IUSS Bulletin 113 Hires

Bulletin of the International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) | November 2008

IUSS Bulletin

113

International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS)The IUSS Bulletin is the official Newsletter of the In-ternational Union of Soil Sciences. It is freely dis-tributed through the IUSS website and a limitednumber of copies are printed. All contributions arewelcome and should be send to the editor.

EditorDr. Alfred E. HarteminkISRIC – World Soil InformationP.O. Box 353 6700 AJ WageningenThe NetherlandsPhone: +31 (0) 317 471 713Fax: +31 (0) 317 471 700E-mail: [email protected]

Secretary GeneralStephen Nortcliff, [email protected] SGAlfred Hartemink, [email protected]

Division 1Ahmet Mermut,[email protected] Division 2Ruben Kretzschmar, [email protected] Division 3Wolfgang Burghardt, [email protected] 4 Lyn Abbott, [email protected]

CopyrightIUSSP.O. Box 353 6700 AJ WageningenThe Netherlands

Graphic DesignDaniël Looswww.bureaucontrapunt.nl

ISSN 0374-0447

Book Review EditorDrs. J. Hans V. van BarenISRIC – World Soil InformationP.O. Box 3536700 AJ WageningenThe NetherlandsPhone: +31 (0) 317 471 711Fax: +31 (0) 317 471 700E-mail: [email protected]

PresidentRoger Swift, [email protected] Vice President Neal Menzies, [email protected] TreasurerJim Gauld, [email protected]

BudgetsRobin Harris, [email protected] AwardsWinfried Blum, [email protected] StatutesJohn Kimble, [email protected]

Orders toDr Alfred HarteminkIUSSPO Box 3536700 AJ, WageningenThe Netherlands

I U S S B U L L E T I N 1132

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ContentsEditorial (A. Hartemink). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The Planet Earth (by Vir Singh) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

IUSS Council Meeting Brisbane– Report (S. Nortcliff) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

IUSS ALERTS May 2008 – October 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

ARTICLESThe Soil Thematic Strategy: outline and current situation in the debateNiek de Wit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25The USA Soil ResolutionRattan Lal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28The Soil Spectroscopy Group and the development of a global spectral libraryRaphael Viscarra Rossel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

FIVE QUESTIONS TO A SOIL SCIENTISTFive questions to Yuji Niino (Thailand) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33Five questions to Stalin Torres (Venezuela) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Five questions to Eddy de Pauw (Syria) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34Five questions to Selim Kapur (Turkey) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

THE FAVOURITE SOIL SCIENCE BOOKSJohan Bouma (Netherlands) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

HONORS AND AWARDSDan Yaalon (Israel) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Noorallah G. Juma (Canada) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Amy Brock, Adrienne Ryan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39Donald Sparks (USA) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

OBITUARIES P. Bullock (UK) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

REPORTS OF MEETINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

UPCOMING MEETINGS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

IUSS HONORARY MEMBERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

The economic turmoil attracts an enormous ofmedia attention – it is a global thing that may affectmany of us personally (count your savings andstocks) or professionally (government budget cuts).In my most optimistic moods I think it could makethe world more realistic and focus on matters thatreally matter and are real, and as such it may dosome good for our discipline. The media emphasison stocks, hedge funds or CEO bonuses were neverthings that could be exploited by the soil sciencecommunity to justify the need for good soil scienceand the understanding of our most important natu-ral resource: the soil. Something else is going as well. There is re-appreci-ation of agriculture following global issues aroundfood production, animal feed, biofuels, waterscarcity and a range of others. Soil science has al-ways had strong with agriculture and if it reactspromptly, the discipline will greatly benefit from thatre-appreciation. In many parts of the world it alreadydoes and some sort of soil science renaissance is tak-ing place. Years ago soils and soil degradation wereseen as the problem hindering development – nowsoils are part of the solution and not the problem,as Alex McBratney recently put it. Let us hope thatthe economic turmoil will sooner or later result inthe widespread realisation that good soils and goodsoil information is needed to resolve many of theglobal issues.This IUSS Bulletin reflects here and there on theseaspects. First a poem on mother earth inspired bythe International Year of Planet Earth celebrations.The Year has sparked activities and resulted in mediaattention in many countries across the globe. This isfollowed by an extensive report of the IUSS CouncilMeeting in Brisbane, Australia by Stephen Nortcliff.Various voices in the IUSS emphasise the need forchange in the IUSS to keep pace with the rapidchange globally. Such change is imperative if theIUSS wishes to remain effective and linked to realworld issues. Niek de Wit and Rattan Lal discussabout soil legislation in the EU and the USA – im-portant areas of change that show that soils are onthe policy agenda. Raphael Viscarra Rossel fromCSIRO in Australia reports on proposal to establish a

global spectral library – new stuff that will appeal tomany soil scientists across the world. I think thisuniting call falls under soil science crowdsourcingand it is something that will enhance our efficiencyand global impact. The well-known Five Questionsto a Soil Scientist are answered by: Yuji Niino (Thai-land), Stalin Torres (Venezuela), Eddy de Pauw (Syria)and Selim Kapur (Turkey). Johan Bouma discusses histhree favourite soil science books followed by the re-cent awards and honours to Dan Yaalon(Israel),Noorallah G. Juma (Canada), Amy Brock,Adrienne Ryan, and Donald Sparks (USA). This is the first IUSS Bulletin since the early 1970swith no New Publications section. Our colleague andgood friend Hans van Baren who has written thou-sands of short reviews on new soil science publica-tions is seriously ill, and was not able to contribute.I’ll include some new books in each IUSS Alert whilstwe are looking for a more permanent solution be-cause the New Publications section is often the bestread section of the IUSS Bulletin. If you wish to sendHans an e-mail or write him a letter, please send to:Drs. J. Hans V. van Baren, ISRIC – World Soil Infor-mation, P.O. Box 353, 6700 AJ Wageningen, TheNetherlands, E-mail: [email protected]

Alfred HarteminkISRIC – World Soil InformationWageningen

Editorial


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The Planet Earth came into beingFrom the womb of the CosmosAnd we from the womb of the Mother Earth.

Birth of the Mother Earth –Evolution’s unique feat in the Universe – Fertilization of the Universe.

Fertilization of the Universe – Sprouting of the seeds of Life – Replication of genes.

Replication of genes – Flowering of Life, fructification of Life –Eternity of Life.

Spinning like a top on her axis,Floating freely in the Cosmos,Dancing in rhythm around the Sun,The Planet Earth does awayAll the entropy that couldPut our Cosmos in jeopardy.The Planet Earth puts the whole CosmosInto a balance and maintains its Beauty.

All the vibrations of LifeAre reverberating within you.All the symphony of LifeIs evolving within you.All the love of Mother EarthIs prospering within you.Your balance and that of the CosmosAre one and the same.Your evolution and that of the CosmosAre not different.Your beauty infinite and that of the Mother EarthIs one and inseparable.You can preserve your beautyAnd the beauty of your CosmosBy adding to the beauty of the Planet Earth.

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The Planet EarthWas borne To give birth to my mother,My mother was borneTo give birth to me.Mother Earth has brought the EvolutionDown to Earth –The Evolution of eternity.

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The Planet EarthContribution to the International Year of Planet Earth

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Beneath the blue skyProspers eternal love of the Earth.Earth’s love is flowingIn her rivers, in her springs.Earth’s boundless loveIs creating waves in the oceans.

Beneath the blue skyProspers eternal love of the Earth.Earth’s love is floweringIn gardens, in forests, in meadowsLove of the Earth mingles with lifeAs the fragrance does with flowers.

Beneath the blue skyProspers eternal love of the Earth.Earth traps the sun falling on herAnd with her green plants rooted in her soilPrepares food for you.Plants are her umbilical cordThat feeds you to live and sustain.

Beneath the blue skyProspers eternal love of the Earth.Clouds float, clouds coolEarth brings down drizzle and rains,Quenches your thirstAnd helps your hopes bloom.

Beneath the blue skyProspers eternal love of the Earth.Earth’s love is seen everywhere, in everything,In the birds flying high,In the song of a cuckoo,In the colourful butterflies.

Beneath the blue skyProspers eternal love of the Earth.

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The Planet Earth – A living organ of the Cosmos,Responsible for the balance of the Cosmos.Living Earth withSuch a great responsibility!Only we can understandThe sweet onus on us,Only we can understandOur vital responsibilitiesOf enhancing Life on Earth,Of helping the Earth to preserveBeauty and balance of our Cosmos!Only we can understandThe vastness of ours,The meaning of our responsibility,The value of our existence.

The Earth, we and the CosmosAre interconnected with each other.As the living products of the Cosmic energyAnd fed and reared by the Earth,Only we can knowThat we are responsibleFor the Earth and for the CosmosAnd that the Earth and the CosmosCan live without usBut we can’t live without them.

Only we can knowThat the Earth is to sustain lifeBut whether with us or without usThat is the question.

Vir SinghGB Pant University of Agriculture & Technology,Pantnagar 263145 Uttarakhand, [email protected]


Part 1Monday 30 June 2008 The meeting was brought to order by the President,Roger Swift.During the meeting the following individuals at-tended for all or part of the time:-Lyn Abbott, Paul Bertsch, Winfried Blum, WolfgangBurghardt, Brenda Buck, Flavio Camargo, JeanChapelle, Doug Chung, Celine Collin Bellier, MarttiEssala, Juan Flores-Margez, Jim Gauld, Bob Gilkes,Mike Grundy, Robin Harris, Treruo Higashi, RainerHorn, Imamul Huq, Dr. Inubushi, Kye-Hoon Kim, JohnKimble, Jiri Kulhavy, Alex McBratney, Mike McLaugh-lin, Neal Menzies, Ahmet Mermut, Erika Micheli,Paolo Nannipieri, Stephen Nortcliff, Marcello Pagliai,Toni Patti, Roland Poss, Steve Raine, Chuck Rice, San-dra Sa, Daniela Sauer, Chris Smith, Roger Swift, EsterSztein, Bob White, Larry Wilding, and Jae Eui Yang.36 Members and Observers present

1. Introduction by the President Roger SwiftThe President outlined a series of housekeepingmatters including the voting procedure and distrib-uted the voting cards to National Member repre-sentatives, Honorary Member representatives andthe Executive Committee.The programme for the week was outlined.

2. Minutes of the Council Meeting in PhiladelphiaJuly 2006The Minutes of the meeting had been distributedand following normal practice were approved elec-tronically. A summary of the key points had been

published in the Bulletin and presented on the IUSSwebsite.Some items which are linked to these Minutes areincluded in the published agenda. No additionalmatters arising from these Minutes were identified,but Members were asked to raise with the SecretaryGeneral any further matters that came to light dur-ing the day, which will be discussed on Thursday af-ternoon or Friday morning.

3. The Bureau met in May 2007 in St. Lucia, Uni-versity of Queensland.Matters discussed included:Planning of the 19th WCSS; Divisional activities were dis-cussed in detail; in particular attention was drawn to thelack of any real signs of activity in some Commissions.Following a prolonged period during which therewas little response from the Chair of Division 4 anexchange of messages between the President andthe Division 4 Chair, the individual involved volun-tarily resigned and he was replaced by Lyn Abbott.The current suite of Working Groups was reviewed; anumber appeared to be relatively inactive and the rec-ommendation was that Council should consider clos-ing down these WG. Additionally it was noted thatthere was a considerable overlap amongst the Work-ing Groups and the some of the Working Groups seemto overlap with core Commission activity. Ideally WGshould cut across Divisions or Commissions.The election process was discussed and minor revi-sions made.Chairs of Standing Committees were discussed andhow the positions should be appointed.

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IUSS Council Meeting Agenda ReportThe Senate Room, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Brisbane, QueenslandIUSS Inter-Congress Council Meeting, 30 June, July 3 and July 4 2008

The Bureau supported the proposal to cease print-ing the Bulletin, but recognised there was a limitedneed for published copies. IUSS Alerts were com-mended as an excellent innovation. Outreach activ-ities were reviewed. IYPE, World Soil Council and thelogo were discussed.

4. Executive Committee Meeting 29th JuneThe President outlined the key points raised at yes-terday’s Council Meeting. Many of the significantmatters raised at this meeting will be addressedwithin the current meeting programme.

5. Report of the Secretary GeneralStephen Nortcliff outlined in addition to links withNational Members, the activities involving the SGand bodies outside the IUSS environment; increas-ingly important amongst these is our active involve-ment with ICSU.ICSU (International Council of Science) is an organi-sation which brings together the National Academiesand affiliated Unions to support and promote sci-ence in a global context. There is sometimes a po-tential tension within the ICSU ‘family’, becausemuch of the funding comes from Academies, whilstthe science input is predominantly from the Unions.Given the mix of membership of ICSU we have con-sidered it important to have collaboration with otherUnions and Academies. ICSU frequently sends out reports which require aresponse from members, within IUSS this has prin-cipally been the role of the Executive Committee anda small number of members who are willing to re-view and respond in the often limited time frameavailable. An increasing but small body of membershave indicated their willingness to comment onthese reports and their support is recognised andappreciated by the Secretary General.Within ICSU we are part of an important GeoUnionsGrouping. This originally was a grouping to deter-mine the voting groups for representation on theICSU Executive Board, but in the case of theGeoUnions the activity has significantly widened andthe group now meet and communicate across abroad range of matters, some not directly related toICSU but of common interest to the Unions. TheUnions currently involved in addition to IUSS areIUGS, IUGG, IGU, URSI, INQUA, AIU and ISPRSTwo areas in which individual from National Mem-bers have supported the IUSS involvement in ICSUactivities are: the ICSU initiative on the Science ofHealth and Wellbeing were Chuck Rice has had and

continues to have a substantial involvement and theICSU theme on Natural Hazards and Disasters whereAhmet Mermut contributed to a meeting in Parisduring November 2007.Partly as a consequence of our close ties with theICSU GeoUnions we became a founding member ofthe International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) whichhad been initiated by IUGS. This required a financialcommitment, but has been successful in developingthe links across the Geosciences and in particular asa focus for some of our outreach activities.Outreach has been a developing theme during thelast two years with both material developed in thecontext of IYPE and independently. We are pleasedto recognise the support of members in translatingsome of these documents.

6. Report of the Deputy Secretary General, presented by Stephen NortcliffThe report was in the form of a PowerPoint Presen-tation and included a review of activities by theDeputy-Secretary General (Alfred Hartemink) with aparticular focus on web-based activities.The Bulletin has long been a bi-annual means bywhich the Society and then the Union have commu-nicated with members. When membership was byindividual subscription rather than by national mem-bership the practice had been to distribute two is-sues of the Bulletin each year to member. With theinevitable enlargement of the membership this be-came financially and logistically impracticable. Thepaper version of the Bulletin continued until Bulletin111, but with a much restricted print run. The prac-tice had developed that the Bulletin was placed onthe IUSS website in pdf format. By 2006 the down-loading of the pdf files had far outstripped the num-ber of printed editions. And following an electronicballot of Council Members it was agreed to switchto predominantly electronic publication of the Bul-letin from 112, with a small number of paper ver-sions distributed separately. With the shift to aprimary electronic format the layout of the Bulletinhas been changed including a move to two columnformat.Given that the Bulletin provides an element ofarchival record of the Society and Union. The deci-sion has been taken to scan the complete set of Bul-letins and these are now accessible on the IUSSwebsite.

The IUSS website first established in 2001 has de-veloped rapidly and continues to do so (from July


2008 the size of the website has been significantlyincreased). The format of the website is changingand the amount of information held continues to in-crease. This appears to be much appreciated by theIUSS membership. There is a large amount of bothcurrent and archival material held on the site.Outreach activities including IYPE have also been akey focus of activities both in paper format (althoughthe aim has been to limit this) and in electronic for-mat. Colleagues are thanked in the assistance pro-vided in translating documents in to a range oflanguages.The Proceedings of WCSS are a valuable part of thearchives of the Union. Many of these documents areof very limited availability. To increase the access allthe proceedings of the previous WCSS have beenscanned and are accessible on the website. At pres-ent they are not indexed. To index the Proceedingsthe cost would be of the order of €200 000 and itwas suggested IUSS should seek to find a sponsor tosupport this.Following discussions at the Bureau meeting in May2007, the DSG presented a series of possible optionsfor new IUSS logos. Whilst the logos were illustra-tions of what might be introduced they were also anopportunity to raise the issue and encourage themembership to think about his matter.Lyn Abbott proposed (seconded by Larry Wilding)that ‘We congratulate Alfred Hartemink on his con-siderable efforts on developing the website, bothin terms of its breadth and its accessibility.’ Ap-proved unanimously.

