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L'articolo Reminder – IUSS Alert Data Security Update proviene da iuss.org.

Season’s Greetings

The IUSS Executive Committee and the IUSS Secretariat would like to thank all IUSS Standing Committees, Divisions, Commissions and Working Groups, Honorary members and Full members as well cooperating partners for their support in this year of the pandemic to bring forward soil science as a valuable contribution to solve global challenges.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas as well as peace, hope and health.

IUSS – FAO-GSP Children’s book contest on Soil Biodiversity

IUSS and FAO-GSP together launched a scientific children’s book contest on Soil Biodiversity in the framework of World Soil Day 2020. The motto was “Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity”. FAO, IUSS and GSP invited all those interested in soil and biodiversity – soil scientists, researchers, professors, teachers, classrooms, individual students, soil practitioners, designers, photographers or experts from any professional background – to submit their freestyle book proposal by 10 November 2020.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/international-decade-of-soils/

Flyer:

The winner stood to receive a cash prize of 1 000 USD, with the second and third prize receiving a cash prize of 500 USD and 250 USD respectively from IUSS and FAO’s GSP. The winners were announced on 4 December 2020.

Winners of the IUSS-FAO-GSP Children’s Book Contest on Soil Biodiversity

IUSS, FAO and GSP are pleased to announce the winners of the Children’s Book Contest on Soil Biodiversity:

1st place: ‘The science & spectacle of Soil Life by Roly Poly’, created by JiaJia Hamner (freelance, United States) and Sharada Keats (Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, United Kingdom).

Download the book:  The home of life. I am a living soil (42 MB)

2nd place: ‘Soil biodiversity. What’s most important?’ by Katelyn Lutes and Benjamin Ellert (Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada).

Download the book:  Soil biodiversity. What’s most important? (134 MB)

3rd place: ‘The home of life. I am a living soil’, by Claudio Lucas Capeche, Julia Franco Stuchi, Milena Pessoa Pagliacci, Fabrício de Martino, Alexandre Abrantes Cotta de Mello, Antonio Augusto Bianchi, Maya Stuchi Tedjini, Kelita Carlos Andrade (Embrapa Solos, Brazil).

Download the book: The home of life. I am a living soil (36MB)

All the first ten classified and awarded books as well as the mentions of honour can be found at http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/bookcontest/contest-results/en/

IUSS, FAO and GSP received over 100 books from 60 countries for the contest. Launched in the run-up to WSD2020, the book contest on soil biodiversity gave visibility to the importance of soil organisms and raised awareness on the urgency of protecting soil biodiversity.

Congratulations to the winners and finalists and a big thank you to all participants!

‘Soilutions’ calendar

Following a poster contest ‘Soilutions’ to find new solutions for soil problems, which the IUSS launched in 2019, it was decided to use the best 12 posters plus a cover poster to produce a permanent ‘Soilutions’ calendar. The calendar was made available for download on the IUSS website. Printed copies will be made available in the beginning of 2021 and can be ordered from iuss@umweltbundesamt.at.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/international-decade-of-soils/

YouTube videos of the British Soil Science Society shared during the Inter Congress Meeting

Below please find links to two YouTube videos about the 22^nd World Congress of Soil Sciences (WCSS22), which the British Soil Science Society shared during the IUSS Inter Congress Meeting, which took place virtually 18-23 November 2020.

WCSS 2022 – Arts and Tours Programme

WCSS 2022 – Welcome to Glasgow!

The video #Grounded shows the importance of soils for humankind. Soils are our past present and future. We must stay #Grounded. For more information on how you can reconnect with soils, visit: www.soils.org.uk/grounded.

Young Micromorphology Publication Awards (YMPA) 2021 – Reminder

Commission 1.1 – Soil Morphology and Micromorphology will award the Young Micromorphologist’s Publication Award every 2 years: at each International Working Meeting on Soil Micromorphology, and at each World Congress of Soil Science. Considering that the planned IWMSM2020 meeting in Krakow has been postponed to 2021 due to the COVID19 emergency, the award has also been postponed accordingly. It is planned to have two close YMPA awards (IWMSM-2021 and WCSS-2022).

The purpose of this award is to encourage and promote the use of soil micromorphology by young scientists. The award will be given to one, or more, young scientist who has published research in the preceding 4 years, that is an outstanding contribution to the principles, methodology, or application of micromorphology. The author must be less than 35 years old at the time of acceptance of the publication, and he/she must be the first author. The paper must be published in an international journal with wide distribution, but not necessarily a scientific journal. The award is not restricted to papers published in the English language only.

The Award Committee is composed of Fabio Scarciglia, Irina Kovda, Peter Kühn and Chair (Fabio Terribile) and Vice-chair (Richard Heck) of Commission 1.1.

Applicants should submit the following: (1) a pdf file of the paper(s) to be considered for the award, (2) proof of age for eligibility (ex: photocopy of ID or other document with birthdate), and (3) a cover letter explaining why they should be considered for this award. Letters of support from senior micromorphologists, outlining the qualities of the publication(s) are also welcome.

Applications are due December 31, 2020.

Send by email to: Prof. Fabio Terribile fabio.terribile@unina.it

General News

EGU 2021 Call for Abstracts – Sustainable Development by 2030: Developing an agenda for soils

Chairs: Daniel Evans, Victoria Janes-Bassett, Panos Panagos, Saskia Visser

By 2030, the Agenda for Sustainable Development – the 17 ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ – are intended to be achieved. The role of soil science, and the work between soil scientists and other disciplines, will be paramount over the coming decade. In particular, healthy and sustainable soil management plans will need to ensure that soils continue to deliver services to ecosystems, societies, and economies. Global climate change and the burgeoning demands from a growing world population are set to place escalating pressures on soils, suggesting an urgent need to build resilience into soil management whilst also reversing current global trends of soil degradation.

In this session, we aim to develop an evidence-based and solution-focused agenda for achieving healthy, sustainable, and resilient soil systems by 2030. We particularly welcome submissions that either:

– Highlight the advancements made over the past decade (2010-2020) in enhancing soil health, sustainability and/or resilience;

– Suggest further ways of fostering greater health, sustainability and/or resilience in soil systems over the decade to come;

– Consider how research agendas can be better integrated in order to sustain and enhance the delivery of multiple soil-derived ecosystem services.

Abstracts that make explicit links to the UN Sustainable Development Goals are encouraged, as well as those that demonstrate the importance of cross-disciplinary work between soil scientists and other divisions of geoscience. We strongly encourage abstract submissions from Early Career Scientists, particularly those that have not previously attended the EGU, to whom we can offer abstract support and guidance. The abstract submission deadline is 13 January 2021, 13:00 CET.

Submit an abstract here: https://tinyurl.com/EGUdecade

Follow the session using the hashtag: #EGUdecade

Land and Soil Management Award

This prize rewards land use and soil management practices that mitigate soil threats i.e. soil degradation, erosion, reduction of organic matter content, diffuse contamination, and compaction as well as the reduction of soil biodiversity, salinization, sealing, flooding and landslides. In doing so, the award sheds light on outstanding achievements, encouraging new concepts of land and soil protection and their implementation in land management, as well as enhancing awareness about the importance of land and soil functions. 

Who can apply? Farmers, landowners, land managers, groups of farmers, on their own or in collaboration with research institutes, universities and/or private companies.

The call is open for projects from all European countries.

Deadline: January 20, 2021

Read more: https://www.europeanlandowners.org/awards/soil-land-award

[From ESDAC Newsletter No 126 (December 2020)]

Multispectral reflectance data LUCAS 2015 are available

Last October, ESDAC announced the release of the LUCAS 2015 soil dataset. Now, also the Multispectral reflectance data are available for the 20,000+ soil samples of the LUCAS 2015 SOIL campaign. These data, together with the spectral library of the LUCAS 2009 SOIL campaign, will allow scientists to explore the potential of soil spectroscopy for determining accurately soil properties and demonstrate its operational robustness.

Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/lucas2015-topsoil-data

[From ESDAC Newsletter No 126 (December 2020)]

Check out the Soil Biodiversity Observation Network

Humans depend on living soil resources for their nutrition, recreation, and health needs. Yet, the current and future response of global soil biodiversity to human activities and the consequences for ecosystems and their essential functions remains unknown. Implementing operational and sustained programs to detect changes to soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning as a result of human activities is critical to understanding and managing impacts on natural capital and ecosystem services. Constituted as a global Soil Biodiversity Observation Network (Soil BON), this group is working in partnership with the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative (GSBI) and other international partners to make soil biodiversity and ecosystem function observations available to ensure living soil resources are sustainably conserved and managed.

Read more: https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/news-2/2020/11/23/soil-bon-collaboration

[From GSBI Newsletter – December 2020]

Take a Survey on Functional Traits of Soil Fauna

Please consider taking the following survey from Dr. Anton Potapov of EUdapobase, a COST Action Plan, if you use or are planning to use traits of soil fauna in your research. It should take about 5-10 minutes to complete. Feel free to disseminate the survey to your fellow soil researchers.

Take the survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSePezp8io1fbjj0yj6P64zN5mbri1zX1m_XnYU-JZWOHxdpQQ/viewform

[From GSBI Newsletter – December 2020]

Soil arthropod mesofauna takes the stage: advances from whole-community haplotype-level metabarcoding

Our understanding of the spatial structure and the underlying processes of community assembly of soil biodiversity have increased dramatically in the last years. However, this knowledge is still strongly unbalanced across taxonomic groups, a situation which hampers the development of an integrative framework for soil biodiversity. In particular, there is a pronounced shortage for soil arthropods, in part because the implementation of high-throughput sequencing to this soil biodiversity fraction has seen comparative little and delayed progress in adapting and exploiting these tools.

Read more: https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/blog-beneath-our-feet/2020/11/15/soil-arthropod-mesofauna-takes-the-stage-advances-from-whole-community-haplotype-level-metabarcoding

[From GSBI Newsletter – December 2020]

Soil Biodiversity for Kids

Check out the new special collection in Frontiers for Young Minds on soil biodiversity. This collection includes an article by Felix Gottschall and colleagues on the importance of conserving soil biodiversity called, “Can we save the beast by conserving the beauty?”

Read more: https://kids.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/frym.2020.547740

[From GSBI Newsletter – December 2020]

Sounding Soil

Initiated by Markus Maeder, a Swiss musicologist, ‘Sounding Soil’ is an interdisciplinary research project that studies the sounds of the ground. To put it simply, this project, which will end in 2021, analyses how and why soils emit different sounds depending on their use. The interim assessment is as follows: the greater the diversity of organisms living in the soil, the more complex the sound it emits.

‘Sounding Soil’ is a project involving six institutions: the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK), the Foundation for Ecological Development Biovision, the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), the National Soil Observatory (NABO), the Institute for Terrestrial Ecosystems (ETH Zurich) and the Research Institute for Organic Agriculture (FiBL).

Listen to the sounds of soil: https://www.soundingsoil.ch/en/

[From Le Monde de l’Agriculture Régénérative, December 2020, original article only available in French]

The Global Soil Doctors Programme

Soil Doctors are champion farmers who assist and train farmers in their community.

The Global Soil Doctors Programme provides soil doctors with training, educational material and soil testing kits to build capacity on the principles of soil science and promote the practice of sustainable soil management. They become the focal points to associations involved in promoting the global programme and work closely with government agencies, research centers, soil science societies, universities, NGOs, and more.  

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/pillars-action/2-awareness-raising/soil-doctor/en/

Movie ‘Keep soil alive’

Our mission: Keep #Soil alive! Let’s focus on protecting our soils before this process becomes irreversible.

Watch the movie: https://tinyurl.com/y2rg94ak

Conferences, Meetings and Workshops

The outbreak of the Corona virus is clearly a rapidly evolving situation. The organizers of the meetings listed below are constantly reviewing the situation in the light of global and country-specific advice to inform decisions to minimize the additional risks to attendees, their communities and those living in the meeting’s host country.

The IUSS will also continue to monitor the situation, and advise that prior to attending meetings our members review up to date information from their country’s government, the WHO and from the host country to ensure that everyone’s health and wellbeing remains a priority.

2021

“GSBI Speaks” Webinar Series

Join us for our next webinar, “First Global Soil Biodiversity Assessment: From science to policy – Part 2″ which will be held on January 21, 2021 at 8am – 9:30am MT; 3pm – 4:30pm GMT; 4pm -5:30pm CET

Read more: https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/webinars-1

[From GSBI Newsletter – December 2020]

3rd ISMC Conference – Advances in Soil Systems Modeling

18-22 May 2021, Tianjin, China.

The Conference will be hosted as virtual event.

Deadline for submitting abstracts: 14 March 2021

Early-bird registration deadline: 18 April 2021     Late registration deadline: 3 May 2021           

Conference website: https://soil-modeling.org/ismc-conference/ismc-conference

International Colloquium on Soil Zoology

16-21 August 2021 !new date!

Bolzano, South Tyrol, Italy

Early bird registration: 1 March – 31 May 2021

Website: https://icsz2020.eurac.edu/

2022

Global Conference on Sandy Soils

30 May – 3 June 2022 (postponed from 2020)

University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

Deadline for Abstract submission is March 31, 2022.

The papers from the conference will be published in the Progress of Soil Science Series (Springer).

Read more: https://sandysoils.org/

For the complete list of upcoming events, please see the event calendar on the IUSS website: https://www.iuss.org/meetings-events/

New publications

Soil Sciences Education: Global Concepts and Teaching

Edited by Takashi Kosaki, Rattan Lal, Laura Bertha Reyes Sánchez. Published in the CATENA series GeoEcology essays in December 2020; 198 pages, 96 figures, 28 tables, 17 x 24 cm, US-ISBN: 1-59326-272-8, ISBN 978-3-510-65523-6. The book can be ordered from the IUSS Secretariat (iuss@umweltbundesamt.at) at the price of EUR 29.90 (plus shipping costs); reduced price for IUSS members: EUR 25.00 (plus shipping costs).

Who knows, knows of, or even has awareness of soils? If many more people knew about soils, the land surface, which soil, water, flora, fauna and ourselves inhabit, our planet could not have suffered from the variety of global environmental problems that it suffers from today.

The International Union of Soil Sciences has identified education and public awareness of soils and soil sciences as one of the most important goals of the International Decade of Soils 2015-2024, which is reflected in this book.

This book addresses readers primarily involved in teaching soils, geosciences, environment, ecosystems, art, etc., in schools, and who serve at museums, educational or extension organizations, NPOs, NGOs, etc. Its authors provide a basic framework and a collection of good practices currently used in soil and soil sciences education to make students aware of soils and their importance. Specifically, this publication strives to enable readers to learn and share whatever is best suited to fit their particular requirements.

This book consists of three parts. Part I comprises concept, philosophy and tenets of soil sciences education for formulating its curricula at different levels from pre-school children to adult citizens. Part II is a collection of good practices of soil sciences education which have been indigenously developed, tested and proven to be useful and efficient in countries all over the world, i.e., four from Africa and Asia; three from Europe; seven from North and South America; and two from Oceania. The material presented in the book provides a good start for promoting soil and soil sciences to children, students, the general public and policy and decision makers globally. Part III is dedicated to guiding the future of soil sciences education based on past and current experiences.

Read more: http://www.schweizerbart.com/9783510655236

2020 Soil science challenges in a new era: A transdisciplinary overview of relevant topics.

By Rodrigo-Comino, Jesus; López-Vicente, Manuel; Kumar, Vinod; Rodríguez-Seijo, Andrés; Valkó, Orsolya; Rojas, Claudia; Reza Pourghasemi, Hamid; Salvati, Luca; Bakr, Noura; Vaudour, Emmanuelle; Brevik, Eric C.; Radziemska, Maja; Pulido, Manuel; Di Prima, Simone; Dondini, Marta; de Vries, Wim; Santos, Erika S.; Mendonça-Santos, Maria de Lourdes; Yu, Yang; Panagos, Panos. In: Air, Soil and Water Research. 13: 1–17

Read more: http://doi.org/10.1177/1178622120977491

State of Knowledge of Soil Biodiversity – Status, challenges and potentialities. Report 2020.

By FAO, ITPS, GSBI, SCBD and EC. Dec. 2020. Rome, FAO. 618 pages, ISBN 978-92-5-133582-6, https://doi.org/10.4060/cb1928en

There is increasing attention to the importance of biodiversity for food security and nutrition, especially above-ground biodiversity such as plants and animals. However, less attention is being paid to the biodiversity beneath our feet, soil biodiversity, which drives many processes that produce food or purify soil and water. This report is the result of an inclusive process involving more than 300 scientists from around the world under the auspices of the FAO’s Global Soil Partnership and its Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative, and the European Commission. It presents concisely the state of knowledge on soil biodiversity, the threats to it, and the solutions that soil biodiversity can provide to problems in different fields. It also represents a valuable contribution to raising awareness of the importance of soil biodiversity and highlighting its role in finding solutions to today’s global threats.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/3/cb1928en/CB1928EN.pdf?fbclid=IwAR03GC7gCaeoJEUejI7pEYe8S0yYhpyWBKofo3fhhwLvFw6HbmOjKF9LYVo

Safeguarding our food supply against Covid-19 and climate change

Edited by acatech. Published in the acatech IMPULSE series on 15 October 2020 by acatech.

The coronavirus crisis has highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of our food supply. In view of the threats posed by climate change, we must ensure that it is even better equipped to cope with future crises, according to a group of experts at acatech – National Academy of Science and Engineering. The experts recommend the adoption of a sustainable agricultural intensification model that combines principles of organic and conventional farming, supported by new technologies. The decisions required to promote this model should be taken as part of the forthcoming reform of the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

Download the whole document: https://en.acatech.de/publication/a-resilient-and-sustainable-food-supply/

SSSA Publishes New Book | Guidelines for Analysis and Description of Soil and Regolith Thin Sections, Second Edition

By Georges Stoops. First published 20 November 2020 in the Book Series ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Books, © 2021 Soil Science Society of America, Inc. Print ISBN:9780891189756 |Online, ISBN:9780891189763 |DOI:10.1002/9780891189763

The new book from SSSA is a revised guide to the study and of soil and regolith thin sections. A specialized system of terms and concepts must be used to accurately and effectively distinguish and name the microscopic features of soils and regoliths. With a comprehensive, consistent terminology at their disposal, researchers may compare, store and discuss new data easily and with less risk of error. The second edition of “Guidelines for Analysis and Description of Soil and Regolith Thin Sections” has been assembled to address this need, offering a practical system of analysis and description to those working with soil and regolith materials. 

