustbedeliberatelyplacedatthejunctionbetween

differentfields(chemistry,physics,microbiology)

andthatthestudentmustbeabletomasterenough

ofthedifferentfieldstoaddressthemanyissuessoil

sciencesisconfrontedwith.Onewaytopartially

achievethisnecessarylinkbetweenfieldsandto

triggerinterestamongststudentsistomakethem

workonrealsituations.

5. How do you see the future of soil science?

Unfortunately,Icannotpredictthefuture!However,

Idoseeagrowinginterestinsoilscienceinthewake

oftheemergingenvironmentalconcerns.IbelievethattheMillenniumEcosystemAssessmenthaspro-

videdsoilsciencewithaveryattractiveframework.

Todaywecanspeakaboutsoilsbythemanyservices

theyprovidetotheecosystemsandhumansocieties.

Thisrenewedwayoflookingatsoilsmakesanybody

interestedinourfield.Ibelievethatthedayswere

wehadstrongsoilsciencedepartmentsaregonefor-

ever.However,Ireckonthattheneedforsoilscien-

tistsingroupsworkingonterrestrialecosystemshas

neverbeensostrong.Iexpectthatinthefuturesoil

sciencewillbesplitbetweenmanysmallunitsand

thatoneoftheissueswillbetofindthewaytokeep

thesemanysmallunitsintouch.



23/62

Five Questions toHans-Peter Blume

Age: 75years

Position: emeritierter(retired)Professor

ofSoilScience

Address: Christian-Albrechts-University,

InstituteofPlantNutrition&SoilScience,D24098Kiel,

Germany



Afterpreparingmydiplomaworkduringmystudy

ofAgriculturalSciencesatKielUniversityaboutClay

migration as profile forming process in summer

1957 myteacher in Soil Science, later Professor

ErnstSchlichting(1923-1988)askmetocontinue

mystudiesof claymigration ashis PhDstudent,

whatIhavedonebetween1958and1961.


MyfirstandmostinfluentialteacherwasErnst

Schlichting. I was his first PhD student in Soil

Science.Duringthesummer1960Icouldaccompany

himtostudyTundraandSubarcticSoilsinNorthern

Sweden for two months, which was anintensive

learningbydoingtogetherwithhim.Duringthesix-

tiesIwashisassistantinHohenheim,butintensive

scientific discussions followed later on until his

death.

3. What do you find most exciting about soil science?

Mostexcitingformeisthestudyofsoilprofilesin

the field, especiallythose withunknown history.

DuringtheseventiesIcouldstudyfascinatingsoils

frombricksandmortaraswellasofandbesidesan-

itarylandfillsinBerlin.Thelatteronesshowedme

e.g.thatwelldrainedsoilswithstrongreducedcon-

ditionsdoexist(asReducticTechnosols).LateronI

hadthepossibilitytostudyverydifferentsoilunits

ofhotandcolddeserts,andfoundmanysimilarities

betweenthem,e.g.polygonsofsandfilledcracksof

claysoilsaswellassandyones.



Iamretirednow,butIshowyoungschoolteachers

someofourinGermanyexistingpathwaysofsoilprofiles so that they will show these fascinating

bodiesofnaturetotheirstudents.Ishowteenagers

mystampcollectionofSoilScienceLandUseSoil

Protectioninaddition.


SoilScienceisayoungbutpowerfuldiscipline.Soil

mappingofruralareaswasdoneinmanycountries.

ButsimilarstudiesinUrbanandIndustrialAgglomer-

ationsarejustatthebeginning.Ourknowledgeabout

manyfundamentalprocessesofsoilformationlikepodzolization,carbonatisation,silificationorredoxi-

mophismareincompleteuntilnow,havetobedone

withmoreintensity.Itseemstomethatitismuch

moreeasy,togetmoneyforanalyzingsoilpollution

inmanycountries,thantosolvefundamentalques-

tionsofabetterunderstandingofsoilformation.

