Biodiversity in Antarctic soils may be greatly underestimated after surprising discovery

Researchers used high-throughput DNA sequencing to measure biodiversity along a transect – a succession from recently exposed to mature soil – in front of a glacier in Antarctica. To capture a detailed ecological ‘time sequence’ they distinguished between intracellular and extracellular DNA from living versus dead or locally extinct species. They found an abundance of previously unsuspected interactions between eukaryotes and prokaryotes, eg, algae with heterotrophic bacteria and fungi with actinobacteria. The results imply that novel mutualistic interactions play an essential role in shaping this system, and that biodiversity in Antarctica may be much greater than previously thought.

Groundwater Pumping Is Contributing to the Sinking of Major U.S. Cities

A major reason is too much groundwater is being pumped out, new research shows, threatening buildings and infrastructure nationwide.

USDA:NRCS:Geospatial Data Gateway:Home

Life had drained from a farmer’s soil. He asked for advice - and nature has made a return

Ella McSweeney: It is possible to counteract relentless damage to our soils caused by human activity

Guidelines for improved quantification and reporting of carbon stocks and additional carbon storage in agroforestry systems - Agroforestry Systems

The number of scientific publications related to biomass carbon or soil organic carbon under various land management practices has globally and dramatically increased during the last two decades, the same applies to the peer reviewed Agroforestry Systems journal. However, the quality of papers on carbon sequestration in agroforestry systems is very heterogeneous, and many studies do not fulfil simple requirements that would ensure the scientific value of these studies, resulting in high rates of rejections before and after review. The aim of this paper, co-authored by the Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editors of the Agroforestry Systems journal is to provide some basic guidelines to improve the quantification and reporting of carbon stocks and additional carbon storage in agroforestry systems, and to maximize manuscript acceptance. These guidelines are also of use for any other international peer-reviewed journal publishing studies on this topic. We also provide a checklist, for both authors and reviewers, of compulsory and recommended variables to be included before submission of an original study related to soil and/or biomass carbon stocks and sequestration in agroforestry systems.

When farmers and scientists collaborate, biodiversity and agriculture can thrive – here’s how

Farmers can take ownership of nature recovery actions and scientific expertise can adapt to local knowledge in the design of environmental outcomes.

Have We Been Looking at Soil Health Through the Wrong Microscope? - Seed World

https://youtu.be/WKTLib2wkUw Throughout history, the industry has often looked at soil health from a chemistry perspective — but if we’re going to