Read more: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9780891189763

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: 9 December 2020]

Techniques for Work with Plant and Soil Nematodes

Edited by: Roland N Perry, University of Hertfordshire, UK, David Hunt, CABI, UK, Sergei A Subbotin, California Department of Food and Agriculture, USA. December 2020 | Hardback | 320 Pages | 9781786391759; November 2020 | ePDF 9781786391766 | ePub 9781786391773. Price hardback £95.00 | €110.00 | $130.00; price ePDF from VitalSource: £95.00 | €110.00 | $130.00.

Plant-parasitic and free-living nematodes are increasingly important in relation to food security, quarantine measures, ecology (including pollution studies), and research on host-parasite interactions. Being mostly microscopic, nematodes are challenging organisms for research. Techniques for Work with Plant and Soil Nematodes introduces the basic techniques for laboratory and field work with plant-parasitic and free-living soil-dwelling nematodes. Written by an international team of experts, this book is extensively illustrated, and addresses both fundamental traditional techniques and new methodologies. The book covers areas that have become more widespread over recent years, such as techniques used in diagnostic laboratories, including computerized methods to count and identify nematodes. Information on physiological assays, electron microscopy techniques and basic information on current molecular methodologies and their various applications is also included.

Read more: https://www.cabi.org/bookshop/book/9781786391759/

Soil Metagenomics

By By T.C.K. Sugitha, Asish K. Binodh, K. Ramasamy, U. Sivakumar. 1st Edition published December 16, 2020 by CRC Press, 276 Pages 40 B/W Illustrations, ISBN 9780367693961, price hardback GBP £71.99, price VitalSource eBook: Purchase eBook – £35.99, 6 Month Rental – £22.50.

This book focuses on the recent advents and technological breakthroughs in metagenomic approaches coupled with their applications in agriculture. The intended audience include soil and environmental microbiologists, molecular biologists and policy makers. The book expertly describes the latest fourth generation metagenomic technologies from sample collection to data analysis, metatranscriptomic, metaproteomic and metabolomics studies

Read more: https://www.routledge.com/Soil-Metagenomics/Sugitha-Binodh-Ramasamy-Sivakumar/p/book/9780367693961

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L'articolo IUSS Alert 186 (December 2020) proviene da iuss.org.

IUSS Inter-Congress Meeting

The IUSS Inter-Congress Meeting took place virtually (instead of a physical meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, which had been planned for September 2020) on 18-23 November 2020. It comprised three sessions each of both the Executive Committee Meeting and the IUSS Council Meeting as well as one Research Forum Meeting.

Main topics were the past and future activities of IUSS Presidents, Secretariat and Treasurer, Standing Committees, Divisions, Commissions and Working Groups as well as the Research Forum, internal and international matters of the IUSS, preparation of the 22^nd World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland), outlook to the Centennial in 2024 as well as the presentations of societies intending to bid for the WCSS in 2030.

Furthermore the election of the new Honorary members was carried out. The following scientist who provided distinctive contributions to soil science in general and the IUSS in particular were elected:

Jozef A. (Seppe) Deckers Belgium

Flavio Anastacio de Oliveira Camargo Brazil

Rainer Horn Germany

Carmelo Dazzi Italy

Kazuyuki Inubushi Japan

Kye-Hoon ‘John’ Kim Korea

Bal Ram Singh Norway

Pavel Krasilnikov Russia

Rosa M. Poch Claret Spain

Alfred Hartemink USA

Congratulations to these candidates on being awarded Honorary Membership of the International Union of Soil Sciences!

IUSS Stimulus fund

In 2015 IUSS established an annual Stimulus Fund to support suitable activities within the Commissions and Working Groups. Where appropriate, the Fund will also support other activities to assist the development of Soil Science generally but particularly in regions of the world where lack of resources limit opportunities. To this end, IUSS has set aside a sum of $15,000 annually, the normal maximum award being $2,500.

The initial application process requires a short written proposal of no more than 500 words plus a budget indicating how the funds awarded are to be spent. Each year, there are two submission dates: 15 March and 15 September.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/about-the-iuss/iuss-stimulus-fund/

From the second round of submissions (deadline 15 September 2020), the IUSS decided to contribute to support four activities:

1) 3 awards for young scientists at 16th International Conference on Soil Micromorphology 2021 (ICoSM 2021), Kraków, Poland, August 29 to September 2, 2021

2) Support for travel expenses to CryoWiSt: Winter State of Cryosols, February-March, 2021 soil science field-class for 5 to 8 students

3) Financing because of financial losses due to Covid-19 to International Symposium and Field Workshop on Paleopedology, 8-18, August 2021

4) Support to website development of the IUSS Commission 1.1 Soil Morphology and Micromorphology

In total, 15,250 USD were approved from the IUSS Stimulus fund in 2020.

Outlook

In 2021, there will again be two submission dates for applications: 15 March and 15 September. Applications should be sent to iuss@umweltbundesamt.at.

IUSS Viewpoint Fall 2020 : ‘Seizing the moment’

In this viewpoint, Prof. Rattan Lal, Past President of the International Union of Soil Sciences, points out that now is the time for soil scientists to seize the moment and work with policymakers for translating science into action for addressing issues of local, regional and global significance.

He encourages soil scientists to take action as policymakers are looking up to the soil science community for guidance on the theme of re-carbonization of the biosphere in general and world soils in particular with focus on farming carbon and its commoditization as a saleable farm commodity that can be traded in a market.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/newsroom/viewpoints/

New WRB video

Some weeks ago, the IUSS Working Group WRB published a video explaining soil description according to the FAO Guidelines and classification according to WRB. To this video in English, they have now added a video in Spanish.

You find both videos here, along with some teaching material: https://www.boku.wzw.tum.de/index.php?id=wrb-teaching-material&L=0.

Congratulations – Finalist for the 2020 edX Prize

The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on tropical soils is among the 10 finalists for the EdX prize 2020 for ‘Exceptional Contributions in Online Teaching and Learning’! Kindly find the official release here: https://blog.edx.org. It would be great if you could share the news to your network to attract even more learners to the course and get them enthusiastic about the tropics, soils and sustainable management.

The MOOC is now in its 3^rd run on EdX.org, you can access the current run here: https://www.edx.org/course/as-above-so-below-an-introduction-to-soils-ecosy-2

The development of this MOOC was financially supported by the IUSS Stimulus Fund.

News from the Argentinean Soil Science Association

The Argentinean Soil Science Association (AACS) is pleased and proud to announce the release of a new book, which will be of interest to many soil scientists and researchers, teachers, environmentalists, consultants, policy makers, and producers. This release is part of the celebration of the 60^th anniversary of the AACS.

The book is entitled “Suelos y Vulcanismo. Argentina” (Soils and volcanism. Argentina) and has been published online with the ISBN 978-987-46870-1-2. The URL to access and download the book is: http://www.suelos.org.ar/sitio/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Suelos_y_vulcanismo_v.pdf.

The current state of knowledge about volcanic soils in Argentina and the influence of volcanic materials on the genesis of very many soils in the country was compiled by two AACS members: Perla A. Imbellone and Osvaldo A. Barbosa. Very many prestigious Argentinean soil scientists contributed their expertise and wisdom and the result is a book of 13 chapters on diverse aspects of volcanism and its relationship with soil formation in Argentina.

To find out more about the book, see our video in Spanish:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkXaxzxMDf0&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=Asociaci%C3%B3nArgentinadelaCienciadelSuelo

The AACS believes that “Suelos y Vulcanismo. Argentina” (Soils and volcanism. Argentina) is an excellent tool for all those who care about soil and want to know more about how volcanos have contributed to soil genesis, not only in Argentina but also all over the world.

By Dr. Guillermo A. Studdert, President of the Argentinean Soil Science Association

General News

FAO: Save the date – Join us for WORLD SOIL DAY 2020

World Soil Day Global Ceremony

4 December 2020, 13:00-14:30 CET

The WSD ceremony will be held virtually on 4 December with the participation of Mr Qu Dongyu – FAO Director-General, Ms Elizabeth Maruma Mrema (tbc) – Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity and thousands of soil fans. IUSS President Elect Laura Bertha will be participating in the celebration, too.

The winners of the Glinka prize and King Bhumibol WSD award as well as the IUSS – FAO-GSP Children’s book contest on Soil Biodiversity will be announced during the celebration.

Register for this event at: https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3qBU60pKRgWJCtLbpLFV2Q

Glinka World Soil Prize

Looking for the new soil hero? The winner of the Glinka World Soil Prize will be announced during the official WSD celebrations on 4 December 2020.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/glinka-world-soil-prize/en/

King Bhumibol WSD Award

The call for application is now closed and the winner will be announced on 4 December 2020. So, stay tuned!

Read more: http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/wsd-award/en/

IUSS – FAO-GSP Children’s book contest on Soil Biodiversity

You are interested how the best scientific children’s books on Soil Biodiversity look like?

The winners will be announced during the official WSD celebrations on 4 December 2020.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/international-decade-of-soils/

Pin your event on the map!

If you haven’t already done so, register your event on the World Soil Day map! Don’t forget to send us the photos of your event and share them on your social media channels using the hashtags #WorldSoilDay and #SoilBiodiversity, if you would like to be featured in the official photogallery!

Register your event here: http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/worldwide-events/add-events/en/

Campaign material

Are you planning a social media campaign, a community-building activity, a workshop, or a virtual event? Whether you are a government, private business, NGO, journalist, city, or an individual, we need you to spread the WSD call for actions.

On the Trello board and in the WSD work space, you will find a range of multimedia content in several languages to support your WSD event.

Access the campaign material here: http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/campaign-materials/en/

Video animation

Do you need a 5-minute animation to start your World Soil Day event? This animation introduces the the main drivers, key functions, and challenges to combat soil biodiversity loss, indicating possible ways to protect and enhance soil biodiversity as a nature-based solution.

Watch the video Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbdsHOnd_gw&feature=youtu.be

This video and several others are available in many different languages for you to download at the FAO website in the section campaign materials.

Photo Contest

Akshara Samarasuriya from Sri Lanka and Eric Palesvky from Israel have won the contest with their entries “Secret colony of termites under the soil” and “Soil predatory mite feeds on the nematode”.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/soil-biodiversity-symposium/contest/en/

[All articles above are from the Global Soil Partnership (GSP) Special announcement No. 28, 18 November 2020]

iSDAsoil: Open access soil property and nutrient maps for Africa at 30m resolution

iSDA is a social enterprise building on the legacy of AfSIS to create financially sustainable agronomy solutions for smallholder farmers. On the 22nd October, iSDA launched iSDAsoil (https://isda-africa.com/isdasoil) — a high spatial resolution soil information service for Africa mapped at 30 m spatial resolution for two standard depth intervals (0–20 cm and 20–50 cm). The soil variables (16+) include: soil pH, organic carbon (C) and total (organic) nitrogen (N), total carbon, extractable — phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), sodium (Na), iron (Fe), zinc (Zn), silt, clay and sand, bulk density and depth to bedrock. Predictions were generated using a 2-scale Ensemble Machine Learning (https://github.com/Envirometrix/landmap), a combination of Sentinel-2, Landsat, DEM derivatives and coarse resolution covariates (MODIS, PROBA-V) and over 100,000 soil sampling training points. 

The soil property maps are available under an Open Data license (CC-BY 4.0) via a REST API (https://isda-africa.com/isdasoil/developer) and Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/search?page=1&size=20&q=iSDAsoil). To learn more about iSDAsoil, visit the Technical Information (https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/technical-information/) and FAQs (https://www.isda-africa.com/isdasoil/faqs/) pages. If you are interested in using iSDAsoil tools, services or products for agribusiness or smallholder farmers, get in touch with iSDA at info@isda-africa.com. If you are aware of soil samples collected within the African continent that could be used for predictive soil mapping, we would love to hear from you: help us improve these predictions so we can increase the data usability in the next update. 

Several eminent soil scientists discussed the project and its implications here: https://medium.com/isda-africa/soil-science-and-smallholders-the-contribution-of-soil-to-sustainable-african-agriculture-35a1f67c19a8 

To subscribe to updates please visit the iSDA website at https://isda-africa.com

Dust Bowl 2.0? Rising Great Plains dust levels stir concerns

In October 2020 a storm front swept across the Great Plains of the United States, plowing up a wall of dust that could be seen from space, stretching from eastern Colorado into Nebraska and Kansas. It was a scene straight from the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, when farmers regularly saw soil stripped from their fields and whipped up into choking blizzards of dust.

Better get used to it. According to a new study, dust storms on the Great Plains have become more common and more intense in the past 20 years, because of more frequent droughts in the region and an expansion of croplands. “Our results suggest a tipping point is approaching, where the conditions of the 1930s could return,” says Gannet Haller, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Utah who led the study.

Read more: https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/10/dust-bowl-20-rising-great-plains-dust-levels-stir-concerns?utm_campaign=SciMag&utm_source=JHubbard&utm_medium=Facebook

No soils, no life

We walk on soils, but often give little thought to what’s right under our feet. In fact, soils are the nation’s – and the world’s – breadbasket, providing food and a host of other necessities, including new medicines and materials. No soils, no life.

Read more: https://beta.nsf.gov/science-matters/no-soils-no-life

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: 28 October 2020]

New meta-analysis finds Bt crops have no impact on soil biota

A new meta-analysis finds that genetically modified Bt crops — in stark contrast to some pesticides — have no impact on soil invertebrates. The new research provides further weight to the argument that Bt crops, which control pests in a very targeted way using insecticidal proteins (Bt) expressed in plant tissues, protect biodiversity by helping farmers reduce their use of broad-spectrum insecticide sprays.

Read more: https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2020/09/new-meta-analysis-finds-bt-crops-have-no-impact-on-soil-biota/

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: 16 September 2020]

Red parent soils create wetland problems

Identification and protection of wetlands requires recognition of hydric soils. Usually this is straightforward, but sometimes challenging or problematic situations arise. Recent research demonstrated that problematic red parent material (PRPM) soils, which we have known about for several decades, are actually quite widespread and found from Michigan to Arizona and from Texas to Massachusetts.

Read more: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/csan.20238

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: 16 September 2020]

Nematodes driving the fate of carbon under climate change

Ecological theory suggests that certain plant species may respond to drought by producing fewer leaves because leaves lose water through transpiration, and instead allocate more production to roots, which capture water. These patterns are important in the context of ecosystem responses to climate change because they set limits on ecosystem carbon assimilation and biomass production.

Plants interact with many other organisms in ecosystems, and the response of those to drought may also affect plant responses. Our previous multi-site grassland field study revealed that more frequent extreme droughts can increase populations of root-feeding soil nematodes (roundworms) in sub-humid grasslands by suppressing their predators.

Read more: https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/blog-beneath-our-feet/2020/10/22/nematodes-driving-the-fate-of-carbon-under-climate-change

[From GSBI Newsletter – November 2020]

The EU Soil Observatory will be launched on Friday 4 December 2020

The new Soil Observatory is a dynamic and inclusive platform that will provide Commission Services, and the broader soil user community, with the information and data needed to safeguard soils. Healthy soils are at the heart of the Green Deal for Europe. Once lost, soils are non-renewable in terms of human lifetimes. In addition to providing us with food, fibres and fuel, soils play a key role in regulating the Earth’s climate, providing us with clean water, protecting us from floods and preserves our cultural heritage. The meeting will consist of the formal launch by EU Commissioners, high-level presentations and panel discussions in the morning, followed by an open technical discussion in the afternoon. The meeting will involve representatives from the EU Member States, the European Commission, the European Agencies, international organisations and civil society.

The event will be open to the public.

To join the meeting: Webex link (Meeting number: 174 345 6260; Password: SOIL2020).

[From ESDAC Newsletter No 125, November 2020]

Roadmap for the new EU soil strategy

The European Commission has published the roadmap for the new Soil Strategy. Part of the EU biodiversity strategy for 2030, this initiative will update the current strategy to address soil degradation and preserve land resources (‘land degradation neutrality’).  It welcomes stakeholders’ feedback via the ‘have your say’ website until 10 December 2020. Feedback will be taken into account for further development and fine tuning of the initiative. The Commission will summarise the input received in a synopsis report explaining how the input will be taken on board and, if applicable, why certain suggestions can’t be taken up.

Have your say: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say/initiatives/12634-New-EU-Soil-Strategy-healthy-soil-for-a-healthy-life%E2%80%8B

[From ESDAC Newsletter No 125, November 2020]

Past Rainfall Erosivity

In a published study we reconstructed past rainfall erosivity in Europe for the period 1961–2018, with the aim to investigate temporal changes in rainfall erosivity. As input data, we used the Rainfall Erosivity Database at European Scale (REDES) and Uncertainties in Ensembles of Regional Reanalyses (UERRA) rainfall data. Based on the reconstructed data, we derived a rainfall erosivity trend map for Europe where the results were qualitatively validated. Among the stations showing a statistically significant trend, we observed a tendency towards more positive (15%) than negative trends (7%). In addition, we also observed an increasing tendency of the frequency of years with maximum erosivity values. This dataset is part of Rainfall Erosivity package and REDES including 10 datasets.

Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/rainfall-erosivity-european-union-and-switzerland

[From ESDAC Newsletter No 125, November 2020]

Conferences, Meetings and Workshops

The outbreak of the Corona virus is clearly a rapidly evolving situation. The organizers of the meetings listed below are constantly reviewing the situation in the light of global and country-specific advice to inform decisions to minimize the additional risks to attendees, their communities and those living in the meeting’s host country.