Five Questionsto Hossein Khadem

Age: 47years

Position: ProfessorofSoilScience(Environmental

PedologyandMineralogy),Deanof

GraduateStudies,IUT

Address: DepartmentofSoilScience,CollegeofAgriculture

IsfahanUniversityofTechnology(IUT),

Isfahan84156,Iran



In1984,duringthefinalyearofmyundergraduate

degreeinAgriculturalSciencesattheIsfahanUni-

versityofTechnology(Iran),Ihadtochooseabout

20creditunitsfromoneofthefourmajorsubjects

includingAgronomyandPlantBreeding,Horticul-

turalScience,SoilScienceandPlantProtection.Ide-

cidedtotakesoilsciencecourseswhichdeveloped

A P R I L 2008 23


24/62

myinterestinthissubjectandfurtherencouraged

metocontinuemyeducationinSoilSciencelaterat

bothM.Sc.andPh.Dlevels.

2. Who has been your most influential teacher?Itis,infact,verydifficulttoanswerthisquestionbe-

causemanydistinguishedteachersinfluencedmyac-

ademiccareer.AmongthemareDr.M.KalbasiandDr.

A.JalalianfromtheDepartmentofSoilScienceatthe

IsfahanUniversityofTechnology(Iran),Dr.A.R.Mer-

mutfromtheDepartmentofSoilScience,University

of Saskatchewn, Saskatoon, Canada and Dr. R.H.

KrousefromtheDepartmentofPhysicsandAstron-

omy,UniversityofCalgary,Calgary,Canada,who

undoubtedlyhadagreatcontributiontomyunder-

standingofscience,ingeneral,andthatofsoils,inpar-ticular.Icanneverforgetthefirstsessionofthecourse

IntroductiontoSoilScienceIhadwithDr.Kalbasi

whenhestarteddefiningPedologyandEdaphol-

ogyandelaboratingtheirsignificance.Lateron,I

learned a lot about Soil Chemistry from him. Dr.

JalalianwasmyM.Scthesissupervisorwhotaughtme

thatthesoilandlandscapesthemselveswerethebest

teachersforSoilScientists.WhatIlearnedfromDr.

Mermut,myPh.D.supervisor,isthatdedicationand

hardworkingarethekeysforsuccessinresearch.Dr.

Krouse,aphysicist,taughtmehowbasicsciences,such

asphysics,couldbeusedtoanswersomeofthemajor

questionsinappliedscienceslikePedology.


Tome,soilvariabilityinspaceandtimeisthefun-

damentalreasonwhysoilscienceasascientificdis-

ciplineexists.Variabilityin soilpropertiesresults

fromchangesinsoilformingfactorsandalsothe

modifications (mostly adverse) made by anthro-

pogenicactivities.Ifsoilswereofthesamekindand

originfromsmalltolargescales,wewouldnothave

spentsomuchtimeandeffortonsoilrelatedre-search.Scaledependencyofsoilvariabilityisespe-

ciallyexciting.Whenyoulookatthesoilparticles

underatransmissionorscanningelectronmicro-

scopewithamagnificationofmorethan100000

times,youstillobserveaworldofdiversityandvari-

abilityasyouareoutsideinthefieldwatchingwith

yournakedeyesthebeautyofdiversityinsoils,land-

scapes,vegetationsandsoon.



Itisextremelydifficultthesedaystoconvincethe

newgenerationtochoosesoilscienceasadisci-

plineforstudyandwork,particularlyinthedevel-

opingcountrieswhereeasy-to-dokindsofjobsare

moreattractiveintermsofincometheyprovide.In

suchconditions,itisessentialtocommunicatethe

fascinationandimportanceofsoilstoschoolstu-dentsandalsotoschoolteachers.Inmyopinion,

teenagersandyounggraduatesshouldbetakenout

totherealworldwheretheycanseetheinterac-

tion between soils and living phenomena. They

needtoseehowandwhysoilsaredifferentsothat

theycanhaveabetterunderstandingofwhydif-

ferentsoilsshouldbemanageddifferently.Theim-

portanceofsoilfromdifferentaspectshastobe

welladvertised.

5. How do you see the future of soil science?SoilSciencewillcontinuetoplayanimportantrole

asascientificdisciplineaslongasthesoilandthe

humanpopulationsthatdependonthesoilendure.

