*Gobal CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE*
*for sustainable production intensification and land management*
Dear Subscribers,
Please see herebelow the latest issue of IUSS Alert 145 (July 2017).
Apologies for any cross-posting.
*Amir Kassam *
*Moderator*
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: www.fao.org/ag/ca
-----Original Message-----
From: The International Union of Soil Sciences - IUSS <
[log in to unmask]>
To: kassamamir <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tue, Jul 25, 2017 6:33 pm
Subject: IUSS Alert 145 (July 2017)
If you have problems reading this content - please follow this link to the
IUSS page <http://iuss.boku.ac.at/index.php?article_id=660>IUSS Alert 145
(July 2017)
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IUSS NewsIUSS Bulletin 130 now online
The most recent IUSS Bulletin is now online, featuring a variety of
articles from an activity report of the IUSS Secretariat, the Minutes of
the IUSS Council meetings which took place during the IUSS Inter-Congress
Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, activities and recent achievements during the
International Decade of Soils (2015-2024), conference and meeting reports
and obituaries of outstanding soil scientists.
Should you wish to submit contributions for the next Bulletin, which will
be published in December 2017, or place paid advertisements, please contact
the IUSS Secretariat until 15 November at [log in to unmask]
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New fact sheets on the IUSS website
The newest IUSS fact sheets on Soil and food security, Soil governance and
Perception of soil by society were uploaded to the Newsroom of the IUSS
website.
Read more <http://iuss.boku.ac.at/index.php?article_id=647>
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Final Call for Nominations: Dokuchaev Award, Von Liebig Award, and the IUSS
Jeju Award
Three awards are presented by the IUSS at each World Congress of Soil
Science to recognize outstanding contributions in three areas:
- IUSS Dokuchaev Award for basic research in soil science
- IUSS Liebig Award for applied research in soil science
- The IUSS Jeju Award for a young or mid-career soil scientist.
Eligible nominees and nominators are members of the IUSS. Each award
consists of an engraved medal or equivalent, a certificate, a US$ 1000
honorarium, and financial support to attend the presentation at the World
Congress of Soil Science (WCSS).
Nomination procedures are on the IUSS Website:
>> Dokuchaev Award – information, criteria & guidelines
<http://www.iuss.org/index.php?article_id=170>
>> Von Liebig Award – information, criteria & guidelines
<http://www.iuss.org/index.php?article_id=171>
>> The IUSS Jeju Award – information, criteria & guidelines
<http://www.iuss.org/index.php?article_id=637>
Submissions are due 12 August 2017. Nominators who have submitted previous
nominations are encouraged to submit the nomination again.
For further information, please contact M.B. Kirkham (Email <[log in to unmask]>).
Read more about IUSS awards <http://www.iuss.org/index.php?article_id=632>
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Award of Best Paper in Pedometrics 2016
Thirty votes were received. Seven of the eight nominated papers received at
least one first-place vote, and the voters had quite a range of rankings.
For the first time we have a split victory; in DOI order:
*Viscarra Rossel, R.A., T. Behrens et al. (2016).* A global spectral
library to characterize the world’s soil. Earth-Science Reviews 155,
198–230.
Read more <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earscirev.2016.01.012>
*Poggio, L., Gimona, A., Spezia, L., & Brewer, M. J. (2016).* Bayesian
spatial modelling of soil properties and their uncertainty: The example of
soil organic matter in Scotland using R-INLA. Geoderma, 277, 69–82.
Read more <https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2016.04.026>
If you have not read these or the other nominated papers, it’s never too
late! We will repeat the process next year “Best Paper 2017” to be awarded
at World Soil Congress 2018.
*By David Rossiter, Chairman, Awards Commission IUSS Pedometrics Commission
1.5*
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Ivan Rodrigo Orjuela Osorio (†2017)
The Secretariat was sad to learn that Ivan Rodrigo Orjuela Osorio passed
away on the evening of Friday 30th June, shortly after a tragic traffic
accident in Wageningen. Ivan was a PhD student from the Universidad
Nacional de Colombia and worked on soil carbon prediction by spectroscopy.
He was an enthusiastic participant in Pedometrics 2017 and received excited
feedback for his conference presentation. He was making plans with all the
new scientific contacts he made at the conference.
We are shocked with the news and extend our condolences to his family,
friends and colleagues.
Please see the Pedometrics 2017 website (http://www.pedometrics2017.org/)
for a condolence register.