The IUSS will also continue to monitor the situation, and advise that prior to attending meetings our members review up to date information from their country’s government, the WHO and from the host country to ensure that everyone’s health and wellbeing remains a priority.

2020

SSA / NZSSS Virtual World Soil Day Event

4 December 2020, Virtual event

Special online event to celebrate World Soil Day and features the Virtual Soil Judging Competition prize-giving

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ic9ZLunxRy656it5HKnZ-g

Download flyer: https://www.soilscienceaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Virtual-Soil-Judging-Competition-2020-Flyer-1.pdf

U.S. World Soil Day event: A Diverse Soil Science Future

December 4, 2020, virtual event from 2-5 pm EST

The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s U.S. National Committee for Soil Sciences, in collaboration with the Soil Science Society of America, will hold this virtual event on December 4, 2020 from 2-5 pm EST to celebrate World Soil Day 2020. This online meeting will focus on two deeply interrelated topics: the future of soil science and diversity and inclusion in the soil science community. Each session will include a keynote and short presentations with a Q&A session followed by a discussion at the end.

Link to the agenda: https://www.iuss.org/media/usnc_agenda_112320_people-1.pdf

Website: https://www.nationalacademies.org/event/12-04-2020/a-diverse-soil-science-future

News from the ISC: Join our Knowledge Sharing Session: Online Meetings and Virtual Conferences

December 8 and 9, 2020, virtual event

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic requires organizations to adapt their meeting culture and shift in-person meetings to virtual platforms. How can this transformation be done successfully, how can risk factors be addressed, and which online platform is most suitable to your organization’s needs? In response to various requests from our members, the ISC is convening a knowledge sharing session to learn from each other’s experience regarding the organization and facilitation of virtual events.

All staff members and office bearers working within organizations that are part of the ISC membership as the IUSS are invited to attend.

If you are interested to attend the session, please register for the date and time that is convenient for you:

• Register for the session on 8 December 2020, 09:00 – 10:30 CET (08:00 GMT): https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwtceusqT4vEtTt8AyamZSHfRfd0ymoiPzS
• Register for the session on 9 December 2020, 16:00 – 17:30 CET (15:00 GMT): https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcocuGtrjsvGt0uyi6ZoQJNbHkBE-ZE1s1X

Read more: https://council.science/events/knowledge-virtual/

2021

EGU General Assembly 2021 (vEGU21)

19–30 April 2021, virtual event

In 2021, EGU will be hosting vEGU21: Gather Online (#vEGU21), a fully virtual meeting that will be held in place of the General Assembly in Vienna. vEGU21 will provide as full a representation of the experience that EGU members enjoy at the annual meeting in Vienna as possible.

Abstract submissions will be accepted until 13 January 2021 at 13:00 CET.

Please note that session SSS12.1 Soil, Legislation and Social Equity is co-sponsored by IUSS and ECSSS (https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU21/session/39140), with Laura Bertha Reyes-Sanchez, IUSS president in 2021, as one of the conveners.

Read more: https://www.egu21.eu/

SSS11.3/BG2.14 Call for abstracts: ‘Analytical methods as innovation sources in soil science’

Aim of the session is to present the usage of different laboratory methods and techniques in soil research and give the possibility for researchers to exchange their experiences. The special goal of this session is to promote a wider use of innovative analytical methods for determination of chemical compounds in mineral and organic soils, sediments, substrates and composts. The innovative methods covering soil organic matter and humic substances analysis are acknowledged. 

The EGU journal SOIL is considered (provisional acceptance) to publish selected papers presented at the session.

Read more: https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU21/session/39210

The deadline for abstract submission (100 to 500 words) is 13 January 2021 at 13:00 CET.

Information about submitting abstracts: https://egu21.eu/abstracts_and_programme/how_to_submit_an_abstract.html

If you have any questions about the session, contact with Tõnu Tõnutare on tonu.tonutare@gmail.com or Manfred Sager on m.sager@bioforschung.at

Intersol 2021: Soils: Opportunities for the Transition of Territories

18-20 May 2021, Paris, France

Call for papers open until January 25, 2021

Website: www.intersol.fr

For the complete list of upcoming events, please see the event calendar on the IUSS website: https://www.iuss.org/meetings-events/

New publications

International Union of Geological Sciences Manual of Standard Geochemical Methods for the Global Black Soil Project

Edited by Demetriades, A., Dai, H., Liu, K., Savin, I., Birke, M., Johnson, C.C., Argyraki, A., 2020. International Union of Geological Sciences, Commission on Global Geochemical Baselines, Special Publication No. 1, Athens, Hellas, ISBN: 978-618-85049-0-5, 107 pages, 49 figures, 4 Tables, and 4 Appendices.

The manual is now available from the CGGB website at: https://www.globalgeochemicalbaselines.eu/content/162/black-soil-project-manual-/

Soils and Landscape Restoration

Edited by John A. Stanturf and Mac Callaham. 1st edition published by Academic Press on 27 October 2020. Paperback ISBN: 9780128131930, eBook ISBN: 9780128131947, 440 pages, price paperback EUR 88.20, price eBook EUR 88.20, price bundle: EUR 115.50.

Soils and Landscape Restoration provides a multidisciplinary synthesis on the sustainable management and restoration of soils in various landscapes. The book presents applicable knowledge of above- and below-ground interactions and biome specific realizations along with in-depth investigations of particular soil degradation pathways. It focuses on severely degraded soils (e.g., eroded, salinized, mined) as well as the restoration of wetlands, grasslands and forests. The book addresses the need to bring together current perspectives on land degradation and restoration in soil science and restoration ecology to better incorporate soil-based information when restoration plans are formulated.

Read more: https://www.elsevier.com/books/soils-and-landscape-restoration/stanturf/978-0-12-813193-0

The Soils of Nevada

Edited by Blackburn, P.W., Fisher, J.B., Dollarhide, W.E., Merkler, D.J., Chiaretti, J.V., Bockheim, J.G. published by Springer in World Soil Book Series, 2021. 301 p. 104 illus., 84 illus. in color. eBook ISBN 978-3-030-53157-7, price EUR 106.99, hardcover ISBN 978-3-030-53156-0, price 129.99 EUR.

This book discusses Nevada in the context of the history of soil investigations; soil-forming factors; general soil regions; soil geomorphology; taxonomic structure of the soils; taxonomic soil regions; soil-forming processes; benchmark, endemic, rare, and endangered soils; and use of soils.

This book presents the first report on the soils of Nevada and provides the first soil map of Nevada utilizing soil.

Read more: https://www.springer.com/de/book/9783030531560

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L'articolo IUSS Alert 185 (November 2020) proviene da iuss.org.

Outcome of 2020 IUSS Presidential Election

Edoardo Antonio Costantino Costantini from Italy, current Secretary of the European Society for Soil Conservation, received a clear majority of the votes and was the successful candidate in this election. He will take up the position of President-Elect on 1st January, 2021. He will be the first Italian President in the history of IUSS and will celebrate with us the Centennial in Italy in 2024.

Let us congratulate him on this success!

IUSS was very pleased to have two strong candidates running for the position.

If you want to know more about both candidates, please click here: https://www.iuss.org/about-the-iuss/iuss-presidential-election/

IUSS Bulletin 137 – urgent call for contributions

The IUSS Secretariat (iuss@umweltbundesamt.at) kindly invites all IUSS members to submit their contributions for our next IUSS Bulletin 137 (to be published in December 2020) no later than 15 November 2020. In particular, the Secretariat would welcome conference/meeting reports and reports on activities dedicated to the International Decade of Soils (2015-2024), your three favourite soil science books and any other information you would like to share with the international soil science community. Also we would like to give room to national soil science societies to present their recent activities. Please make sure to send high-resolution photos only together with the copyright information (owner of the photos).

IUSS – FAO-GSP Children’s book contest on Soil Biodiversity – last call

IUSS and FAO-GSP launch together a scientific children’s book contest on Soil Biodiversity in the framework of WSD 2020. The motto is “Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity”. FAO, IUSS and GSP invite all those interested in soil and biodiversity – soil scientists, researchers, professors, teachers, classrooms, individual students, soil practitioners, designers, photographers or experts from any professional background – to submit their freestyle book proposal by 10 November 2020. In the submission email, author(s) must fill out and submit the mandatory Registration form.

The winner will receive a cash prize of 1,000 USD, second and third prize will receive a cash prize of 500 USD and 250 USD respectively from IUSS and FAO’s GSP. The winners will be announced on World Soil Day, 5 December 2020.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/international-decade-of-soils/

Flyer: https://www.iuss.org/media/gsp_iuss_booklet_contest.jpg

Latest news on Inter-Congress Meeting

The IUSS Inter-Congress Meeting will take place virtually (instead of a physical meeting in Glasgow, Scotland, which had been planned for September 2020) 18-23 November 2020. It will comprise three sessions each of both the Executive Committee Meeting and the IUSS Council Meeting as well as one Research Forum Meeting.

Main topics will be the preparation of the 22^nd World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS22, August 2022 in Glasgow, Scotland) and discussion of current and future activities of IUSS Divisions, Commissions and Working Groups.

News from the IUSS Working Group WRB

For our students, we made a video explaining soil description according to the FAO Guidelines and classification according to WRB.

Read more: https://www.boku.wzw.tum.de/index.php?id=wrb-teaching-material&L=0

General News

WASWAC Youth Outstanding Paper Award (DATUM) 2021 Open for Application

To encourage early-career scientists to contribute to soil and water conservation in the world, The World Association of Soil and Water Conservation (WASWAC) has held the WASWAC Youth Outstanding Paper Award three times since 2015. The fourth award in 2021 will be presented at the Third International Youth Forum on Soil and Water Conservation (IYFSWC), which will be held from May 16 to 21, 2021 in Iran (Tehran-Capital and Noor City on Caspian Sea Shore).  The application for the award is open from now.

This award will be presented to early-career scientists of outstanding research papers on soil and water conservation. The award consists of a Certificate from the WASWAC and a $1000 (USD) honorarium. In the case of multi-author papers, the award will be presented only to the first author. The WASWAC Youth Outstanding Paper Award (DATUM) 2021 is financially supported by the Beijing Datum Technology Company. 

Read more: http://iyfswc.modares.ac.ir/ or http://www.waswac.org/

Land and Soil Management Award 2020/21 – call now open

About the Award The prize (5,000 EUR) rewards land use and soil management practices mitigating soil threats i.e. soil degradation, erosion, reduction of organic matter content, diffuse contamination, and compaction as well as the reduction of soil biodiversity, salinization, sealing, flooding and landslides. In doing so, the award sheds light on outstanding achievements, encouraging new concepts of land and soil protection and their implementation in land management, as well as enhancing awareness about the importance of land and soil functions.

Who can apply? Farmers, landowners, land managers, groups of farmers, on their own or in collaboration with research institutes, universities and/or private companies.

Deadline: 31 December 2020

Read more and download the application form: https://www.europeanlandowners.org/awards/soil-land-award?mc_cid=037be4d8bd&mc_eid=ddef1af97b

News from the International Science Council (ISC)

Share with us your grey literature on freedom and responsibility in science

The ISC Advisory Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science (CFRS) has initiated the project “Freedom and responsibility in the 21st century: a contemporary perspective of the responsible practice of science” to examine a contemporary meaning and interpretation of freedom and responsibility of science. As part of the project, CFRS members will aim to develop an overview to track the recent evolution of notions of scientific freedom and the responsible practice of science, indicating that scientists have been concerned about this for many years, and that their conclusions have changed over the last decades reflecting the evolution of society.

In the frame of this project, the CFRS is seeking contributions from ISC members regarding grey literature documents, including organizational statements, policies, reviews, (non-academic) articles as well as historical documents looking at the organizations’ and disciplinary societies’ views of freedom and responsibility in science since the post-World War II period.

Please send your contributions to Vivi Stavrou (CFRS Executive Secretary): vivi.stavrou@council.science and feel free to share this request with your members and wider networks.

Read more: https://council.science/actionplan/defending-the-free-and-responsible-practice-of-science/

Measuring greenhouse gases starts in soil

Carbon dioxide dominates the greenhouse gas (GHG) story planet-wide. But did you know there is a more potent GHG you probably haven’t heard about? It’s nitrous oxide (N2O), agriculture’s quiet but formidable contribution to climate concerns. N2O represents only seven percent of all GHG emissions, rendering it a minor player compared to CO2 and methane. But N2O has significant, lesser-known, implications. In the atmosphere, N2O absorbs (and radiates) more energy than other gases and can linger for decades, according to the EPA. It’s not just an atmospheric sweater, but an electric blanket above us.

Read more: https://cals.ncsu.edu/news/measuring-greenhouse-gases-starts-in-soil/

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: 14 October 2020]

Release of the LUCAS Soil 2015 data from ESDAC

The European Commission Joint Research Centre is pleased to announce the release of the soil dataset based on samples collected during the 2015 LUCAS Survey (LUCAS Soil 2015). LUCAS Soil provides harmonised data for the entire territory of the European Union (EU), addressing all major land cover types simultaneously, in a single sampling period (April – October 2015), using a standard sampling protocol and a single laboratory for analysis.

Data are presented for 21,859 locations across all EU Member States and cover 90% of the locations where soil samples were taken in 2009 and 2012 (only Romania and Bulgaria). The remaining 10% were substituted by new locations in each country, new territories, and points above 1,000 m elevation. In addition to the parameters analysed in 2009 and 2012, electrical conductivity has been added to measure salt content in soils.

Date can be requested here: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/lucas2015-topsoil-data

Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/projects/lucas

GSBI joins European Commission’s Global Coalition for Biodiversity

The Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative voices support for biodiversity and joins the EC’s Global Coalition for Biodiversity. Launched in March 2020, the Coalition calls on museums, parks, and research institutions to join forces in raising an alarm about the nature crisis.

Press release: https://files.constantcontact.com/a3128908401/21d594ee-b94d-4d48-ab55-7069c829c8e8.pdf

[From GSBI Newsletter – October 2020]

Read the New Posts in the GSBI Blog Beneath Our Feet

Belowground productivity accounts for 46% of total terrestrial C fixation, by Dr. Laureano Gherardi, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, USA. Read more: https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/blog-beneath-our-feet/2020/9/25/belowground-productivity-accounts-for-46-of-total-terrestrial-c-fixation [From GSBI Newsletter – October 2020]

It’s alive! Soil is much more than you think.

Soil biodiversity: the foundation for human life

Soils are a major reservoir of global biodiversity, supporting agriculture and food security, regulating greenhouse gas emissions and promoting plant, animal and human health. Without them, our daily routine wouldn’t be the same. But soil biodiversity is under constant threat. Unsustainable farming practices, the effects of climate change and soil pollution are just a few of the things that can adversely affect the health and biodiversity of our soils.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1263004/

[From The Global Soil Partnership Newsletter No. 29, 30 September 2020]

Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils

The Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) is composed of 27 high-level soil experts representing all the regions of the world. ITPS members provide scientific and technical advice and guidance to the GSP on global soil issues and advocate the inclusion of sustainable soil management in the different sustainable development agendas. With the aim of sharing its position about different soil topics or issues, the ITPS created the ITPS Soil Letters as a wide channel of dissemination. In its first issue of September 2020, the ITPS defines the concept of “soil health”.

Read the first issue: http://www.fao.org/3/cb1110en/cb1110en.pdf

[From The Global Soil Partnership Newsletter No. 29, 30 September 2020]

Soil: the great connector of our lives now and beyond COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is testing the ability of societies to survive an extreme global situation. The Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils shares its understanding of the crucial role played by Soils and Sustainable Soil Management in the new global reality. Appropriate soil management is imperative for solving and anticipating food security and nutrition requirements that governments and individuals will face in the post-pandemic world.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1298070/

[From The Global Soil Partnership Newsletter No. 29, 30 September 2020]

SOILS4NUTRITION

How sustainable soil management can improve the nutritional quality of food.

Through a 3-year project initiative, funded by the government of Germany, FAO’s Global Soil Partnership is promoting Sustainable Soil Management (SSM) practices to improve the nutritional quality of locally-produced food. The project has set up pilot sites in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso and Malawi to test and demonstrate the effects of SSM practices on micronutrient contents in the edible parts of crops.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1305568/

[From The Global Soil Partnership Newsletter No. 29, 30 September 2020]

WORLD SOIL DAY Campaign – 5 December 2020

World Soil Day 2020 (#WorldSoilDay) and its campaign “Keep soil alive, Protect soil biodiversity” aims to raise awareness of the importance of maintaining healthy ecosystems and human well-being by addressing the growing challenges in soil management, fighting soil biodiversity loss, increasing soil awareness and encouraging governments, organizations, communities and individuals around the world to commit to proactively improving soil health.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/en/

[From The Global Soil Partnership Newsletter No. 29, 30 September 2020]

SOC sequestration potential map

With the release of the Technical specification and country guidelines, the development of the Global Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration Potential Map has started. The GSOCseq simulates SOC stocks over a 20–year period in agricultural lands and quantify sequestration potential.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/pillars-action/4-information-and-data-new/global-soil-organic-carbon-gsoc-map/en/

[From The Global Soil Partnership Newsletter No. 29, 30 September 2020]

GLOSOLAN Spectroscopy plenary meeting

23-25 September 2020

After the launch of the initiative on soil spectroscopy by the Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) of the Global Soil Partnership in April 2020, GLOSOLAN organized its first plenary meeting on soil spectroscopy from 23 to 25 September 2020. The meeting was attended by 350 participants from 63 countries, including leading institutions and organizations in the field of soil spectroscopy.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1310301/

[From The Global Soil Partnership Newsletter No. 29, 30 September 2020]

Nanoclay: the liquid turning desert to farmland

Inspired by the secret to the Nile Delta’s fertility, engineers are using a concoction of clay, water and local soils to grow fruits in the desert.