ApartfromthetraditionaltaskofSoilScientistsin

sustainableagriculture,theyhavemuchtoofferin

understandinghowsoilsinfluence,driveandcon-

trolotherimportantprocesseslinkedtosoilcon-

tamination and atmospheric pollution. Global

warmingandenvironmentalpollutionsappeartobe

todaystopinternationalissues.Evenifwearevery

optimistic,theworldpopulationwouldstillincrease

butwithamuchlowerrate.Theanthropogenicac-

tivitieswouldcontinuedisturbinganddegradingthe

ecosystem.So,justlikethelastfewdecades,envi-

ronmentrelatedproblemswouldstillremainastop

prioritiesontheagendaofscientists,particularly

SoilScientists,toexploremethodstoremediatethe

contaminatedsoils and to reclaim the degraded

lands.As wecollectmoreand more information

aboutoursoils,theneedtolinkourinformation

withotherappliedscienceswouldmorenecessitate

thediversityinourtasks.Wedefinitelyneedtodo

moreteamworkandconductmultidisciplinaryre-searchinfuturewiththecooperationofscientists

suchasEcologists,Biologists,Geologists,Chemists

andEngineers.

Gettinginvolvedinexaminingsoils(orsoil-likema-

terials)fromotherplanetsinfuturealsoseemsto

bewithinthereachofSoilScientistsofthenewmil-

lennium.LetsseewhatthenextgenerationsofSoil

Scientistswoulddowiththesoilswhichcoverthe

planetearthaswellasthetopmantleofperhaps

otherplanets!SoilScientistswouldperhapsfind

newissuestohandleinfuture.Nevertheless,they

wouldneverseemtolosetheircurrentlinkagewith

food,feedandfiberproduction.



25/62

Five questionsto Pandi Zdruli

Age: 50

Position: SeniorResearchScientist

Address: InternationalCentreforAdvanced

MediterraneanAgronomicStudies

(CIHEAM),MediterraneanAgronomic

InstituteofBari,LandandWaterDepartment,ViaCeglie9,

70010Valenzano(BA)Italy



IgrewupinasocietywheretheGovernmentdecided

wheretostudy,work,andlive.AsacityboyIhad

otherdreamsrather thenstudyingagriculture,but

theysentmeattheFacultyofAgronomyoftheAgri-

culturalUniversityofTirana,inAlbania.Despitesome

initialmalcontentIfoundthisFacultyexitingandchal-

lenging,especiallyPedology.Mydirectcontactwith

thesoilthoughwasaftergraduationwhenIservedfor

sixyearsasagronomistinanagriculturalcooperative

nearTirana.AllwhatIknewfromthebookswasnow

realandIstillrememberverywellwhatitmeansto

findtherightmomenttoploughaVertisol.Itrulyde-

cidedtodedicatemyselftosoilsin1988whenIstarted

workingattheSoilScienceInstituteofTiranaandes-

peciallyafterIwonin1992theFulbrightfellowship

competitiontocontinueresearchandstudyonsoils

attheUSDANaturalResourcesConservationService

(NRCS)inWashingtonDCforjustaboutfiveyears.IcouldsaynowthatImverygratefulforthischoice.


UndoubtedlyDr.HariEswaran,NationalLeaderat

theUSDANRCSWorldSoilResourcesinWashington

DC,USA.Hiswiseadvice,dedication,scrutiny,and

friendshiptaughtmeadifferentwayofdoingbusi-

ness,andyetIfindathispapersplentyofideasand

topicstobeexplored.


Weallknowthatthesoilisaverycomplexsystem.

Tostudyitthusoneshouldhaveacompletescien-

tificbackground.Sothisisexiting.Whyweyethave

severaldisagreementsforinstancetoacceptanin-

ternationalsoilclassificationsystem(despitetheex-

cellent work done by the WRB group). Perhaps

becausewestilldontknoweverythingaboutthesoils.I rememberonceHarisayingafterspending

hoursin asoilprofile:Ifsoils couldtalknoone

couldpredicthowtheywouldinsultsoilscientists.

AndDr.RichardArnoldusedtosay,soilsarenever

wrong,henceweshouldfindoutwhyandhow

theyareoutthereandImconvincedthiscouldnot

bedoneonlywithremotesensingandGIS.