A new logo?Discussion on the proposal that we should considerdeveloping a new logo was wide-ranging. RogerSwift reiterated that the Bureau had discussed this in2007, agreeing that this should be discussed at theCouncil Meeting in 2008, but had not agreed thatthe change was necessary. The discussion that fol-lowed included the following points.Roger Swift suggested that we need to consider whywe are changing the logo.Neil Menzies commented that it is often easy to de-cide that you may be dissatisfied with the currentlogo, but you need to be very careful in the processof the choice of a new logo which will stand the testof time. Rainer Horn stated that we need to main-tain the current logo because it is part of the IUSSidentity. Steve Raine stated that the current logo hasevolved, but on a theme. Maybe the path forwardwould be to develop the current logo, changing

colours, adding some additional material. WinfriedBlum - reiterated earlier comments that the logo hastwo functions:a. Corporate identityb. Outside identity – e.g. within ICSU the logo is well

known and recognised.The changes should be developments on the currentlogo rather than a completely new logo. During his timeas SG he heard no adverse comments on the logo.Larry Wilding suggested that the way forward was todevelop the current logo which has an element ofinstitutional memory. Wolfgang Burghardt expressedhis satisfaction with the current logo which he sawas representing soil and life in a global context. Ce-line Collin Bellier stated that she considered the cur-rent logo outdated and lacking dynamism. StephenCattle considered the logo as austere and in need ofchange to something more dynamic. Robin Harrissupported the notion of the connection between soiland life as with the current logo. Following this dis-cussion the following motion was proposed by JohnKimble (seconded by Ahmet Mermut) ‘We keep thebroad design of the current logo with modifica-tions; for example changes in colour and possiblyshape of the current logo’For: 26Against: 4

7. Report of the Chair of Standing Committee onBudget and FinanceRobin Harris presented a PowerPoint ReportDocuments tabled:a. June 30 Document summarising the position in re-

lation to the budget set for 2008 b. June 30 Full Member IUSS subscription payments

and related member numbers for 2007Robin Harris reviewed each of the Tables in turn andprovided a commentary on the Tables.

Part 1 Membership With respect to subscriptions RH drew attention toBye-Law 7.2. Some National Members pay directlyrelated to the declared membership of their Na-tional Societies, others pay at rates above the quotadetermined by their membership numbers.In relation to Membership dues there was wideranging discussion, including the following points.Paul Bertsch (USA) expressed concern about the pro-portion of IUSS dues paid by NAS, and would hopethat some of the other National Members should in-crease the amount paid in relation to their dues.Roger Swift highlighted that the number of poor

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countries within IUSS is larger than many other Sci-entific Unions.Flavio Camargo (Brazil) highlighted that not allUnions are supported by their National Academiesso that the funding has to come from payments bymembers.Within Group III there may be countries (e.g. Chinaand India) for which the categorisation in Group IIImay not be appropriate.In some cases the reported number of members percountry probably does not necessarily reflect thetrue membership (e.g. China).For non-dollar based countries the weakness of thedollar has been a ‘windfall’.

Part 2 Overview of Budget The effects of currency changes and increased ex-penses balanced against increased income werenoted. Is the Outreach Campaign cost effective? Wehave to evaluate whether the expenditure on out-reach is sustainable and justifiable. The target is for$120 000 in the chequing account and $160 000 indeposit.Rainer Horn reinforced the need to focus on out-reach. In Germany a group was established with anindustry/soil protection focus, and this has resultedin an increased demand from industry for the serv-ices of soil scientist. He also stressed that the DBGreceives funds for membership of IUSS from DFG andthe amount is limited because of other demands.Alex McBratney pointed out that the distribution ofsubscriptions was very unusual and this needs to beaddressed. He also reinforced the impact of the US$, and suggested that we need a ‘hedging strategy’in terms of payments, e.g. payment in €.We also need to think of raising funds from other areas.Erika Micheli drew attention to the use of funds forthe benefit of Category III members. We endeav-oured to do this in 2006, but our attempts were frus-trated by the problems related to visas.Winfried Blum suggested that we should seek a SGwho is fully funded by an organisation. In relation toOutreach the greatest impact often arises whenthere is a large global problem. Things are changingat the present time in relation to the current foodshortage and within Europe the problem of sealing.RSS suggested we need a corps of members whowould be willing to act as spokespersons on behalfof IUSS to respond to the media on these issues.It was suggested that rather than use the GNI weshould perhaps use the graduate salary as the basis fordetermining the category of membership as this would

be a more objective basis related to ability to pay.J. Kimble (seconded by L. Wilding) proposed the Mo-tion: ‘We require the Executive Committee to con-sider, as a matter of urgency, the fees paid byNational Members, in particular the disproportion-ate contribution from the USA and to bring forwardproposals.’Carried without opposition.

8. Presentation of the Accounts by the TreasurerJim GauldThe Treasurer prefaced his presentation with the fol-lowing remarks:A key task during his stewardship of the accounts hasbeen to produce professionally audited accounts.The financial management of the Union has pro-gressed well because of the close links with RobinHarris (Chair of Budget and Finance).It is increasingly important to deal promptly withpayments and expenditureand to track theirprogress.JG presented a PowerPoint presentation outliningthe key features of the accounts.He explained that IUSS runs a $ account and hewould argue against taking a risk with Union moneythrough switching to other currencies (e.g. € or bymaking potentially risky investments).Stephen Cattle asked about the Divisional expendi-ture. It was explained that the decisions on howthese funds were to be spent were the responsibil-ity of the Divisions, but that the annual proposalswere reviewed by the Treasurer and Secretary Gen-eral. Before funds were transferred.Alex McBratney asked whether the Commissionsshould be expected to run without any funding fromIUSS. In response Winfried Blum outlined that in thedevelopment of the new scientific structure, the re-sponsibility of supporting the Commissions was con-sidered to be addressed through the Divisions.Ahmet Mermut outlined that in Division 1 with 6Commissions allocating $500 to each Commissionwould spend 60% of the Division allocation. Henoted that in 2007 most of the funds were spent inrelation to the activities of the Division Chair.Rainer Horn considered that in preparing their an-nual budgets Divisions it was imperative that Divi-sions seek expressions of potential expenditure fromCommissions and Working Groups within their remitfor a forthcoming year.John Kimble that the Bye-Laws outline how the Divi-sions and Divisional Committees (Divisional Chairand Commission Chairs) use the funds allocated to


the Divisions. The meeting anticipated that the Divi-sional Committees would be fully involved in the de-velopment in the Divisional of the budget and shouldmeet (virtually) at least once per year to develop theDivisional Programme of activities.Lyn Abbott proposed (seconded by Winfried Blum)that ‘The Report of the Budget and Finance Com-mittee and the Audited Accounts be accepted.’This was agreed without oppositionMeeting closed at 17.10

Part 2The Meeting reconvened on July 3 at 11.45 in theSenate Room of the University.The President welcomed colleagues who were notpresent at our first meeting.40 Members and observers were present.The President proposed that the agenda should bemodified with item 7 revisited, then proceed to thenormal agenda.

Item 7a. Revision of Fee StructureThe background to the proposals for changes in thesubscription rate was outlined by the Secretary Gen-eral.‘Council increase subscriptions by a factor of 1.25.We would also encourage National Members to in-crease the numbers of their registered members.’As riders to this:a. We encourage any National Member to make ad-

ditional payments in accordance with the Bye-Laws. Where membership is paid by the NationalAcademies we would encourage National Mem-bers to make additional payments.

b. We must also ask that National Members to re-port more accurately their membership numbers,especially where they are understated.

c. We also note that based on the GNI indicatorssome Category III countries had now moved in tocategory II. It was resolved that we should notethese adjustments in Country categories and con-sider amending the associated membership pay-ments in 2009.

This increased income would enable us to continue topromote the outreach programme and enable IUSS toprovide increased funds for the Divisions/Commissionsactivities. In addition there are additional fees payableto organisations such as ICSU.The Chair of B&F briefly outlined the details of thenew proposals with reference to a revised spread-sheet and the earlier documents which had been cir-

culated from the B&F Committee.The contribution of the USA to the total will signifi-cantly reduce.The President stressed that these proposals were in-terim proposals until the Council Meeting in 2010.It was noted that the actual numbers on the tableddocument are indicative rather than accurate values.Some points of clarification from Members wereprovided by the President.The motion was put to Council and carried.For: 29Against 0Abstentions: 2

9. Report from Chair of Structure and StatutesFrequency of MeetingsThe proposal from ASSI was to hold Congressesevery two years.The Executive considered this proposal and consideredthat the shift to a two year cycle was an inappropriatemove. We noted that in the ISSS days the Commissionswere active in holding substantial international meet-ings during the period between Congresses. Winfried Blum noted that we have a number of activeregional groups which hold meetings, for example:Latin American Group, East and SE Asian Group, AfricanGroup, East African Group, West African Group, Euro-pean Confederation of Soil Science Societies.Rainer Horn requested that more details of meetingsof other ICSU Unions should be reported on the IUSSwebsites.Alex McBratney asked at what sort of level we ex-pect change to take place in our discipline. In the 21st

Century changes take place much more rapidly thanin previous years and as a consequence the meet-ings should be more frequently.Martti Essala suggests that increasing the frequencywould increase the costs to members and probablyreduce the attendance. The more formal involve-ment of regional groupings perhaps should be con-sidered by the Executive Committee and theCommittee on Structures and Statutes.Stephen Cattle proposed (seconded by Ahmet Mer-mut) ‘Council make the necessary arrangements tomove to a two year cycle for WCSS meetings’For 2Against 28Rainer Horn proposed (seconded by Jean Chapelle) ‘Council reiterates and wishes to ensure that Divi-sions, Commission and Working Groups shouldhave at least one international meeting betweenWCSS.’

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For: 30Against: 0(It was noted that the funding allocated to Divisionsand Commissions might be dependent upon the com-pletion of these meetings).Stephen Cattle proposed (seconded by Paul Bertsch)that ‘The Executive Committee develop a full pro-posal for submission to Council to provide the nec-essary procedures and changes to Statutes andBye-Laws and financial implications for the positionof President to be elected separately from the host-ing of the Congress.’For: 27Against: 0Abstentions: 3There was a range of discussion on this topic; mostexpressions were in favour of this proposal, althoughthere were differences in the details of how it mightwork. There was some concern that the removal ofthe Presidency of the hosting country might havesome negative consequences in relation to thestanding of the organisers of the host country, andmay affect their fund raising activities. Neal Menziespointed out that when Australia set up its committeeto obtain the approval to hold the WCSS there wasnot any feeling of an necessary direct ‘tie up’ to thePresidency and much of the local support as ob-tained well in advance of having the Presidency.It was noted that if this change was to occur a propertitle and role (Vice President) on the Executive Com-mittee should be defined for the senior representa-tive from the host country. The meeting adjourned for lunch at 13.30 and re-convened after lunch.

Cycle of post holder This will be included in the proposal to review thePresidency.

Task Forces The President be allowed to appoint ‘Task Forces’ toundertake activities such as Search Committees.These will be time limited to undertake a specifictask. (This would be addressed by an amendment tothe Bye Laws).Winfried Blum proposed (seconded by Larry Wild-ing): ‘The President or Council be able to create‘Task Forces’ to advise for specific purposes for spe-cific lengths of time.’For: 31Against: 0

The Meeting agreed to the notion of producing a set ofinformative Appendices to the Statutes and Bye-Lawson matters such as submissions for Host Countries ofWCSS, expectations of Commission Chairs, duties ofSecretary General, Deputy Secretary General, etc.John Kimble was thanked for his report and continuingwork on matters related to Statutes and Structures.

10. Reports from Divisional ChairsDivision 1 – Ahmet Mermut (Chair of Division)The general structure and outline of the Division waspresented, with its 6 Commissions.A list of meetings which have taken place or will takeplace in the near future linked to the Divisional ac-tivities was outlined (these are available on the IUSSwebsite).The proposed WG on Global Soil Change was out-lined.The use of funds to support individuals from Cubaand Africa to attend meetings hosted by Commis-sions within the Divisions, plus some support for 5PG students to attend the Soil MicromorphologyMeeting in China in September 2008.The Division has also supported development ofCommission websites.The Symposia for the WCSS in 2010 was outlined.The proposal for Divisional medals/awards raised bythis Division was discussed later in the meeting.Division 2 – Chris Smith (Second Vice Chair)A brief summary of selected activities was presented(again details of meetings are provided on the IUSSwebsite).The procedures for arriving at the nomination ofcandidates as Officers in Division 2 was presented.Overview of the proposed Symposia for the WCSShas highlighted some overlap and these proposalswill be revised in the light of the discussions duringthe meeting here.It was stressed that through the Division there areattempts to strengthen links between IUSS and TheSoil Systems Group in European Geophysical Union.The Soil Mineralogy Commission probably needs tostrengthen its links with unions and scientific organ-isations outside IUSS.For the Symposia in 2010 it was suggested that itmight be appropriate to have a sessions across thesubjects of soil-water-energy, and there probablyneeds to be a refocusing of the topics in some cases.Within the Division there had been suggestions for aSoil Physics Awards (these Divisional Award Propos-als were discussed later). It was proposed that eachCommission should present an award for the best


poster within the Poster Symposia within their remitat the WCSS in 2010.In discussion it was noted there appeared to beoverlap between some of the planned symposia inthe Divisions. The Divisional Chairs will meet to dis-cuss the potential overlap.Division 3 – Wolfgang Burghardt (Chair of Division)The structure of the Division was outlined with 5Commissions and 4 Working Groups.Developing an electoral list proved to be a difficulttask, particularly when endeavouring to obtain po-tential candidates from South and Latin America andthe areas of Africa and the Middle East.The Divisional and Commission proposals for theWCSS Symposia were outlined together with twocross-Divisional proposals. (1. Practical applicationsof basis soil science; 2. Precision techniques in rela-tion to land use.)Meetings attended by the Chair on behalf of the Di-vision were outlined.A list of Commission based meetings were listed, il-lustrating in part the different levels of activity in theCommissions.The Division asked for some guidelines on the designof documents and materials to be presented toCouncil (this would be one of the informative Ap-pendices added to the Statues and Bye-Laws).The Division expressed a wish to have dedicatedspace on the IUSS website. In the ensuing discussionthis seemed feasible, but there is a need to ensurethat information is kept up to date and topical.Division 4 – Lyn Abbott (Chair of Division)The structure of the Division was outlined. Division4.4 is the least active, 4.5 the most active with a reg-ular newsletter and a book on ‘Soil and Culture’ tobe published in time for the WCSS.Three of the Commissions are working together inthe context of the ASSSI NZSS conference being inNew Zealand in December 2008.The Division has established an Advisory group to guidethe activities of the Division and ensure continuity inthe activities of the Division and Commissions.This Division and its Commission functions with linksto the public and the press and arrangements toallow this should be made by the organisers.To meet the obligations of the Division the symposiawill include panel discussions in addition to the nor-mal paper presentations.

11. Election Process 2007-8Stephen Nortcliff made a brief presentation about theelection process and the problems arising from some

misunderstandings about the manner in which votesare recorded and forwarded to the SG. It was clearthat not all of the submitted results actually reflectedthe votes cast by members of National Societies.In the light of the subsequent discussion it was de-cided that: T. Miano should be elected Vice Chair ofCommission 2.2Proposed by Roger Swift (seconded by Winfried Blum)

12. The WCSS 2010Conference OrganisationThe Mike Grundy (Chair of the Organising Commit-tee) presented the broad organisation provisionalstructure of the meeting from 1-6 August 2010.‘Carillon’ is the Professional Conference OrganisingCompany supporting the local Organising Commit-tee in the development of the organisation of Con-gress locations, Accommodation, Management ofbookings, etc.. All the information will be on thewebsite www.19wcss.org.auIt is essential that National Members support thedissemination of this information to their membersthrough their own websites and published material.