Read more: https://www.bbc.com/future/bespoke/follow-the-food/the-spray-that-turns-deserts-into-farmland.html?fbclid=IwAR0vuKftYZVPay4qfBeTqmJARmO6OsFTZxnGys6oJiYXF5Ump8JOOINt39E

Conferences, Meetings and Workshops

The outbreak of the Corona virus is clearly a rapidly evolving situation. The organizers of the meetings listed below are constantly reviewing the situation in the light of global and country-specific advice to inform decisions to minimize the additional risks to attendees, their communities and those living in the meeting’s host country.

The IUSS will also continue to monitor the situation, and advise that prior to attending meetings our members review up to date information from their country’s government, the WHO and from the host country to ensure that everyone’s health and wellbeing remains a priority.

2020

AgroEco2020 – 3rd International Scientific Virtual Conference

‘AGROECOSYSTEM SUSTAINABILITY: Links between Carbon Sequestration in Soils, Food Security and Climate Change’

December 2–3, 2020, Vytautas Magnus University Agriculture Academy, Lithuania, semi-virtual

The discussions will be held in following sessions:

– Soil health and C sequestration for sustainability
– Soil and crop management towards a chemical pesticide-free agriculture
– Biodiversity, crop and production diversification
– Precision farming and digital technologies
– Food quality and safety
– The role of circular bioeconomy in climate change mitigation

Early registration until October 31, 2020

Conference website: http://agroeco.vdu.lt/

2021

Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity

2-5 February 2021, digital edition

The Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity will follow a virtual format from 2 to 5 February 2021. The 1st and 4th day will be devoted to panel discussions, while abstract presenters will have the floor on the 2nd and 3rd days. High-level panelists are expected to join this new digital edition.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/soil-biodiversity-symposium/en/

[From The Global Soil Partnership Newsletter No. 29, 30 September 2020]

Changes to previously announced conferences, meetings and workshops

The Third Global Soil Biodiversity Conference

1-3 November 2021, Dublin, Ireland

!Postponed to March 2023!

Website: http://gsb2021.ie/

For the complete list of upcoming events, please see the event calendar on the IUSS website: https://www.iuss.org/meetings-events/

New publications

Handbook of Bioremediation: Physiological, Molecular and Biotechnological Interventions

Edited by Mirza Hasanuzzaman and Majeti Narasimha Vara Prasad. 1st Edition published on 19 October 2020 by Elsevier. 764 pages, Paperback ISBN: 9780128193822, eBook ISBN: 9780128193839, price paperback: EUR 196.35, eBook: EUR 196.35, Bundle: EUR 242.00.

The tome discusses the mechanisms of responding to inorganic and organic pollutants in the environment using different approaches of phytoremediation and bioremediation. Part One focuses specifically on inorganic pollutants and the use of techniques such as metallothionein-assisted remediation, phytoextraction and genetic manipulation. Part Two covers organic pollutants and consider topics such as plant enzymes, antioxidant defense systems and the remediation mechanisms of different plant species. This comprehensive volume is a must-read for researchers interested in plant science, agriculture, soil science and environmental science.

The techniques covered in this book will ensure scientists have the knowledge to practice effective bioremediation techniques themselves.

Read more: https://www.elsevier.com/books/handbook-of-bioremediation/hasanuzzaman/978-0-12-819382-2

Rethinking Food and Agriculture – New Ways Forward

Edited by Amir Kassam Laila Kassam. 1st Edition published in October 2020 by Elsevier, 476 pages, Paperback ISBN: 9780128164105, eBook ISBN: 9780128164112, price paperback: EUR 169.58, price eBook: EUR 169.58, Bundle: EUR 209.00.

Given the central role of the food and agriculture system in driving so many of the connected ecological, social and economic threats and challenges we currently face, Rethinking Food and Agriculture reviews, reassesses and reimagines the current food and agriculture system and the narrow paradigm in which it operates.

Rethinking Food and Agriculture explores and uncovers some of the key historical, ethical, economic, social, cultural, political, and structural drivers and root causes of unsustainability, degradation of the agricultural environment, destruction of nature, short-comings in science and knowledge systems, inequality, hunger and food insecurity, and disharmony. It reviews efforts towards ‘sustainable development’, and reassesses whether these efforts have been implemented with adequate responsibility, acceptable societal and environmental costs and optimal engagement to secure sustainability, equity and justice. The book highlights the many ways that farmers and their communities, civil society groups, social movements, development experts, scientists and others have been raising awareness of these issues, implementing solutions and forging ‘new ways forward’, for example towards paradigms of agriculture, natural resource management and human nutrition which are more sustainable and just.

Read more: https://www.elsevier.com/books/rethinking-food-and-agriculture/kassam/978-0-12-816410-5

LUCAS 2015 Topsoil Survey – presentation of dataset and results

This report accompanies the release of the LUCAS 2015 soil dataset. It presents an overview of the laboratory analysis data and provides a detailed description of the results for the EU-28 territory. The report describes the spatial variability of soil properties by land cover (LC) class and a comparative analysis of the soil properties by NUTS 2 regions.  The LUCAS Soil Module is the only mechanism that currently provides a harmonised and regular collection of soil data for the entire territory of the European Union (EU). Regular monitoring provides a unique perspective on pressures affecting soils. LUCAS Soil supports the specific needs of the European Commission by collecting data that characterises soil condition and health.

Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/public_path/shared_folder/dataset/66/JRC121325_lucas_2015_topsoil_survey_final_1.pdf

Assessment of changes in topsoil properties in LUCAS samples between 2009/2012 and 2015 surveys

In this report, we provide a detailed evaluation of the LUCAS topsoil sampling and the laboratory analysis. We also assess changes in topsoil properties between LUCAS 2009/2012 and 2015 surveys based on data of paired samples (i.e. samples collected in revisited LUCAS soil points in 2009/2012 and in 2015). The ultimate goal of this report is to assess the efficacy of the LUCAS Topsoil Module for the early detection of changes in soil conditions, since this is a primary objective for scientific and policy organizations to improve their policies for a sustainable land use and management.

Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/public_path/shared_folder/dataset/66/JRC120138_lucas_changes_09-15_-_final_1.pdf

CO2 certificates for carbon sequestration in soils: methods, management practices and limitations

By Wiesmeier, M., Mayer, S., Paul, C. , Helming, K., Don, A. , Franko, U., Steffens, M., Kögel-Knabner, I.; Published in October 2020 in the BonaRes Series. DOI: 10.20387/bonares-ne0g-ce98

Agricultural soils have a great potential for carbon (C) sequestration due to the build-up of soil organic matter (SOM), which consists of about 58% C. Positive efforts in SOM management could therefore make a significant contribution to climate protection. For farmers, CO2 certificates for the build-up of soil organic carbon (SOC) represent an additional incentive to implement SOM-enhancing management measures. These CO2 certificates are issued by private initiatives and companies in the voluntary CO2 market. Especially in the field of agriculture, certificate trading for sequestered C in agricultural soils is currently growing in the German-speaking countries. In order to contribute to climate protection, certain criteria must be met when issuing certificates. In practice, however, minimum scientific standards have so far been given little consideration. In this study, recommendations are given regarding the quantification of SOC (sampling, analytics, SOC stock calculation), an evaluation of agricultural practices for C sequestration, as well as information on general limitations regarding climate protection via CO2 certificates. Generally, CO2-certificates can give a positive impulse for farmers to deal with sustainable cultivation and SOM supply of their soils. Since SOM is a key property for many soil functions and not least soil fertility, every effort to increase SOM is important. Farmers who are interested in building up SOC should therefore receive comprehensive support and advice on site-specific and farm-specific options for the sequestration of C in their soils.

Read more: https://tools.bonares.de/doi/doc/29/

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L'articolo IUSS Alert 184 (October 2020) proviene da iuss.org.

IUSS Bulletin 136

Bulletin 136 is now online and the Secretariat invites you to browse through the 130 pages. With content ranging from an update on the preparations for the 22^nd World Congress of Soil Science (WCSS22), to news from National Soil Science Societies, the reports of IUSS’s four Divisions and its Commissions and Working Groups, and activities under the International Decade of Soils (2015-2024) it makes for interesting reading. Conference and meeting reports, articles from IUSS Alerts, new publications and an article celebrating the 100^th birthday anniversary of Vladimir Fridland and his contribution to the theory of pedogenesis, soil geography, cartography and classification round off the content.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/

Commission 1.1 Newsletter online

Commission 1.1. Soil Morphology & Micromorphology’s Newsletter No. 26 August 2020 is available online. Among many interesting articles, the “pills of wisdom” section contains an invited contribution from Prof. Ahmet Mermut, a prominent soil scientist and micromorphologist, former Chair of Division 1 and Honorary Member of the IUSS. This contribution is important because it both provides (i) a call to further integrate soil morphology within Commission 1.1, and (ii) an engaging perspective about the value of soil micromorphology.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/newsroom/newsletters/soil-morphology-and-micromorphology-newsletters-commission-11/

Awards in Soil Micromorphology

Young Micromorphology Publication Awards (YMPA) 2021

Commission 1.1 – Soil Morphology and Micromorphology will award the Young Micromorphologist’s Publication Award every 2 years: at each International Working Meeting on Soil Micromorphology, and at each World Congress of Soil Science. Considering that the planned IWMSM2020 meeting in Krakow has been postponed to 2021 due to the COVID19 emergency, the award has also been postponed accordingly. It is planned to have two close YMPA awards (IWMSM-2021 and WCSS-2022).

The purpose of this award is to encourage and promote the use of soil micromorphology by young scientists. The award will be given to one, or more, young scientist who has published research in the preceding 4 years, that is an outstanding contribution to the principles, methodology, or application of micromorphology. The author must be less than 35 years old at the time of acceptance of the publication, and he/she must be the first author. The paper must be published in an international journal with wide distribution, but not necessarily a scientific journal. The award is not restricted to papers published in the English language only.

The Award Committee is composed of Fabio Scarciglia, Irina Kovda, Peter Kühn and Chair (Fabio Terribile) and Vice-chair (Richard Heck) of Commission 1.1.

Applicants should submit the following: (1) a pdf file of the paper(s) to be considered for the award, (2) proof of age for eligibility (ex: photocopy of ID or other document with birthdate), and (3) a cover letter explaining why they should be considered for this award. Letters of support from senior micromorphologists, outlining the qualities of the publication(s) are also welcome.

Applications are due December 31, 2020. Send by email to: Prof. Fabio Terribile fabio.terribile@unina.it

Kubiëna Medal 2022

The Kubiëna Medal award is conferred by the IUSS Soil Morphology and Micromorphology Commission (originally Subcommission B – ISSS) to commemorate Walter L Kubiëna for his distinguished contribution to soil micromorphology. This IUSS medal is awarded for outstanding and sustained contribution in the discipline of soil micromorphology.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/about-the-iuss/awards-prizes/medals/kubiena-medal/

How to apply

The nominees may be proposed by institutions, societies, commissions and working groups of the IUSS, and individuals. Members of the Award committee are not eligible to make nominations or second nominations.

The proposal for nomination must be submitted to the Award committee chair, and should include:

1. Statement of key achievements and career highlights of the nominee (1 page)
2. Curriculum vitae detailing career history and publication record of the nominee
3. Name of proposer and seconder for the nominee
4. Any other relevant information in support of the nominee
5. Full address and contact details of the nominee

Applications are due March 31, 2021. Send by email applications to: Prof. Fabio Terribile fabio.terribile@unina.it

Invitation to take part in soil repository/archive survey

The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s Board of Agriculture and National Resources, in collaboration with the U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Soil Sciences, is organizing a workshop entitled Exploring a Dynamic Soil Information System to be held in March 2021 (https://www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/exploring-a-dynamic-soil-information-system-a-workshop).

As part of this work, we are constructing a list of physical soils repositories/soil archives in the world. Please contribute to this effort by completing this quick survey for each of the soil repositories/archives with which you are familiar at https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/5786076/Soil-Repository-Survey. The list of physical sample repositories/archives will be made openly accessible on the workshop’s website when complete and published in the workshop’s proceedings.

General News

Urgent – Photos Needed ASAP

GSBI has an urgent request from Dr. Ronald Vargas, FAO (UN Food and Agricultural Organization), for assistance in acquiring photos for the report “The State of Knowledge of Soil Biodiversity”. Specifically, they need photos of ants, isopods (sowbugs, roly-polys) and moles.

These photos need to be YOURS, previously unpublished, and of high resolution (300 dpi) for print work. If used, your images will be attributed to you/your team in the report. Images are needed ASAP to complete this important report!

If you have photos to contribute, please send them directly to Ronald.Vargas@fao.org and FAO soil biologists Rosa Cuevas Corona Rosa.CuevasCorona@fao.org and Vinisa Saynes viniss@yahoo.com. They will respond to questions regarding images and other information needed.

Storing carbon in the prairie grass

Scientists say the world needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by mid-century to avert catastrophic effects from global warming. Carbon dioxide is the most prevalent greenhouse gas; the amount in the atmosphere has been rising as humans burn fossil fuels. Not only must the world stop releasing more carbon, some CO2 already in the air also must be removed, experts say. That’s where the prairie comes in.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2020/08/19/climate-change-prairie/?arc404=true&utm_campaign=wp_the_optimist&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_optimist

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: September 8-10, 2020]

Carbon mitigation potential and radiative agricultural land management

To reach the Paris climate targets, the mitigation capacity needs to be maximized across all components of the Earth system, especially land. Mitigation actions through land management, such as cover crops in agricultural soils, are often evaluated in terms of their carbon sequestration potential, while radiative forcing related to surface albedo changes is often ignored. The aim of this study was to assess the mitigation potential of cover crops, both as changes in biogenic greenhouse gas fluxes (CO2 and N2O) and albedo-driven radiative forcing at the top of the atmosphere. To achieve this, we have integrated a biogeochemistry model framework running on approximately 8,000 locations across the European Union with detailed soil data, supplemented with time series of albedo measurements derived from satellite remote sensing.

Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/carbon-mitigation-potential-and-radiative-agricultural-land-management

[From ESDAC Newsletter No 123, July-August 2020]

Projections of Global soil erosion by water (2015-2070)

We use the latest projections of climate and land use change to assess potential global soil erosion rates by water to address policy questions. Three alternative (2.6, 4.5, and 8.5) RCP scenarios were used and resulted in a potential increase of global soil erosion rate by 30-66% by 2070. The Global South is estimated to bear the brunt of the erosion. Rich countries with high fertiliser use and moderate climates can expect erosion at a lower rate. Current conservation agriculture practices will only reduce the projected soil erosion rate by 5%. The study has published recently in PNAS. Data are available in ESDAC.

Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/global-soil-erosion-water-2070

[From ESDAC Newsletter No 123, July-August 2020]

Global phosphorus losses due to soil erosion

The world’s food production depends directly on phosphorus. We combine spatially distributed global soil erosion estimates (only considering sheet and rill erosion by water) with spatially distributed global P content for cropland soils to assess global soil P loss. The world’s soils are currently being depleted in P in spite of high chemical fertilizer input. Africa, South America and Eastern Europe have the highest P depletion rates. Agricultural soils worldwide will be depleted by between 4–19 kg ha−1 yr−1, with average losses of P due to erosion by water contributing over 50% of total P losses. The study has published in Nature Communications and the data are available in ESDAC.

Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/global-phosphorus-losses-due-soil-erosion

[From ESDAC Newsletter No 123, July-August 2020]

Sustainable soil management within the European Green Deal

The new European Green Deal has the ambition to make the European Union the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The European Commission presented an ambitious package of measures within the Biodiversity Strategy 2030, the Farm to Fork and the European Climate Law including actions to protect our soils. The Farm to Fork strategy addresses soil pollution with 50% reduction in use of chemical pesticides by 2030 and aims 20% reduction in fertilizer use plus a decrease of nutrient losses by at least 50%. The Biodiversity Strategy has the ambition to set a minimum of 30% of the EU’s land area as protected areas, limit urban sprawl, reduce the pesticides risk, bring back at least 10% of agricultural area under high-diversity landscape features, put forward the 25% of the EU’s agricultural land as organically farmed, progress in the remediation of contaminated sites, reduce land degradation and plant more than three billion new trees. The maintenance of wetlands and the enhancement of soil organic carbon are also addressed in the European Climate Law.

Read more: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837720304257

[From ESDAC Newsletter No 123, July-August 2020]

Pushing soil animals to the extreme

Ecologists can answer a lot of the scientific questions that they grapple with about organisms from ‘extreme’ environments where plants, animals, or microbes barely cling on to life. A team of scientists from France, Hungary and Ireland recently had an opportunity to study a group of worms called Enchytraeidae, or potworms, in soils of a unique long-term experiment that has created extreme chemical soil conditions. Located in the world-famous ‘Palace of Versailles’ outside Paris, this experiment consists of small plots of land that have been receiving different fertilizers each year since 1928 but have no plants or crops whatsoever.

In this study scientists found 13 different species of enchytraeid worms, which is remarkable given the fact that no plants grow on these plots, and thus the soils do not receive any carbon or nutrient inputs (through roots or as litter) from plants.

Read more: https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/blog-beneath-our-feet/2020/8/28/pushing-soil-animals-to-the-extreme

[From GSBI Newsletter – September 2020]

Release of the GSOC MRV Protocol

FAO/GSP and its Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS) are pleased to announce the release of the document “GSOC MRV Protocol: A protocol for measurement, monitoring, reporting and verification of soil organic carbon in agricultural landscapes”.

This Protocol represents a significant advance for soils around the world and for users who can now measure, monitor, report and verify Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) gains and changes at the farm level.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1308261/

[From The Global Soil Partnership Special announcement No. 28, 17 September 2020]

Call for inputs to shape a priority action agenda for science

There are still some days left to submit your expert views on priorities for science that can deliver game-changing action regarding Science for Sustainability Transformations, and Transformations of Science Systems by completing this survey: https://council.science/science-funding/global-call/.

Deadline for contributions: 2 October 2020

Please feel free to share this call for inputs with your members and wider networks.