Iwasonceinvitedtogiveatalkonsoilsattheele-mentaryschoolofmyson.Itwasinterestingtore-

spondtotheirquestionsandInoticedhowhardis

forustospeaktheirlanguage.Imsurewithadults

ismuchdifficult.Sowemustmakeourscienceeas-

ierbutnotsimpler.TheSoilAtlasofEuropepre-

paredbytheEuropeanSoilBureauNetwork(ESBN)

hasasectionThesoilinyourgarden.Thepurpose

istobringthisresourceclosertothosethattakeit

forgranted.Wemustfindsimilarexamplestostim-

ulateinterestinsoilsforthelargerpublicandnot

onlyforstudents.TheopeningoftheSmithsonian

SoilsExhibitinWashingtonDCinJuly2008issome-

thingtobeapplauded.Peopleshouldunderstand

thatisastruerasyoucouldgetsickfrompolluted

waterandairaswellasfrompollutedsoils.


AdecadeagoasoilscientistfromNewZeelandcir-

culatedanessayentitledIsPedologydeadand

buried? Idontthink thesituationnowis much

bettertoday.IwasleadingatourInstituteasoilsur-

veyteamuntil2001butnoneofmyfouryoungcol-

leagues(onewasagirl)iswithussincethen.Afterhavingspentfiveyearssurveyinghundredsofsoil

profilesinPuglia,Italyandevenhavingtheirfirstin-

ternationalexperienceinsoilsurvey,whentheproj-

ectcametoendtheyhadtoleave.Noneofthemis

doinganythingwithsoilseversince.Letmeaskalso

howmanyofushavesuggestedtoourchildrena

carrierinsoilscience?

Idontthinkthisisneithersustainablenorfairtosoil

scienceandtothepeoplewhodevotetoit.Tosur-

vivethusweneedtobroadenhorizonsbeyondthe

soilprofile.Weneedtoembarkinaneco-systemap-

proachandtodemonstratethatsoilsareequallyim-

portant to water, air, geology, biodiversity,

A P R I L 2008 25


26/62

socio-economicsofsoilmanagement,andnottouse

forinstancewaterasanexcusefordoingsoilre-

search.Weneedtotalknotonlytoourselves(aswe

oftendo!)butalsotootherscientistsandespecially

topolicyanddecisionmakers.Otherwisewecouldcontinuetoexperiencedisappointingnewssuchas

thelatestfromtheEUCouncilmeetinginDecember

2007wherenopoliticalagreementwasreachedon

thedraftdirectivefortheEUThematicStrategyfor

SoilProtection,asetbackespeciallyfortheESBNand

forthehardworkthathadinvestedonit.

Five questions toTibor Toth

Age: 52years

Position: Scientificadvisor

Address: RISSAC-MTATAKI

ResearchInstituteforSoilScienceand

AgriculturalChemistryoftheHungarian

AcademyofSciences

Mailingaddress:P.O.Box35.Hungary1525

Streetaddress:BudapestII.HermanO.ut15.



AsagraduateofchemistryIstartedtoworkinthe

SoilChemicalLaboratoryoftheResearchInstitute

ofDebrecenAgriculturalUniversityinKarcag.Faced

with the strange methods and parametersused

there,Iwascurioustounderstandmorethanwhatwastaughtbytheprofessorsofcolloidchemistry

attheuniversity.Theself-studywasfollowedbya

regulareducation,theonlywayofformalsoilsci-

encecurriculuminHungary.Westillhavethatcor-

responding soil science course and there are

alreadyfourhundredsoilscienceMScdegreehold-

ersinthecountry.


Therewereseveralexcellentscientistswhohelped

mesomewayduringmy27yearsthatIspentinsoil

science.ThefirsttimewhenIcollaboratedwitha

world-classscientist,TheoBruggenwert,Iimmedi-

atelyrealizedthestrengthofthemotivationpro-

videdbycuriousstudents.Thereisstillalistofun-

solved problems discussed with Theo and his

studentsthatIrememberaftertwenty-twoyears.


