*Global CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE*
*for sustainable agriculture and land management*
Dear Subscribers,
Please see herebelow the latest IUSS Alert 153 (March 2018) for your kind
attention.
Apologies for any cross-posting.
*Amir Kassam *
*Moderator*
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URL: www.fao.org/ag/ca
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Date: Sun, Mar 25, 2018 at 1:40 PM
Subject: IUSS Alert 153 (March 2018)
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IUSS Alert 153 (March 2018)
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National voting of Officers for IUSS Divisions and Commissions 2017 –
results
Every four years the officers for the IUSS Divisions and Commissions are
newly elected. Voting by IUSS Members is conducted electronically on a one
vote per individual in each National Member Society basis.
In line with the IUSS Bye-laws (version Oct. 2014) the national Soil
Science Societies shall have organized the national voting of officers for
Divisions and Commissions. The voting system for society members was closed
31 December 2017 at the latest. The Presidents of the National Member
Society were kindly requested to send the results of elections no later
than 28 January 2018, later on extended to February 12 and finally to March
9.
Voting results from 35 societies with 127,148 individual votes were
received. Elections were decided by a simple majority of votes cast. The
officers elected are published on the IUSS website. The term for these
officers will start with the 21st WCSS in Rio.
Read more: http://iuss.org/index.php?article_id=26
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IUSS Presidential Elections 2018 – call for nominations
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 (2019/20), President
(2021/22) and Past-President (2023/24).
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 should be submitted electronically to Roger
Swift* (Email: [log in to unmask]) by June 30, 2018. A copy should also be
sent to [log in to unmask]
Procedure and guidelines: http://iuss.boku.ac.at/files/p
resident_election_full_info_2018.pdf
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21st World Congress of Soil Science – Selection of Mascots until 31 March
*Two mascots stand to vote – the choice is yours!*
Have a look: https://www.21wcss.org/?secao=conteudo&id=51
Please consider that early registration ends March 31, 2018
Read more: https://www.21wcss.org/
Download the congress information: http://iuss.boku.ac.at/files/2
1wcss_-_meeting_information.pdf
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Request for contributions to IUSS book on Global Soil Proverbs
In 2018 – on World Soil Day (5th Dec.) – IUSS intends to publish a book on
Global Soil Proverbs. The Secretariat would like to thank all potential
authors for the numerous letters of intent which have been submitted so
far. For those who still wish to contribute to this book, please send a
letter of intent to contribute a chapter until 31 March 2018 to
[log in to unmask] and in Cc to [log in to unmask]
The guideline for writing a contribution to this book can be found in the
newsroom on the IUSS website: http://www.iuss.org/index.php?article_id=26
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WRB translations
The international soil classification system World Reference Base for Soil
Resources (WRB) is available in English, Spanish, Russian, French, Polish
and Georgian. The French translation is new. It has been done by Jean
Chapelle with the support of Xavier Legrain, Frank Berding and Stefaan
Dondeyne. It is co-published by FAO and the Soil Science Society of
Belgium. And in the Spanish translation, almost two years after its
publication, some errors have been corrected. The documents are available
at two webpages:
- The WRB webpage at FAO:
http://www.fao.org/soils-portal/soil-survey/soil-classificat
ion/world-reference-base/en/
- The homepage of the IUSS Working Group WRB:
http://www.soil-science.com/index.php?id=wrb
[By Peter Schad, Chair of IUSS Working Group WRB]
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General News
ICSU/NASAC/ISSC call for pre-proposals: Pathways towards Sustainable
African Urban Development
As part of the 5-year “Leading Integrated Research for Agenda 2030 in
Africa” (LIRA 2030 Africa) programme, the International Council for Science
(ICSU), in partnership with the Network of African Science Academies (NASAC)
and the International Social Science Council (ISSC) will support up to 11
collaborative research projects across Africa (to the value of up to 90,000
Euro each over two years) that will that explore integrated approaches for
sustainable urban development in Africa.
We are inviting African early career scientists to submit collaborative
research proposals that apply a systems approach to analyzing urban
processes in Africa. Applicants should have no more than 10 years work
experience following their PhDs or equivalent research experience. The
deadline for pre-proposal submission is 14 May 2018 (18:00 CET).
