IUSS Alert 212 (March-April 2023)

IUSS News

In 2024, the centenary of the foundation of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) will be celebrated. The IUSS, formerly known as the International Societies of Soil Science (ISSS), was established in Rome in 1924.

To commemorate this centenary, a celebratory event is being organized in Rome in May 2024, along with an extraordinary “World Soil Congress” in Florence. The Congress is organized by the IUSS and SISS, whose presidents are responsible for the event. The event’s website (https://centennialiuss2024.org/) is continuously updated and provides information on the detailed program, including content and objectives, as well as partnerships, sponsorships, and collaborations. The Congress aims to celebrate not only the Soil Sciences but also their interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations with other disciplines that interact with the soil resource for the support of humanity and nature.

The purpose of the event is to strengthen connections with different disciplines, policymakers, stakeholders, institutions, and associations in order to effectively address society’s needs in agriculture, forestry, environment, urban planning, energy, education, and other social issues.

The organization of the scientific sessions is bottom-up, meaning that proposals are freely accepted from those who wish to develop a topic within the general themes of the Congress, which are:

Soil health in achieving sustainable development goals

Soil governance

Soil in the digital era

Soil and humanity

Soil sciences in advancing basic knowledge

Soil in the circular economy

Equity, diversity, and inclusivity in soil sciences

A session proposal should be submitted related to a single general theme, along with defining some keywords. Keywords are used to identify potential similarities between sessions during the program creation. The Scientific Committee may suggest modifications to the proposed sessions.

Submission of session proposals is open until the 30^th of June and can be done through the Congress website at https://centennialiuss2024.org/call-for-session/. Registration of conveners and co-conveners will only be required upon acceptance of the session.

The IUSS at EGU 2023

The IUSS attended with a booth at the EGU in Vienna from 23 to 28 April 2023, together with the Chinese and the Italian Soil Science Societies (SISS). <<<gadgets and info materials of the IUSS, those of the next Inter-Congress WCSS in China, and that of the Centennial in Italy were distributed. IUSS Officers and Colleagues attended at the stand to share info and ideas for the Union and the progress in Soil Sciences.

The IUSS at the General Assembly of the International Scientific Union in Paris

9-12 May 2023 (https://council.science/)

The President of the IUSS and the President-Elect participated in the General Assembly of the International Scientific Union in Paris from 9-12 May 2023 (https://council.science/). The ISC aims to be the global voice for science and is made up of approximately 200 Scientific Unions and Academies, the majority of which was represented in Paris. This was a great opportunity to learn about other scientific associations and, more importantly, to give voice to soil sciences through a platform to be heard by an audience that often overlooks them. The IUSS is a member of the ISC, having been a part of the ICSU since its inception, and participates in specific groups such as the Geounions and the Standing Committees on Disaster Risk Reduction and Gender Equality in Science. Prof Yongguan Zhu, recipient of the von Liebig award 2022 of the IUSS, is member of the Standing ISC Committee for Science Planning 2022-2025.

The ISC is experiencing strong growth in terms of staff and activities as it strives to be the voice of science for various policymakers, including UN scientific bodies, and is supported by a wide range of funding institutions. However, this growth has necessitated updates to the statutes with regard to membership, voting, and duties, which were among the main issues addressed in the Assembly.

Malaysian Society of Soil Sciences

On Monday March 27^th, 2023, the Secretariat of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS), entrusted to the CREA, hosted the study visit of Dr. V. Jeyanny Vijayanathan, senior research officer in the Soil Management Branch at the “Forest Plantation Programme” of the Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM). The meeting was an opportunity to establish a first contact aimed at the international cooperation with FRIM, to share the expertise on soil carbon modeling techniques and develop scientific collaborations. V. Jeyanny Vijayanathan is a member of the Malaysian Society of Soil Science, affiliated to the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS). The Forest Research Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) is one of the world’s leading institutions in tropical forestry research. Founded in 1929 as the Forest Research Institute, it has become a body with statutory autonomy, supervised by the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Environment and Climate Change (NRECC). During the meeting, an international collaboration agreement between FRIM and CREA was signed.