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Newsletter of IUSS Division 4 ‘Soil Connects’ published
Issue 6 of the biannual SOIL Connects Newsletter of IUSS Division 4 has
just been released. It includes a number of interesting articles, starting
with a report from the Division Chair, followed by a number of articles on
soil and art, concluding with new publications and forthcoming meetings.
Read more <http://iuss.boku.ac.at/index.php?article_id=423>
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Meeting on the progress of the preparation of the WCSS 2018 at the IUSS
headquarters in Vienna
On the 23rd of June, 2017 the former President of the Brazilian Soil
Science Society, Gonzalo Farias, and Prof. Floria Bertsch, President of the
Soil Science Society of Costa Rica, visited IUSS Secretary Sigbert Huber at
his office in Vienna.
They were accompanied by Prof.Winfried Blum, honorary member of IUSS and
Secretary General of IUSS 1990-2002. The main purpose was to discuss the
preparation of the WCSS 2018. The congress programme will be finalized and
uploaded to the congress website very soon.
Read more <http://www.iuss.org/index.php?article_id=26>
General NewsGlinka World Soil Prize 2017
The Glinka World Soil Prize honours individuals and organizations whose
leadership and activities have contributed or are still contributing to the
promotion of sustainable soil management and the protection of soil
resources. The Glinka Prize is an annual award for dynamic change-makers
dedicated to addressing soil degradation. The first Glinka World Soil Prize
was awarded on World Soil Day 2016. The nomination process for the Glinka
World Soil Prize 2017 has been launched, and organizations and individuals
are invited to nominate appropriate candidates and to submit nomination
forms by 30 September 2017 to GSP-Secretariat (Email
<[log in to unmask]>).
Read more
<http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/pillars-action/2-awareness-raising/glinka-world-soil-prize/en/>
*From: Global Soil Partnership | Newsletter #12*
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Global assessment of pressures on soil biodiversity
The JRC’s Soil Team is working on the first global assessment of the
impacts on soil biodiversity of both anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic
pressures. To reach this goal, JRC carries out a survey to incorporate
expert judgements. The result of this survey will allow to rank the main
pressures on soil life and to map their distribution at the global scale.
Responses to the survey are essential for determining how to weigh each
pressure in the cumulative impact maps that will be produced. Therefore,
your participation in this process is highly appreciated.
Contact person: Alberto Orgiazzi (Email <[log in to unmask]>).
Read more <https://goo.gl/forms/F2MZb4hNUNGx4mCt1>
*From European Soil Data Centre Newsletter No. 102, June 2017*
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Vacancy: Assistant professor soil physics at University of
Wisconsin-Madison, USA
The faculty of the Department of Soil Science seeks a soil physicist for a
tenure-track position. Materials should be submitted by September 1, 2017.
Read more <http://jobs.hr.wisc.edu/cw/en-us/job/495501/assistant-professor>
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ISRIC entrusted as Global Soil Facility for the GSP
ISRIC – World Soil Information has been entrusted with the role of Global
Soil Information Facility (GSF) by the Plenary Assembly of the Global Soil
Partnership (GSP) on June 20, 2017.
Read more
<http://www.isric.org/news/isric-world-soil-information-elected-host-soil-data-facility-global-soil-partnership>
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New post on Make Wealth History: Restoring soil in Bangladesh
Soil loss is the environmental crisis that gets the least attention from
the media or from environmental campaigns. That’s why I did a whole week on
it last year, and wrote up a report as an introduction to the topic. Last
week Practical Action released a short documentary on soil in Bangladesh.
It makes a neat case study in how soil fertility is lost, and the risks
that it poses to farmers. There are a number of culprits here – poor land
management, generous subsidies on fertiliser that encourage overuse, and
competing uses for organic matter. The solutions are holistic and creative
– the country lacks a market for compost, and creating one could help solve
problems with domestic waste and pollution at the same time.
I suspect you didn’t plan on spending any time today thinking about soil in
Bangladesh, but this is a great example of circular economy thinking in a
developing world context. It shows the role that markets can play in
solving environmental problems, and how government can enable and assist
rather than direct. You’ll also find appropriate technology, the case for a
flexible ‘mostly organic’ approach to agriculture, and a documentary that
lets Bangladeshis tell their own story.