Prize question – What can science achieve during pandemics?

The Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) shall award a cash prize for each of the three best answers to the above question.

1st prize € 12,000

2nd prize € 8,000

3rd prize € 4,000

The competition is open to individuals and groups. Entries are requested in writing in the form of an essay and they are not subject to a restriction of characters. The competition is open for essays in German, English, French, Italian, Russian and Spanish.

Submissions can be sent by email to or by post to the Actuarial Office of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Dr. Ignaz Seipel-Platz 2, 1010 Vienna, by 31 December 2020. The date of the postmark will apply. The judging and prize ceremony shall be carried out by an interdisciplinary prize commission. The winners will be notified by May 2021.

Read more (please scroll down to the English version): https://www.oeaw.ac.at/en/preisfrage/

[From ISC Newsletter, August 2020]

The Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in Geoscience (EDIG) Project – SURVEY

The Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in Geoscience (EDIG) project was started by a group of geoscientists who are working together to better understand the impact of prejudice, inequity, sexism, bias, exclusion, and discrimination within the larger geoscience community.   The EDIG team is asking for your help to understand these issues by completing an anonymous survey about your experiences/lack of experiences related to these topics. Even if you do not feel these readily apply to you, they would still like to hear from you. The survey will run from 14 – 28 September, 2020.  The survey is open to anyone who is over the age of 18 years old and is currently or has previously worked or studied in the field of geoscience. By taking part to the survey you agree to accept these terms. Participation should take no longer than 8 minutes. Anonymized results and quotes may be used in later activities, including the EDIG online conference, to discuss equality, diversity, and inclusion in the larger geoscience community.

Read more: https://www.icrag-centre.org/edig/

To participate in our survey, please follow this link.

Conferences, Meetings and Workshops

The outbreak of the Corona virus is clearly a rapidly evolving situation. The organizers of the meetings listed below are constantly reviewing the situation in the light of global and country-specific advice to inform decisions to minimize the additional risks to attendees, their communities and those living in the meeting’s host country.

The IUSS will also continue to monitor the situation, and advise that prior to attending meetings our members review up to date information from their country’s government, the WHO and from the host country to ensure that everyone’s health and wellbeing remains a priority.

2020

Join Ban Ki-moon and Mary Robinson in webinar: Transformations within reach

Tuesday, 29 September 2020, 15:00 – 16:00 CEST

The International Science Council (ISC), the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Permanent Missions of Norway and South Africa to the United Nations cordially invite you to join an interactive discussion as part of the 75th United Nations General Assembly side events. The event will present a summary of identified game-changing transformations, following the response to COVID-19, that would enable the world to practically take a leap towards sustainability, including key insights and recommendations that have emerged from extensive consultations with a multi-stakeholder community and will suggest a way to operationalize a sustainable and equitable new normal.

Speakers include: H.E. Ban Ki-moon, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations; H.E. Mary Robinson, ISC Patron; Heide Hackmann, ISC CEO

Read more: https://council.science/events/transformations-within-reach/

Register: https://iiasa.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JXu87xj5SpKbVJ9-yjRVlg?mc_cid=9c93007ebf&mc_eid=%5bUNIQID%5d

iconference2020@interpore.org

Webinar: “Launch of the Global Soil Doctors Programme”

Monday, 5 October 2020 from 14:00 to 15:15 CEST.

FAO’s Global Soil Partnership is pleased to invite you to the “Launch of the Global Soil Doctors Programme”. The webinar will officially launch the programme as a direct contribution to Sustainable Soil Management at the farm level. This event will kick off the implementation of the Global Soil Doctors programme as, following its launch, Soil Doctors kits will be distributed for field implementation in several regions of the world.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/events/detail/en/c/1307159/

Zoom into Soil: Zero Tillage

Wednesday 7 October from 12:00 – 1:00pm

Following the continued success of Zoom into Soil, the British Society of Soil Science (BSSS) is pleased to host the third in its lunchtime webinar series.

‘Zoom into Soil: Zero Tillage’ will feature Hannah Cooper and Russell McKenzie who will discuss the current academic literature related to zero-tillage, the extent to which it reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to more common conventional tillage methods and how these methods compare in practice.

Read more: press release

PFAS – Dealing with Contaminants of Emerging Concern

30th November – 1st December 2020

Berlin, Germany, hybrid conference

Registration: https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/pfas-workshop

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/media/2020_pfas_conference_flyer.pdf

Changes to previously announced conferences, meetings and workshops

2nd joint workshop on digital soil mapping and GlobalSoilMap WGs

14-18 December 2020, Goa, India

! Due to COVID 19 travel limitations postponed to 2022 !

Abstract submission is open until September 1, 2020

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/soilmapping2020

2021

LuWQ2021 — 5th International Interdisciplinary Conference on LAND USE AND WATER QUALITY: Agriculture and the Environment

September 13-16, 2021, Maastricht, The Netherlands. A conference on the cutting edge of science, management and policy to minimise effects of agriculture and land use changes on the quality of groundwater and surface waters. Target groups (professionals, fields of expertise, audience) are scientists, managers and policy makers involved in the policy cycle for water quality improvement.

Read more: https://www.luwq2021.nl/

For the complete list of upcoming events, please see the event calendar on the IUSS website: https://www.iuss.org/meetings-events/

New publications

Soil and Root Damage in Forestry

Reducing the Impact of Forest Mechanization

By Iwan Wasterlund. 1st edition published 20 August 2020 by Elsevier, 200 pages, ISBN: 9780128220702, eBook ISBN: 9780128220733, price paperback USD 153.00, eBook USD 153.00, print & ebook bundle USD 180.00

Agroforestry has significantly impacted our forests, but an often-overlooked issue is the effect of harvesting on soils and root systems. Soil and Root Damage in Forestry explains how soil and roots might be damaged through logging activities or silvicultural activities, how resulting root diseases impact the root and soil systems, and the impacts of chemical applications on the soil and root system. This book goes beyond the ‘why’ to also provide methods to reduce the impacts of machines on soils and offers solutions to minimize the impacts of machines on soils. Soil and Root Damage in Forestry serves as a valuable resource not only for those already working in soil science and forest ecology, but also provides insights for advanced students seeking an entrance to the “hidden half” of the planet.

Read more: https://www.elsevier.com/books/soil-and-root-damage-in-forestry/wasterlund/978-0-12-822070-2

Microbiomes and Plant Health

Panoply and Their Applications

Edited by Manoj Solanki, Prem Kashyap, Rizwan Ansari, Baby Kumari. 1st edition published 29th August 2020 by Academic Press, 518 pages, Paperback ISBN: 9780128197158, eBook ISBN: 9780128226018, price paperback USD 170.00, eBook USD 170.00, print & ebook bundle USD 200.00.

This tome includes the most recent advances in phytobiome research. The book emphasizes the use of modern molecular tools such as smart delivery systems for microbiol inoculation, next-generation sequencing, and genome mapping. Chapters discuss a variety of applications and examples, including the sugarcane microbiome, rhizoengineering, nutrient recycling, sustainable agricultural practices and bio-potential of herbal medicinal plants. Written by a range of experts with real-world practical insights, this title is sure to be an essential read for plant and soil microbiologists, phytopathologists, agronomists, and researchers interested in sustainable forestry and agriculture practices.

Read more: https://www.elsevier.com/books/microbiomes-and-plant-health/solanki/978-0-12-819715-8

Climate Impacts on Agricultural and Natural Resource Sustainability in Africa

Edited by B.R. Singh, A. Safalaoh, N.A. Amuri, L.O. Eik, B.K. Sitaula, R. Lal. 1st edition published 2020 by Springer, XVIII, 637 pages, 123 illus., 98 illus. in color, hardcover ISBN 978-3-030-37536-2, eBook ISBN 978-3-030-37537-9. Price hardcover 139,99 € | £119.99 | $169.99, eBook 117,69 € | £95.50 | $129.00, printed eBook € | $ 24.99.

This book discusses knowledge-based sustainable agro-ecological and natural resource management systems and best practices for sustained agricultural productivity and ecosystem resilience for better livelihoods under a changing climate. With a focus on agriculture in Africa, the book assesses innovative technologies for use on smallholder farms, and addresses some of the key Sustainable Development Goals to guide innovative responses and enhanced adaptation methods for coping with climate change.

Read more: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030375362

Soil testing methods manual

Doctors Global Programme – A farmer-to-farmer training programme

By FAO/GSP, published in 2020 in Rome, Italy. 105 pages, ISBN: 978-92-5-131195-0

The Soil Doctors programme is developed under the umbrella of the Global Soil Partnership and promotes the establishment of a farmer-to-farmer training system. The Soil Doctors Global Programme aims to build the capacity of smallholder farmers on the practice of sustainable soil management and, by doing so, support governmental agencies and organizations working on agricultural extension at the field level (promoting broader impact and a reduction of costs). Trainings will also rely on the establishment of demonstration farms and experimental fields by the Soil Doctors, which might attract the interest of research institutes and universities involved in the programme.

The programme also aims to educate farmers on soil science principles for practices of sustainable soil management and aims to achieve this by providing them with a set of tools composed of some educational materials and a soil testing methods (STM) manual for preliminary soil analysis. The STM is a collection of locally relevant, and easy to use, soil analyses procedures that would be selected by each area where the program is implemented.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca2796en

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L'articolo IUSS Alert 183 (September 2020) proviene da iuss.org.

IUSS – FAO-GSP Children’s book contest on Soil Biodiversity

IUSS and FAO-GSP launch together a scientific children’s book contest on Soil Biodiversity in the framework of WSD 2020. The motto is “Keep soil alive, protect soil biodiversity”. FAO, IUSS and GSP invite all those interested in soil and biodiversity – soil scientists, researchers, professors, teachers, classrooms, individual students, soil practitioners, designers, photographers or experts from any professional background – to submit their freestyle book proposal by 10 November 2020. In the submission email, author(s) must fill out and submit the mandatory Registration form.

The winner will receive a cash prize of 1 000 USD, second and third prize will receive a cash prize of 500 USD and 250 USD respectively from IUSS and FAO’s GSP. The winners will be announced on World Soil Day, 5 December 2020.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/international-decade-of-soils/

Flyer: https://www.iuss.org/media/gsp_iuss_booklet_contest.jpg

News from the Latin-American Soil Science Society: SLCS

National Science and Technology Award of the Republic of Chile for a Soil Science scientist

On August 21, Dr. Edmundo Acevedo Hinojosa, who is an Agronomist from the University of Chile, M.S. Soil Science, and Ph.D. Soil Science, was awarded the National Prize for Applied and Technological Sciences by the Ministry of Education of Chile.

This award honours his great trajectory, and the international recognition of his work in areas such as the capture of carbon in soils to reduce carbon in the atmosphere to mitigate the effects of climate change, as well as on the adaptation of plants to drought, and about the crop’s physiology for the genetic improvement of cereals.

Since 2019, Dr. Acevedo has been Emeritus Professor of the Faculty of Agronomic Sciences of the University of Chile. He received numerous awards including the Award for teaching activity at the University of Chile (1977, 1983 and 1996), Award of the Agronomic Society of Chile (1984), Agronomic Merit Award from the Agronomic Society of Chile (1994), Award from the Chilean Agronomic Society (2002), Carlos Porter Award from the Chilean College of Agricultural Engineers (2006), Rector Ruy Barbosa Academic Merit Medal at the University of Chile (2010), and “Espiga de Oro” Award from the College of Agricultural Engineers (2016).

The Latin-American Soil Science Society congratulates Dr. Edmundo Acevedo Hinojosa on this award that puts soil sciences on the national and Latin-American agendas.

Soil Science Society of Brazil

The Soil Science Society of Brazil is organizing the XIII Soil science meeting of southern Brazil on line to be held November 26 and 27, 2020

Registration: www.rsbcs2020.sbcs-nrs.org.br

On August 10, 2020, lectures on “Agriculture, sustainable systems and healthy food” were held via YouTube organized by the UFRRJ.

Link to lectures: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBgtdLRrCLc&feature=youtu.be

Spanish Soil Science Society

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic the Spanish Soil Science Society has postponed the 9th National Symposium on Control of Soil Degradation and Recovery until further notice.

Read more: https://condegres.es/

Mexican Soil Science Society

The Mexican Soil Science Society invites all interested people to participate in the “International Symposium on the Efficient Use of Nitrogen in Agriculture” to be held online on October 21, 2020

Registration: http://www.smcsmx.org/simposio-nitrogeno-2020

Invitation to Biochar survey

Biochar has been discussed as a greenhouse gas removal option and could hold benefits and risks in soil use. In order to investigate barriers to biochar’s implementation and potential impacts on soil and the environment in the UK, we invite you to anonymously complete the survey.

While this survey does have a UK focus and was originally circulated through the BSSS membership, we would like to extend the survey to the wider IUSS community to gain greater insights into biochar. Expertise of UK soils and/or policy is not necessary: all levels of participant familiarity will be helpful our research. Participants who complete the survey can choose to be entered in a drawing to win a £50 voucher.

Link to survey: https://edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_5hajm9exW21U9Eh

IUSS Bulletin 136

Due to unforeseen circumstances editing of IUSS Bulletin 136 has been further delayed and we intend to publish it in early September. The IUSS Secretariat apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.

General News

Morris Schnitzer (1922-2020)

Morris Schnitzer, born in Bochum, Germany, passed away peacefully on 9^th June 2020. Morris obtained his B.Sc. honors in 1951, M.Sc in 1952, and Ph.D. in 1955 in soil chemistry, all from McGill University, Canada. In 1956 he joined the Research Branch of Agriculture Canada. His first research dealt with the formation of complexes between metals and fulvic acid in Spodosols soils. From 1961 to 1962, Morris did post-doctorate studies in the Organic Chemistry Department of the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London, England, under the guidance of Sir Derek Barton, Nobel Laureate in Organic Chemistry. After his return to Canada, Morris started a long-term investigation on the oxidative degradation of humic acids, fulvic acids and humins.

A more comprehensive account of Morris’ life-time research has been published in Advances in Agronomy 68: 1-58, 2000. Morris retired in January 1991 and was appointed Emeritus Distinguished Research Scientist by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. He continued his research until 2012. Over the years, Morris attracted about 30 visiting scientists from 15 different countries in addition to numerous Canadian scientists to work in his laboratory in Ottawa, Canada. Morris authored and co-authored more than 400 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals, 3 books including the first book ever published on humic substances in the environment and numerous book chapters on humic materials and soil organic matter.

Morris was awarded Fellowships by the Canadian Society of Soil Science (1971), Soil Science Society of America (1977), American Society of Agronomy (1977), Honorary Member, International Humic Substances Society (1982,1986), and Royal Society of Canada (1991 ). He received the Soil Science Award of the Soil Science Society of America in 1984, the Soil Science Distinguished Service Award of the Soil Science Society of America in 1995 and was awarded in Israel the Wolf Prize in Agriculture in 1996. He was chairman of Commission II (Soil Chemistry) of the International Society of Soil Science (1978 – 1982), and served on the editorial boards of the Canadian Journal of Soil Science, Soil Science and Geoderma.

Morris will be greatly missed by his friends, colleagues, co-workers and scientists all over the world involved in humic research. He is survived by his daughter Eve Schnitzer and her family.

[from the Obituary provided by the Soil Science Society of Canada]

Donald R. Nielsen (1931-2020)

Donald Rodney Nielsen was born on October 10, 1931, in Phoenix, Arizona. He gained an early appreciation for soils and agriculture through his father’s farming of vegetables in Arizona. Don received a BS degree in agricultural chemistry and soils in 1953 and an MS degree in soil microbiology in 1954 from the University of Arizona. In 1958 he received his PhD in soil physics at Iowa State University under the supervision of Don Kirkham, after which he took a position at UC Davis.

Don Nielsen spent his entire career at UC Davis, where he contributed enormously to all levels of the university through his teaching, research, and service. He shepherded the UC approval of M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Earth Sciences and Resources, as well as in Hydrologic Science. He was internationally renowned for his innovative achievements in the areas of chemical transport in soils, in spatial variability of field soils, determining nitrogen pollution levels from agricultural operations, quantifying the hydrological properties of soils, and studying how soil management affects microbial transformations.

He authored more than 300 publications and was an invited speaker at numerous national and international conferences. Don has been the advisor for many outstanding graduate students and has been the host to more than 90 international scientists from nearly 40 different countries. Through his teaching, research and administrative efforts, as well as his service on countless national and international organizations, he has had a tremendous impact not only in the soil and hydrological sciences, but also on agricultural and environmental sciences in general. He was President of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) and the American Agronomy Society (ASA), as well as President of the Hydrology Section of the American Geophysical Union (AGU). He also served on the National Research Council’s (NRC) Board on Agriculture and chaired the U.S. National Committee of Soil Science, thereby representing the National Academy of Science (NAS) and U.S. soil scientists to the International Union of Soil Science (IUSS). Don held many contributing positions at the IUSS, being President of the Soil Physics Commission from 1978-82, member of its Budget and Finance Committee, and organizing or chairing several of its symposia.

Because of his unique accomplishments in research, student education and professional service, Don Nielsen was honored with numerous awards. He became a Fellow of ASA, SSSA and AGU. He received the M. King Hubbert Award of the National Ground Water Association, was made a Honorary member of IUSS and the European Geophysical Society. He further received the very prestigious Horton Medal of AGU’s Hydrology section “for his fundamental and pioneering work in hydrology, combined with his uncanny love for the profession”. In 2008 he was awarded the Don and Betty Kirkham International Soil Physics Medal, which is awarded once every 8 years.

May he rest in peace.

[From an obituary by Jan W. Hopmans, Martinus Th. van Genuchten and Ole Wendroth, provided by Ester Sztein]

Jérôme Balesdent (1957 – 2020)

It is with great sadness that we inform you that Jérôme Balesdent passed away in July 2020 after a courageous battle against cancer. He was born in 1957. He received his Ph.D. degree from the “Centre de Pédologie Biologique », Nancy, France in 1982, and pursued his career at the French National Institute for Agronomy (INRA, now INRAe) in Versailles, Cadarache and Aix-en-Provence.