Sponsorship strategy was to target the ‘top 10’ spon-sors. The Queensland Government has agreed to actas sponsor; a decision from the Federal Governmentis awaited. Once these are agreed other sponsorswill begin to be approached in a cascading manner.There is a range of supporting activities proposedsuch as a specialist philatelic issue from AustraliaPost Office. An Art exhibition is planned, and therehave been initial enquiries to bring forward part orall of the Smithsonian Soils Exhibition. A broad sci-entific text on Australian Soils and Landscapes hasbeen mooted, it is hoped to launch a digital versionof the Soils Map of Australia.The Conference Tours are most likely to focus on pre-Conference Tours organised by State Soil Science So-cieties. There will be a full day tour on the first dayof the Conference and a half day mid-conference.Winfried Blum stated that the mid-Conference ex-cursion might be a whole day, the internet access inthe Conference Centre, an approved airline.Rainer Horn asked about the cost and emphasisedthe importance of the internet access in the Confer-ence Centre.Chris Smith asked about the poster sessions, andwhether there will be poster sessions as independ-ent entities or directly linked to Symposia.The proposal is that the cost of the Congress excur-sions will be included as part of the Conference Fee.

N OV E M B E R 2008 13

This should encourage participation and also removea significant financial and planning uncertainty. Ques-tions were raised about the appropriateness of thisstrategy.There will be a student registration fee, and therewill also be one-day registration fees.The question was raised whether there will there becrèche facilities for young and slightly older children? Itwas reported that there has not been a full considera-tion of this matter, but it may not be financially feasiblebecause of Federal and State laws and regulations.

Science ProgrammeNeil Menzies presented details of the Scientific Com-mittee who are drawn from across Australia andstressed that the local Science Committee’s role isone of co-ordination of the Divisional Committeessuggestions.Each day will begin with a Plenary Session to addressthe key themes of the Congress. It is proposed thatone of the key speakers in these sessions will be fromoutside Soil Science and there will then be a talk bya Soil Scientist in response to the first speaker.There might be a need to think more carefully aboutthe programme on a particular day, for example fo-cusing on one day a series of symposia which mighthave relevance to the press, the non-soil science sci-entists or the general public.Poster Sessions – It was the opinion of many that inPhiladelphia the poster sessions and associatedpresentation theatres did not work particularly well.The current suggestion is that the poster sessionswill be linked to tea, coffee or beer times to encour-age the involvement of participants. There will besome encouragement for poster presenters to pres-ent (format not yet defined) in a verbal manner theinformation in their poster.Currently the broad structure of the week is 9 Ple-nary Sessions; 8 Divisional Symposia; 42 CommissionSymposia; 10 Working Group Symposia.Some lessons have been learnt from colleagues inthe USA in respect of the format and timing of Pre-Conference Field Tours. These lessons will inform theplanning of the longer pre-Conference tours.

13. Election of Honorary MembersAt the request of the President, John Kimble brieflyintroduced the Statute B7. John highlighted thatthere were two criteria to be considered when elect-ing Honorary Members: Great distinction in Soil Science and substantialcontribution to IUSS.

The list of Nominations had been previously circu-lated to all Council Members, additional copies wereavailable.Taking account of Statute B7, the full list of nomina-tions had been considered by the Executive Com-mittee at its meeting on 29th June and the followingwere recommended to Council:Jaume BechChristian FellerKikuo KimuiazawaKazutake KyunaJohn RyanB.A. StewartVictor TargulianTengiz UrushadzeGyorgy VarallayJ.S.P. YadavDiscussion amongst Council Members followed inwhich all the nominations were considered, in par-ticular, attention was given to the contributionsmade to IUSS and its activities by the nominated in-dividuals.Following these discussions it was resolved to pro-ceed to a vote of the Council Members by secret bal-lot. As a result of the secret ballot the following wereelected as Honorary Members of IUSS:Christian FellerKikuo KumazawaKazutake KyumaJohn RyanB.A. StewartVictor TargulianGyorgy VarallayJ.S.P. YadavIt was noted that Peter Bullock (United Kingdom), whohad made a substantial contribution to Soil Science inaddition to being very active in ISSS and IUSS had diedbetween the receipt of his nomination and the formalpresentation of the proposals at the Council Meeting.Arising from this Council reaffirmed that at the timeof election, Honorary Members must be alive. This willbe clarified in the Bye Laws. Although guidance on the format of the nominationshad been provided there was still considerable di-versity in the style of nominations received. Guid-ance on the format of a nomination will be providedin an Appendix to the Bye Laws.

14. WCSS 2018BrasilFlavio Camargo made a short and illuminating presen-tation on behalf of the Brasilian Soil Science Society


outlining the activities of the Brasilian Society and thepublications of the Society directed at a range of audi-ences. The proposal has strong support from a widerange of national and Regional bodies scientific, polit-ical and commercial within South and Latin America.Within Brasil there are 36 departments of Soil Sci-ence and 26 graduate Courses at Masters and Doc-toral levels in Soil Science. Brasil faces manyenvironmental problems where the solution lies toa degree in sustainable soil management.Brasil would be very pleased to host the WCSS in 2018.

ItalyMarcelo Pagliai made a presentation on behalf ofthe Italian Soil Science who wishes to be consideredas hosts of the 2018 WCSS in Firenze. The Societyhas strong support from a number of National Min-istries and regional bodies. The excellent Conferencefacilities available in Firenze were briefly outlined.There is very strong support from other colleagues inthe Italian Soil Science Society who have been ac-tively involved in the activities of IUSS.The President thanked Flavio and Marcelo for theirbrief but informative presentations and looked for-ward to fuller presentations at the Council Meetingin the 2010 WCSS.The meeting closed at 17.55

Part 3The Meeting reconvened on July 4 at 09.00 in theSenate Room of the University.

15. The Smithsonian Soils Exhibit and related Out-reach activitiesPaul Bertsch (Chair of the US Soil Science Commit-tee) drew attention to the Smithsonian Soils Exhibitwithin the Natural History Museum, 5000 sq. ft. ex-hibit which is likely to be seen by in excess of 6 mil-lion visitors. This will be based at the Smithsonianfor 18 months. There is a fund raising campaign todevelop a travelling exhibit based on the Smithson-ian exhibit. The audience will be split between USnationals and visitors. A launch symposium ‘Soil Sus-taining Life on Planet Earth’ on July 19 is organisedby the US National Committee for Soil Sciences andco sponsored by IUSS and SSSA. This event to be heldat the National Academy of Sciences in Washington,DC, will include four keynote presentations:-David Montgomery; Dan Richter; Diana Wall; andRattan Lal. SSSA have developed a children’s book based on soil.

It was suggested by the President that IUSS wouldbe interested in promoting the book as an interna-tional text, possibly assisting with translations.Within the USA, in late June Resolution 440 waspassed in the US Senate which recognised Soil as akey natural resource and Soil Scientists as key work-ers in the environmental management of the Earth’sresources. In addition SSSA has established a SoilsPolicy Office; there is also a House Soils Caucuswhich enables soil scientists to inform staff membersfrom Congress and Congressional Officers.SSSA has identified a ‘rapid response team’ throughthe SSSA Washington Policy Office to get a list ofpossible respondees to current scientific and envi-ronmental issues.Council was also informed that the UN Commission onSustainable Development has been holding a series oftechnical meetings in 2008. It was interesting to notethat soils have featured in these discussions

16. The changing paradigm in Soil ScienceWinfried Blum gave a brief presentation of thechanging paradigms in Soil Science. He asked howthe Soil Science community would respond to thechanging focus of Soil Science. During the last 30years of the last Century the emphasis shifted froma focus in food production towards environmentalissues. This development had occurred in USA andalso in Europe. The focus was on the protection ofnatural resources. This paradigm shift towards soilsin an environmental context has been reinforced inrecent years. It was identified in European politicalquarters however that we had not addressed suffi-ciently the ‘knowledge-based bio-economy’, high-lighted by water shortage, food shortage, switchtowards a more meat based economy rather than adirect grain based economy and an increased use ofbiofuels. This is coupled with a continuing growth inpopulation and a shift from rural to urban settle-ments, which places more stress on the food pro-duction economy. In this context there are a numberof stresses; food versus fuel; water shortages; en-ergy costs (increasing fertiliser costs); populationgrowth. At present there is an information gapamongst soil scientists in many of these areas; deci-sions are often taken by economists with little at-tention towards soil based issues. There is anincreasing shift back to soil scientists being con-cerned with food production whilst at the same timetaking account of the broader environmental issues.This fits very well with the theme for the 2010 WCSS.

N OV E M B E R 2008 15

17. The contributions of Honorary Members.Stephen Nortcliff presented some of the thoughtssent to him by D.R. Nielsen.The thoughts are for a much more active involve-ment of Honorary Members in actions of IUSS.Whilst recognising the substantial contributionsmade by our Honorary Members Council consideredthat the contributions were just part of the widerange of contributions.Council invited a formal proposal from Don Nielsento be circulated amongst Council Members.

18. Chairs of Standing CommitteesThe Executive Committee had considered a list ofpossible nominees for the Chairs of the StandingCommittees. These had been noted but the Presi-dent would continue to seek suggestions beforemaking nominations before the next meeting ofCouncil 2010 Congress John Kimble suggested thata Search Committee seek out a broader regional rep-resentation for membership of Standing Commit-tees. The union also needs to consider the role ofthe other members of the Standing Committees andhow their inputs may be optimised. A new TaskForce will consider both the roles and responsibili-ties of the Standing Committees. Council confirmed Jean Chapelle as a member ofthe Standing Committee on Structure and Statutes.

19. The position of Secretary General and DeputySecretary GeneralThe President indicated that he had established aTask Force/Search Committee for these positionswith Don Sparks as Chair, with Winfried Blum andBob Gilkes.As a first task this group have produce a brief de-scription of the SG position which has been circu-lated to Council. To date the discussions have beenelectronic coupled with a 60 minute conference call.In addition to having the appropriate skills, theholder of the position must have the institutionalsupport for the candidate.The aim is to produce a list of possible candidates bylate 2009 which will be circulated.

20. World Soil DayStephen Nortcliff outlined the very limited progresstowards the formal establishment of World Soil Day.We may need to take further action on this possiblythrough a different ‘political’ pathway, although itwould be good to maintain the link with the Thaimonarchy because of the Royal Family’s commit-

ment to soil and soil conservation. Within Germanythere is some political progress on moving this issueforward through the Minister of Agriculture inSchleswig Holstein and UBA.

21. Review of Existing Working GroupsAcid Sulphate Soils – ContinueCryosols – Continue Digital Soil Mapping – ContinueIASUS – has finished its active lifeLand Degradation – At the meeting it was recom-mended this WG be discontinued because of inac-tivity. It was subsequently reported that theleadership of this WG and under the new leadershipthe WG was active and they were organising the 5th

International Conference on Land Degradation inBari, September 2008. WRB – Continue Salt Affected Soils – Continue Forest Soils – ContinueUrban Soils – Continue Acceptance of these decisions was proposed by LynAbbott (seconded by Winfried Blum).For: 26Against: 0

22. Proposed Working GroupsPaddy Soils – Establish a new Working Group (For:26; against: 0)Rare Soils – Best accommodated within the currentDivision 4 structure (possibly more accurately de-scribed as ‘Heritage soils’) (For: 26; against: 0)Proximal Soil Sensing – Establish a new WorkingGroup (For: 24; against: 0; Abstentions: 2).Global Soil Change – Establish a new Working Group(For: 19; against: 6; Abstentions: 1)Council considers that this Working Group addressesissues across all Divisions and asks the DivisionalChairs to consider the appointment of WG Officers.

22. The 20th WCSSJae E. Yang made a PowerPoint presentation outlinethe state of current plans for the 20th WCSS.Council confirmed the appointment of PresidentElect and Vice-President Elect, President Elect: Dr. Jae E. YangVice President Elect: Dr. Kye-Hoon John Kim

23. Prizes and AwardsWinfried Blum outlined that within IUSS we havetwo IUSS prizes the Dokuchaev Prize and the LiebigPrize, which are awarded every four years on the


recommendation of the Standing Committee onPrizes and Awards.In addition to these IUSS prizes we have establishedprizes within Division 1 in Micromorphology (Kubi-ena Prize) and Pedometrics (Webster Prize).Divisions 2 and 3 had discussed the development ofCommission and Division Prizes. This developmentwas welcomed.Following discussions on Prizes and Awards it wasproposed: ‘That we maintain the two main Prizes(Dokuchaiev and Liebig Awards) as IUSS Prizes, butthat the other prizes should be managed by the Di-visions, with any financial prize and medals fundedby the Divisions. IUSS Council would receive reportsfrom the Division and adopt the recommendationmade by Divisional Committees.’Proposed by Winfried Blum (seconded by JeanChapelle).For: 26Against: 0These awards would be presented at the WCSS.

24. Co-operating JournalsStephen Nortcliff briefly outlined the history of theCo-operating Journals within the history of ISSS andsubsequently IUSS.Professor Inubushi (Japan) asked what were the pro-cedures required to propose a Journal be a Co-op-erating Journal. Specifically with respect to theJapanese Journal of Soil Science and Plant Nutrition,the meeting suggested that there should be a corre-spondence between the Japanese Soil Science Soci-ety, the Publisher of their Journal (Blackwells) andthe Secretary General.

25. Nomenclature and TaxonomyPaul Bertsch on behalf of the US National Committeeraised that IUSS on behalf of Soil Science needs toaddress the problem of our lack of a common lan-guage within the Soil Science community, particu-larly in relation to the taxonomy of soils.There followed some discussion of the backgroundand structure of the Soil Taxonomy and the WorldReference Base, in particular stressing that WRB wasoriginally designed to act as an ‘umbrella’ for Na-tional Soil Classification Systems, rather than as aspecific soil classification system.‘Council recommends that IUSS through its WRBWorking Group should make steps towards the es-tablishment of uniform definitional observationsand criteria and appropriate quantification withinthe various soil classification systems.’Proposed by Winfried Blum (seconded by RainerHorn).For: 26Against: 0

26. Council expressed a Vote of Thanks to Peter Kopittke and his colleagues for their supportduring the meeting.

27. The President thanked colleagues for their participation in the meeting.

Meeting Closed 12.57.

Stephen Nortcliff,Secretary GeneralJuly 2008, Reading

N OV E M B E R 2008 17

Information for and from the global soil science community IUSS Alerts are e-mailed to more than 12,000people in over 100 countries. If you have in-formation to share please send it [email protected] Below are the stillrelevant contributions that appeared in theIUSS Alerts between November 2007 andApril 2008.

Nicely written Have you ever won-dered why so manyscientific articles

are difficult to read? How can busy scientists findand learn from well-written papers? The Good PaperJournal Club run by Nature editors and a group ofscientists is a collaborative online effort to help pro-mote good scientific writing. Any scientist can jointhe group, select papers to be posted on the site andthen discuss them online, and highlight the partsconsidered to be nice written. No soil science papersposted yet!

New portrait of the EarthA new global portrait hasbeen taken from space de-tails Earth’s land coverwith a very high resolu-

tion. ESA, in partnership with the UN Food and Agri-culture Organisation, recently presented thepreliminary version of the map to scientists in Italy.This map, which will be made available to the publicupon its completion in July, has a resolution 10 timessharper than any of its predecessors. The GlobCoverproduct will be the first freely available product at300m resolution, for further information clickhttp://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMZ16L26DF_index_0.html

The Global Earth Observations System of Systems

The Global Earth Observation System of Systems(GEOSS) is an inter-governmental initiative toachieve comprehensive, coordinated and sustainedobservations of the Earth system. It aims to improvemonitoring of the changing state of the planet, in-crease understanding of complex Earth processesand enhance prediction of the Earth system. With afocus on access and sharing of Earth observationdata and products, there has been significant ad-vancement in the definition of interoperability stan-dards and mechanisms for the allocation and use ofdata and information products, and in the synergeticsystem development resulting in improved data ac-cess and data sharing. The GEO Web Portal andClearinghouse aim to provide a single interface foraccess to GEOSS data and information; and GEONET-Cast, a satellite-based dissemination system, allowsusers to access real-time, global, Earth observationdata and derived information.