*by Jeremy Williams*
Read more
<https://makewealthhistory.org/2017/06/27/restoring-soil-in-bangladesh/>
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Study finds mercury levels in Arctic soils 5 times higher than temperate
regions
Plants and soil in the Arctic tundra absorb and store mercury released into
the atmosphere by industry and mining in the Earth’s temperate regions,
leading to soil mercury levels five times higher than in lower latitudes,
according to a new study published this week in the journal Nature. The
international team of researchers from the U.S. and France used a
combination of methods to monitor the accumulation of mercury from the
atmosphere, performing continuous sampling over a two-year period,
including through the Arctic winter. They concluded that the Arctic tundra
is a major “sink” for mercury, a toxin that affects the neurological and
immune systems of Arctic wildlife and is passed along to indigenous peoples
who rely on subsistence hunting for their food.
Read more
<https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=242476&WT.mc_id=USNSF_51&WT.mc_ev=click>
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Carbon catch-22: the pollution in our soil
Bad behaviour doesn’t usually have good consequences but our fossil fuel
and fertiliser habits may have had some “good” environmental side-effects.
New research suggests that the last 200 years of pollution have increased
the carbon stored in soils across natural ecosystems in Britain. And this
locking in of carbon in soils provides an offset for some of our carbon
emissions. But the catch-22 is if we kick our polluting habits, this carbon
is at risk of returning to our atmosphere, contributing to climate change.
Read more
<http://theconversation.com/carbon-catch-22-the-pollution-in-our-soil-78718>
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Soil evolution par for the golf course
In 2008, Glen Obear was interning at a golf course in Hawaii when the
superintendent asked him to help diagnose a mysterious problem. Some of the
course’s putting greens were developing bald patches, spots where the
turfgrasses were dying and thinning out. The failures were troubling
because the expensive, exquisitely crafted greens were just five years old.
A new green is normally expected to last at least five times as long. Along
the way of the investigation, the team discovered something else: The
layers weren’t so strange after all, but merely evidence of what all soils
do—age and evolve. “The big difference is that in [turf] soils, it happens
quickly because you irrigate them, and you apply lots of iron and
fertilizer,” says UW-Madison pedologist Alfred Hartemink, who chairs the
UW-Madison Department of Soil Science. “But there is something happening
that we can explain. It’s s oil formation.”
Read more
<https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/story/2017/jun/wed/soil-evolution-par-for-the-golf-course>
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Monitoring soil structure changes after compaction
Soil compaction is a global threat to soil ecosystem services, causing
tremendous costs to society. The costs of soil compaction are borne by the
cumulative loss of soil functionality (e.g. yield loss) following a
compaction event until the soil has functionally recovered. Although soil
compaction is relatively widely studied, there is a lack of reliable
observations and metrics for soil structure recovery rates after compaction.
Read more <https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/06/170619092213.htm>
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Global Rainfall Erosivity
JRC has collected data on rainfall erosivity from 3,625 meteorological
stations in 63 coun¬tries to establish the first ever Global Rainfall
Erosivity Database (GloREDa). Quantifying rainfall erosivity is challenging
as it requires high temporal resolution(1-60 minutes) and high fidelity
rainfall recordings. In collaboration with 31 scientists and 100+
organiza¬tions, JRC has developed the global erosivity map which was
published in Nature Group’s Scientific Reports. The highest rainfall
erosivity is found in South America (especially around the Amazon Basin)
and the Caribbean countries, Central Africa and parts of West¬ern Africa
and South East Asia. The lowest values are in mid- and high-latitude
regions such as Canada, the Russian Federation, northern Europe, northern
Africa, the Middle East and southern Australia. The R-factor map at 30
arc-sec resolution is available for free download in the ESDAC:
Read more <http://esdac.jrc.ec.europa.eu/content/global-rainfall-erosivity>
*From European Soil Data Centre Newsletter No. 102, June 2017*
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Launch of the International Network on Black Soils
The International Network of Black Soils (INBS) was established under the
aegis of the GSP as a platform for knowledge-sharing by countries with
black soils with the aim of stimulating discussion on common issues related
to the conservation and sustainable management of these soils and fostering
technical exchange and cooperation.
The INBS was launched at the Global Symposium on Soil Organic Carbon in
March 2017, with representatives from national soil institutions and the
governments of Argentina, Brazil, China, the Russian Federation, and the
United States of America. The Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils
will provide scientific advice to the INBS, and the GSP Secretariat will
facilitate the implementation of agreed activities as it receives
contributions from resource partners.