Commission 1.6 Paleopedology Newsletters

Newsletter no. 32 from Commission 1.6 is now available on the IUSS website.

Soil Science Society of China (SSSC) Newsletter

Soil Science Society of China (SSSC) Newsletter Vol. 7 and Vol. 8

News from the SLCS

Stop soil degradation – the IUSS educative project to achieve it

“World reference base for soil resources – its fourth edition and its history” was published today in the journal of plant nutrition and soil science. you find it at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jpln.202200417

News from national and regional soil science societies

Soil Science Australia

Dr. Allan E. Hewitt (MWLR), Dr Megan R. Balks (University of Waikato), and Prof David J. Lowe (University of Waikato) were recently awarded with the J.K. Taylor Gold Medal of Soil Science Australia for 2022 for their book “The Soils of Aotearoa New Zealand” (Springer, 2021).

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-64763-6

Africa Soil Science Society (ASSS)

(asssonline.org)

Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) – Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) (unibe.ch) CDE’s and CDE’s members’ activities at the IASC Conference in Nairobi.

The XIX Biennial IASC Conference “The commons we want: between historical legacies and future collective actions” puts the commons at centre stage. The conference combines a future-oriented research and practice perspective with a look back, as many legal and structural legacies predetermine possible development pathways.

Join us at the IASC Conference from 19 – 24 June in Nairobi, Kenya!

Link: IASC Conference: information and registration

https://iasc-commons.wildapricot.org/event-5049305

Biota, water, and humans. Management for a sustainable world

18 – 22 October 2023, Gandia, Spain

5^th International Conference on Sustainable Natural Resource Management Under Global Climate Change

7 – 10 November 2023, New Delhi, India

Flyer https://scsi.org.in/pdf/1st-Announcement-of-SCSI-Conference.pdf

Read more: doi 10.30825/1.26.2022

Freely available as .pdf file on ResearchGate:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/368839948_Illustrated_Handbook_of_WRB_Soil_Classification

Improvement of spatial prediction of soil depth via earth observation

By Pimenta Barbosa de Sousa G., Tayebi M., et al., Catena Vol. 223, 106915, Science Direct.com by Elsevier, April 2023

The focus of this work was to predict the spatial distribution of soil depth using spatial techniques (remote sensing, RS) and machine learning in three different locations in Brazil.

World Reference Base for Soil Resources—Its fourth edition and its history

Peter Schad, J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci. 2023; 186:151–163; published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.

The World Reference Base for Soil Resources (WRB) is an international soil classification system for naming soils and creating legends for soil maps. On 1 August 2022, at the World Congress of Soil Science in Glasgow, the fourth edition was published (IUSS Working Group WRB, 2022).

Digital soil mapping of Italy to map derived soil profiles with neural networks

By Maria Fantappiè, Giovanni L’Abate, Calogero Schillaci, Edoardo A.C. Costantini, Geoderma Regional, Volume 32, March 2023, e00619

Monitoring the concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, Cr, Zn, Mn and Fe in cultivated Haplic Luvisol soils using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy and chemometrics

By S. Krzebietke, M. Daszykowski et al. Published by Elsevier B.V.; Talanta 251 (2023) 123749

Research by the University of Katowice opens up new perspectives in the field of soil analysis. Through spectroscopy, the researchers were able to determine the presence and concentration of key elements in the soil.