TherearetwothingsthatI findveryexciting.Soil

scienceisrelatedtosomanyissues,thatitisdiffi-

culttoimagineanythingindependentfromsoils.For

exampleinourinstitutewecollaboratenotonly

with agronomists,botanists, geologists, but also

with physicians, ethnologists, economists some

times. Soilsarevariableinspaceandtime.There

areveryinterestingcauseandeffectrelationsbe-

hindthevariation.Furthermorethevariationisre-

flected by vegetation, and this way creates thefundamentalsofterrestrialbiodiversity.



AsresearcherIdonothavefrequentcontactwith

younggraduates.Forstimulatingtheseyoungsters

participationinamotivatingprojectwithuncon-

ventionaltechniquesandinterdisciplinarycollabo-

rationmaybethebest.Whensoilscienceisshown

frommultipleanglesitisaveryattractivediscipline.


Soilsciencehasaverygreatfuture.Ithasavery

strongcenturybehindandhasconvincedthesoci-

etythatitisusefulandcontributestothewellbeing

ofthecitizens.Soilscienceisopen,receivesstu-

dentsfromlargenumberofdisciplinesandprovides

resultstomanyscientists.Increasingnumberofde-

cisionsrequiressoilresearch.



27/62

The favourite soil science books

Sergey V. Goryachkin (Russia)Soilscienceisthelargebranchofknowledgeat-

tractingthespecialistwithverydifferentmentali-

tiesandpreferences.Soilbiologistscanbecloserto

thebiologyandsoilchemistcanbebiasedtowards

chemistry.Thatiswhythefavoritebookofasoilsci-

entistdepends on thebranch of ourscience he

worksin.Iamasoilgeographerandspecialistin

soilsofcoldclimates.Itdeterminesmypreference

inscientificreading.

MyfirstchoiceisthebookofV.M.Fridland(Fridland

V.M.1976.Patternofthesoilcover.IsraelProgramforScientificTranslations,Jerusalem,291p.)andits

continuationandadaptationtoEnglish-speakingsci-

entificcommunity(HoleF.D.,CampbellJ.B.1985.

Soillandscapeanalysis.Rowman&AllanheldPub-

lishers,216p.).Thesetwobooksarenotverypop-

ularnow,intheeraofpedometrics,however,they

havebeenrevolutionaryin1970sasthesystemap-

proachtoinvestigatesoilcoversnotjustasacol-

lectionofsoilprofilesorevensoilcatenasbutasa

three-dimensionalsystemswithdifferentcompo-

nentsandlinkages.Theyallowedtoelaboratenew

soilmapswherewereshown1)soilsassoilcover

components,2)soilpercentageineverymappoly-

gon,3)linkagesbetweensoilsand4)thegenetic

morphologyofapattern.Evennowthemostofsoil

mapsandGISdatabaseshasonlytwocharacteris-

ticsoffouronessuggestedbytheauthorsofthese

books.

MysecondchoiceistheEncyclopaediaofpolar

soilsthebookoftherealgiantincoldsoilsstudy

J.C.F.Tedrow(TedrowJ.C.F.Soilsofthepolarland-

scapes.RutgersUniv. press.1977. 664 pp.). This

bookembracesPolarRegionsofbothhemispheresArcticandAntarctic. J.C.F.Tedrowincludedallthe

knowledgeonpolarsoilsthesciencehadattheend

of1970s.HecitedmanyGerman,French,Russian

andScandinavianbooksandpapers.Heexplained

allthesidesandspecificitiesofpedogenesisinhigh

latitudescryogenicchurning,theformationofpat-

ternedgroundandotherfeaturescausedbyper-

mafrost.Therehavebeenpublishedalotofnew

data,papersandbooksonpolarsoilscapessince

thattimebutthemostcomprehensivemonograph

isstilltheoneofJ.C.F.Tedrow.

MythirdchoiceistwovolumesofM.A.Glazovskayas

SoilsoftheWorld(GlazovskayaM.A.1983.Soilsof

theworld:Vol.1.Soilfamiliesandsoiltypes.214p.GlazovskayaM.A.1984.Soilsoftheworld:Vol.2.