The INBS concept note and terms of reference were submitted to the fifth GSP
Plenary Assembly, where the INBS was officially endorsed. Mr Guiqing Han
from China’s Heilongjiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences was appointed as
the INBS chair, and China proposed that it organizes the first meeting of
the network.
Read more
<http://www.fao.org/global-soil-partnership/pillars-action/1-soil-management/en/>
*From: Global Soil Partnership | Newsletter #12*
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Conferences, Meetings and Workshops
Webinar about urban soil mapping
10 August 2017, 1:00–2:30 p.m. (CT). This webinar is a panel presentation
on recent NCSS mapping efforts in big cities. You’ll hear how some
employees have overcome the challenges of mapping in urban areas as well as
the career opportunities they have had as a result of these mapping efforts.
Read more <http://www.iuss.org/files/aug2017_urban_mapping.pdf>
6th International Symposium on Soil Organic Matter
Rothamsted Research, Harpenden (United Kingdom), September 3–7, 2017,
Title: Healthy soils for sustainable agriculture: the role of SOM.
Rothamsted is the oldest agricultural research station in the world.
Therefore, as well as the major themes that apply to all areas of SOM
science, the theme of this Symposium particularly focusses on the
management of agricultural soils to deliver environmentally and
economically sustainable supplies of sufficient, nutritious food for all,
in the context of global population increase, climate change and unequal
resource distribution.
Read more <http://www.som2017.org>
WMESS 2017 – World Multidisciplinary Earth Sciences Symposium
Prague, Czech Republic, September 11-15, 2017. The main mission of the
“World Multidisciplinary Earth Sciences Symposium – WMESS” is to lead to
contribute in multidisciplinary studies related with atmosphere, biosphere,
hydrosphere, lithosphere and pedosphere of the Earth and interaction of the
human with them. As another mission it will provide a forum for this
diverse range of studies which report very latest results and document
emerging understanding of the Earth’s system and our place in it. WMESS
aims to provide a forum for discussion of the latest findings and
technologies in different fields of Earth Sciences; to give opportunities
for future collaborations; to be a platform for sharing knowledge and
experiences in the fields of Earth Sciences; and to lead for providing a
forum for early career researchers for presentation of their work and
discussion of their ideas with experts in differen t fields of Earth
Sciences.
Deadline for abstract submission: July 15, 2017
Read more <http://www.mess-earth.org/>
ICERAP 2017 – International Conference on Ecosystem Resilience and
Agricultural Productivity
Kampala, Uganda, November 22-24, 2017. A significant proportion of
livelihoods in tropical regions particularly in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA)
are heavily ecosystem dependent. Equally, the development strategies of the
regional economies are premised on harnessing ecosystem and environmental
resources to sustain the economic growth and increasing food, fibre and
energy demands for the populations. Whilst the national economies show
rapid growth, there is increasing concern on declining ecosystem health,
and agricultural productivity given the rapidly increasing population. This
conference aims to cultivate the emerging knowledge crucial for solving the
complex and interconnected issues of ecosystem resilience, increasing
agricultural productivity and sustaining livelihoods under climate change.
Deadline for abstract submission: 31 July 2017
Read more <http://www.capsnac.mak.ac.ug/conference2017>
ICSSPN 2018 – 20th International Conference on Soil Science and Plant
Nutrition
Paris, France, January 25 – 26, 2018. The ICSSPN 2018 aims to bring
together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to
exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of
Soil Science and Plant Nutrition. It also provides a premier
interdisciplinary platform for researchers, practitioners and educators to
present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as
well as practical challenges encountered and solutions adopted in the
fields of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition.
Important Dates:
>> Abstracts/Full-Text Paper Submission Deadline July 14, 2017
>> Notification of Acceptance/Rejection July 30, 2017
>> Final Paper (Camera Ready) Submission & Early Bird Registration Deadline
Dec. 12 2017
Read more <https://www.waset.org/conference/2018/01/paris/ICSSPN>
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AWSPT’18 – 3rd International Conference on Air, Water, and Soil Pollution
and Treatment
Budapest, Hungary, April 8 – 10, 2018
The AWSPT’18 aims to become the leading annual conference in fields related
to air, water, and soil pollution and treatment. The goal of AWSPT’18 is to
gather scholars from all over the world to present advances in the relevant
fields and to foster an environment conducive to exchanging ideas and
information. This conference will also provide an ideal environment to
develop new collaborations and meet experts on the fundamentals,
applications, and products of the mentioned fields. AWSPT’18 is part of the
3rd World Congress on Civil, Structural, and Environmental Engineering
(CSEE’18).