Guidelines on Nitrogen Manage-ment in Agricultural Systems

This publication is the fourth in the IAEA TrainingCourse Series produced by the Soil and Water Man-agement and Crop Nutrition Sub-Programme. It wasconceived as a technically oriented document for a tar-

IUSS Alerts May – October 2008


get audience comprising soil and environmental scien-tists and technicians, agronomists, ecologists, exten-sion workers, and upper-level undergraduate andgraduate students in these disciplines, staff of non-gov-ernmental organizations (NGOs) and other stakehold-ers involved in sustainable agricultural development atlocal, national, regional and international levels. Themanual (237 pp) can be freely downloaded, clickhttp://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMZ16L26DF_index_0.html

New NewsletterA new issue of Pedometron- The Newsletter of the Pe-dometrics Commission ofthe IUSS – has been pub-lished. This newsletter con-tains: an editorial from theChair, Murray Lark, Call forBest paper 2007, Reportfrom HRDSSM Sydney, Re-port from EGU Vienna, An-other Journey on the Road

to Pedometrics, Soil Bibliometrics, Headbanging, Sta-tistical Distribution of Humus, Upcoming Events, Alex’sPreferred Pedometrics Paper, Book Review, Profiles,and Pedomathemagica. See www.pedometrics.organd all Pedometron are also on www.iuss.org

UN issues 2 reports on the World Food Crises

U.N. economists released two reports recentlywhich point toward disturbing long-term trends inThird World agricultural productivity and rural de-velopment that are playing a role in the currentglobal food crisis. The two studies found that agri-culture spending is four times more beneficial toeconomic growth than money spent in other sec-

tors. They also show public expenditures and for-eign aid directed at farming in the developing worldhas lagged for decades. The downturn was mostacute in sub-Saharan Africa, where agricultural pro-ductivity has hardly increased since the 1960s de-spite rapid population growth. The U.N. expertshope to use the two reports, “Trends in SustainableDevelopment” and “Trends in Sustainable Develop-ment – Africa” to push governments into action andpolicy changes to help alleviate food price spikes.Report highlights include: Public spending on agri-culture, relative to gross domestic product (GDP),has fallen everywhere in the developing world ac-cept Asia; the proportion of foreign aid spending di-rected at agriculture is now at its lowest level ever.Food exports from Latin America have boomed, es-pecially from Brazil. But most nations in the worldare now net food importers. East Asia and sub-Sa-haran Africa have both switched from being net ex-porters to being importers; Growth in productionyields has slowed in much of the developing world,and food subsidies and import tariffs in the UnitedStates, Europe, Japan and other developed nationsare still impediments to productivity growth in thepoorest countries, particularly in Africa. Funding tothe consultative group has stagnated since 1990.Only 42 pages and a quite a bit on soils in this re-port!

Field Estimation of Soil Water ContentA Practical Guide to Methods, Instru-mentation and Sensor Technology

This publication is part ofIAEA’s Training Course Se-ries produced by the Soiland Water Managementand Crop Nutrition Sub-Programme. This Guidelineis the product of an inter-national study conductedby IAEA comparing the ad-vantages and disadvan-tages inherent in the

various soil water measuring techniques. Thesetechniques include electromagnetic (EM), soil mois-ture neutron probe (SMNP), electrical resistance andgravimetric methods. The manual (131 pp) can be freely downloadedhttp://www-pub.iaea.org/mtcd/publications/Pub-Details.asp?pubId=7801

N OV E M B E R 2008 19

(Advertisement – product focus)

Eijkelkamp soil classification set

The build up of a soil and strata is determined with theuse of augers. The hand auger is generally used for nottoo deep boreholes and is extremely useful for soil re-search. The soil sampling and soil classification set fromEijkelkamp Agrisearch Equipment has been assembledto allow for in situ investigation as much as possible.The standard set is suitable for investigations down toa depth of 2 metres. The kit contains essential tools forpedologists, and is ideal kit for reconnaissance map-ping purposes. Please contact Eijkelkamp for more in-formation: [email protected] / +31 313 880 200,or surf to: www.eijkelkamp.com

Soil Exhibition opened 19th July,Smithsonian, Washington, USA

There are more living creatures in a shovel full of richsoil than human beings on the planet. Yet more isknown about the dark side of the moon than about

soil. These are just a few of the fascinating facts visi-tors can learn at the National Museum of Natural His-tory’s new exhibition, “Dig it! The Secrets of Soil,” thatopened at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Nat-ural History. The 460 square meter exhibition revealsthe complex world of soil and how this ecosystem un-derfoot supports nearly every form of life on earth.“Dig It!” includes interactive displays, hands-on mod-els, videos, and 54 soil monoliths. For further infor-mation click http://www.sites.si.edu/soils/index.html

Soil atlas of Europe – For free

The Soil Atlas of Europe can be downloaded for free.The user has to download each page separately (128pages in total). The PDF versions provide a betterquality version compared with the JPEG files. Thereare 20 plates of maps which are included as 2-pagePDF files, pages 40-79. User may navigate and selectthe files to download either by browsing the wholeAtlas or by selecting one of the sections in the Con-tents. Each Page has a Title and belongs to one ofthe 7 sections of the Atlas (Introduction, The Soil ofEurope, Soil Maps of Europe, European Soil: A Globalperspective, A Soil Database of Europe, Key threatsto soil in Europe , Additional Information). More infohttp://eusoils.jrc.it/projects/soil_atlas/Download.cfm

Agriculture and the EnvironmentRecent indicators

This is the fourth volume ofthe OECD (Organisation for Eco-nomic Cooperation and Devel-opment) series “EnvironmentalIndicators for Agriculture” andis published as two reports: En-vironmental Performance ofAgriculture: At a Glance - cover-ing a summary of the main con-


clusions. Environmental Performance of Agriculturein OECD Countries since 1990 - providing completecoverage of the OECD agri-environmental indicatorsby environmental themes and across the 30 mem-ber countries since 1990. More about this:http://www.oecd.org/document/56/0,3343,en_2649_33793_40374392_1_1_1_37401,00.html

New on the IUSS websiteSeveral new sections have been added to the IUSSwebsite in recent months:

All IUSS bul-letins num-

ber 1 (1952) to 112 (May 2008) are now as PDF onthe web: 1952-1974 (F.A. van Baren), 1974-1978 (R.Dudal), 1978-1990 (W.G. Sombroek), 1990-2002 (W.Blum).

All WorldSoil Science

Congress proceedings have been scanned and areavailable as PDF. About half of all proceedings aredownloadable from the IUSS website – each book isa PDF and the files are sometimes huge (up to 500Mb). As all PDFs exceed 25 Gb the website is beingmigrated to another server – eventually it will all beon the IUSS website.

Pictures andh i s t o r i c a l

documents have been scanned and these includethe ISSS reconstruction from 1950, old membershiplists, historical accounts and over 50 high resolutionpictures from 1909 to 1990.

Best Paper in Pedometrics 2007Nominations have been madefor the, “Best Paper in Pedomet-rics 2007”. We urge all membersof IUSS to examine these papers,and to vote by email to [email protected] with “Best

Paper 2007” in the subject line. List the papers by num-ber (as below) in order of preference, with the paperyou regard as the most worthy winner listed first. Thevote will end on 30th November 2008. Certificates willbe presented at Pedometrics 2009 in Beijing.1. Kerry, R. & Oliver, M.A. 2007. The analysis ofranked observations of soil structure using indicatorgeostatistics. Geoderma, 140, 397–416. 2. Lark, R.M. 2007. Inference about soil variabilityfrom the structure of the best wavelet packet basis.

European Journal of Soil Science, 58, 822–831. 3. Li, W. 2007. Transiograms for characterizing spatialvariability of soil classes. Soil Science Society ofAmerica Journal, 71, 881–893.4. Viscarra Rossel, R.A., Taylor, H.J. & McBratney, A.B.2007. Multivariate calibration of hyperspectral -rayenergy spectra for proximal soil sensing. EuropeanJournal of Soil Science, 58, 343–353.5. Weller, U., Zipprich, M., Sommer, M., Zu Castell,W. & Wehrhan, M. 2007. Mapping clay contentacross boundaries at the landscape scale with elec-tromagnetic induction. Soil Science Society of Amer-ica Journal, 71, 1740–1747.The abstracts and PDFs of these papers are availableat www.pedometrics.org/best_paper_2007.asp

Some Special IssuesEcological indicators at multiple scales, Edited byGiovanni Zurlini and Philippe Girardin Ecological Indicators, Volume 8, Issue 6, Pages 781-862 (November 2008)

Mercury Cycling and Bioaccumulation in the Envi-ronment, Edited by Reed Harris, Karen Kidd andJamie Shanley Environmental Pollution, Volume 154,Issue 1, Pages 1-154 (July 2008)

Radionuclides in soils, 1960 to 2006: A view fromthe World Congress of Soil Science, Edited by Ed-ward R. Landa and Shigeo Uchida. Journal of Envi-ronmental Radioactivity, Volume 99, Issue 6, Pages873-1010 (June 2008)

Soils and Waste Management: A Challenge to ClimateChange, Edited by Claudio Mondini, Miguel A. Sánchez-Monedero, Maria Luz Cayuela and Ed StentifordWaste Management, Volume 28, Issue 4, Pages 671-774 (2008)

Modelling Pedogenesis, Edited by S. Cornu, A.Samouëlian and J. Phillips. Geoderma, Volume 145,Issues 3-4, Pages 177-504 (15 June 2008)

Antarctic Soils and Soil Forming Processes in aChanging Environment, Edited by James G. Bock-heim and Megan Balks. Geoderma, Volume 144, Is-sues 1-2, Pages 1-414 (15 March 2008)

Fire Effects on Soil Properties, Edited by X. Úbedaand J. Mataix-Solera. Catena, Volume 74, Issue 3,Pages 175-334 (15 August 2008)

N OV E M B E R 2008 21

Free access to scientific literatureIf your library has no subscriptions to your favouritescientific journals then there are various ways to getto the papers:

TEEAL is a project of Cornell University’s Albert R.Mann Library in cooperation with over 60 major sci-entific publishers, societies and index providers.TEEAL contains: 130+ agricultural journals, Full-textarticles, 1993-2008 coverage, Index database, Of-fline tool (no Internet or phone line required). Itworks on a stand alone PC or network, more infoclick http://www.teeal.org/index.html

The AGORA program, set up by FAO together withmajor publishers, enables developing countries to gainaccess to a digital library collection in the fields of food,agriculture, environmental science and related socialsciences. AGORA provides a collection of 1278 journalsto institutions in 107 countries. AGORA is designed toenhance the scholarship of the many thousands of stu-dents, faculty and researchers in agriculture and life sci-ences in the developing world, more info clickhttp://www.aginternetwork.org/en/

Online Access to Research in the Environment(OARE), an international public-private consortiumcoordinated by the United Nations Environment Pro-gramme (UNEP), Yale University, and leading scienceand technology publishers, enables developingcountries to gain access to one of the world’s largestcollections of environmental science research. Over1,300 peer reviewed titles owned and published byover 340 publishing houses and scholarly societiesare now available in more than 100 low incomecountries, more info click http://www.oare-sciences.org/en/

INASP’s Mission is to enablea sustainable network ofstakeholders that owns anddrives access, use, dissemi-

nation and communication of research information.As part of the Programme for the Enhancement ofResearch Information (PERI) publishers and net-works of libraries work together to enable access toscholarly information using ICTs within the develop-ing and emerging countries. This project includes:over 20,000 full text online journals, many of theworld’s leading citation, bibliographic and referencedatabases, document delivery from over 20,000 re-search journals, CD-ROM (or DVD) format can beprovided where they are available, more info clickhttp://www.inasp.info/file/105/access-to-journals-and-research-content.html

National Geographic – cover story on soils

The September issue of the Na-tional Geographic Magazine hasa cover story on soils, entitled:Where food begins. Inside themagazine there is a long article:“Our Good Earth - The futurerests on soil. Can we protectit?” with stories from Nort andSouth America, Africa and China

and as always, with nice pictures. There is also storyon soil degradation in Haiti. Both the article and pic-tures can be viewed online for free at www.nation-algeographic.com. The website contains also a littleinteractive quiz, click http://ngm.nationalgeo-graphic.com/2008/09/soil/quiz-interactive The Eng-lish edition of the National Geographic is read by 40million readers – but there are editions in many lan-guages and all have the Soil story on the cover!

World Reference Base for Soil Resources - Now in German

The World Reference Base forSoil Resources (WRB) became in1998 the official soil classifica-tion system of the IUSS. In orderto improve access of the WRBfor German speaking scientistsand administrators, it was pro-posed during the 18th WorldCongress of Soil Science in 2006


to provide a German edition. The Bundesanstalt fürGeowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR) decided toprepare such a German version and the translationwas done by Peter Schad of the TU München. TheGerman WRB edition is available here, and for a pa-perback, please send an e-mail to [email protected] [email protected]

i-Podsol castsThe US National Academieshas an entertaining series ofpodcasts that puts the spot-light on high-impact workand focuses on a range ofcritical issues in science, en-gineering and medicine. A

ten minutes podcast on soil highlights the importanceand use of soils and includes an interview with SallyBrown. Regrettably the d**t and soil are tabled again;no other scientific discipline would use such word forits object of study and passion. Anyway, for the pod-cast click http://media.nap.edu/podcasts/nax74dirton-soil.mp3There are also several podcasts on of the Soil Associa-tion, click http://www.soilassociation.org/podcasts Forsome other podcasts on soil click http://www.catch-mentknowledgeexchange.net.au/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=58&Itemid=122 and https://www.soils.org/podcasts/.And if you like the speediest lecture in physics gohttps://www.soils.org/podcasts/ and listen to Michaelvan Drempt in “A fundamental misunderstanding”.Keep listening folks.

Global land coverThe Global LandCover Facility (GLCF)provides earth sci-ence data and prod-ucts to help everyoneto better understand

global environmental systems. In particular, the GLCFdevelops and distributes remotely sensed satellitedata and products that explain land cover from thelocal to global scales. Primary data and productsavailable at the GLCF are free to anyone via FTP. On-line datasets may be accessed electronically throughthe Earth Science Data Interface. The majority ofusers accessing GLCF datasets (certainly not all)come from many communities. GLCF research fo-

cuses on determining land cover and land coverchange around the world. Land cover is the dis-cernible vegetation, geologic, hydrologic or anthro-pogenic features on the planet’s land surface. Thesefeatures, such as forests, urban area, croplands andsand dunes, can be measured and categorized usingsatellite imagery. Land cover change can be assessedby comparing one area with two images taken at dif-ferent dates. Determining where, when, how muchand why change occurs with land cover is a crucialscientific concern. It is imperative that appropriatetools be made available to better manage and adaptto change. More information click http://glcf.umi-acs.umd.edu/index.shtml

Couple of new booksNyle C. Brady and Ray R. Weil.2008. The Nature and Proper-ties of Soils. 14 ed. Pearson-Prentice Hall. 990 pp. ISBN:13-978-0-13-227938-3. The14th edition is thoroughly up-dated and expanded to in-clude all the importantadvances in soil science. The

book is accompanied by a companion website avail-able at no extra charge. This website includes prac-tice quizzes with feedback for every chapter, colorversion of the photographs in the book and anno-tated hot links to hundreds of relevant soils web-sites. New features in the 14th edition: In addition tomore than 350 two color illustrations, the numberof color plates has been increase to 111 high qualityfull color images that illustrate pedological phe-nomena, nutrient deficiencies, soil landscapes andsoil management practices. More information clickhttp://wps.prenhall .com/chet_brady_nature-andp_14/

The soil Science So-ciety of America hasproduced a colour-ful children book onsoils, entitled “Soil –Get the insidescoop”. From thisbook: “Go under-

ground into the living world of soil. Explore how soilis part of our life—the food we eat, the air webreathe, the water we drink, the houses we live in,and how it even helps to control our climate and

N OV E M B E R 2008 23

protect our rivers and streams. Find out how a soilbecomes a soil, why some soils are good for grow-ing things and others are not, why you can pour sandbut not clay. Then, take an around-the-world tripand dig into dry soils, wet soils, deep soils, and evenfrozen soils. Along the way, meet the scientists whowork with soil every day. And find out why they thinksoil is so much fun.” Click here for a PDF with thetable of contents, more details see www.soils.org

Climate ChangeDo you like blogging and do you like to know moreabout climate change? Climate Feedback is a bloghosted by Nature Reports: Climate Change to facili-tate lively and informative discussion on the scienceand wider implications of global warming. The blogaims to be an informal forum for debate and com-mentary on climate science in the Nature journalsand others, in the news, and in the world at large.More info click http://blogs.nature.com/climate-feedback/

Evaluators of geologically based World Heritage sites

Each year, as an Advisory Body to the UNESCO WorldHeritage Committee for natural heritage, IUCN (theInternational Union for Conservation of Nature) isrequired to evaluate new nominations for the UN-ESCO World Heritage List. IUCN’s year-long evalua-tion process involves seeking comments frominternational experts on the global importance andintegrity of the nominated sites, whether they arenominated for their geological, biological or scenicvalues. In the evaluation of geological sites, IUCNworks closely with the International Union of Geo-logical Sciences in order to identify expert reviewersthat are interested in providing a technical, desk topreview of one of the new proposals nominated forgeological values. Occasionally reviewers are askedto participate in actual on-site evaluations. Your vol-unteer input as an reviewer into IUCN’s evaluationprocess will contribute to the conservation of glob-ally outstanding geological heritage as well as toIUCN’s efforts to maintain the credibility of the

World Heritage Convention by providing high qual-ity technical advice to the World Heritage Commit-tee. If you would like to be added to the IUGSdatabase of evaluators please contact the IUGS Sec-retary General ([email protected]) with full de-tails regarding your contact coordinates (email,mailing address, telephone, etc.) and a clear indica-tion of your particular area of geo-specialization.


by Niek de WitEuropean Commission, Directorate-General for Environment, Unit B1 - Agriculture, Forests and Soil

IntroductionSoil provides us with food, biomass and raw materi-als. It serves as a platform for human activities andlandscape and as an archive of heritage and plays acentral role as a habitat and gene pool. It stores, fil-ters and transforms many substances, includingwater, nutrients and carbon. In fact, it is the biggestcarbon store in the world (1,500 gigatonnes). Thesefunctions must be protected because of both theirsocio-economic and environmental importance.

