Search results for "Soil survey"

Integrating soil survey, land use management and political ecology: A case study in a border area between Peru and Ecuador

2013

In Latin America countries, competition for access to natural resources among different groups has been a major reason for the outburst of violence over the last decades. One of the main aims of the political ecology concerns the understanding of the environmental conditions that can underlies the social conflict among people. Such understanding needs to be based on a detailed investigation of the natural resources of the landscape, mainly the soils. Few years ago the Italian Ministry for Foreign Affairs financed a soil survey with a humanitarian purpose: the development of a peace plan between Peru and Ecuador by improving the socio-economic conditions of the rural populations living in th…

Biogeography of soil microbial communities: a review and a description of the ongoing french national initiative

2010

International audience; Microbial biogeography is the study of the distribution of microbial diversity on large scales of space and time. This science aims at understanding biodiversity regulation and its link with ecosystem biological functioning, goods and services such as maintenance of productivity, of soil and atmospheric quality, and of soil health. Although the initial concept dates from the early 20th century (Beijerinck (1913) De infusies en de ontdekking der backterien, in: Jaarboek van de Knoniklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen, Muller, Amsterdam), only recently have an increasing number of studies have investigated the biogeographical patterns of soil microbial diversity. A such …

Holistic Survey of a Degraded Soilscape from Eastern Romania: Hypotesis of Reclamation and Social-Economical Development

2015

Morphological characterisation of soil structure in tilled fields: from a diagnosis method to the modelling of structural changes over time

2004

Characterisation of soit structure within the tilled layer of cultivated fields is crucial because the importance of this soil characteristic on the biological, chemical and physical properties of the soil and its repercussions on water cycle, root growth and functioning. We present in this paper a method for field characterisation of soil structure. This method, practised since the 1970s, was designed for field diagnosis of the effects of cropping systems on soil structure. It is based on a stratification of the observation face of a pit dug perpendicular to the direction of tillage and traffic: spatial compartments are distinguished, according to the nature of the mechanical stresses they…

Historical Perspectives on Soil Mapping and Process Modeling for Sustainable Land Use Management

2017

Basic soil management goes back to the earliest days of agricultural practices, approximately 9000 BCE. Through time humans developed soil management techniques of ever increasing complexity, including plows, contour tillage, terracing, and irrigation. Spatial soil patterns were being recognized as early as 3000 BCE, but the first soil maps did not appear until the 1700s and the first soil models finally arrived in the 1880s. The beginning of the 20th century saw an increase in standardization in many soil science methods and wide-spread soil mapping in many parts of the world, particularly in developed countries. However, the classification systems used, mapping scale, and national coverag…

Irish Soil Information System – application of novel and traditional techniques in soil survey

2011

The overall objective of this project is to conduct a programme of structured research into the distribution of soil types over the whole of Ireland and construct a soil map, at 1:250,000 scale, which will identify and describe the soils according to a harmonised national legend. This map will be in digital form and will form the basis for development of a new soil information system for Ireland. This is in response to national requirements to address the need to provide soil with a level of protection similar to that for water and air and, at international level, the recently adopted official ‘Communication on a Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection in Europe’ (European Commission, 2002, 20…