Jerome Balesdent was a very creative researcher, notably recognized as a pioneer in the use of stable C isotopes (13C) to study SOM dynamics in C3/C4 transitions. He was among the most renowned French soil scientists of his generation for his work on soil organic matter.

We have lost an outstanding and inspiring scientist, but also a very humble, generous and friendly colleague.

[By Isabelle Basile-Doelsch, CEREGE and Delphine Derrien, INRAE]

World Soil Day, December 5th – Add an event

Planning to have an event on soils? Etching your student, giving a lecture? Put your event on our map and help us build soils awareness!

Read more: http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/worldwide-events/add-events/en/?fbclid=IwAR3IQ4yRxojK57en5f59HdPKNMGS5urJIfPjtSHVrcLISZT3fnQnCOUc4Wc

FAO Webinar: Sustainable Soil and Land Management for Climate Smart Agriculture: Preventing and mitigating land degradation

This international technical webinar, which took place 20 June 2020, is part of the series organized by the FAO eLearning Academy, Agreenium (l’Institut agronomique, vétérinaire et forestier de France) and UN-ESCAP (United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific).

Link to the webinar: https://vimeo.com/432460070

Net erosion data and sediment transport at 25m (WaTEM / SEDEM)

This dataset includes a model estimation of the potential spatial displacement and transport of soil sediments due to water erosion at European scale. Long-term averages of annual soil loss and deposition rates were computed by means of the extensively tested spatially distributed WaTEM/ SEDEM mode. Due to large number of requests to provide the 25m data resolution, we make them available in ESDAC.

Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/themes/sediment-transport-using-watemsedem

[From: ESDAC Newsletter No 121 (March– April 2020)]

Indicators on soil erosion

For non-GIS users, policy makers, advisors, students and other group of people, ESDAC provides the aggregated data on soil erosion: Agro-environmental Indicator – SDG Indicators, CAP Context Indicator, Wind erosion estimates, Global soil erosion estimates. Recently we estimated the soil erosion indicator (year: 2016) to support the performance of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our objective is to develop a kind of scoreboard for all the relevant datasets (Soil organic carbon, biodiversity, nutrients, soil properties, etc).

Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/themes/indicators-soil-erosion

[From: ESDAC Newsletter No 121 (March– April 2020)]

Microbiome Centers Consortium and COVID-19 Efforts

An invitation to join forces

The Microbiome Centers Consortium (MCC) is a new collaborative network of US-based academic microbiome centers. This message addresses colleagues working on microbiome-related research and COVID-19. This includes environmental soil samples. You do not have to be from the USA to participate, and you can be an individual working on this effort.

We are currently working to leverage the strengths of microbiome centers around the country to help with the COVID-19 response. The effort aims to coordinate and assist ongoing research as many microbiome centers are struggling with similar challenges.

Fill out the survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeNCKFKgTH6Gd4rVGY5T_wZAIbRW9GW7Q_jQWdLaUNgiN9w9g/viewform

[From Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative newsletter, 4 August 2020]

The FRST national soil fertility database

The Fertilizer Recommendation Support Tool (FRST) is a database and online tool in development to bring together soil fertility information on a national scale. A core team conducted the first nationwide soil fertility and philosophy survey since 1998 to develop minimum requirements for data inclusion in the database. The tool will not only help all those involved in making soil fertility recommendations but will conserve historical soil test data.

Read more: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/csan.20218

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: 5 August 2020]

Could a Detroit experiment unleash the power of urban soil?

Over the past few months, the COVID-19 crisis has hit Detroit hard, resulting in more 12,000 cases and more than 1,500 deaths. It’s also produced an unemployment rate perhaps as high as 29 percent and a surging demand at area food banks. These problems have brought renewed focus to the importance of food sovereignty in Detroit and elsewhere, and on a changing climate, which could make pandemics worse. Urban farming and gardening sit at the intersection of these issues—and offer a possible way forward, allowing communities to access healthy food close to home and possibly mitigate climate change by capturing carbon in soil.

Read more: https://civileats.com/2020/07/16/could-a-detroit-experiment-unleash-the-power-of-urban-soil/

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: 5 August 2020]

Conferences, Meetings and Workshops

The outbreak of the Corona virus is clearly a rapidly evolving situation. The organizers of the meetings listed below are constantly reviewing the situation in the light of global and country-specific advice to inform decisions to minimize the additional risks to attendees, their communities and those living in the meeting’s host country.

The IUSS will also continue to monitor the situation, and advise that prior to attending meetings our members review up to date information from their country’s government, the WHO and from the host country to ensure that everyone’s health and wellbeing remains a priority.

2020

‘Zoom into Soil’: Erosion

2 September 2020, Online

The British Society of Soil Science (BSSS) is pleased to host the second edition of its lunchtime ‘Zoom into Soil’ series.

Read more: https://www.soils.org.uk/news/6-aug-2020/zoom-soil-erosion

The BSSS YouTube page, which includes the first Zoom into Soil event, Nutrient Efficiency, is available here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHHciYt47RFZLqcQ6QGkjxg

iconference2020@interpore.org

8th World Sustainability Forum (WSF2020)

15- 17 September 2020, Virtual meeting

You may register at any time. In the interest of inclusive global participation and in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, MDPI has generously agreed to drop the registration fees for all virtual academics, members of partnering societies, co-operations and United Nations Initiatives for the 8th World Sustainability Forum. However, registration to the event is mandatory.

Website: https://wsf-8.sciforum.net/

IUBS Centenary Webinar on Forgetting How to Tend the Soil

2 Oct 2020, Online

Read more: http://www.iubs.org/events/conferences-supported/iubs-centenary-webinar-series.html

Download the flyer: https://www.iuss.org/media/iubs_centenary_webinar_series_lecture_1.jpg

International Symposium “Efficient Use of Nitrogen in Agriculture”

Wednesday October 21, 2020, Online

The efficiency of nitrogen use in cereals worldwide has been estimated at 33%; likewise, in Mexico, several research studies on cereals in intensive irrigation areas report similarly low efficiency values. Nitrogen that is not absorbed by the crop is volatilized, leached, percolated, and lost to the environment causing important water and air pollution problems. On the other hand, fertilization tends to be the main production cost with cereals. Here is an opportunity where you have the most expensive input and that is handled in an inefficient way. By increasing the efficiency of nitrogen use, production costs can be reduced and thus increase the profitability of the crop to reduce environmental impact and thus generate a win-win situation, where the farmer and also society in general wins. In Mexico, 71% of nitrogen fertilizer is applied to corn, wheat and sugar cane crops, which is why the symposium will aim to determine scientific advances at the national and international level on the use of nitrogen fertilizers (translated from Spanish).

Deadline for abstracts and extensive papers:  September 10, 2020

Read more: http://www.smcsmx.org/simposio-nitrogeno-2020

ISCRAES 2020 – International Symposium on Climate-Resilient Agri-Environmental Systems

3-6 November 2020, Virtual meeting

Abstract (flash talk and poster) submission deadline: August 31, 2020

Standard registration deadline: August 31, 2020

Symposium website: http://www.iscraes2020.org/

Download: https://www.iuss.org/media/iscraes_flyer_updated.jpg

XIII Soil science meeting of southern Brazil

“Knowledge applied to the field and the city”

November 26 and 27, 2020, Online

The theme is based on the premise that soil management is an essential practice for the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the rural and urban environments, since the soil is an integrating agent of these environments. In this sense, the theme highlights the importance of conserving and managing the soil in an appropriate manner, a natural, finite and essential resource for life on the planet. Often, this importance is remembered more frequently in rural areas due to high soil losses (on site), especially in conditions of extreme rain events due to the erosion process. However, it is known that such a process will also impact water bodies (off site), which suffer from sediment input, compromising the quantity and quality of water available to all living beings. This includes all people in society, whether from the countryside or the city (translated from Portuguese)

Deadline for submission of papers: September 7, 2020

Read more: www.rsbcs2020.sbcs-nrs.org.br

2021

Changes to previously announced conferences, meetings and workshops

9th National Symposium on Control of Soil Degradation and Recovery

May 24-26, 2021, “Ciutat d’Elx” Congress Center, Elche, Spain

Soil is a key element for sustainability, mitigation of the effects of climate change and food production. In addition, it is the support of human activities, both cultural and productive. The symposium focuses on aspects associated with soil degradation, with an emphasis on Mediterranean environments, and proposes solutions to reverse these situations.

Read more: https://condegres.es/

2020 Soil Biology Lab Skills Course

Monday, 31 August 2020 to Friday, 4 September 2020, Wageningen University, Netherlands

!Postponed to 2021!

Website: www.wur.eu/lab-skills-course

2021 SSSA Kirkham Conference

29 August 2021 to 3 September 2021, Kruger National Park, South Africa

!Postponed from Sept. 2020!

Questions? Please contact Kirkham Conference Chair Brent Clothier at brent.clothier@plantandfood.co.nz

Website: https://cwrr.ukzn.ac.za/conferences/kirkham-conference-2020/

First IUSS Conference on Sodic Soil Reclamation

10- 12 May 2021, Changchun, China

!Postponed from Sept. 2020!

Deadline for abstract submission: March 1, 2021

Deadline for full text of paper: April 1, 2021

Contact: wangzhichun@iga.ac.cn

Website: http://ssr.csp.escience.cn/dct/page/65578

RAMIRAN 2021 – Managing Organic Resources in a Changing Environment

20-23 September 2021

University of Cambridge in Eastern England, UK

!Postponed from Sept. 2020!

Read more: https://www.compostnetwork.info/news/event/ramiran-2020/

GSS 2020 – 4th Global Soil Security 2020 Conference – “Global Soil Security: Beyond the Soil to Human Health”

12- 15 October 2020, Seoul, Korea

!Cancelled!

Website: http://www.globalsoilsecurity2020.org/

International Conference Contaminated Sites 2020

26-28 October 2020, Trnava, Slovak Republic

!Postponed to spring or early summer, 2021!

Full paper submission deadline is August 31, 2020

Conference website: http://contaminated-sites2020.sazp.sk/

Global Soil Conference 2020 – Caring Soils Beyond Food Security

9-13 December 2020, New Delhi, India

!Postponed to 2021!

Download: https://www.iuss.org/media/globalsoilconference2020.pdf

For the complete list of upcoming events, please see the event calendar on the IUSS website: https://www.iuss.org/meetings-events/

New publications

Particulate Plastics in Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments

By Nanthi S. Bolan, M.B. Kirkham, Claudia Halsband, Dayanthi Nugegoda, Yong Sik Ok. 1^st editon published July 16, 2020 by CRC Press, 466 pages, paperback ISBN 9780367511401, price GBP 41.99, hardcover ISBN 9781138543928, price GBP 155.00.

The manufacture of plastic as well as its indiscriminate disposal and destruction by incineration pollutes atmospheric, terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystems. Synthetic plastics do not break down; they accumulate in the environment as macro-, micro-, and nanoplastics. These particulate plastics are a major source of pollutants in soil and marine ecosystems. Particulate Plastics in Terrestrial and Aquatic Environments provides a fundamental understanding of the sources of these plastics and the threats they pose to the environment. The book demonstrates the ecotoxicity of particulate plastics using case studies and offers management practices to mitigate particulate plastic contamination in the environment.

Read more: https://www.routledge.com/Particulate-Plastics-in-Terrestrial-and-Aquatic-Environments/Bolan-Kirkham-Halsband-Nugegoda-Ok/p/book/9780367511401

IUSS Alerts are e-mailed to more than 2,600 individual subscribers and 80 national soil science societies globally. Please forward the IUSS Alerts to your friends and colleagues. Send information for IUSS Alerts to iuss@umweltbundesamt.at
If you would like to receive the monthly IUSS Alert by email, please subscribe here https://www.iuss.org/toolbox/iuss-alert-registration/

The IUSS is on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook

L'articolo IUSS Alert 182 (August 2020) proviene da iuss.org.

IUSS Presidential Elections 2020 – status

The election of the next President of the IUSS is due this year. Nominations for two candidates were received, who fulfill the nomination criteria. The IUSS Council shall vote on these two candidates involving the national members until 30 September. The nomination documentation of the candidates is made available on the IUSS website.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/about-the-iuss/iuss-presidential-election/

IUSS Bulletin 136

Due to unforeseen circumstances editing of IUSS Bulletin 136 has been delayed and we hope to publish it by the end of August. The IUSS Secretariat apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause.

Pedometron Newsletter No. 45

The latest issue of Pedometron is available. This issue contains the regular items for you to enjoy, including the Pedometrics Comic, Poetry and Pedomathemagica, ‘What’s new in R’ and several conference reports. An important contribution in this issue is the ‘Pedometricians Digital Mind—Mindfulness & Pedometrics’ written by Sabine Grunwald. Not only is this an interesting and creative read, it may actually help you to find some peace of mind in these stressful days.

Read more: http://pedometrics.org/issue-45-of-pedometron/

Newsletter of Commission 1.6

The June issue of the Paleopedology Newsletter is now available on the IUSS website. Among others, it contains information on the new setting for the INQUA Paleopedology Groups, an article on Paleosols of the Old Red Continent by Susan Marriott & Paul Wright, and a contribution on Paleosols in Tibet: A window into geological and anthropogenic past (written by Fei Yang) and a tribute to Alain Ruellan.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/newsroom/newsletters/paleopedology-newsletters-commission-16/

Tenets of Regenerative Agriculture in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic

Quarterly Viewpoint from the desk of Rattan Lal, Past President, International Union of Soil Sciences

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the traditional food production and supply chains and aggravated the global problem of food and nutritional insecurity. The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is an important cause for a paradigm shift and reemphasizes the need to focus on strengthening of local food production systems and enhancing their resilience against any future disruptions caused by political or natural perturbations. The global disruption in all aspects of the food supply chain has also enhanced the importance of using the practices of regenerative agriculture (RA), or the soil-centric approach to innovative farming. Therefore, basic tenets must be adhered to for enhancing the adoption and adaptation of RA under site-specific conditions to mitigate the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/index.php?rex_media_type=download&rex_media_file=2020_july_quarterly_viewpoint_iuss.pdf

Assessing Soil Health | Free Soil Science Society of America Webinar Series

This soil health focused webinar series integrates economics, measurement tools, measurement assessment, and modeling to educate, motivate, and equip Certified Crop Advisers, consultants, and agricultural retailers to engage in soil health management systems. A Soil Science Society of America webinar series produced in partnership with The Soil Health Institute and sponsored by The Walton Family Foundation. FREE to all registrants.

Read more: https://www.soils.org/education/online-courses

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: 22 July 2020]

Dr. José Luís Colocho (1954 – 2020)

The Latin-American Soil Science Society (SLCS) communicates the loss of one of its national Presidents. On June 27, Dr. José Luís Colocho, President of the Salvadorian Association of Soil Science passed away because of the terrible pandemic that is plaguing our world today.

With his departure, the SLCS not only loses a pedologist but a friend who is a very dear part of our community. May Dr. José Lúis Colocho Ortega rest in peace.

Biography

José Luis Colocho Ortega (1954 – 2020), born in El Salvador was an Agricultural Engineer (ENA – 1976), specialized in Bovinuculture (UFP – 1980), Master on Plant Physiology (UFLA – 1983) and Soil Fertility (UFV – 1987), and D.Sc. in Plant Nutrition (UFV – 1990). For more than 20 years he spearheaded the Soil Science Society of El Salvador, aiming to build up and strengthen the Salvadorian Soil Science.

He was an acting member and collaborator of the Latin-American Soil Science Society and a regular attendant at the Brazilian and Latin-American Congresses of Soil Science. Professionally he distinguished himself as a prolific scientist, businessman, and consultant for the Latin American Coffee Community. He was honored by his peers in El Salvador in the year 2010 as the Agronomist of the Year. José Luis´ impact on the Latin Soil Science community is based on his cordial and friendly personality, provoking enthusiasm for soil science in many students and colleagues. We lost not only an outstanding scientist, but a loving father, friend and colleague who had always a true smile from the heart. We will miss him in so many ways.

[Biography by Luís Carlos Colocho Utarte]

Don Francisco Silva Mojica (1926 – 2020)

With deep regret the Latin-American Soil Science Society communicates the death of Don Francisco Silva Mojica, who was a founding member of the SLCS, our first General Secretary, and distinguished Honorary Member. He was also a founding member of the Colombian Soil Science Society and its President from 1969 to 1970, editor of the scientific journal Suelos Ecuatoriales from 1955 to 2000 and from 1995 to 2004 General Secretary of the Latin-American Soil Science Society (SLCS).

During his tenure as the head of the General Secretariat of the SLCS, he distinguished himself by his constant commitment and persevering will to form a strong Latin-American Soil Science Society committed to Soil Science, and always working in close and respectful collaboration with the International Union of Soil Sciences.

In 2016 the Latin-American Soil Science Society awarded him with the “Distinction to a Whole Life dedicated to Soil Science” and in 2019 he was awarded as its Honorary Member.

Rest in peace Don Francisco Silva Mojica.

[By Laura Bertha Reyes Sánchez, IUSS President-Elect]

General News

Glinka World Soil Prize 2020

Nominations for the Glinka World Soil Prize 2020 are officially open. The prize consists of a USD 15,000 check and a medal.  The nomination is open to individuals or organizations that are dynamic change-makers dedicated to solving soil degradation at all levels. If you think you are an eligible candidate, propose your nomination to the GSP country focal point or the closest GSP partner (see list: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/partners/en/).

Submit the nomination form by 30 September 2020 to GSP-Secretariat@fao.org.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/glinka-world-soil-prize/en/
[From: Global Soil Partnership newsletter No 28, 9 July 2020]

King Bhumibol WSD Award 2020

If you have organized an outstanding WSD event for the 2019 campaign ‘Stop soil erosion, Save our future’, don’t miss the chance to win the King Bhumibol World Soil Day Award, edition 2020. The award consists of a medal, a USD 15 000 check and a trip to Thailand. All participants from last year’s campaign can apply.