Soil is subject to a series of degradation processesor threats. These include erosion, decline in organicmatter, local and diffuse contamination, sealing,compaction, decline in biodiversity, salinisation,floods and landslides. A combination of some ofthese threats can ultimately lead to desertificationunder arid or sub-arid climatic conditions.Given the importance of soil and the need to pre-vent further soil degradation, the Sixth EnvironmentAction Programme called for the development of aThematic Strategy for Soil Protection. On 22 Sep-tember 2006 the European Commission publishedthe Thematic Strategy for soil protection (‘the strat-egy’). This strategy contains three documents: aCommunication, a proposal for a Framework direc-tive and an Impact assessment.

Objective of the strategyAgainst this background, the Commission considersthat a comprehensive EU strategy for soil protectionis required. This strategy should take into account allthe different functions that soils can perform, theirvariability and complexity and the range of differentdegradation processes to which they can be subject,while also considering socio-economic aspects.The overall objective is protection and sustainableuse of soil, based on the following guiding principles:

Preventing further soil degradation and preservingits functions:when soil is used and its functions are exploited, ac-tion has to be taken on soil use and managementpatterns, andwhen soil acts as a sink/receptor of the effects ofhuman activities or environmental phenomena, ac-tion has to be taken at source.Restoring degraded soils to a level of functionalityconsistent at least with current and intended use,thus also considering the cost implications of therestoration of soil.To achieve these objectives, action is required at dif-ferent levels – local, national and European. There-fore the Commission proposes establishing atargeted policy to close the gap and ensure compre-hensive soil protection. In doing so, the Commissionis fully conscious of the need to respect the princi-ples of subsidiarity and of taking decisions and ac-tion at the most appropriate level. Soil is a primeexample of the need to think global and act local.

Actions and meansThe strategy proposed by the Commission is builtaround four key pillars:1. framework legislation with protection and sus-

tainable use of soil as its principal aim;2. integration of soil protection in the formulation

and implementation of national and Communitypolicies;

3. closing the current recognised knowledge gap incertain areas of soil protection through researchsupported by Community and national researchprogrammes;

4. increasing public awareness of the need to pro-tect soil.

Because of the fact that the proposal for a Frame-work Directive is in the centre of the political dis-cussions, it is described hereafter in further detail.

Legislative proposalHaving examined different options, the Commissionproposes a Framework Directive as the best means

N OV E M B E R 2008 25

The EU Soil Thematic Strategy:outline and current situation inthe debate

of ensuring a comprehensive approach to soil pro-tection whilst fully respecting subsidiarity. MemberStates will be required to take specific measures toaddress soil threats, but the Directive will leave tothem ample freedom on how to implement this re-quirement. This means that risk acceptability, thelevel of ambition regarding the targets to beachieved and the choice of measures to reach thosetargets are left to Member States.This recognises that certain threats, such as erosion,organic matter decline, compaction, salinisation andlandslides, occur in specific risk areas which must beidentified. For contamination and sealing, a nationalor regional approach is more appropriate. The pro-posal sets up a framework for adopting, at the ap-propriate geographical and administrative level,plans to address the threats where they occur.

Erosion, organic matter decline, salinisation, com-paction and landslidesErosion, organic matter decline, salinisation, com-paction and landslides are addressed taking the fol-lowing approach:

The proposed Directive will require Member States toidentify risk areas on the basis of common elements tobe taken into account, set risk reduction targets forthose areas and establish programmes of measures toachieve them. For identifying risk areas, the Commis-sion encourages Member States to use existing moni-toring schemes. Over time a more harmonisedmonitoring approach and methodology may be devel-oped, exploiting ongoing work of the European Soil Bu-reau Network on harmonisation of methodologies. Riskacceptability and measures will vary in response to theseverity of the degradation processes, local conditionsand socio-economic considerations.Programmes can build on measures already imple-mented in national and Community contexts, suchas cross-compliance and rural development under

the CAP. Member States will be free to combine ap-proaches to combat concurrent threats. This will beparticularly beneficial for Member States addressingdesertification under the UNCCD and will avoid du-plication of effort.

ContaminationWith respect to management of contamination, an ap-proach based on the following approach is envisaged:

On the basis of a common definition of contaminatedsites (i.e. sites which pose significant risk to humanhealth and the environment), its application by theMember States, and a common list of potentially pol-luting activities, Member States will be required toidentify the contaminated sites on their territory andestablish a national remediation strategy. This strategywill be based on sound and transparent prioritisation ofthe sites to be remediated, aiming at reducing soil con-tamination and the risk caused by it and including amechanism to fund the remediation of orphan sites.This is complemented by a soil status report that has tobe prepared for the transaction of sites where a po-tentially contaminating activity has taken or is takingplace. The Directive also addresses prevention of con-tamination via a requirement to limit the introductionof dangerous substances into the soil.

SealingIn order to achieve a more rational use of soil, Mem-ber States will be required to take appropriate meas-ures to limit sealing by rehabilitating brownfield sitesand to mitigate its effects by using constructiontechniques that allow maintaining as many soil func-tions as possible.

The current situation in the debateEuropean ParliamentOn 14 November 2007 the European Parliamentvoted its First Reading position, including numerous


amendments to the proposed Framework directive.This position can be summarized as follows. the European Parliament supports all the objectivesfor soil protection, preservation, restoration and soilfunctions as set out in the Commission proposalthe European Parliament supports a package of pro-visions on the prevention of the soil degradation; the European Parliament proposes, in addition tothe original proposal of the Commission, a packageof provisions on the monitoring and identification ofsoil degradation (‘priority’ areas for agriculture,identification of contaminated sites); the European Parliament supports a package of pro-visions to combat soil degradation, to restoration ofdegraded soils and on the re-establishment of soilfunctions, comparable to the Commission proposal; the European Parliament supports a package ofmeasures, comparable with the original proposal ofthe Commission to ensure the integration of soil pro-tection into other policy areas as well as public par-ticipation and awareness;Although the text, as adopted by the European Par-liament, leaves more flexibility to the MemberStates in several parts of the directive, all key ele-ments of the proposal of the Commission weremaintained. In addition, the European Parliament in-troduced specific provisions, which strengthen theproposal. Therefore, the text adopted in First Read-ing by the European Parliament represents an addedvalue as compared to existing EU legislation, thusensuring a higher level of soil protection.

European CouncilAlthough the German Federal Government initiateddiscussions on soil protection at the EU level in 1998,and although the German minister for Environmentstill in July 2006 expressed his support for a SoilFramework Directive, during the preparation of theCouncil meeting of the Ministers for the environ-ment of 20 December 2007 The German Govern-ment decided to vote against the Soil FrameworkDirective based on the subsidiarity principle, byclaiming that soil protection did not legitimize legalaction at the EU-level; it should be regulated at thenational level exclusively. Moreover, the governmentsucceeded in convincing Austria, the Netherlands,Great Britain and France to form a blocking minor-ity that finally rejected the compromise proposalprepared by the Portuguese presidency.From these four Member States, like Germany, Aus-tria and The Netherlands referred to the subsidiarityprinciple, while Great Britain and France based there

rejection rather on the proportionality principle, aswell as on technical grounds.Nevertheless, France was of the opinion that thePortuguese presidency was moving in the right di-rection and stated that its compromise proposalcould serve as a basis for further negotiations. Thismeans that the soil framework directive did not failcompletely, but that the negotiations can be re-sumed, particularly since all 22 remaining MemberStates requested for a Soil Framework Directive andalso the European Parliament position represents aclear vote in favour. Meanwhile, the French Presi-dency has resumed negotiations in September 2008,based on a new compromise text and with the aimof reaching consensus. They have made it clearthough that given the controversies it might takequite some time to reach an agreement. It is there-fore at this stage neither clear when the Soil Frame-work Directive will be adopted, nor what its precisecontent will be.

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by Rattan LalCarbon Management and Sequestration Center,OARDC/FAES, 2021 Coffey Road, Kottman Hall422B, Columbus, OH 43210, [email protected]

As President of the Soil Science Society of America(2007), one of my top priorities was to raise the pro-file of soil science professions (see CSA News,Sept2007,V 52,P 11). The global trend since 1970s indi-cates a strong decline in student enrollment,de-crease in number of soil science faculty positions atthe academic and research institutions,eliminationof soil science departments and graduate programsand their merger with environment programs andother disciplines,and dwindling financial support byboth national /bilateral programs and other fundingorganizations.I felt an important need to enhanceawareness about the plight of the soil science pro-fessions among policy makers so that some positivemeasures can be adopted to reverse the decliningtrends.This can be done by making soil science rele-vant to the societal needs,using original and innova-tive ideas in addressing emerging (climate change)and persistent (food insecurity), global issues ,de-veloping high quality and credible academic and re-search programs to attract the best and brighteststudents, and create strong linkages with other dis-ciplines on themes of mutual interest.The goal hasbeen to revitalize the soil science profession.I had an opportunity to attend a meeting about car-bon dynamics in soils of Scandinavia held in Lillen-hammer,Norway from 28 Sept to 1st October. Duringthis meeting I learned that the European Parliamentis considering adoption of the Soil Protection Reso-lution.I was able to obtain a copy of th Resolutionduring my visit to the European Commission in Brus-sels,Belgium in June 2007 from Mr Luca Marmo.Thisdocument provided me an incentive to draft the SoilResolution specifically relevant to USA. The draftResolution was given to the President Elect( Dr GaryPeterson,Past President Dr Mary Collins) and theBoard of the Soil Science Society of America for re-view and comments. The revised document wasgiven to Dr Karl Glasener and Ms Caron Gala Bijl, of

the Science Policy Office of SSSA in Washington,DCfor further processing.With approval of EllenBergfeld and Board of SSSA, Karl and Caron estab-lished contacts with Congressional staff and othersupport groups.Karl and Caron also arranged a meet-ing for me to discuss the Resolution with SenatorSherrod Brown (D-OH). His staff,Mr Joe Shultz,alongwith Caron and Karl sought political support from adiverse group in both Houses.On June 23 rd 2008 ,Senator Sherrod Brown wasjoined by co sponsoring Senators( George VoinovichR-OH,Kent Conrad D-ND,Chrles Grassley R-IA, RussFeingold D-WI, Tom Harkin D-IA,and Ken Salazar D-CO) to get the Resolution approved unanimously bythe U.S.Senate.This is a land mark and an historic Resolution.Itstates that soil is an essential natural resource andsoil science professionals are playing a critical rolein managing and sustaining it.I am glad that US pol-icy makers have recognized the important role thatsoils play in improving the environment and and asan engine of economic development while advanc-ing global food security.It is also hoped that the Res-olution will serve as a role model for similar policiesto be adopted by other nations.More importantly, itis hoped that it will strengthen the soil science pro-fessions and reverse the declining trends in studentenrollment ,faculty positions and funding supportfor research and development.

Below is the text of the Resolution:

110th CONGRESS, 2d Session, S. RES. 440Recognizing soil as an essential natural resource,and soils professionals as playing a critical role inmanaging our Nation’s soil resources.IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESJanuary 31, 2008

Mr. Brown (For Himself, Mr. Voinovich, Mr. Grassley,Mr. Salazar, Mr. Feingold, Mr. Conrad, And Mr.Harkin) submitted the following resolution; whichwas referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nu-trition, and Forestry, June 23, 2008, Committee dis-charged; considered and agreed to:

The USA Soil Resolution


ResolutionRecognizing soil as an essential natural resource, andsoils professionals as playing a critical role in man-aging our Nation’s soil resources. Whereas soil, plant, animal, and human health areintricately linked and the sustainable use of soil af-fects climate, water and air quality, human health,biodiversity, food safety, and agricultural production; Whereas soil is a dynamic system which performsmany functions and services vital to human activi-ties and ecosystems; Whereas, despite soil’s importance to human health,the environment, nutrition and food, feed, fiber, andfuel production, there is little public awareness ofthe importance of soil protection; Whereas the degradation of soil can be rapid, whilethe formation and regeneration processes can bevery slow; Whereas protection of United States soil based onthe principles of preservation and enhancement ofsoil functions, prevention of soil degradation, miti-gation of detrimental use, and restoration of de-graded soils is essential to the long-term prosperityof the United States; Whereas legislation in the areas of organic, indus-trial, chemical, biological, and medical waste pollu-tion prevention and control should consider soilprotection provisions; Whereas legislation on climate change, water qual-ity, agriculture, and rural development should offera coherent and effective legislative framework forcommon principles and objectives that are aimed atprotection and sustainable use of soils in the UnitedStates; Whereas soil contamination coupled with poor or in-appropriate soil management practices continues toleave contaminated sites unremediated; and Whereas soil can be managed in a sustainable man-ner, which preserves its capacity to deliver ecological,economic, and social benefits, while maintaining itsvalue for future generations: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate:(1) recognizes it as necessary to improve knowledge,exchange information, and develop and implementbest practices for soil management, soil restoration,carbon sequestration, and long-term use of the Na-tion’s soil resources;(2) recognizes the important role of soil scientistsand soils professionals, who are well-equipped withthe information and experience needed to addressthe issues of today and those of tomorrow in man-aging the Nation’s soil resources;

(3) commends soil scientists and soils professionalsfor their efforts to promote education, outreach, andawareness necessary for generating more public in-terest in and appreciation for soils; and(4) acknowledges the promise of soil scientists andsoils professionals to continue to enrich the lives ofall Americans by improving stewardship of the soil,combating soil degradation, and ensuring the futureprotection and sustainable use of our air, soil, andwater resources.

N OV E M B E R 2008 29

by Raphael Viscarra RosselCSIRO Land and Water, [email protected]

This collaborative project aims to develop a globalsoil spectral library and establish a community ofpractice for soil spectroscopy to help it progressfrom almost purely a research tool to a more widelyadopted and useful technique for soil analysis, prox-imal soil sensing, soil monitoring and digital soilmapping. The initiative was started in April 2008 and the pro-posal was for the project to be conducted in a num-ber of stages to investigate the following: 1. global soil diversity and variation can be charac-

terised using diffuse reflectance spectra, 2. soil spectral calibrations can be used to predict

soil properties globally and3. soil spectroscopy can be a useful tool for digital

soil mapping. The soil spectral library is being developed usinglegacy soil organic carbon (OC) and clay content dataand vis-NIR (350-2500nm) spectra, but in the futurethe group also aims to include mid-IR (2500-25000nm) spectra. Presently, the group has more than 40 collaboratorsfrom six continents and 20 countries (Table 1) andthe library consists of 5223 spectra from 43 coun-tries. There are some 193 countries in the world sowe only have spectra 22% countries, some of whichare poorly represented with only very few spectra(Figure 1). We would like to encourage participationfrom as many countries as possible and particularlyfrom Central and South America, Russia and EasternEurope, Africa, Asia and Canada. The requirements for contributing spectra to theglobal library are:• Spectra collected in the range 350 to 2500nm every

1 nm – at this stage preferably using an ASD instru-ment such as the FieldSpec, Agrispec, TerraSpec, etc.

