forest soil News
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Carbon cycling in forest soils research presented
Just as individual humans have different microbial communities in their guts, the microbial communities living in soils vary from site to site as well. Recent research compared the decomposition rates of wood stakes over eight sites to gain an understanding of soil microbes in forests. The activity of soil microbes can also tell a story of the value of carbon storage in soil. The ...
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Forest Soil Carbon Flux Measurement and Applications
Measuring forest soil carbon flux gives an insight into the health of forest ecosystems and provides feedback on the effects of global warming. This article outlines how soil CO2 efflux is determined and the applications of soil carbon flux research. The Earth’s carbon cycle maintains a steady balance of carbon in the atmosphere that supports plant and animal life. In recent years, ...
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Soil microorganisms help prevent non-target effects of pesticides
A new study has investigated the properties of different types of soils which can cause pesticides to cling on to soil and prevent them from affecting non-target species. It demonstrates that microorganisms can play an important role in binding pesticides to soil. Microbial levels can therefore help indicate how much pesticide is freely available in soil. Pesticides applied during agricultural ...
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AGRITECHNICA 2019
From 10 to 16 November Agritechnica 2019 will take place in Hannover (Germany). TMC CANCELA presents itself with a new brand restyling and with a wide representation of Mulchers at the most important international trade fair for agricultural machinery in the sector worldwide, with a participation of 2,900 exhibitors distributed in 23 pavilions at the fairgrounds in Hanover and with more than ...
By TMC Cancela
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EU call for regulation of wood ash fertilisers
Wood ash may not be an ideal fertiliser for the forest after all, according to new research, which found high natural levels of toxic trace elements in wood ash. In addition, the study showed that adding wood ash could affect the forest soils in such a way that toxic elements are more rapidly released into the receiving waters. Wood ash is a by-product of wood burning which is classed as a form ...
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Forest soils recovering from effects of acid rain
Before the United States 1970 Clean Air Act, rainfall all over the country was acidic. As precipitation would fall from the sky, it would mix with gases from industrial plants, emissions from cars, and especially coal and fossil fuel consumption. That caused the water to become acidic – also called “acid rain.” Besides the air pollution hurting plants and humans, this acid rain ...
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Forest fires help power the nitrogen cycle
When fire burns down a forest, nitrate levels go up, and the effects are persistent, according to recent research from University of Montana scientists. They found that charcoal deposited during fire events has the potential to stimulate the conversion of ammonia to nitrates, an important step in the nitrogen cycle. Led by Patrick Ball, the research team found that a type of bacteria that ...
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New trial ensures successful planting of seedlings to restore areas in Pantanal degraded by fires
The pilot project uses the transplantation of seedlings due to a shortage in production of native seeds, necessary to restore forests around the Cuiabá River, Pantanal, that have recently been degraded by fires in the region. The actions are taking place in the Sesc Baía das Pedras Park – Sesc Pantanal, carried out by a team of researchers from the CPP/INAU and UFMT, together ...
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World must reform agriculture now or face dire crisis: report
The world will face social upheaval and environmental disasters if agriculture is not radically reformed to better serve the poor and hungry, a landmark UN-sponsored report said last week. The warning in the report by the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) comes amid growing discontent among the world's poorest over rising food prices. ...
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Profile probe saves time and money for forest monitoring team
FutMon project: Delta-T Profile Probes have been installed at four sites across the U.K. to provide soil moisture data as part of FutMon, an EU Life+ project. The aim of FutMon is to create a Europe-wide long term forest monitoring system. The FutMon partner organisation in the UK is Forest Research (Centre for Forestry and Climate Change). The data required for FutMon are being collected at ...
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Nepal foresters ready to sell carbon stocks
A pilot project underway in Nepal aims to strengthen the capacity of the government and community forest user groups (CFUGs) to measure and monitor carbon stored in the country’s forests. A project management unit (PMU), launched 16 July 2010, has initiated a payment distribution system to reward CFUGs that increase and maintain carbon storage levels. The four-year project, covering three ...
By SciDev.Net
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European Parliament strengthens accounting rules for agricultural emissions
Wetlands International welcomes the European Parliament’s vote on rules for accounting for greenhouse gas emissions and removals resulting from agriculture and forestry. Emissions and removals from cropland and grazing land management will have to be accounted for, but accounting for wetland drainage and rewetting remains voluntary. The European Parliament voted today to establish common ...
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Interaction between water and forest – challenge to water policies and forest management
Incorporating results from forest hydrology studies in water policies can help avoid uncertainty and confusion caused by the current difficulties in transferring research findings to different countries and regions, varying forest types and species and diverse forest management regimes. In addition, institutional mechanisms to enhance synergies in forests and water administrations are needed at ...
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What are the impacts of invasive alien species?
The impacts of invasive alien species (IAS) can take many different forms, from ecological to socio-economic. A new review investigates how to define and quantify ‘impact’ and discusses the most successful strategies to reduce invasion risk and prevent different impacts. Biological invasions can substantially degrade ecosystems and IAS are listed among the primary causes of global ...
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Race is on to feed warming world
It can take up to 30 years to improve a crop variety, test it and persuade farmers to adopt it. That means the speed of climate change in Africa could make a new variety of maize useless even before the first harvest, according to new research. But two separate studies that address the challenge of food security in a rapidly warming world suggest that the answers may lie not just in future ...
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High gold prices drive expansion of mining activity in the Amazon forest of Peru
Gold mining areas in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest expanded from under 10 000 hectares in 1999 to over 50 000 hectares by 2012, and now destroys more forest than agriculture and logging combined, new research has shown. Using high-resolution satellite imaging, researchers estimated gold mining areas to be twice as large as estimated by previous studies, which did not include the combined effects ...
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Microbes play important role in soil’s nitrogen cycle
Under our feet, in the soil, is a wealth of microbial activity. Just like humans have different metabolisms and food choices, so do those microbes. In fact, microbes play an important role in making nutrients available to plants. A recent review paper from Xinda Lu and his team looks at different roles that various soil microbes have in soil’s nitrogen cycle. Lu is a researcher at ...
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USDA awards US$14m in conservation innovation grants
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer has announced US$14 million in Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) to fund 45 projects in 40 states to develop and refine cutting-edge technologies and approaches that will help farmers conserve and sustain natural resources on their operations. 'Conservation Innovation Grants foster the development of new technologies and approaches to natural resource ...
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Improved internet access brings better mapping and spatial data to Kenya
Spatial information – including where different populations live and where natural resources are located – is essential for sound development planning and decision-making. A new website launched today, Virtual Kenya, opens up a wealth of maps and spatial data about the country for citizens and students to use. In 2007, the World Resources Institute published Nature’s Benefits ...
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Multifunctional forests - balancing timber, water and carbon sink needs air
Traditionally, forests have needed different management programmes depending on their purpose, for example, whether the priority is to maximise their value in terms of timber, water or as a carbon sink. However, the integration of these values in management strategies has become increasingly important. A new study has explored one means of achieving this, by placing an economic value on fresh ...
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