Scale-specific controls of soil water storage along a transect in a semiarid catchment

By Xuezhang Li, Xianli Xu, Ming’an Shao, Kelin Wang, Elsevier, European Journal of Agronomy, Volume 145, April 2023, 126759

https://www.sciencedirect.com/getaccess/pii/S1161030123000278/purchase

Water use pattern and transpiration of Mongolian pine plantations in relation to stand age on northern Loess Plateau of China

By Yanwu Pei, Laiming Huang, Ming′an Shao, Yinglong Zhang, Yanhui Pan 

Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, Volume 330, 1 March 2023, 109320

Download: Download high-res image (351KB)

Solution chemistry mechanisms of exogenous silicon influencing the speciation and bioavailability of cadmium in alkaline paddy soil

By Lei Guo, Aiting Chen, Cai Li, Yaojing Wang, Dan Yang, Na He, Mingda Liu Journal of Hazardous Materials Volume 438, 15 September 2022, 129526, Elsevier

Optimization of irrigation and N fertilization management profoundly increases soil N retention potential in a greenhouse tomato production agroecosystem of Northeast China

By Hanqing Wu, Liyuan Zhang, Jindong Lv , Yuling Zhang , Yulong Zhang, Na Yu, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Volume 340, 1 December 2022, 108185

Loss of microbial diversity weakens specific soil functions, but increases soil ecosystem stability

By Xueling Yang, Jie Cheng, Ashley E. Franks, Xiaowei Huang, Qi Yang, Zhongyi Cheng, Yuanhui Liu, Bin Ma, Jianming Xu, Yan He, Elsevier, Soil Biology and Biochemistry, Volume 177, February 2023, 108916

New volume of Soil Sequences Atlas (vol. 5)

The significant spatial variability of soil cover results from the diverse impacts of different soil-forming factors. This book presents pedovariability in the form of a collection of soil sequences typical of particular landscape types. The fifth part of the Soil Sequences Atlas contains description of 73 pedons grouped into 15 chapters each representing a different environmental setting specific to very diverse regions from five continents – North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia. The Atlas begins by presenting a pedo-landscapes from Americas – from Mexico to Peru. Next comes a group of chapters devoted to The Mediterranean Region – Spain, Italy, Slovenia and Tunisia. The next two chapters concern the soils of Central Europe – Hungary and Poland. At the end there are examples of steppe (Russian chernozems), semi-arid (Iran) and subtropical soils of Southeast Asia (Thailand). Out of 32 reference groups, as many as 17 are represented in the fifth part of atlas Soil Sequences Atlas. The collected data is intended as a useful educational tool in teaching soil science, and in supporting an understanding of the reasons behind the variability of soil cover, and also as a WRB classification guideline.

Free PDF version can be downloaded here: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367334985_Soil_Sequences_Atlas_V

Advances in sensor technology for sustainable crop production

Edited by Dr Craig Lobsey, University of Southern Queensland, Australia and Professor Asim Biswas, University of Guelph, Canada. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, 21 February 2023, Hardback ISBN-13: 9781786769770

With the agricultural sector facing mounting pressure to reduce their carbon footprint, greater emphasis has been placed on improving existing components and practices, such as soil health and biodiversity, which have since emerged as key components to achieving regenerative agriculture. Sensors provide the opportunity to measure crop and soil health at unparalleled scales and resolution. Key developments in sensor technology will help improve our current understanding and optimisation of the complex agricultural systems that make up our global ecosystem.

Advances in sensor technology for sustainable crop production provides a comprehensive review of the wealth of research on key developments in sensor technology to improve monitoring and management of crop health, soil health, weeds and diseases. This collection also reviews advances in proximal and remote sensing techniques to monitor soil health, such as spectroscopy and radiometrics, as well as how sensor technology can be optimised for more targeted irrigation, site-specific nutrient and weed management.

Restoring land and soil health to ensure sustainable and resilient agriculture in the Near East and North Africa region – State of Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture thematic paper.

By Zdruli, P. and Zucca, C. 2023. Cairo, Egypt, FAO. 80 p., ISBN 978-92-5-136677-6

The report is part of a series of background papers prepared within the context of the development of the Near East and North Africa Region of the State of Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOLAW) in the Near East and North Africa Region. The paper reflects on the status of soil degradation and fertility loss, the drivers that put pressure on soils and land in the region, the responses to address the pressing issues leveraging existing technical knowledge, as well as tools for assessment and monitoring.

Impact of Global Climate Change on Agriculture

by Subhash Chand, Satish Serial Publishing House, 2023. Hardcover ISBN: 9789394023185

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