Search results for "Soil processes"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
Soil Science Challenges in a New Era: A Transdisciplinary Overview of Relevant Topics
2020
Transdisciplinary approaches that provide holistic views are essential to properly understand soil processes and the importance of soil to society and will be crucial in the future to integrate distinct disciplines into soil studies. A myriad of challenges faces soil science at the beginning of the 2020s. The main aim of this overview is to assess past achievements and current challenges regarding soil threats such as ero-sion and soil contamination related to different United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) including (1) sustainable food production, (2) ensure healthy lives and reduce environmental risks (SDG3), (3) ensure water availability (SDG6), and (4) enhanced soil carbo…
Priorities for research in soil ecology
2017
The ecological interactions that occur in and with soil are of consequence in many ecosystems on the planet. These interactions provide numerous essential ecosystem services, and the sustainable management of soils has attracted increasing scientific and public attention. Although soil ecology emerged as an independent field of research many decades ago, and we have gained important insights into the functioning of soils, there still are fundamental aspects that need to be better understood to ensure that the ecosystem services that soils provide are not lost and that soils can be used in a sustainable way. In this perspectives paper, we highlight some of the major knowledge gaps that shoul…
Modelling aspects of forest decline in Germany: II. Application and validation of an integrated soil-plant-model
1998
Abstract In 1993 the German Federal Environmental Agency initiated a project to evaluate the forest decline research of the period 1982–1992 in Germany. The soil-plant-model PLOT applied here was developed to integrate the research results. It consists of a soil module, BODEN, and a plant module. FICHTE, which both include several submodels. For validation of submodels, modules, and the whole model, a stepwise procedure was chosen and parts will be presented here. Focussing on soil processes and nutritional aspects, the model performance as well as the applicability range and limits are shown. The underlying cause-effect-relationships and the theoretical aspects of the modelling exercise ar…
Role of the fauna in soil processes: techniques using simulated forest floor
1991
Abstract Laboratory experiments were conducted to test the influence of soil animals on processes such as decomposition, nutrient cycling, and plant growth in northern coniferous forests. The techniques included simulation of a complex pattern of forest floor, controlled air flow through the systems, and automatic measurement of carbon flows. The soil fauna generally enhanced evolution of CO2 and mineralization of N and P from soil and litter, and increased considerably the biomass production and N content of birch seedlings. Significant results were also obtained on interactions between different faunal components.