• Corresponding soil organic carbon and clay datanoting what analytical techniques were used

• Coordinates (in WGS84 format) for each sample • Indication of soil type (preferably WRB classifica-

tion) for each sample • Access to the soil samples in the future for mid-IR

scanningIf you do not have access to a spectrometer andwould like to join the group, we can arrange to havethe soils scanned at CSIRO in Australia. We havedone this for a number of countries already. The group and some preliminary results were pre-sented at the 3rd Global Workshop on Digital SoilMapping in Logan Utah 29 September to 3 October2008. The presentation can be viewed here.From this presentation you can see that vis-NIRspectra can be used to say something about soiltype. For example if you look at the four clusters, thefirst group (in red) represents the more organic soils,group 2 and 3 (in green and blue respectively) aremore mineral soils and group 4 (in orange) repre-senting the smaller number of calcareous soils fromIran and southern France. The correspondenceanalysis attempts to show the continents and thenthe countries that have similar spectra with relationto the four general types of soils identified by thefour clusters. The convex hull analysis of the princi-pal component scores (Islam et al., 2003) attemptsto measure soil variation by relating the area of theconvex hull for each continent/country to the varia-tion in soil OC and clay content. It also shows the dif-ferences in the spectra and soil for eachcontinent/country. The calibrations of the spectra tosoil organic carbon (RMSE = 1%) and clay content(RMSE 9%) look encouraging, remembering that thedataset includes measurements of OC and clay thatwere made using different laboratory techniques, indifferent laboratories and by different people andthe instruments used to collect the spectra were alsodifferent (although from the same manufacturer).Interested parties from any country are welcome to

The Soil Spectroscopy Groupand the development of aglobal spectral library


join us in this initiative. For more information pleasecontact Raphael VISCARRA ROSSEL [email protected]

The Soil Spectroscopy Group http://groups.google.com/group/soil-spectroscopy

Collaborators Continent/Country

EUROPE

Bosse Stenberg, Jan Eriksson SWEDEN

Anton Thomsen, Maria Knadel DENMARK

Harm Bartholomeus NETHERLANDS

ISRIC samples

Antoine Stevens, Valerie Genot, Bas van Wesemael BELGIUM

Youssef Fouad, Christian Walter FRANCE (Brittany)

Cecile GOMEZ, Philippe Lagacherie FRANCE (Herault)

Cesar Guerrero SPAIN

Thorsten Behrens GERMANY

Kristin Boetcher, Thomas Kemper ITALY

NORTH AMERICA

David Brown, Ken Sudduth, Newell Kitchen,

Brent Myers, Sabine Grunwald US

Martial Bernoux, Didier Brunet, Bernard Barthes MARTINIQUE

SOUTH AMERICA

Alexandre Dematte BRAZIL

AFRICA

Keith Shepherd, Andrew Sila KENYA

ISRIC samples

Aichi Hamouda TUNISIA

Martial Bernoux, Didier Brunet, Bernard Barthes MADAGASCAR

SENEGAL

ASIA

Zhou Shi CHINA

Eyal Ben Dor ISRAEL

Hakim Absolou IRAN

OCEANIA

Raphael Viscarra Rossel AUSTRALIA

Carolyn Hedley, Bambang Kusumo, Mike Hedley, Mike Tuhoy NEW ZEALAND

Table 1. Names and countries of the participants in the global soil spectral library project

N OV E M B E R 2008 31

Figure 1. The number of spectra in the global spectral library for each of the 43 countries.


Five Questions to Yuji Niino

Age: 49 yearsPosition: Land Management Officer, FAO Regional

Office for Asia and the PacificAddress: 39 Phra Atit Road,

Bangkok 10200ThailandTel. +66-2-697-4213Fax. +66-2-697-4445

E-mail: [email protected]

1. When did you decide to study soil science?I became interested in soils during my undergradu-ate studies, but decided to study soil science afterserving two years as a volunteer (JOCV/JICA) inGhana realizing its crucial importance of soil man-agement and conservation for food security inAfrica.

2. Who has been your most influential teacher?There are many who gave me insights and fascina-tion of studying the soil science, but Anthony Juowho provided with the visions of soil science to con-tribute to farmers in the developing countries led meto my current profession. His philosophy on bringingof equity to this world and struggling to reducestarving people who suffer despite of developmentof modern technology, science and wealth con-tributed in understanding and improvement of trop-

ical soil management and the ecological and envi-ronmental problems of the world with his holisticapproach.

3. What do you find most exciting about soil science?Soil which sustains life is the most critical natural re-source on earth, and its properties are so dynamicand integrated. Understanding soil properties frommacro to micro scales which tells us of its history, be-haviour and response to the environment and man-agement is quite interesting. Land degradation hasbeen global phenomena and challenging to reverseits trend, but hopefully we may find solutions.

4. How would you stimulate teenagers and young grad-uates to study soil science? Soil science is a science of dynamic ecosystemswhich can be observed in different scales and timewith all scientific principles. Thus, its functions, im-pacts and value in our life and ecosystem to be em-phasized in class and field in more visible ways suchas microscopic imageries of clay minerals, micro-morphological features, soil water movement, microfauna, etc. which otherwise not visible and also inmacro scale such as land cover changes by satelliteimageries. The experiences may help them con-nected to “unseen” soil properties and interests.Possible attractive soil science majored professionsalso need to be promoted.

5. How do you see the future of soil science?It may become more important as it is an interdisci-plinary science and the key contributor to addressglobal issues of land degradation, climate change,food security and poverty alleviation. In more localscale, soil, water and atmospheric pollutions andurban agriculture may find soil science as a key com-ponent. Certainly recent energy crisis and climatechange renewed importance of soil function as a car-bon sink and ecosystem regulator.

N OV E M B E R 2008 33

Five questions to a soil scientist

Five Questions to Stalin Torres

Age: 61 yearsPosition: Director del Centro de Información y Ref-

erencia de Suelos(CIRS). Information andReference Soil Centre, Chief

Address: Avenida principal Palmarito N°5-A. Urbanización Lomas de Palmarito, Maracay, Estado Aragua. Venezuela. Zip Code: 2101

E-mail: [email protected];[email protected]

1. When did you decide to study soil science?I decided to study Soil Science when I Was finishing mycareer as an Agricultural Engineer and I started to takesome orientation courses related to Soil Science. Fromthat moment on began my interest in that discipline.

2. Who had been your most influencial teacher?My most influencial teacher was Antonio Mayorca,who was my Agrology teacher and who just comingfrom Belgium where he finished his Magister stud-ies. In addition, when I was studying Agronomy Iworked with Dr. Juan Comerma, who further influ-enced my about my interest to study Soil Science.

3. What do you find most exciting about Soil Science?The fact that I found most exciting was to recognize themeaning of soil as a support of life on the planet earth,besides that it is a very integral discipline that requiresthe knowledge of subjects such as climate, geology, ge-omorphology, crops, land use, vegetation,etc.

4. How would you stimulate teenagers to study Soil Science?The way to stimulate young people is to strengthenthe emphasis about the importance of the soil re-source in supporting life on the planet, its impact

and importance in aspects as global warming, waterproduction and conservation besides the necessityof preserving the soil for the well being of the futuregenerations as a guarantee of the production of foodstuff. We need more innovation practices in theteaching processes.

5. How do you see the future of Soil Science?The future of our discipline will depend on the effortthat each of us can make in our field of endeavor to-ward a real progress in Soil Science, showing itself asthe life saving discipline, studying it more intensivelyin an integral way including all phenomena in whichthe soil is involved, particularly everything related tothe water cycle and the global warming, the soil asthe source and sink (as filter) and not only as a bodyyielding food. Besides that, a big effort should bemade to gain the information that eventually willreach a lot of users and that at the same time it havethe possibility to avail the computer’s speed and thecapability and related technologies as geographic in-formation systems (GIS), to produce useful informa-tion for all the users and not only for specialists.

Five Questions to Eddy De Pauw

Age: 59 yearsPosition: Head, GIS Unit

International Center for Agricultural Re-search in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)

Address: P.O. Box 5466 Aleppo, SYRIA Tel: +963-21-2213433Fax: +963-21-2213490

Website: http://www.icarda.cgiar.orgE-mail: [email protected]

1. When did you decide to study soil science?At the end of my M.Sc studies in geology at the Uni-


versity of Ghent I was clueless about what to donext. At the time the prospects for a fresh geologistwere to move to Australia, Canada or South Africa,to hang on at a University, or to become a teacher.I was more interested to work in developing coun-tries and as there were job prospects for soil scien-tists in UN organizations, I did a M.Sc. in Soil Surveyat the ITC for Postgraduate Soil Scientists in Ghent in1972.

2. Who has been your most influential teacher?I think that honor should be partitioned betweentwo eminent soil scientists, Prof. René Tavernier andProf. Karel Sys. As an undergraduate student, Tav-ernier’s enticing earth science lectures convincedme to make a mid-course change from chemistry togeology, and afterwards to get the Soil Survey M.Sc.Later on, at the crossroad between different careeroptions, he persuaded me to take a job in FAO as as-sociate expert soil survey in what was probably thebest possible place to start, Southern Sudan. Thework of Prof. Sys on land evaluation methods mademe realize that soils are important in tier own right,but that the information can only be used optimallyif combined with other data sources. The basic landevaluation techniques he developed are still usedtoday, and I help my counterparts in national re-search institutes to upgrade and adapt them to theirlocal conditions and make use of the superb powerof GIS.

3. What do you find most exciting about soil science?My field experience gave lots of opportunities for re-ality checking the synthetic view from the classroomand the deductive approaches of land evaluation. In-teraction with local farmers - participatory methodsavant-la-lettre - made it obvious that the reality wasmuch more complex than could be glimpsed fromthe course syllabi. It only started to make sense bytaking a more holistic perspective, looking also at cli-mate, terrain, land use and farming systems infor-mation and putting it all together using GIS. Theevolution from making soil maps to mapping soilproperties is a very welcome development. This mayrevive a somewhat moribund discipline - in many de-veloping countries the discipline is quite literallydying off together with the retired soil surveyors -by integrating local and expert knowledge aboutsoil-climate-landscape-land use relationships withfield work, secondary data sources and advancedstatistical methods.

4. How would you stimulate teenagers and young grad-uates to study soil science?Putting a soils module into a high school geographycurriculum can certainly help teenagers to see it asa key natural resource. As for young graduates, onesuccessful mechanism to hook them onto soil sci-ence is through internships in international organi-zations or research institutes. The latter can providethe students with a research topic that addresses aconcrete soil management problem, includes fieldwork, requires interaction with farmers, and offer asupportive work environment and good supervision.Of course, whatever romance with soil science maybloom will only last if there are jobs for soil scien-tists in the society at large, not just in universities,and that is currently a bit of a problem.

5. How do you see the future of soil science?I am struck by the fact that in so many countries theystill use soil maps from the 60s-70s. With such longdepreciation period this indicates that the much be-littled systematic soil surveys of the past were notsuch a bad investment after all. At the same timethey point to a need to update this valuable infor-mation in its more transient properties, e.g. salinityor soil carbon mapping. So many natural resourcemanagement studies are currently flawed by eithera lack of soil data or by errors propagating from in-appropriately used soil maps. Looking at the possiblerole of soils in modifying the global carbon source-sink balance, the need to save water and the conse-quences of land degradation in the context ofclimate change, especially in the vulnerable dry-lands, the need for soil information can only grow inthe future. The new mapping tools for updating oursoil inventories are now in the research stage andcould be operational in developing countries 5-10years from now. But it is going to require a lot of con-vincing decision-makers that an investment in the re-juvenation of soil mapping will be a good one.

N OV E M B E R 2008 35

Five Questions to Selim Kapur

Age: 62 yearsPosition: Professor in the Soil Science Department

and Chairman of the Department of Ar-chaeometry

Address: University of Çukurova, Departments ofSoil Science and Archaeometry, 01330,Balcali, Adana (Turkey)

E-mail: [email protected]

1. When did you decide to study soil science?As a boy, it was my great lust to play with the mud ofthe Ankara Clay and wonder why it was that stickywhen wet and extra firm when dry as well as beingso red-something which still stirs my curiosity. Andlater it was the second and third 5-year Develop-ment Plans of the country, which were mainly con-cerned with agriculture and primarily with thepreparation of the reconnaissance soil maps ofTurkey with all foreign aid poring over to soil survey.This was the moment for a life-time decision, it wasthe mud in the hand and the cash in the pocket.

2. Who has been your most influential teacher? The star of my ideals in Soil Science has always beenmy dear teacher Dr. E. A. FitzPatrick (with a capital‘P’). He gave me a tool to lead me in my difficult daysthat were followed by great satisfaction in the visualworld of soils. I later had the opportunity to add tomy knowledge from the FitzPatrick School ofThought some highly valuable knowledge from Dr.A. Jongerius (STIBOKA) on soil structure and its sig-nificance in soil quality. Dr. Hari Eswaran was thehard teacher who tried in vain to teach me how tomake use of what I had learned up to now.

3. What do you find most exciting about soil science?I have found with time, that with our basic back-ground in soil science and conceptual approach wemicromorphologists have obtained in the course ofstudying all visual properties of soils, we managedto attain a quality in interpreting all microstructuralphenomena in a variety of materials from bones toceramics and from sediments to concrete. This I findhighly challenging for the sake of developing the in-tegrated scientific media that would bring togethermany disciplines in interpreting processes related tochanges soils and/or materials encounter. Combat-ing Land Degradation and Desertification is anotherupcoming topic with a unique impetus in environ-mental management, which is based on soil security.

4. How would you stimulate teenagers and young grad-uates to study soil science? I would encourage the relevant Ministries and theUniversities in the country together with TEMA (TheTurkish Foundation for Combating Soil Erosion, forReforestation and the Protection of Natural Habi-tats) to develop educational programs as field tripsas well as periodic camps for the youth to learn moreon soil science. TEMA has already devoted numer-ous programs for youths throughout Turkey togetherwith the relevant bodies, which can be good exam-ples to other countries. Among these the ones con-cerning the amalgamated education of the farmersand the representatives of the youth are of highmerit.

5. How do you see the future of Soil Science?I am highly optimistic in regard of the lead soil sci-ence has taken to promote the determination of theindicators of land degradation and desertificationand modes of implementation by numerous bodiesthrough international meetings and training. How-ever the peak of the impact foreseen via soil sciencewould be the widespread integration of the compo-nents of soil and crop quality to the agendas of theleading world establishments that are fighting landdegradation.


Johan Bouma (The Netherlands)

I start with the Handbook of Soil Science, with Editorin Chief Malcolm E. Sumner of the year 2000 (CRCpress). It gives a good overview of the various disci-plines and also pays attention to interdisciplinarity,be it in a somewhat classical manner by focusing onvarious problem areas such as e.g. salinity, erosionand waste application. Some chapters, such as theones on soil databases could use an update. It wouldbe good to plan an update by 2010! Still, this is abook with lots of interesting information on the en-tire range of soil science activities The second one is Methods of Soil Analysis by theSoil Science Society of America ( SSSA Book Series:5), where I have affinity with Part 4: Physical Meth-ods, edited by J.H.Dane and G.C.Topp. This was up-dated in 2006 and contains unique descriptions ofan attractive up-to-date array of modern methods tobe used in soil research. The third one is quite different: Daniel J.Hillel. Outof the Earth. Civilization and the life of the soil. Pub-lished in 1991,( The Free Press) it still has not lost itsrelevance as it describes Man’s role on God’s earth.Lessons of the past logically lead into an analysis ofproblems of the present. Danny Hillel is a wonderfulwriter and this book , and some of his newer ones,make good and inspiring reading.

N OV E M B E R 2008 37

The favorite soil science books

Dan Yaalon

The distinguished and widely traveled pedologistDan H. Yaalon from the Earth Sciences Institute ofthe Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel was hon-ored by the Geological Society of America during theJoint Session of GSA and SSSA in Houston, Texas inOctober 2008 by a Honorary Fellowship of the GSA,awarded annually to one or two non-American-residents for outstanding service to geosciences.