Paper Submission Deadline: October 20, 2017
Read more <http://awspt.com/>
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New publications
Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life
By David R. Montgomery, 1st Edition published in May 2017 by W. W. Norton &
Company, 320 pages, ISBN: 9780393608328, price hardback $26.95.
The problem of agriculture is as old as civilization. Throughout history,
great societies that abused their land withered into poverty or disappeared
entirely. Now we risk repeating this ancient story on a global scale due to
ongoing soil degradation, a changing climate, and a rising population. But
there is reason for hope. David R. Montgomery introduces us to farmers
around the world at the heart of a brewing soil health revolution that
could bring humanity’s ailing soil back to life remarkably fast. Growing a
Revolution draws on visits to farms in the industrialized world and
developing world to show that a new combination of farming practices can
deliver innovative, cost-effective solutions to problems farmers face today.
Read more <http://www.elliottbaybook.com/book/9780393608328>
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Soils, Ecosystem Processes, and Agricultural Development
Edited by Shinya Funakawa, 1st ed. published by Springer in 2017, 392
pages, 126 illustrations, 55 illustrations in colour. Price hardcover:
149.99 € | £112.00 | $179.00.
The main objective of this book is to integrate environmental knowledge
observed in local agriculture, based on the understanding of soils science
and ecology, and to propose possible technical solutions and a more
integrated approach to tropical agriculture. The chapters describe and
analyse the ecological and technical countermeasures available for
mitigating environmental degradation due to the increasing agricultural
activities by humans, based on our scientific understanding of traditional
agriculture in the tropics.
Read more <http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9784431564829>
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Managing Mississippi and Ohio River Landscapes
By Kenneth R. Olson and Lois Wright Morton. Published July 2017 by the Soil
and Water Conservation Society, 240 full-colour pages, ISBN
978-0-9856923-1-5, price hardcover $49.00.
Two powerful rivers, the Ohio and Mississippi, and their tributaries drain
more than 41% of the interior continental United States. Managing
Mississippi and Ohio River Landscapes examines the complex and
ever-changing Mississippi and Ohio Rivers’ landscapes and their systems.
Through a series of engaging case studies accompanied by illustrative maps
and photographs, the book reviews the historical impacts of climate,
economic and population growth, and efforts to manage the waterways with
engineered structures. Topics include drainage of bottomlands for crop
production and other land uses, flooding risks and responses, levee systems
and breaches, river navigation, and river ecology. The book concludes with
recommendations for future management of these major US waterways.
Read more
<http://news.aces.illinois.edu/news/new-book-explains-importance-great-river-management>
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Pedometrics 25th Anniversary Virtual Issue
Free Open access articles until end of 2017, a selection of 75 best papers
in Pedometrics.
The discipline of pedometrics is celebrating 25 years since it first
conference in Wageningen, the Netherlands, in September 1992. This virtual
special issue is part of that celebration. Pedometrics can be defined as
the development and application of statistical and mathematical methods to
data analysis problems in soil science. More broadly, Pedometrics applies
mathematical, statistical and numerical methods to resolve the uncertainty
and complexity inherent in the soil system. This virtual special issue
brings together important contributions to pedometrics from the Elsevier
suite of journals.
Read more
<https://www.journals.elsevier.com/geoderma/virtual-special-issues/pedometrics-25th-anniversary-virtual-issue>
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Monitoring soil structure evolution after compaction
Soil compaction is a global threat to soil ecosystem services, causing
tremendous costs to society. The costs of soil compaction are borne by the
cumulative loss of soil functionality (e.g. yield loss) following a
compaction event until the soil has functionally recovered. Although soil
compaction is relatively widely studied, there is a lack of reliable
observations and metrics for soil structure recovery rates after
compaction. In the April issue of Vadose Zone Journal, researchers describe
the objectives, the design, the implementation, and monitoring concept of a
long-term field experiment for monitoring post-compaction evolution of soil
structure, referred to as a soil structure observatory.
Read more
<https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/story/2017/may/fri/monitoring-soil-structure-evolution-after-compaction>
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Soil Carbon and Nitrogen under a long-term fertilizer Gradient
The connection between commercial N fertilizer and soil organic carbon is
widely debated. In a recent article in the Soil Science Society of America
Journal, researchers examined how long-term nitrogen use affected soil C
and N in continuous corn production. The low rate of N application caused
significant decreases in soil C and N content down to 100 cm, while no
differences were determined between the recommended and high rates of N. In
addition, plots receiving the low application of N were lower in elevation
and had less depth of the A horizon.