Read more: http://bit.ly/2FeJA4g
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GSP World Soil Charter Survey
Unanimously endorsed at the 39th FAO Conference in June 2015, the revised
World Soil Charter (WSC) contains guidelines for action by stakeholders at
all levels. The purpose of the revised WSC is to inform decision-making at
the global scale and foster the implementation of sustainable soil
management (SSM) at the regional/local levels. The revised WSC updates the
vision and guiding principles endorsed in the first version, published in
1981, that no longer reflected the world soil situation and therefore
needed to be updated. The Global Soil Partnership is launching a short
survey to assess activities by and within GSP partners in support of the
principles of the revised World Soil Charter. The outcomes of the survey
will be presented at the 6th GSP Plenary Assembly (June 2018) and will be
used to eval uate the impact of GSP initiatives and plan future activities.
The deadline for completing the survey is *8 April 2018*.
Read more: http://fao.msgfocus.com/q/1mbRtfS2NhGvWrs6IYai/wv
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The #SoilPollution Photo contest is open! Tell us your story NOW
The UN FAO’s Global Soil Partnership on the occasion of the Global
Symposium on Soil Pollution (GSOP18) is organizing an online photo contest
as a pre-event. The theme of the contest is “Soil Pollution” and will serve
to increase awareness and encourage people to take action against the
hidden reality of soil pollution, which aggressively impacts human health,
food safety and security, and the environment. Take a picture and uncover
the reality of soil pollution, which plagues our daily lives. Use your
creative side while changing everyone’s perception of Soil Pollution!
Interested photographers can submit their photo to [log in to unmask] by 1
April 2018 and share them on Twitter, Facebook, Flickr or Instagram
accounts, using the competition hashtags: *#SoilPollution #BeTheSolution
#BeatPollution*.
Read more: http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/resources/highlig
hts/detail/en/c/1104597/
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An Assessment of the global impact of 21st century land use change on soil
erosion
Human activity and related land use change are the primary cause of
accelerated soil erosion, which has substantial implications for nutrient
and carbon cycling, land productivity and in turn, worldwide socio-economic
conditions. In a recent published article in Nature Communications, we
present an unprecedentedly high resolution (250 × 250 m) global potential
soil erosion model, using a combination of remote sensing, GIS modelling
and census data. We challenge the previous annual soil erosion reference
values (published in the literature), as our estimate of 35.9 Pg yr−1 of
soil eroded in 2012, is at least two times lower. Moreover, we model the
spatial and temporal effects of land use change between 2001 and 2012 and
the potential offset of the global application of conservation practices.
Our findings indicate a potential overall increase in global soil erosion
driven by cropland expansion.
Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/themes/global-soil-erosion
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Net erosion and sediment transport using WaTEM/SEDEM
The JRC in collaboration with the University of Basel and the Universite
Catholique de Louvain have quantified 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 model.
According to a recent research study in Europe, the estimated sediment
yield totals about 164 ± 13 Tg yr-1. The Sediment Delivery Ratio (SDR)
i.e., the ratio between sediment yield (SY) and gross erosion, indicates
that the sediment routed down the hillslopes to the riverine system
accounts for 15.3% of the total eroded soil. Further improvement of the
calibration scheme in the model transport parameter is foreseen to better
reconcile the good agreement between predicted and measured sediment yield.
The net erosion and sediment transport data are available (100m resol
ution) in ESDAC:
Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/estimate-net-erosion-
and-sediment-transport-using-watemsedem-european-union
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G2 model and regional erosion data
G2 is a quantitative model, mapping soil loss (G2los module) and sediment
yield (G2sed module) on month-time intervals, designed to run in a GIS
environment. A functional combination of G2 with Hakanson risk index has
led to the introduction of a third module serving as a heavy metal spatial
risk assessment module, namely the G2met. According to a recent review, G2
is designed to produce regional/ local erosion assessments on monthly
time-step. The data (monthly erosion rates plus other layers) are available
for five application areas: Cyprus, Korce region (AL), Crete island (GR),
Tirana (AL) and Strymonas/Struma catchment (GR/BG).
Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/g2-soil-erosion-model
-data-crete-greece-and-strymonas-greecebulgaria-ishmi-erzeni-albania
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European Landslide Susceptibility Map version 2 (ELSUS v2)
This new update of the European Landslide Susceptibility Map shows levels
of spatial probability of landslide occurrence covering 37 European
countries at 200 m cell size. The map has been generated through spatial
multi-criteria evaluation modelling using pan-European datasets on slope
angle, shallow subsurface lithology and land cover, along with more than
149,000 landslide locations for model calibration, and map validation and
classification. ELSUS v2 has been produced jointly by BGR (Hannover,
Germany), CNR-IRPI (Perugia, Italy), CNRS-EOST (Strasbourg, France) and JRC
(Ispra, Italy), and is freely available for download from the European Soil
Data Centre (ESDAC).
Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/european-landslide-su
sceptibility-map-elsus-v2
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Soil GHG fluxes using LUCAS soil-DayCent
We ran the state-of-the-art biogeochemistry model DayCent on approximately
8,000 soil sampling locations, classified as arable, from the most
extensive harmonized land use and soil inventory network for the EU (LUCAS
survey). The model was driven by measured soil characteristics and
complemented with updated datasets, including a RPC4.5 climate change
scenario. Our main idea was to quantify the net soil GHG fluxes, simulating
two representative mitigating practice options starting in 2016, in
comparison with a baseline of current agricultural practices. The first
scenario was an integrated crop residue retention and lower soil
disturbance management (IRS) while, the second saw the introduction of N
fixing cover crops incorporated before the successive main crop (CC),
generally referred to as ‘green manure’. JRC has published a study in
Nature Climate Change showing that soil s can be a net sink of greenhouse
gases through increased storage of organic carbon. The data are available
in ESDAC.
Read more: https://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/soil-ghg-fluxes-using
-lucas-soil-daycent
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Soil health practices for mitigating natural disasters
FEMA reports that more than 25 million Americans – almost 8 percent of the
population – were affected by major disasters in 2017. From severe flooding
in Puerto Rico and Texas to mudslides and wildfires in California, major
natural disasters in 2017 cost over $306 billion nationally. There is no
one-size-fits-all solution to preparing for natural disasters. Steps for
planning ahead will engage our nation’s infrastructure, emergency
responders, private citizens and members of every level of government. By
building healthier soils, land managers across the nation can increase
human safety and protect critical infrastructure for all Americans when
disaster events occur. Natural disasters impact us all. Improving the
health of our nation’s soils is one step we can take to prepare for and
ultimately mitigate those impacts.
Read more: https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2018/02/28/soil-health-pract
ices-mitigating-natural-disasters?org=1364&lvl=100&ite=1135&
lea=140666&ctr=0&par=1&trk=
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UK farmers to be given first ever targets on soil health
A new bill will be brought before parliament this year mandating, for the
first time, measures and targets to preserve and improve the health of the
UK’s soils, amid growing concern that we are sleepwalking into a crisis of
soil fertility that could destroy our ability to feed ourselves. The UN has
warned that the world’s soils face exhaustion and depletion, with an
estimated 60 harvests left before they are too degraded to feed the planet,
and a 2014 study in the UK found matters are not much better, estimating
100 harvests remaining.
Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/13/uk-farme
rs-to-be-given-first-ever-targets-on-soil-health?org=
1364&lvl=100&ite=1209&lea=140666&ctr=0&par=1&trk=
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Hidden “rock moisture” possible key to forest response to drought
A little-studied, underground layer of rock may provide a vital reservoir
for trees, especially in times of drought, report scientists. The study,
published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (
PNAS), looked at the water stored inside the layer of weathered bedrock
that lies under soils in mountain forest ecosystems. This transitional zone
beneath soils and above groundwater is often overlooked when it comes to
studying hydrologic processes, but researchers found that the water
contained in the fractures and pores of the rock could play an important
role in the water cycle at local and global levels. Researchers found that
water in bedrock can sustain trees through droughts even after the soil has
become parched.