Dan Yaalon is well known for his many contributionson the effect of desert dust to soils and loess duringthe Quaternary, particularly in semiarid and mediter-ranean regions. He has been one of the sponsors andleaders of the INQUA and ISSS (now IUSS) Paleope-dology Commission which was responsible for thefirst International Paleosol Symposium in Amster-dam (1970) and he published the 1971 Paleopedol-ogy – Or igin, Nature and Dating of Paleosols book.Later he initiated the History, Philosophy and Soci-ology of Soil Science Commission of the IUSS (and

IUHS), publishing the first english language book onHistory of Soil Science – International Perspectives(Catena Verlag 1997). Both groups continue to bevery active.Already in 1966 he published in Soil Science (withB.Yaron) a paper drawing attention to the need ofconsidering the manifold human induced soilchanges in pedology, which is becoming a majortopic of current pedological research. Prof. Yaalonhas been for many years an editor of Catena, Geo-derma, Soil Science and other journals.Together with his students and colleagues he con-tributed significantly to the modern study of thesoils of Israel.

Noorallah G. Juma

Dr. Noorallah Juma retired after 25 years, as an aca-demic staff member, from the Department of Renew-able Resources, University of Alberta. Over his tenure,he taught Soil Microbiology, Soil Biochemistry, Soil Ecol-ogy, General Soil Science, Soil Remediation, Soil Fertil-ity, and Environmentally Sustainable Agriculture. Toposition Soil Science in the context of Earth System Sci-ence, he launched ‘The Pedosphere and Its Dynamics:A Systems Approach to Soil Science’ series with thepublication in 1999 of Volume 1 titled ‘Introduction toSoil Science and Soil Resources’. This textbook has web-

Honors and awards


based interactivity for enhanced learning. With theseactivities Dr. Juma has become a global educator. His research interests are in carbon & nitrogen

transformations in soil; simulation modeling of C andN cycling; interactions of microflora and fauna inagroecosystems, nutrient cycling, and soil structureformation. He has published on phosphatase activityof plant roots and soil, N mineralization and immo-bilization, soil fauna in agroecosystems, root growthand rhizo-deposition, carbon sequestration andgreenhouse gas evolution in long-term crop rota-tions, soil structure redevelopment in eroded soils,and crop growth and microbial activities in soilsalong toposequences. He has used stable and ra-dioactive isotope tracers and simulation modellingto determine the flux of C and N in different pools. In2004, he added an environmental thrust to his re-search program by studying pressurized at-grade pri-vate sewage treatment systems. Thus, he linked SoilScience to Human and Ecosystem Health.

His outreach program is local, regional, and global. Hetaught ‘Introduction to Soils and Soils Resources’ toprofessionals from Industry, Government and the Pri-vate Sector through the Faculty of Extension, from1998 to 2000. He developed the Landscape EcologyNetwork, and coordinated the Landscape Ecology Sem-inar Series, sponsored by the Department of Renew-able Resources, from 1995 to 2001. His Land-EconetE-mail distribution list is being maintained and used.As part of his continuing efforts to inform societyabout Soil Science he served for several years as cu-rator of soils collections. In this role he enhanced, to

museum quality, a display of monoliths depicting theCanadian system of soil classification. He digitizedthe extensive monolith display prepared for the1978 ISSS Congress in Edmonton, and he archived itwith Museum and Collection Services of the Univer-sity of Alberta. Recently he developed displays ofmonoliths from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand,and complemented these with relevant maps andcharts. He prepared an inventory of these, andother, collections for the website of the Departmentof Renewable Resources. His web resources at the University of Alberta in-clude his course administrative web sites and re-search sites such as the University of Alberta BretonPlots. The textbook resides at Pedosphere.com andenables him to address Soil Science problems at aglobal scale. The internet has allowed him to reacha wide audience from different disciplines and in dif-ferent parts of the world. He also maintains a num-ber of national and international contacts. Dr. Juma now holds the status of Professor Emeritusof Soil Science in the Department of Renewable Re-sources, University of Alberta. He is actively pursuinghis interests in global Soil Science education and dis-tance learning. From this perspective, he has justchanged computers!

Amy Brock, Adrienne RyanThe first ever “Young Micromorphologist PublicationAward” was presented to 2 young scientists: Adri-enne L. Ryan, for her paper: “Do Sand Dunes of theLower Lachlan floodplain Contain the Same Dustthat Produced Parna?” Australian Journal of Soil Re-

N OV E M B E R 2008 39

Photo: From left to right: Rosa Poch (Chair of Award Committee); Amy Brock, Adrienne Ryan, Brenda Buck(Chair, IUSS Commission 1.1).

search, 2006, 44:769-781; and Amy L. Brock for herpaper “New Formation Process for Calcic Pendantsfrom Pahranagat Valley, Navada, USA, and Implica-tion for Dating Quaternary Landforms” QuaternaryResearch, 2005, 63:359-367. Adrienne is a Ph.D. Can-didate at the University of Sydney, Australia; andAmy Brock is an Assistant Professor at Western Illi-nois University, USA. These awards were presentedat the 13th International Conference on Soil Micro-morphology, Chengdu China, Sept. 11-16, 2008.

Donald Sparks

Donald L. Sparks, S. Hallock du Pont Chair of Plantand Soil Sciences and the director of the Center forCritical Zone Research at UD, has been elected a geo-chemistry fellow by the Geochemical Society and theEuropean Association for Geochemistry. This signif-icant honor is awarded to less than one percent ofthe membership of the combined societies eachyear.

“Our societies bestow this honor upon outstandingscientists who over the years have made a majorcontribution to the field of geochemistry,” said Mar-tin Goldhaber, president of the Geochemical Societyand a senior scientist with the U.S. Geologic Survey. Sparks is a leader in the areas of kinetics of geo-chemical processes and the application of synchro-tron radiation techniques to study fate and transportof metals and nutrients in soils and other naturalsystems.The Geochemical Society is a nonprofit scientific so-ciety founded to encourage the application of chem-istry to the solution of geological and cosmologicalproblems. The European Association of Geochem-istry was founded to promote geochemical researchand study in Europe. “This is a great honor particularly with a society thatis comprised of world class scientists,” Sparks said. “I

am honored that my colleagues took it upon them-selves to nominate me.”Sparks was nominated by Alexandra Navrotsky, Ed-ward Roessler Chair of Mathematical and PhysicalSciences, Director of the Nanomaterials in the Envi-ronment, Agriculture, and Technology Organized Re-search Unity, and distinguished professor of ceramic,earth, and environmental materials chemistry at theUniversity of California at Davis. Navrotsky is also amember of the National Academy of Sciences, ac-cording to which she is “known for her difficult andelegant calorimetric measurements of complexoxide compounds and for interpretation and appli-cation of the measurements to a large number ofproblems in Earth physics, chemistry and materialsscience.”Navrotsky said, “One of my reasons for nominatingProfessor Sparks is that his research is really uniquein terms of applying fundamental geochemistry tovery practical environmental problems related tosoils, agriculture, pollutant transport and others.Very few people work in both fields.”She added, “From the point of view of the Geo-chemical Society, showing how what we do isbroadly applicable as well as being good science, it isvery appropriate for someone such as Dr. Sparks tobe honored for such a breadth of scope. The otherthing is that in addition to being a great scientistwith a world reputation, he’s a darn nice guy. He re-ally helps his colleagues and students and is tremen-dously accessible.” In addition to this fellowship, Sparks is a fellow ofthe American Association for the Advancement ofScience (AAAS)-a very prestigious award. He is also afellow of the Soil Science Society of America and theAmerican Society of Agronomy, holding the highesthonors given by both societies. Sparks said, “It is nice to be elected as a fellow ofyour ‘home’ society, but it is also an honor to be rec-ognized by societies that represent other fields ofscience.” The Geochemical Fellow program was established in1996. In addition to Sparks, six other fellows arenamed this year, bringing the total number of fel-lows to 164. Other notable past fellows includeRobert Berner and Karl Turekian (Yale University),Francois Morel (Princeton University), Jill Banfieldand Garrison Sposito (University of California Berke-ley), and Michael Hochella (Virginia Tech). In July, the new fellows will be introduced at theGoldschmidt Conference—the premier internationalgeochemistry conference—in Vancouver, Canada.


The conference is expected to draw approximately2200 participants from almost 50 countries. Sparks attended the University of Kentucky wherehe received a bachelor’s degree in agronomy and amaster’s in soil science. In 1979, he completed hisdoctoral degree in soil science at Virginia Tech, uponwhich he moved to Delaware and began working atUD as an assistant professor of soil chemistry. Sparks said, “I want to acknowledge that I have beenextremely fortunate over the years to have a fantas-tic group of graduate students and post docs whohave contributed to our research. Without their ef-forts, this would not be possible.” “One of my proudest accomplishments was as therecipient of UD’s Francis Alison Award,” Sparks said.The Allison award is the highest award that a facultymember can receive and is given for distinguishedachievements in scholarship and one’s profession,teaching, dedication, and services to the universityand the mentoring of students. Sparks was the first recipient of UD’s Doctoral Stu-dent Advising and Mentoring Award. Sparks said,“This was and is still really meaningful to me, as mywork with graduate students has been so fulfilling.”To date, Sparks has advised over 70 graduate stu-dents and postdoctoral researchers. In 2002, Sparks was designated as a “highly citedresearcher” by the Institute of Scientific Informa-tion (ISI). The basic mission of ISI [www.ISIHigh-lyCited.com] as a database publishing company isto provide comprehensive coverage of the world’smost important and influential research. Sparks shares this honor with seven other UD pro-fessors: Herbert Allen, civil and environmental en-gineering; Jack Baroudi, accounting andmanagement information systems; John Boyer (re-tired), marine and earth studies; Tsu-Wei Chou, me-chanical engineering; Dominic DiToro, civil andenvironmental engineering; David Kirchman, ma-rine and earth studies; and David Mason, food andresource economics. Sparks has published three textbooks and over 170refereed papers.

N OV E M B E R 2008 41

Professor Peter Bullock

1937-2008

A leading soil scientist who tirelessly promoted theimportance of soil.Professor Peter Bullock was a hugely distinguished,influential and inspirational soil scientist with a pres-tigious professional career spanning some 50 years.His professional experience included: soil mappingand land evaluation, soil mineralogy, soil genesis,land degradation and global environmental change.He worked in the UK and the USA as well as visitingsome 20 other countries on a professional basis.

Peter Bullock rose to become a leading figure in UKsoil science and one who was universally liked andadmired by all who knew him. He took over direc-torship of the Soil Survey of England and Wales atRothamsted Experimental Station in 1986, at a timewhen the organisation was threatened with closure,and won its reprieve. This led to its successful trans-fer to the then Cranfield Institute of Technology twoyears later. His courageous and charismatic leader-

ship was a major factor in ensuring the continued ex-istence of a research institute focused on English andWelsh soil resources. The National Soil Resources In-stitute at Cranfield University today is the direct de-scendant of the Soil Survey of England and Wales.Born in 1937, Peter Bullock developed his early in-terest in the natural environment studying Geogra-phy at Birmingham University. He joined thefledgling Soil Survey of England and Wales (SSEW) in1958 to work as a soil surveyor during which time hewas based in Yorkshire. In 1963, he returned to uni-versity to study for a Masters in Agricultural Chem-istry at Leeds University. A year later he wasawarded a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship whichtook him to Cornell University to read for his Doc-torate in Agronomy, focused on clay translocation insoils. He worked briefly for the United States De-partment of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service asa field soil surveyor in New York State before re-turning to the UK in 1967 to take up the position ofHead of the Mineralogy Section in SSEW based atRothamsted Experimental Station in Harpenden.Rothamsted allowed him the opportunity to indulgeboth his scientific and sporting interests and he wasa key and enthusiastic member of the Cricket teamfor many years.In his new post, Bullock developed facilities for studyof the microscopic structure and morphology of UKsoils in support of soil mapping and classificationand became a leading world expert in the field of soilmicromorphology. He went on to produce, amongother things, the first major atlas of soil thin-sectionsas well as a systematic terminology for their de-scription. He led work on the development of soilthin-section technologies and initiated much of theearly work on computerised image analysis of soilmicromorphology. Acknowledgement of his wide-spread expertise in this area saw him become firstSecretary-General of the International Commissionon Soil Micromorphology and then it’s President in1978.

In 1981, Bullock joined the Council of the British So-ciety of Soil Science, cemented his strong associa-tion with this society which was to continue

Obituary


throughout his career. He later served as its Presi-dent for the years 1995 - 96. Bullock had taken onthe wider remit of Head of Research in SSEW when,in 1984, the decision was taken to withdraw fundingfrom the country’s main programme of strategic soilmapping. Faced with the imminent closure of SSEW,Bullock was put in charge of a campaign to save theorganisation. His single-minded determination andcharismatic leadership led to a tapered reduction infunding and a lifeline transfer to the Silsoe campusof Cranfield Institute of Technology, then home tothe National College of Agricultural Engineering. Hebecome Director of SSEW in 1986 and then of theSoil Survey and Land Research Centre, following themove to Cranfield in 1987.Bullock’s reputation as a leading and influential soilscientist grew through this period. He chaired theimportant Natural Environmental Research Council(NERC) Review Committee. In 1988, he became theChairman of the Heads of Soils Surveys Committeeof the European Union a role in which he worked toalign the activities of the soil survey organisationsacross Europe. This led into his chairmanship of theAdvisory Committee of the European Soil Bureau in1996. In 1991, he became a member of the UK Cli-mate Change Impacts Review Group, recognising therole that soil systems have in the wider debate onclimate change that was then only just then comingto public awareness.Bullock’s growing influence on governmental and in-ternational scientific bodies continued in 1994 whenhe became a Special Adviser to the Royal Commis-sion of Environmental Pollution (RCEP) in their sem-inal inquiry into the sustainable use of soil. This wasfollowed by his invitation to join the prestigious In-tergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) asCoordinator of Impacts on Soils and Land Use. Fol-lowing on from this he served as a member of theDepartment of the Environment Climate Change Im-pacts Review Group. He served as a member of theGoverning Body of the Biotechnology and BiologicalSciences Research Council’s (BBSRC) Institute ofGrassland and Environmental Research and he sub-sequently joined the BBSRC Senior AppointmentsReview Committee. In 1997, Peter joined the CoreCommittee of the International Union of Soil Science(IUSS) Working Group on Land Degradation and De-sertification.Upon his retirement in 1997 after eleven years as Di-rector of the Soil Survey of England and Wales andlatterly the Soil Survey and Land Research Centre,Bullock was made Emeritus Professor of Soil Science

in Cranfield University. He continued his associationwith IUSS becoming a member of their Core Com-mittee of the Working Group on Land Degradationand Desertification. In 2005 he was a joint author ofa seminal European Commission Publication on theSoil Resources of Europe.Despite retirement, Bullock retained an active inter-est in the work of the National Soil Resources Insti-tute at Cranfield. He focused his energy on a numberof projects. He was instrumental in the launch of theWorld Soil Survey Archive and Collection (WOSSAC)– a unique and global repository of soil survey ma-terials collated from over 250 territories worldwideand held at Cranfield University.Peter’s final major contribution was through hiswork in the development of the widely acknowl-edged ‘Soil-Net’ educational Internet portal, a re-source aimed at school teachers and their students.His texts have been consulted online by users in hun-dreds of schools worldwide.Peter was an ardent sportsman, and in later yearssupporter of both cricket and football. He became amember of the MCC watching as many test matchesas time permitted. He was also a season ticketholderat Luton Town Football Club whose terraces he alsooften frequented.