Read more
<https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/story/2017/jun/tue/soil-carbon-and-nitrogen-under-a-long-term-fertilizer-gradient>
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Unlocking the Potential of Soil Organic Carbon
By FAO, Rome, 2017, 36 pages, ISBN 978-92-5-109759-5. The Global Symposium
on Soil Organic Carbon (GSOC17) outcome document “Unlocking the Potential
of Soil Organic Carbon”, was drafted and reviewed by the GSOC17 Scientific
Committee. It highlights the role of soils and SOC management in achieving
goals on climate change and sustainable development, and it makes
recommendations on the key next steps for including SOC in the regular
reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, starting with
SR2, the refinement of guidelines on greenhouse gas inventories and the
Sixth Assessment Report, as well as reporting to the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change and the UN Convention to Combat
Desertification and on the Sustainable Development Goals.
Read more <http://www.fao.org/3/b-i7268e.pdf>
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Soil Organic Carbon Mapping Cookbook
Edited by Yusuf Yigini, Rainer Baritz, Ronald R. Vargas. FAO, Rome, 1st
edition April 2017, 180 pages. Developing the Global Soil Organic Carbon
Map will require intensive collaboration among soil information
institutions globally. The Soil Organic Carbon Mapping Cookbook provides
generic methodologies and the technical steps for producing national soil
organic carbon (SOC) maps. It includes step-by-step guidance for developing
1 km grids for SOC stocks, the preparation of local soil data, the
compilation and pre-processing of ancillary spatial datasets, upscaling
methodologies, and uncertainty assessments. Guidance is mainly specific to
soil carbon data, but it also includes generic sections on soil grid
development due to its relevance to other soil properties. The cookbook
provides technical guidelines for preparing and evaluating spatial soil
datasets; determining SOC stocks from local samples to a target depth of 30
cm; preparing spatial covariates for upscaling; and selecting and applying
the most suitable upscaling methodology.
Read more <http://www.fao.org/3/a-bs901e.pdf>
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Soils’ potential to contribute to offset international aviation emissions
By FAO, 2017, 8 pages. This informative note presents soil carbon
sequestration as an option for offsetting carbon dioxide emissions from
international aviation as part of a market-based mechanism. Potentially,
projects arising from such an approach could foster soil carbon
sequestration to support the achievement of all FAO’s strategic objectives
(SOs), in particular eradicating hunger (SO1), making agriculture more
productive and sustainable (SO2), and increasing resilience (SO3).
Offsetting greenhouse gas emissions from international aviation through SOC
sequestration can contribute to sustainable development by promoting
economic development, mitigating and helping adapt to climate change, and
food security.
Read more
<http://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/e4839d17-c6aa-44ca-85cc-b4a6de25c143/>
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____________________________________________________________
____________________
Vacancy for Assistant Professor of Soil Resources
*Assistant Professor (TT) of Soil Resources*
The Department of Environmental Systems Science (www.usys.ethz.ch) of ETH
Zurich invites applications for an assistant professor (tenure track)
focusing on (1) the role of soil as a key natural resource, supporting a
wide range of forest and other terrestrial ecosystem functions and services
and/or (2) quantifying the effects of changes of land use and climate on
various soil functions at local to global scales. Candidates should be
interested in system-oriented multidisciplinary research and are expected
to develop an innovative and internationally recognized research program,
making an important contribution to linking soil ecosystem services to
land-use and climate change.
The successful candidate will have a strong background in soil sciences and
demonstrated potential for innovative research. At the assistant professor
level commitment to teaching and the ability to lead a research group are
expected. Teaching duties will include advanced-level courses on the
assessment, modelling or management of soil resources as part of the
environment.
Assistant professorships have been established to promote the careers of
younger scien¬tists. ETH Zurich implements a tenure track system equivalent
to other top international universities.
*Please apply online at:* www.facultyaffairs.ethz.ch
Applications should include a curriculum vitae, a list of publications, a
statement of future research and teaching interests, and a description of
the three most important achievements.
The letter of application should be addressed *to the President of ETH
Zurich, Prof. Dr. Lino Guzzella.*
*The closing date for applications is 31 August 2017.*
ETH Zurich is an equal opportunity and family friendly employer and is
responsive to the needs of dual career couples. We specifically encourage
women to apply.
____________________________________________________________
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