Read more: https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=244513&WT.mc_
id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click
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How Dirt Can Clean the Air
Soil management offers huge potential for keeping carbon emissions in the
ground. A paper published this week in the journal Scientific Reports
estimates that improved land-use practices could increase the amount of
carbon stored in the top layer of soils worldwide by between 0.9 and 1.85
billion metric tons each year.
Read more: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-dirt-can-
clean-the-air/
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Cost of agricultural productivity loss due to soil erosion in the European
Union: From direct cost evaluation approaches to the use of macroeconomic
models
Much research has been carried out on modelling soil erosion rates under
different climatic and land use conditions. Although some studies have
addressed the issue of reduced crop productivity due to soil erosion, few
have focused on the economic loss in terms of agricultural production and
gross domestic product (GDP). In this study, soil erosion modellers and
economists come together to carry out an economic evaluation of soil
erosion in the European Union (EU). The study combines biophysical and
macroeconomic models to estimate the cost of agricultural productivity loss
due to soil erosion by water in the EU.
Read more: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ldr.2879/full
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Conferences, Meetings and Workshops2018
GSOP18 – Global Symposium on Soil Pollution
May 2 – 4, 2018, FAO headquarters, Rome, Italy.
The Symposium aims to provide scientific evidence to support actions and
decisions to prevent and reduce soil pollution for increased food safety,
security and nutrition, and ecosystem services, while promoting the
restoration of polluted sites. The Symposium will explore promising
research related to soil management practices, policies, and action plans
for minimizing soil pollution with a focus on remediation and prevention.
With this bold action, the organizers are pursuing the benefit of
uncovering the reality of soil pollution.
Read more: http://www.fao.org/about/meetings/global-symposium-on-soil-
pollution/en/
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Laboratory Skills Course in Soil Biology and Biochemistry
June 4-8, 2018, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands.
The course will include training in soil quality parameters such as labile
C, microresp – respiration, extracellular enzyme activity, nematode and
enchytraied extraction and basics of identification. Earthworm sampling and
identification. Deadline for registration: March 30, 2018
Read more: http://landmark2020.eu/meeting/laboratory-skills-course-
soil-biology-biochemistry-wur-2018/
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ESSC International Conference: “Soil and Water Security: challenges for the
next 30 years!”
June 6 – 8, 2018, Imola, Italy.
The objective of the conference is to stimulate reflections on the
importance of environmental resources for humankind, paying special
attention to the new challenges and opportunities concerning Soil and Water
Security and Conservation for the next 30 years. The Conference is open to
soil scientists, educators and policy-makers. It will consist of invited
lectures, scientific sessions with oral and poster presentations, and will
be subdivided into four main topics.
Please note that the European Society for Soil Conservation (ESSC) provides
2 grants of 500.00 Euro each to 2 young researchers (less than 35 years
old) members of the ESSC, to support their participation to the SoWaSe –
ESSC International Conference on “Soil and Water Security: Challenges for
the next 30 years!”.
Download the first circular: http://iuss.boku.ac.at/files/1
st_circular_letter_essc_2018_int._conference.pdf
Download circular letter on ESSC grants: http://iuss.boku.ac.at/files/c
ircular_letter_essc_2018_imola_grants.pdf
Read more: https://events.unibo.it/sowase-essc-conference-imola2018
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North American Forest Soils Conference – International Symposium on Forest
Soils
Soils-Forests Interactions in Changing Environments
June 10-16 2018, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
Presentations on research using field trials, laboratory investigations,
long-term monitoring experiments and ecosystem modelling studies that
address the conference theme and sub-themes are invited. If possible,
presentations should include a statement of the forest management
implications of the work. The conference sub-themes are intended to
encourage submissions with broad representation of the various
soils-forests regions of North America and internationally.
Early registration before Friday, April 13th, 2018
Read more: http://www.cef-cfr.ca/index.php?n=Colloque.NAFSC-ISFS2018
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10th International symposium on plant-soil interactions at low pH 2018
(10th PSILPH2018)
June 25-29, 2018, Palm Garden Hotel, IOI Resort City, Putrajaya, Malaysia.