The call for application should be submitted by 30 September 2020 to GSP Secretariat together with an informative dossier containing proof of success.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/world-soil-day/world-soil-day-award/en

[From: Global Soil Partnership newsletter No 28, 9 July 2020]

The 8th GSP Plenary Assembly, a digital success

The Plenary was held from 3 to 5 June 2020 in a virtual format on the Zoom platform. All official documents were made available online together with the condensed agenda and presentations. 

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/about/plenary-assembly/eight-session-2020/en/

[From: Global Soil Partnership newsletter No 28, 9 July 2020]

Towards the GSSmap

To support the sustainable management of Salt-Affected Soils (SAS), the FAO-GSP is coordinating the development of the Global Soil Salinity Map (GSSmap). This follows a country-driven approach whereby countries will be able to generate their national soil salinity maps. A very intense capacity development programme involved experts from Near East and North Africa, Eurasia, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Africa, and the Pacific.
Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1269946/

[From: Global Soil Partnership newsletter No 28, 9 July 2020]

Contribute to SoiLEX

The GSP is currently developing an innovative tool – SoiLEX – to raise awareness on soil legislation and facilitate the search for national legal instruments and the exchange of experiences in soil governance among countries.

Support the creation of the online platform by answering the SoiLEX questionnaire and join the new Working Group on soil legislation, now!

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1274929/

[From: Global Soil Partnership newsletter No 28, 9 July 2020]

GLOSOLAN breakthrough

Institutions and experts from around the world are joining efforts thanks to the Global Soil Laboratory Network (GLOSOLAN) in using spectroscopy technology to support decision-making on soil protection, improve agricultural productivity, reverse land degradation, improve soil assessment, and increase international collaboration.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/fao-stories/article/en/c/1271807/?utm_content=bufferc9892&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[From: Global Soil Partnership newsletter No 28, 9 July 2020]

Progress on soil import legislation

The SIMPLE database – a new FAO tool – has just been launched to promote and facilitate the execution of international inter-laboratory comparisons while simplifying the shipment of soil samples between countries for research purposes. It is the result of a global effort led by GLOSOLAN.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlights/detail/en/c/1295934/

[From: Global Soil Partnership newsletter No 28, 9 July 2020]

Video on soil biodiversity

Discover how soil biodiversity is a key provider of ecosystem services and one of the main nature-based solutions to face all the current global challenges.

Watch the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbdsHOnd_gw

[From: Global Soil Partnership newsletter No 28, 9 July 2020]

WSD post-campaign

World Soil Day (WSD) 2019 ‘Stop soil erosion, Save our future’ was celebrated in 100 countries with over 560 events. Media coverage reached 653 million. BBC, Al Jazeera, the New York Times covered the theme “Stop soil erosion, Save our future”.

On Twitter #WorldSoilDay reached 400 million users.

Discover the highlights of the WSD in video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2WCfg7jfpw&feature=youtu.be

Read more: http://www.fao.org/3/ca8233en/ca8233en.pdf

[From: Global Soil Partnership newsletter No 28, 9 July 2020]

Webinar: RECSOIL

The GSP webinar ‘Recarbonization of global soils’ held on 17 June 2020, with 1452 participants from 136 countries, discussed the importance of RECSOIL, as a new tool that supports national and regional greenhouse gas mitigation and carbon sequestration initiatives by incentivizing SSM through tradable carbon credits. The presentations, recording and the report are now available:

Presentations: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/events/detail/en/c/1277609/

Listen to the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4P634TQ9kA&feature=youtu.be

The report can be downloaded here: http://www.fao.org/3/ca9925en/ca9925en.pdf
Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/events/detail/en/c/1277609/

[From: Global Soil Partnership newsletter No 28, 9 July 2020]

Call for Collaboration in Soil Organisms

Raúl Ochoa-Hueso and colleagues recently published a call for collaboration in Soil Organisms called “Ecosystem and biogeochemical coupling in terrestrial ecosystems under global change: A roadmap for synthesis and call for data.” For more information, see their article in Soil Organisms. Please be aware that this is not an RFP, and there is no available funding. This is only a call for data and collaboration, deadline: July 31, 2020

Read more: http://www.soil-organisms.org/index.php/SO/article/view/121

[From: GSBI (Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative ) newsletter, July 2020]

How global changes affect soil microbial biodiversity and function

Biodiversity of plants and animals on the Earth is changing at an unprecedented rate due to a variety of global change factors, such as warming, carbon-dioxide enrichment, altered precipitation, atmospheric nitrogen deposition, nutrient fertilization, land-use change, and their combinations.

Soil microbial communities are surprisingly diverse and abundant. In specific, 1 trillion (1012) microbial species harbor on the Earth, and 1 g soil contains up to 1 billion (109) bacterial cells consisting of tens of thousands of taxa.

Read more: https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/blog-beneath-our-feet/2020/6/19/how-global-changes-affect-soil-microbial-biodiversity-and-function

[From: GSBI newsletter, July 2020]

Springtails bounce Dr. Adrian Smith into discoveries on Collembola behavior

This past winter I noticed something incredible, actually a bunch of things, right outside my door. The things came crawling out of the ground in my yard. Noticing things crawling out of the ground is part of my job. I’m an entomologist who has specialized in studying ants for the past 15 years. But this was different, these weren’t ants. They weren’t even insects. Covering my back patio, my garbage cans, and the leaf litter were thousands of globular springtails, tiny soil arthropods.

Read more: https://www.globalsoilbiodiversity.org/blog-beneath-our-feet/2020/7/9/springtails-bounce-dr-adrian-smith-into-discoveries-on-collembola-behavior

Watch the fascinating video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=38&v=Qu01EUeE5PM&feature=emb_title

[From: GSBI newsletter, July 2020]

Contribute to the Review of the Report for the IPBES Transformative Change Assessment

With reference to the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) notification EM/2020/4, the draft scoping report for the transformative change assessment (thematic assessment of the underlying causes of biodiversity loss and the determinants of transformative change and options for achieving the 2050 vision for biodiversity) is open for external review. The aim of the review is to increase the policy relevance of the scoping report by engaging governments and stakeholders early in the process of defining the policy questions that this assessment will address.

Deadline for contributions: 28 August 2020.

Read more: https://ipbes.net/transformative-change/scoping-document-registration

ISC 2019 Annual Report: Now available online

We are delighted to share the International Science Council’s 2019 Annual Report. In the Council’s first full year of operation we were proud to launch an Action Plan for the coming years, to develop new initiatives and partnerships, and to consolidate existing scientific activities. In line with the Council’s sustainability principles, and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, we will not be sending out printed copies of the 2019 Annual Report. Instead, we invite you to browse the Report online, where you will find additional audio-visual content and links to the latest information about the Council’s initiatives. If you have any questions or comments, please contact our Membership Liaison Officer Anne Thieme (Anne.Thieme@council.science).

Read more: https://council.science/annual-report-2019.

Soil offers key to curbing climate change – Efforts to boost carbon capture could offset increases in greenhouse gas emissions

Sarah Singla is a cereal farmer who does not know how to plough. That is a sign not of professional laxness, but of her dedication to the conservation agriculture that her father embraced. Since taking over the 100-hectare family farm in the southern French department of Aveyron a decade ago, Ms Singla has further developed the practices he initiated in 1980.

Conservation agriculture aims to minimise or suppress tillage, ensure that soil always has a cover crop, and use crop rotation to enhance soil fertility. 

Read more: https://amp.ft.com/content/a2e1476a-9390-11ea-899a-f62a20d54625?shareType=nongift&__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR3WfAdg1n1CmW4708xF872hwPVYxgCzEZqQx_yTBMnLc_683n9IryitXnU

More work crucial to ensure our soil recovers from bushfires – Australian Academy of Science publishes bushfire expert brief

The Australian Academy of Science has published a bushfire expert brief titled Soil Conditions After Bushfires. The brief is calling for a nationally consistent approach to soil data collection, storage and access to aid recovery from the 2019-20 bushfire season.

Read more: https://www.science.org.au/supporting-science/science-policy-and-analysis/evidence-briefs/soil-condition-after-bushfires

The global odyssey of plastic pollution

Scientists who once studied microplastics (plastic debris <5 mm in size) as ocean pollutants have now detected them in soils, biota, and Earth’s atmosphere. To decipher the global fate of microplastics, scientists have begun to ask questions about the “microplastic cycle,” which is akin to global biogeochemical cycles (nitrogen, carbon, and water). For example, what are the sources of microplastics, and how do they transform as they move from one pool (e.g., a beach, inside an organism, or a river bed) to another? And what processes (“fluxes”) transfer microplastics between pools? On page 1257 of this issue, Brahney et al. (1) report high-resolution spatial and temporal data that provide evidence of both global and regional microplastic transport, thus increasing our understanding of the microplastic cycle.

Read more: http://www.sciencemag.org/about/science-licenses-journal-article-reuse

Plutonium and Cesium inventories in European topsoils

The two radionuclides (cesium, plutonium) were released during military nuclear tests, particularly in the 1960s, but cesium also during the Chernobyl accident in 1986. A group of researchers used 160 samples from a European LUCAS topsoil database (2009) from undisturbed soils to develop the Cs and Pu footprint in European soils. The produced maps help to understand the magnitude of the fallout sources, establish a baseline in case of future radionuclide fallout and define a baseline for geomorphological reconstructions of soil redistribution due to soil erosion processes. The dataset includes the Baseline Caesium-137 topsoil (0-20cm), Baseline Plutonium-239+240 topsoil, the Chernobyl-derived 137Cs and Global-derived 137Cs. Details on how this dataset has been developed can be found in the relevant publication.

Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/themes/plutonium-and-cesium-inventories-european-topsoils

[From ESDAC Newsletter No 122, May-June 2020] 

Caring for soil is caring for life

“Caring for Soil is Caring for Life” is the title of the mission proposed by the Soil Health and Food Mission Board. The mission’s goal is to “ensure that 75% of soils are healthy by 2030 and are able to provide essential ecosystem services”, such as the provision of food and other biomass, supporting biodiversity, storing and regulating the flow of water, or mitigating the effects of climate change. The target corresponds to a 100% increase of healthy soils against the current baseline. This interim report sets out the vision and the blueprint to reach this ambition through a combination of research and innovation, training and advice, as well as the demonstration of good practices for soil management using “Living labs” and “Lighthouses”.

Read more: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-law-and-publications/publication-detail/-/publication/32d5d312-b689-11ea-bb7a-01aa75ed71a1

[From ESDAC Newsletter No 122, May-June 2020] 

Conferences, Meetings and Workshops

The outbreak of the Corona virus is clearly a rapidly evolving situation. The organizers of the meetings listed below are constantly reviewing the situation in the light of global and country-specific advice to inform decisions to minimize the additional risks to attendees, their communities and those living in the meeting’s host country.

The IUSS will also continue to monitor the situation, and advise that prior to attending meetings our members review up to date information from their country’s government, the WHO and from the host country to ensure that everyone’s health and wellbeing remains a priority.

2020

1st International Conference on Sustainable Tropical Land Management (ICSTLM) 2020

16-18 September 2020, Virtual meeting

Theme: “Adapting Land Management to Climate Change and Combating Land Degradation to Increase Resilience of Agricultural System”

Deadline for abstract submission: 3 August 2020

Conference website: https://seminarbbsdlp.id/icstlm/index.php/en/

Flyer: https://seminarbbsdlp.id/icstlm/images/Download/Poster_ICSTLM_2020.pdf

iconference2020@interpore.org

2021

Changes to previously announced conferences, meetings and workshops

WRB Workshop Summer 2021

20-25 June 2021, Toruń, Poland

!Postponed from September 2020!

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/summerwrb/home

Soils Conference 2021 – Soils, investing in our future

27 June – 2 July 2021, Cairns, Queensland, Australia.

!Postponed from Nov./Dec. 2020 due to Covid-19 pandemic!

Soil Science Australia and New Zealand Society of Soil Science’s joint conference

Website: https://www.soilscienceaustralia.org.au/2021-joint-conference/

Download: media/ssa_nzsss_ppt_conference_slides.pptx

XIVth International symposium and field workshop on paleopedology (ISFWP-XIV) – Paleosols, pedosediments and landscape morphology as archives of environmental changes

8- 18 August 2021, Altai, Russia

!Postponed from August 2020!

Website: http://isfwp.100igras.ru/

Download: media/2_circular_xiv-isfwp-2020.pdf

Global Symposium on Salt-Affected Soils

13-16 September 2021, Tashkent, Uzbekistan

The symposium will be organized by FAO-GSP, ITPS, the Government of Uzbekistan and the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS).

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/events/detail/en/c/1264612/

2020 ASA, CSSA & SSSA Annual Meeting

8-11 November 2020, Virtual meeting

Abstract submission deadline: July 31, 2020

Website: https://www.acsmeetings.org/

2nd joint workshop on digital soil mapping and GlobalSoilMap WGs

14-18 December 2020, Goa, India

Abstract submission is open until September 1, 2020

Website: https://sites.google.com/view/soilmapping2020

New announcements

8th World Congress on Conservation Agriculture

June 21-24, 2021, Zollikofen, Bern, Switzerland

New abstracts can be submitted from now on until January 15th, 2021

The online registration process will re-open on September 1st, 2020

Conference website: https://8wcca.org/

Download 4^th announcement: https://www.iuss.org/media/4th_announcement_def.pdf

For the complete list of upcoming events, please see the event calendar on the IUSS website: https://www.iuss.org/meetings-events/

New publications

Soil Proverbs

By Paola Adamo, Gian Franco Capra, Andrea Vacca, Gilmo Vianello. 1st edition published in 2020 by Edizioni dell’Orso, Alessandria (Italy), with the contribution of the Italian Society of Soil Science. 243 Pages, ISSN 2704-9183, ISBN 978-88-3613-032-0, price hardcover 25,00 €

With this book, the Italian Society of Soil Science (SISS) wants to offer to a wide audience, made up of readers who are not necessarily “insiders”, an invaluable collection of soil proverbs enriched by the dialectal cadences of thirteen regions and an autonomous province of Italy. The book contains around 300 proverbs, which preserve and transmit knowledge of the soil and its management that has its roots in daily experience and the reflective capacity of those who preceded us. The translation and explanation in Italian and English are reported for each proverb.

The recovery of the past, in this case of the oral tradition of proverbs, expresses the meaning and the value that the soil had for the generations that preceded us, as well as the very topical awareness of the importance of preserving and enhancing it so that it can also benefit the future generations.

The publication of this volume takes place in continuity with the spirit that has always been the hallmark of the SISS, keen to promote the spread of Soil Science and its applications, and to stimulate active collaboration among its afficionados. Furthermore, the volume is part of the activities and objectives of the International Decade of Soils (2015-2024), proclaimed by the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) to raise awareness and promote the vital importance of the soil for human life on planet Earth.

Read more: https://www.ediorso.it/proverbi-del-suolo-soil-proverbs.html/

Sustainable Agriculture – Advances in Technological Interventions

By Ajoy Kumar Singh, Vishwa Bandhu Patel. 1^st edition published May 20, 2020 by Apple Academic Press, 560 Pages – 9 Color & 72 B/W Illustrations, ISBN 9780429325830, price hardback GBP 117.60 (will be shipped after September 16), VitalSource eBook Purchase – GBP 117.60; 6 Month Rental – GBP 73.50, 12 Month Rental – GBP 88.20.

This new volume looks at the evolution and challenges of sustainable agriculture, a field that is growing in use and popularity, discussing some of the important ideas, practices, and policies that are essential to an effective sustainable agriculture strategy. The book features 25 chapters written by experts in crop improvement, natural resource management, crop protection, social sciences, and product development. The volume provides a good understanding of the use of sustainable agriculture and the sustainable management of agri-horticultural crops, focusing on eco-friendly approaches, such as the utilization of waste materials. Topics include ecofriendly plant protection measures, climate change and natural resource management, tools to mitigate the effect of extreme weather events, agrochemical research and regulation, soil carbon sequestration, water and nutrient management in agricultural systems, and more.

Read more: https://www.routledge.com/Sustainable-Agriculture-Advances-in-Technological-Interventions/Singh-Patel/p/book/9780429325830

Managing Soils and Terrestrial Systems

By Brian D. Fath, Sven Erik Jorgensen. 2^nd edition published July 5, 2020 by CRC Press, 642 Pages – 182 B/W Illustrations, ISBN 9781138342651, price hardback GBP 100.00, VitalSource eBook Purchase – GBP 35.99; 6 Month Rental – GBP 22.50, 12 Month Rental – GBP 27.00.

Bringing together a wealth of knowledge, Environmental Management Handbook, Second Edition, gives a comprehensive overview of environmental problems, their sources, their assessment, and their solutions. Through in-depth entries and a topical table of contents, readers will quickly find answers to questions about environmental problems and their corresponding management issues. This six-volume set is a reimagining of the award-winning Encyclopedia of Environmental Management, published in 2013, and features insights from more than 400 contributors, all experts in their field.

In this third volume, Managing Soils and Terrestrial Systems, the general concepts and processes of the geosphere with its related soil and terrestrial systems are introduced. It explains how these systems function and provides strategies on how to best manage them. It serves as an excellent resource for finding basic knowledge on the geosphere systems and includes important problems and solutions that environmental managers face today. This book practically demonstrates the key processes, methods, and models used in studying environmental management.

Read more: https://www.routledge.com/Managing-Soils-and-Terrestrial-Systems/Fath/p/book/9781138342651?utm_source=crcpress.com&utm_medium=referral

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The SM150T is provided with general calibrations for mineral and organic soils. A two-point soil specific calibration can be performed for greater accuracy if required.