SoilGeography411p.NewDelhi,Amerind.).They

werepublishedinRussianin1972,beforeSoilTax-

onomyandFAO-UNESCOSoilMap.So,thisbook

wasoneofthefirstoverlooksoftheglobalpedos-

phere.Thefirstvolumeconcernsdifferentsoilsof

theworld.Theapproachoftheirsystematization

wasabsolutelynovelatthattime.Itcombinesboth

substantialandgeneticapproachesbasingonsuch

characteristicsaspH,Eh,CECanditssaturationas

wellasgenetichorizons.Thesecondvolumeisthesystematicinformationonsoildistributionondif-

ferentcontinentsandsomegeneralapproachesto

soilgeography.Theyareacombinationofbiocli-

maticzonalityandgeogenicregionalization.This

monographisstilloneof thebestanalysesofthe

worldssoilsandpedosphere.

FridlandV.M.1976.Patternofthesoilcover.

IsraelProgramforScientificTranslations,

Jerusalem,291p.

HoleF.D.,CampbellJ.B.1985.Soillandscape

analysis.Rowman&AllanheldPublishers,216p.

TedrowJ.C.F.Soilsofthepolarlandscapes.Rut-

gersUniv.press.1977.664pp.

GlazovskayaM.A.1983.Soilsoftheworld:Vol.

1.Soilfamiliesandsoiltypes.NewDelhi,

Amerind.214p.

GlazovskayaM.A.1984.Soilsoftheworld:Vol.

2.SoilGeography.NewDelhi,Amerind,411p.

Mary Idowu (Nigeria)OneofmyfavoritesoilsciencebooksisthePrinciple

ofSoilChemistrybyTan,K.H.oftheDepartmentofCropandSoilSciences,theUniversityofGeorgia,

Athens.Itwasanexpandededition,publishedin

1998.ThebookwasaveryusefulPh.Dresearchand

teaching material for me. It clearly explains the

basicchemicalandthermodynamicprinciples,soil

airandwater,thesoilgasandliquidphases,and

cationexchangetheories.Theimportanceofsoilor-

ganicacidsandtheirchelationreactionsaredis-

cussedmoreexplicitly.

ThefocusofmyPh.D.wasonSoilFertilityandPlant

Nutrition,withspecialinterestinsodiumandpotas-

siumasnutrientsfortomatoproduction.Mineral

NutritionofHigherPlantbyMarschner,H,revised

A P R I L 2008 27


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editionthatwaspublishedin1998wasaveryim-

portantbooktome.Thisbookisagreatcollection

ofknowledgeneededinmineralnutritionofplants.

Theinformationthatisoftenscatteredthroughout

theliteratureisbroughttogetherasasinglecom-prehensivetextbook.Thebookcontainsnumerous

tables,structureswithalotofreferencesonsoilnu-

trientavailabilityandtransportation,compartmen-

tation and functions in the plant. It deals with

macroandmicronutrientelements,andthosethat

areatthevergeofbeingconsideredessentialto

plants.Iappreciatetheeffortsoffriendswhomade

thedreamoftheAuthorareality.

FertilizerUseandManagementPracticesforCrops

inNigeriabytheFederalMinistryofAgricultureand

RuralDevelopment,editedbypioneersoilscientistsAduayi,E.A., Chude,V.O.,Adebusuyi, B.A. and

Olayiwola,S.O.,publishedin2002isanotherfa-

voritebookforme.Thebookcoverslargeareaof

agriculturalland,classifiedNigeriansoilsandindi-

catedmanagementstrategiesforeffectivefertilizer

use.SoilclassificationwasbasedonUSDAand/or

FAO/UNESCO.Thebookisuniquebecauseitcon-

tainsinformationontheplantnutrientlevelsand

socio-economicfactorsinfluencingfertilizerusage

inNigerian.Italsoincorporatesinformationonfer-

tilizerrequirementsofdiversearablecropinNige-

ria.Thebookisusefulforbothsoilscientistsand

agronomists.



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Course

Functions of microbial

communities in soils:impact of anthropisationand sustainable use

WearepleasedtoinformyouthataneweditionoftheFrenchGermanSummerschoolentitledfunc-

tionsofmicrobialcommunitiesinsoils:impactof

anthropistionandsustainableusedand supported

bytheFr

Documents

IUSS Bulletin 112 Hires