The Faculty of Agriculture, University Putra Malaysia in association with
Malaysia Society of Soil Science (MSSS), Department of Agriculture of
Malaysia and Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institute (
MARDI), will be organizing the 10th International Symposium on Plant-Soil
Interactions at Low pH (10th PSILPH). In line with the symposium theme
“Achieving Sustainable Food Production on Acid Soils, the 10th PSILPH aims
to gather researchers, scientists, experts and academicians in the field of
soil science, plant physiology and others to share and discuss the latest
research findings and thoughts on current status of agriculture production
and practices; thus, ensuring food security and environmental
sustainability.
Extended abstract submission deadline: 31 March 2018; Early registration
deadline: 30 April 2018
Read more: http://www.psilph2018.com
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13th Congress of Croatian Society of Soil Science
„Utilizing potential of soil and land resources: Key roles of science and
effective policy“
September 10-14, 2018, Vukovar, Croatia.
Congress intensively aims to provide an advanced scientific knowledge in
soil and land management, covering all the main areas of soil science,
starting from soil genesis and classification coming to soil quality and
capacity for food production. Congress will provide a variety of
opportunities to present and exchange ideas and expertize in soil science
and land management that the soil science community may offer to
educational institutions and academia, bussines and policy makers, gathered
so far in interdisciplinary research. We’ll try to gain a more well
developed perspective in application of inovative and advanced technologies
related to soil functions in different fields of human activities:
agriculture, forestry, environment, waste management, civil engineering and
other.
Read more: http://www.tloznanstvo.eu/kongres/
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21th ISTRO Conference 2018
September 24-27, 2018, Paris, France.
The International Soil Tillage Research Organization (ISTRO) is an
international association whose objective is to stimulate research on
tillage and no till, compaction and, more broadly, to contribute to soil
protection and to improve soil quality. The scientific topics during the
conference will focus on advances in soil structure characterization, soil
compaction, biogeochemical processes and carbon sequestration, with a
special interest on soil ecology and ecosystem services. Equipment
strategies will also be discussed with soil tillage strategies, smart
farming, tires and tillage equipment design. New information has been made
available regarding the mid conference field day and the post conference
tours.
Abstract submission ends 31 March 2018.
Read more: http://istro2018.webistem.com
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International Soil Modeling Consortium conference
“New perspectives on soil models”
November 5-7, 2018, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Read more: https://soil-modeling.org/
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2019
SSSA International Soils Meeting “Soils Across Latitudes”
January 6-9, 2019, San Diego, California, USA.
Fostering collaboration with other North American Soil Science Societies,
The Soil Science Society of America will host scientists, professionals,
educators, and students at the SSSA International Soils Meeting. “Soils
Across Latitudes” will be held Jan. 6-9, 2019, in San Diego, California in
collaboration with the Canadian Society of Soil Science and the Mexican
Society of Soil Science.
Website: https://www.sacmeetings.org/
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New publications
The Soils of Iran
By Roozitalab, Mohammad Hassan, Siadat, Hamid, Farshad, Abbas (Eds.). 1st
edition published in March 2018 by Springer, 255 pages, 184 illustrations,
156 illustrations in colour, ISBN 978-3-319-69046-9, price hardcover 114,99
€ | £92.00 | $129.00; price ebook: 95,19 € | £73.50 | $99.00.
This unique book addresses Iran’s extremely rich soil diversity and
resources, which have developed under various climatic conditions ranging
from dry to humid conditions. Featuring contributions by a group of
respected experts on Iranian soils and agriculture, it provides
comprehensive information on the management approaches needed for
sustainable soil utilization and conservation under such conditions, and
the attendant challenges. As such, it offers a valuable resource for anyone
interested in soils and agriculture in Iran, but also in other Middle East
and North African countries with similar climatic conditions. The book
contains 14 chapters which illustrate the long history of indigenous
knowledge and soil research, climate, geology and geomorphology, vegetation
cover, soil forming factors and processes, major soils, properties and
their classification. Furthermore, it presents past climate change and
paleosols, agroecological zones, soil fertility, soil biology and biot
echnology, human induced land degradation and “soil management in space and
time”. In the end, major challenges facing the soil resources of the
country are defined and recommendations are made to face the future
challenges.
Read more: http://www.springer.com/de/book/9783319690469
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