More information on the SM150T

IUSS Alerts are e-mailed to more than 2,600 individual subscribers and 80 national soil science societies globally. Please forward the IUSS Alerts to your friends and colleagues. Send information for IUSS Alerts to iuss@umweltbundesamt.at
If you would like to receive the monthly IUSS Alert by email, please subscribe here https://www.iuss.org/toolbox/iuss-alert-registration/

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L'articolo IUSS Alert 181 (July 2020) proviene da iuss.org.

IUSS News

IUSS Presidential Elections 2020 – status

The election of the next President of the IUSS is due this year. The appointment of the President represents a total of six years commitment to the Union by serving two years each as President-Elect (2021/22), President (2023/24) and Past-President (2025/26). The Standing Committee on Presidential Elections has defined the respective procedure and the guidelines. Nominations should be made by two accomplished, highly-respected senior soil scientists.

Full nomination documentation had to be submitted electronically to Prof. Dr. Rainer Horn (Email: rhorn@soils.uni-kiel.de) by June 1, 2020, copying iuss@umweltbundesamt.at.

Nominations for two candidates were received, who fulfill the nomination criteria. The candidates are:

Edoardo Costantini, Italy

Victor Chude, Nigeria

The projected timetable for the Presidential Election process is as follows:

* Nomination documents will be made available on the IUSS website in July 2020.
* Candidates voted on by Council (1 vote per National Member in good financial standing in IUSS) by end of September, 2020.
* Result of Election presented to President and Executive Committee following the conclusion of the vote and subsequently announced to members by email and on the IUSS website.
* Report on the process and any issues arising will be presented to Council and Executive Committee before the end of 2020.

The schedule outlined above may be amended if unforeseen circumstances arise.

Procedure and guidelines: http://www.iuss.org/media/president_election_full_info_2020.pdf

IUSS Past President Rattan Lal will receive the 2020 World Food Prize

The IUSS is very proud that its current Past President Prof. Dr. Rattan Lal will receive the 2020 World Food Prize for developing and mainstreaming a soil-centric approach to increasing food production that restores and conserves natural resources and mitigates climate change. This prize is not only a global recognition for an extraordinary soil scientist, but also an important acknowledgement of the critical role that soil science plays in global food security.

Over his career spanning more than five decades and four continents, Prof. Dr. Lal has promoted innovative soil-saving techniques benefiting the livelihoods of more than 500 million smallholder farmers, improving the food and nutritional security of more than two billion people and saving hundreds of millions of hectares of natural tropical ecosystems. He serves as Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science and founding Director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at The Ohio State University (OSU).

Read more: https://www.worldfoodprize.org/en/laureates/2020_lal/¸and https://phys.org/news/2020-06-ohio-state-university-soil-professor.html?fbclid=IwAR298RgD1cB_EObxORjEsGMrH4G5JiONi5jdNWQs80grtu6ILQWROr7G0CM

IUSS represented at FAO GSP Eighth General Assembly

On June 3-5, 2020 the Eighth Global Soil Partnership Plenary Assembly was held online with the participation of the IUSS President elect Dr. Laura Bertha Reyes Sánchez as its official representative.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/about/plenary-assembly/eight-session-2020/en/

IUSS Past President Rattan Lal speaker at FAO Webinar ‘RECSOIL: recarbonization of global soils’

To discuss the feasibility of moving the SOC agenda into action and how RECSOIL – Recarbonization of global soils – can contribute to soil sustainability, this webinar was held on June 17 with the participation of the IUSS Past President Dr. Rattan Lal as the first speaker. The Webinar presentations and recording are available.

Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/events/detail/en/c/1277609/

STOP SOIL DEGRADATION and the IUSS’s educative project to achieve it

Mexican Soil Science Society

As part of its national educative project “Thus are the Soils of my Nation^®” and with the HashTag “#TheSoilIsLife”, the Mexican Soil Science Society (SMCS) launched its National Network for Soil Science Education and Teaching, and its LOGO.

Through this action, the Mexican Soil Science Society links its project “Thus are the soils of my Nation^®” with the educational project “THE IUSS GOES TO THE SCHOOL^®” to work on joint actions.

Integral Plan for sustainability from UNAM

Within the framework of the “International Decade of Soils 2015-2024” of the IUSS and the FAO GSP, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) called on all national actors to form the National Alliance for the soil in 2015.

Now, as part of this National Alliance, with the participation of UNAM’s soil scientists, the “INTEGRAL PLAN FOR SUSTAINABILITY FROM UNAM” is promoted in response to the IDS, GSP and SDG´s.

Argentine Association of Soil Science

As part of its national educative project: “Thus are the Soils of my Nation^®”, the Scientific Commission on Soil Education of the Argentine Association of Soil Science join into “THE IUSS GOES TO THE SCHOOL^®” activities to produce didactical educative material for children and young people through its Argentine Network for Soil Science Education and Teaching.

Within the framework of the National Day of Soil Conservation 2020 the Argentine Association of Soil Science (AACS) invites girls and boys to participate with artistic works. The objective of the event is to commemorate July 7, National and International Day of Soil Conservation and promote among children the importance of care and good use of soils.

Contact: conservaciondesuelosyagua.aacs@gmail

News from the Latin-American Soil Science Society: SLCS

Seventh Assembly of the Latin American and Caribbean FAO Regional Soil Alliance

On May 27, the Seventh Assembly of the Latin-American and Caribbean Soil Alliance was held online with the participation of all countries belonging to the Latin-American Soil Science Societies.

XXIII Latin-American Congress of Soil Sciences (XXIII CLACS) will be held on August 22 to 27, 2021, in Florianópolis, Brasil.

Argentine Association of Soil Science

Organize a cycle of conferences: the agricultural sector against climate change. Every Tuesday and Thursday in June and July at 11 a.m. in Buenos Aires (-3 GMT).

Read more: www.youtube.com/user/webinta

Celebrating July 7 as the National and International Day of Soil Conservation and to promote practices for its care and good use, the Argentine Association of Soil Science invites to the “National Day of Soil conservation” by joining the live conferences that will take place on July 7, 14 and 21, 2020.

Prior registration: https://bit.ly/3dd4psU

Spanish Soil Science Society

The 9th National Symposium on Control of Soil Degradation and Recovery organized by the Spanish Soil Science Society will be held at the University Miguel Hernández in Elche, Spain, September 30 to October 2, 2020.

Read more: https://condegres.es/

Soil Science Society of Chile

“The International Network for the Study of the Physical Quality of Volcanic Soils”, organizes the Virtual Seminar: “Advances in the study of soils derived from volcanic ash in Latin America”, to be held every fortnight from June 11 to December 17, 2020 and from January 7 to 21, 2021 cisvo.uach@gmail.com; josedorner@uach.cl

ASA, CSSA, SSSA Town Hall Webinar on Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion – Join Us!

ASA, CSSA, and SSSA have taken action to improve diversity and inclusion across our Societies. We know these actions are not enough and we do not have all the answers. Join us for our Town Hall Webinar on Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion, hosted by our Diversity in Agronomy, Crops, Soils, and Environmental Sciences Committee and SSSA Representation & Recognition Task Force to collect your input on tangible actions we can take immediately to strengthen our community and improve diversity, equality, and inclusion. Tuesday, June 30 at Noon (Central).

Register here: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/290622221291667211

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: 24 June 2020]

School of soil biodiversity and bioindication

The Italian Society of Soil Science organized the online School of soil biodiversity and bioindication from 16 to 18 June, 2020.

Read more: https://www.iuss.org/media/1st_announc_remote_last.pdf

Contact: eren.taskin@unicatt.it and segretario@scienzadelsuolo.org

General News

Contribute to the Special Issue on “Global Gridded Soil Information Based on Machine Learning”

A Special Issue on “Global Gridded Soil Information Based on Machine Learning” is open for contributions in Remote Sensing (IF: 4.118, ISSN 2072-4292). The deadline for manuscript submission is 31 December 2021.

Read more: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/remotesensing/special_issues/Gridded_Soil_Information_Machine_Learning

Call for nomination of the best deserving researchers – Philippe Duchaufour Medal and the Soil System Sciences Outstanding Early Career Scientists Award 2021

The Philippe Duchaufour medal is awarded every year for distinguished contributions to soil science. Detailed information on the selection process and how to propose a candidate is available on the Awards & Medals section of the EGU website. Nominations for all the medals and awards must be submitted via an online nomination form (https://www.egu.eu/awards-medals/nominations/).

The deadline for submissions is 30 June 2020.

Read more: https://www.egu.eu/awards-medals/proposal-and-selection-of-candidates/

Report, recording & presentations | Webinar on ‘Soil Biodiversity, a nature-based solution?’

The webinar on soil biodiversity is a great preparation for the World Soil Day celebration on 5th December 2020 and the Global Symposium on Soil Biodiversity (GSOBI20) to be held in February 2021. The key objective of the symposium is to fill some critical knowledge gaps and promote discussion to find a solution to live in harmony with nature, and ultimately, achieve the SDGs through the conservation and sustainable use of soil biodiversity.

The Webinar Presentations, Recording, and Report are now available.  

Presentations:  http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/events/detail/en/c/1275159/

Listen to the recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb6C69FG-xk&feature=youtu.be

Download the report: http://www.fao.org/3/ca9533en/ca9533en.pdf

Finally, in the framework of the GSOBI20, the photo & video contest is launched, get involved now, the submission date is 30 June 2020.  

Read more: http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/soil-biodiversity-symposium/contest/en/

ISC statement on combating systemic racism and other forms of discrimination in science

In the wake of the death of George Floyd and the global response it has ignited, we recognize the need for critical reflection and concerted, impactful action to eradicate racism and other forms of injustice in our own scientific communities and the systems that support them.

The International Science Council has published a statement on combating systemic racism and other forms of discrimination and we will continue to reflect on concrete steps aimed at correcting systemic discrimination in science during the coming weeks. We kindly encourage you to read the statement and to consider sharing and disseminating it among your networks.

Read more: https://council.science/current/news/statement-on-combating-systemic-racism-and-other-forms-of-discrimination/

Recent ISC and CFRS Statements

In addition to the above mentioned ISC statement on combating systemic racism and other forms of discrimination, the ISC Committee for Freedom and Responsibility in Science (CFRS), which aims to promote and address freedom and responsibility of science issues at the global level, released a statement this week on ethical responsibilities of scientists at a time of global threat: https://council.science/current/press/cfrs-statement-15-june-2020/. We kindly encourage you to read the statements and to consider sharing and disseminating them.

Falling Walls Breakthroughs of the Year 2020 

Falling Walls – an international platform for leaders from the worlds of science, business, politics, the arts and society – is calling for nominations for the most recent breakthroughs in ten categories, from life sciences to science management, to highlight breakthrough thinking from all over the world. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Falling Walls has shifted from a series of meetings and one conference with a limited number of speakers and topics to a global showcase that gathers, celebrates and discusses a much broader set of breakthroughs in science and society. With this new format, they seek to contribute to the post-COVID-19 agenda through dedicated sessions by sharing thrilling research for a few minutes per day over several weeks, with a global digital meeting on 9 November 2020.

Deadline for nominations: 1 September 2020

Read more: https://falling-walls.com/breakthroughyear/nominate/

Low biomass production limits cover crop effects on soils

Cover crop impacts on soil properties depends on cover crop productivity. Planting cover crops early and in a diverse mix of species could be an option to boost biomass production and enhance benefits to soils. However, the impacts of early planting and species mixes on soil properties are not well understood. A new article in Agronomy Journal investigates how broadcasting cover crops pre‐harvest or drilling post‐harvest affected biomass production and soil properties after four years. Cover crops were cereal rye, a mix of rye, legumes, and brassicas, and a no‐cover‐crop control.

Read more: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/csan.20106

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: 24 June 2020]

Climate-friendly almond farmers coax life from drying Spanish soil

Almond farmers in Southern Spain are increasingly utilizing regenerative practices in the hopes of restoring soil health while also increasing profits. While global markets have suffered in recent months, an almond marketing company from the region Almendrehesa hopes consumers will become more receptive to ideas like regenerative agriculture due to the current disruptions to the global food chain.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-change-farming-spain/climate-friendly-almond-farmers-coax-life-from-drying-spanish-soil-idUSKBN2331JR

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: 10 June 2020]

No-till agriculture increases crop yields, environmental gains over long haul

A study in Global Change Biology clearly demonstrates significant benefit to the environment and to crop yield for farmers practicing no-till versus tilled agriculture consistently over many years. The Michigan State University scientists’ work demonstrates the importance of long-term research for obtaining meaningful results, especially on the outcomes of management changes that can be slow to develop and to detect, such as the attributes of cropping systems on soil structure and organic matter. Using data from the National Science Foundation Kellogg Biological Station Long-Term Ecological Research site to study how land use intensity affects agriculture and environment, researchers explored the long-term agricultural and environmental effects of converting agriculture management practices from tilled to no-till.

Read more: https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=300631&org=NSF&from=news

[From: ASA-CSSA-SSSA Science Policy Report: 27 May 2020]

Modeling gas diffusion in aggregated soils

Agricultural soils contribute to 16% of total greenhouse gas emissions, particularly nitrous oxide (N2O). Migration of gases in the agricultural subsurface and emission across the soil–atmosphere interface is primarily controlled by diffusion and explained by soil gas diffusivity. Since experimental determination of soil gas diffusivity can be expensive and time consuming, predictive models are commonly used to estimate diffusivity from easy-to-measure soil properties like soil total porosity and soil air content. New research in the Soil Science Society of America Journal introduces a descriptive soil gas diffusivity model.

Read more: https://acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/csan.20102

What the f*** is biodiversity? – Episode 1: Soil biodiversity with Dr Valerie Behan-Pelletier

In this episode of What the f*** is biodiversity, Ann and Val talk about the incredibly biodiverse world of soil and how it connects to the ground above that we as humans inhabit. We rely so much on the work of many different arthropods, like soil mites, since these teeny-tiny creatures are an integral part of the soil food web. Wherever there is food or vegetation, there are soil mites. And without the vital work they do, the quality of our food would seriously decline.

https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/what-the-f-is/episode-1-soil-biodiversity-5wqsAOjdmUn/

Researchers make greenhouse gas emissions from tropical peat soils with higher accuracy

Tropical peatlands store lots of carbon and have an important role in the global carbon cycles. Tropical peatlands account for about 5 to 10% of global soil carbon.

Peatland C stocks have been significantly depleted due to climate change and human disturbances. Clearing of forests and draining of peatlands have accelerated the emission of CO₂ from peats. This has been the major talking point at numerous international forums aiming to combat climate change. Recently, FAO published a report on peatland mapping and monitoring in which one of the recommendations is to update the IPCC emission factors of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for peatlands.

https://phys.org/news/2020-05-greenhouse-gas-emissions-tropical-peat.html?fbclid=IwAR0QVW_27RysdodRG86xvinTjaceNyX28R7BN0WmisJYijmee6cCeJzuhR0

Global soil science research collaboration in the 21st century: Time to end helicopter research

Global soil science research collaboration is essential to understand soil and its role in global ecosystem functioning. In particular, collaboration between developed and less-developed countries can generate new knowledge and provide capacity building. However, this collaboration is not always equal. ‘Helicopter research’ in soil science describes the situation where scientists from wealthier nations collect soil samples from less-developed countries, take the samples back to their country for analysis and publish the results with little involvement of local researchers. This article briefly reviews colonial science and helicopter research from different fields including soil science, and highlights the negative effects. The argument that local scientists do not fulfil the criteria of being an author is often used as an excuse for not establishing true collaboration. Finally, this paper offers suggestions to achieve equal research partnerships and ground helicopter research. Soil science can provide leadership in this issue which is less-discussed in cognate fields.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016706120305036?fbclid=IwAR1Ac0sklrFEwDKS18sWr8npO3JMBSvmhZ9d6aDDERTyLOjzT93HqEy1mDE

Conferences, Meetings and Workshops

The outbreak of the Corona virus is clearly a rapidly evolving situation. The organizers of the meetings listed below are constantly reviewing the situation in the light of global and country-specific advice to inform decisions to minimize the additional risks to attendees, their communities and those living in the meeting’s host country.

The IUSS will also continue to monitor the situation, and advise that prior to attending meetings our members review up to date information from their country’s government, the WHO and from the host country to ensure that everyone’s health and wellbeing remains a priority.

2020

InterPore2020 – 12th Annual Meeting

August 31 – September 4, 2020, online.

Abstract submission until June 29

Flyer: https://www.iuss.org/media/flyer_interpore2020_virtual_conference.pdf

Conference website: www.interpore.org/2020

Contact: iconference2020@interpore.org

2021

International Conference on Soil Micromorphology

THE CONFERENCE – August 29 – September 2, 2021:

August 29 (Sunday) – registration (in the afternoon) and ice-breaking party, Faculty of Forestry, University of Agriculture in Kraków; visit of the Museum of Soils

August 30 (Monday) – registration, opening session, plenary sessions, poster session 1, afternoon: visit of the Kraków city center with a guide (undergrounds beneath the Main Market Square, a walk around the city center, dinner in a restaurant)

August 31 (Tuesday) – Plenary sessions, poster session 2, IUSS Business Meeting, Banquet

September 1 (Wednesday) – Mid-conference trip (Kraków and its close vicinity)

September 2 (Thursday) – Plenary sessions, summary and closing ceremony  

POST-CONFERENCE TRIP – September 3–5 (from Friday to Sunday):

Polish Upland tour with emphasis to: contemporary soils (e.g. Chernozems, soils developed on gypsum and carbonate rocks), sequences of paleosols in loess, fossil Lower Jurassic podzols, influence of metal mining on soil environment.

MICROMORPHOLOGICAL COURSE – September 6–11 (from Monday to Saturday)

Registration for the conference will start in autumn 2020. Previous registrations will be cancelled, thus please register again once the registration starts in a proper time.

Web page: http://www.icosm2020.sggw.pl/

VI International Soil Classification Congress in 2020 in Mexico – new dates

15-22 October 2021, Mexico

!Postponed from Oct. 2020!