S. Hallett

THANK YOU, PETER

I stand beside a soil pit with head bowed. I look atthe layers exposed at the edge of this void. What isthis void if not a miraculous window into the mys-teries of stories contained in the physical, chemicaland biological properties of soils? I am remindedthat often this is how I pray. I take a sample of soiland hold it in my hand and close my eyes. I amwhisked to places I will never visit, to thoughts I’venever met, and to sounds from an incomprehensibleuniverse. Without warning my eyes are flushed with tears ofjoy and thanksgiving – my soul has reached out totouch that of Peter Bullock. I think I have alwaysloved his soul. Our earthly paths seldom crossed, butmental pathways were welcome encounters. We hadbeen students at Cornell University learning moreabout how to decipher lessons before our eyes, thenas teachers striving to excite others about the sto-ries that stretch one’s imagination – histories held amoment in your hand that encompassed tens andhundreds of thousands of years – creations so pow-

N OV E M B E R 2008 43

erful that held us spellbound. And later we each hadthe honor of leading national soil survey programs,traveling far and wide, meeting people in manywalks of life, and basking in the opportunities to ex-perience tidbits of the terrestrial treasure chest ofPedology.If you ever met Peter I hope you remember his keensense of humor and his wonderful laugh – always amemory to brighten your day. Peter was a visionary,a champion of the future, of the right things, andwas compassionate. Yes I love the values he held andshared with those who watched and listened. Onceon the steps of a city park in Mexico he was talkingto my Helen about the tragic journey of their sonand the love and pride he was for him, Pat, and Alli-son. Tears flowed all around as we reveled in God’sgifts of family relationships in a universe of eterni-ties. Now I open wide my hand and eyes, and sense theenergy and beauty of having been within the circleof Peter Bullock’s influence. We will miss his pres-ence but cherish always his personal touches alongthat part of his soul’s journey. Bless you, our dearfriend, and thank you.

Dick Arnold


4th Brazilian Symposium on Soil Teaching

Strengthen the soil approach at different educa-tional levels and pay more attention to scientificoutreachThose were the main recommendations from the 4th

Brazilian Symposium on Soil Teaching, that hap-pened last May in Piracicaba, São Paulo. The IV Sym-posium counted 118 participants from differentparts of the country and brought together peopleworking on soil subjects at formal and not formal ed-ucation, including scientific outreach. The IV Sym-posium happened after an interruption of elevenyears and showed a change and widening in itsfocus: not only soil science teaching at high educa-tion, but also, and mainly, soil approaches at basiceducation. 65% of the posters presented dealt withit, including experiences with teachers updatingcourses, materials and methods used to approachsoils in schools and related spaces. Strong attentionwas given to the exchange of experiences by means

of presentations, collective discussions, a panel ofchallenges, small workshops and a field visit. Fromthose exchanges it was already created a discussiongroup to update and qualify the various actions andactivities. Special publications are on way, since aninformative bulletin to refereed scientific papers.Also it was indicated the regular continuity of theSymposiums each two years. The V Symposium willbe held in Curitiba, at the Universidade Federal doParaná, that houses the Solo na Escola(http://www.escola.agrarias.ufpr.br), an extensionprogramme very active among basic educationschools. A final document with 16 recommendationswas approved and can be consulted at the site of theBrazilian Soil Science Society (www.sbcs.org.br).

Cristine Carole MugglerChair of the Soil Science Teaching Comission of theBrazilian Society of Soil Science ([email protected])

The 5th International Conference on Land DegradationThe 5th International Conference on Land Degrada-tion (5th ICLD) was successfully held at the Mediter-ranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (MAI-B), Italy in18-22 September 2008. About 100 participants from37 countries from around the world attended. Dr.

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Reports of meetings

Participants of the 5th ICLD during the Opening Ceremony held at Fiera del Levante in Bari

Cosimo Lacirignola, director of the MediterraneanAgronomic Institute of Bari and President of theFiera del Levante welcomed all the participants dur-ing the opening ceremony. He paid particular atten-tion to the important role of the decision makersespecially in the implementation of scientific results.A total of 43 oral and 50 poster presentations weremade covering all continents. Keynote papers wereprovided by Dr. Luca Montanarella (EC-JRC Ispra,Italy), Prof. Raoul Ponce-Hernandez (Trent Univer-sity, Canada), Prof. Ahmet Mermut (University ofSaskatchewan Canada/ Harran University, SanlurfaTurkey), Christy van Beek (ALTERRA, The Nether-lands), Gerd Dercon (IAEA Vienna, Austria), SallyBunning (FAO, LADA, Rome, Italy), Dr. Ben Sonneveld(Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands),and Prof. Selim Kapur (University of Çukurova,Adana, Turkey).The theme of the conference: “Moving ahead fromassessments to actions: Could we win the struggleland degradation?” was thoroughly discussed anddebated. The main outcome is that such fight couldbe won if the right policy instruments are put inplace and most importantly when local people stake-holders and decision makers act together. This way itis possible to make a change and to reverse thetrend. There are many success stories in the sus-tainable management of natural resources in theworld.

Conference participants agreed that environmentalmeasures, which include interventions in the range

of agricultural, forest, land, water and livestock sec-tors, should be assessed on both productivity andecological functions and on the effects they have onecosystem stability. Soil conservation and restora-tion should be one component of an integratedecosystem management strategy that should includealso water, biodiversity, livelihoods and human im-pacts on ecosystems. A major outcome of the conference was that researchfindings and their use in scenario development forguiding policy should be validated by long term moni-toring systems and addressing land degradation re-quires consideration of both biophysical andsocio-economic aspects since there is evidence thatoften the latter are determinant, especially in deter-mining land use options. Recent positive trends in re-ducing soil erosion or improving fertility (notably in theEU countries and the Americas) through protective soilcover, restoring soil organic matter and reducing com-paction, provide good examples to be followed in otherregions and for addressing other land degradationprocesses such as chemical degradation for instance.The positive results should be used to further empha-sise the urgent needs for further actions worldwide toaccelerate and scale up progress and not the oppositeto induce complacency. The Conference draw special attention to the factthat not all soil and water conservation measureswork well, as there are plenty of examples of failuresdue to being ill-adapted in terms of limited impact.Improved land resources management measuresshould build on scientific evidence, local innovation


From the left: Prof. Selim Kapur, Dr. Pandi Zdruli Dr. Marcello Pagliai and Prof. Angel Faz Cano

and knowledge and be locally tested and validatedbefore being applied at larger scale. Natural re-source base should continue be a priority for na-tional Governments and international organisations.Africa and some Latin American countries requiresparticular attention due to limited resources and re-search capacities, and evidence of little progressover recent decades to stimulate agricultural andeconomic growth and to address the cumulativepressures of expanding populations, food insecurityand political instability. As the International Union of Soil Science has re-es-tablished the Working Group on Land Degradation(WG-LD), conference participants have agreed that theWG-LD report primarily to Divisions I and subsequentlyDivisions III and IV, as well as to the Secretary Generalof the IUSS. The conference unanimously elected thefollowing individuals to lead the WG-LD: Dr. MarcelloPagliai (Chair, Italy) and Prof. Angel Faz Cano (Vice Chair,Spain), Prof. Selim Kapur (Secretary, Turkey), Dr. PandiZdruli (Deputy Secretary, Italy).

An internationally known publisher will publish aspecial issue of about 30-50 Selected Papers pre-sented during the 5thICLD. The 6th International Con-ference on Land Degradation will be held in Egypt inautumn 2111. Finally, great appreciation was ex-pressed for the excellent organisation and warmhospitality shown by the MAI of Bari.

Pandi ZdruliMarcello PagliaiSelim Kapur

Angel Faz Cano (WG-LD)

3rd Global Workshop on Digital Soil MappingThe 3rd Global Workshop on Digital Soil Mapping, “Dig-ital Soil Mapping: Bridging Research, Production, andEnvironmental Application” took place 30 Septemberthrough 3 October 2008 on the campus of Utah StateUniversity in Logan, Utah, USA (DSM 2008;http://dsmusa.org). Digital soil mapping is the genera-tion of georeferenced soil databases by quantitativemodeling of field, laboratory, and environmental data.The IUSS Working Group on Digital Soil Mapping(http://www.digitalsoilmapping.org/) organizes bien-nial Global Workshops on Digital Soil Mapping in alter-nate years with the conferences of IUSS commission1.5 Pedometrics (http://www.pedometrics.org/). DSM2008 in Utah, USA, followed DSM 2006 in Rio de

Janeiro, Brazil, and DSM 2004 in Montpellier, France.The goal of DSM 2008 was to explore the state-of-the-art in digital soil mapping and to develop strategies forbridging cutting-edge research, production soil map-ping, and environmental applications of digital soildata. DSM 2008 attracted 99 participants from 20countries representing all populated continents.The workshop was kicked off by the field trip on 30September. About 50 participants traveled from thebottom of Cache Valley to the top of the Bear RiverRange, exploring the origins of the Basin and Range,the Great Basin, Pleistocene pluvial Lake Bonneville,orographic climate effect and alpine glaciation, the Se-vier thrust belt, and the Middle Rocky Mountains. Weobserved and discussed clayey sodic soils in deep-water deposits of Lake Bonneville, the use of Landsatspectral data for digital soil mapping of saline and wetsoils on the shores of the Great Salt Lake, soils illus-trating the dramatic effects of aspect on organic mat-ter accumulation and carbonate translocation on steepslopes, the factors influencing rapid cementation of soilhorizons by calcium carbonate, and the impacts ofaspen (broadleaf) vs. conifer vegetation on soil devel-opment. (French visitors were surprised to see Parisand Montpelier from the overlook at the final stop –Paris and Montpelier, Idaho.)

The workshop program spanning 1-3 October was or-ganized into seven session themes (http://dsmusa.org/programm.pdf): 1) Evaluating and using legacy datain digital soil mapping; 2) Exploring new samplingschemes and environmental covariates in digital soilmapping; 3) Using integrated sensors or other newtechnologies for inferring soil properties or status;4)Innovative inference systems (new methodologiesfor predicting soil classes and properties, and esti-mating uncertainties); 5) Global Digital Soil Mapping;6) Using digital soil mapping products and their un-certainties for soil assessment and environmentalapplications; and 7) Protocol and capacity buildingfor making digital soil mapping operational. The im-portance of our work during DSM 2008 was framedby the inspiring keynote presentation by Dr. AlfredHartemink (ISRIC World Soil Information, Nether-lands), “Soils are Back on the Global Agenda.” Eachsession theme was launched by a keynote presenta-tion, followed by short presentations and 30 minutesof focused discussion. Keynote speakers for the ses-sions 1 through 7, respectively, were Dr. Alan Hewitt(Landcare Research, New Zealand), Dr. Janis Boet-tinger (Utah State University, USA), Dr. Raphael Vis-carra-Rossel (CSIRO, Australia), Dr. Thorsten Behrens

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(University of Tübingen, Germany), Dr. Alex McBrat-ney (University of Sydney, Australia), Dr. John Tri-antifilis (University of New South Wales, Australia),and Dr. Sabine Grunwald (University of Florida, USA).The workshop inspired participants to manifest thefuture of DSM from diverse perspectives, using in-novative approaches, and addressing the ultimatechallenge of creating and delivering a global digitalsoil map. The organizers sincerely thank participants for trav-eling to Logan, Utah, USA, to make DSM 2008 a suc-cessful and productive endeavor. We look forwardto seeing you at DSM 2010!

Annual Meeting of the AOAC INTERNATIONAL Pacific Northwest SectionThe 28th Annual Meeting* of the AOAC INTERNA-TIONAL Pacific Northwest Section was held at theUniversity of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington,USA on June 18-19, 2008. The overall purpose of themeeting was to foster the exchange of ideas and re-cent research findings. We had a diverse programthat was of interest to analytical communities, reg-ulators, researchers, and industry members. The at-

tendees came from universities, federal, state andprovincial research stations, private laboratories,and government agencies, representing a broadarray of interests and disciplines.

The theme of the Annual Meeting was “Data defen-sibility and generating quality results”. The programincluded keynote presentations by national and in-ternational speakers in the plenary sessions. Paperswere also presented in the following Seminars: Soiland Environmental Chemistry; Microbiology; Marineand Freshwater Toxins and Seafood Contaminants;Quality Assurance for the Chemistry Laboratory; andChemical Analysis of Industrial Contaminants, Pesti-cide Residues and Alkaloids. The Soil and Environ-mental Chemistry Seminars included the followingpresentations: Future of Soil Analysis; Total KjeldahlNitrogen: Automation for a Robust, Popular Method;Microwave Extraction of Pesticides, PAH’s and TPH’sby the new USEPA method; and Pipetting, Ergonom-ics, and You.The following training workshops were presented: Val-idation and Import of Methods, Single Laboratory Val-idation of Microbiological Methods, Laboratory Safety,and Measurement of Uncertainty. New this year wasthe Poster Session that highlighted the latest scientificresearch in different fields. It was held in conjunction


Prof. Janis Boettinger in the field explaining the first principle of digital soil mapping.

with the Vendor Expo (an exhibition of scientific equip-ment, supplies and services). At the reception, the at-tendees participated in the quiz, “Are you smarter thanyour fellow chemist or microbiologist? The Executive Committee for 2007-2008 includedYash P. Kalra (Chair), Jim Hungerford (Chair-Elect),Carlos Abeyta, Jr. (Past Chair), Mike Grant and FredKrick (Treasures), and Nancy Hill (Secretary). Themembers of the Planning Committee of the AnnualMeeting were Carlos Abeyta, Jr., Roy Araki, Don Bark,Sharon Brunelle, Sue Coffey, Vinod Gaur, Mike Grant,Nancy Hill, Jerry Hirsch, Jinxin Hu, Jim Hungerford,Yash P. Kalra, Fred Krick, Jennifer Lui, Heidi Marks,Mike Owen, Virginia Palomo, Ed Paski, Marshall Pat-tee, Josephine Pompey, and Steve Reimer.The next Annual Meeting will be held on June 16-17,2009. Further information will be available on ourwebsite (www.aoacpacnw.com). (*Full report is published in the September/October2008 issue of the Inside Laboratory Management,AOAC INTERNATIONAL, Gaithersburg, Maryland,USA).

Yash P. Kalra, ChairPacific Northwest Section Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

13th International Conference on Soil MicromorphologyThe 13th International Conference on Soil Micromor-phology, was held in Chengdu, China, Sept. 11-16.This was the 1st such meeting ever held in Asia. Thismeeting, held every 4 years, is one of the major ac-tivities of IUSS Commission 1.1, Soil Micromorphol-ogy and Morphology. This year, there wereparticipants from 26 countries, with 181 publishedabstracts. This was an important and timely locationfor this meeting as the Chinese Soil Science Societynow boasts a membership of over 100,000. Supportfor this meeting was obtained by the National Natu-ral Science Foundation of China, the Chinese Acad-emy of Sciences, the Institute of Mountain Hazards& Environment, and the Shaanxi Normal University. Excellent lectures and posters were presented on allaspects of soil micromorphology including climatechange, applied applications for agro-environmentsustainability, soil, water and air pollution, paleope-dology, interactions among soil biota and minerals,loess, archaeology, extreme environments, soil gen-esis and classification, and emerging technologies inultra-micro techniques. The opening ceremony wasfollowed by 14 keynote lectures and 2 additional

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Yash P. Kalra, Chair, Pacific Northwest Section, presented the “Award of Excellence” plaques to Ed Paski,Nancy Hill, Peggy Knight, and Carlos Abeyta, Jr. (l to r) for their significant contributions to the Section.

days of 2 concurrent oral sessions and posters. Re-membrances were given for two extraordinary sci-entists who have died recently, Geoff Humphreys(given by Rosa Poch) and Peter Bullock (given byGeorges Stoops). Daniela Sauer arranged for sym-bolic candles to be lighted during the following sym-posia in their honor. The mid-conference fieldtripexamined the famous ‘ancient paddy soils’ and ‘pur-ple soils’ near Chengdu as well as giving participantsthe rare opportunity to view endangered pandas ata nearby research station. Post-conference tours ex-plored such sights as the Three Gorges Dam, theXi’an Terra Cotta Warriors, the Great Wall, and manyother exciting cultural and scientific stops. The 14th

International Conference on Soil Micromorphologywill be held in Lleida Spain, 2012, and is being or-ganized by Rosa Poch.

Two awards were given during the Commission 1.1Business Meeting: The first ever “Young Micromor-phologist Publication Award” was presented to 2young scientists: Adrienne L. Ryan, for her paper:“Do Sand Dunes of the Lower Lachlan floodplainContain the Same Dust that Produced Parna?” Aus-tralian Journal of Soil Research, 2006, 44:769-781;and Amy L. Brock for her paper “New FormationProcess for Calcic Pendants from Pahranagat Valley,Navada, USA, and Implication for Dating QuaternaryLandforms” Quaternary Research, 2005, 63:359-367.This award will be given again in addition to the Ku-

biena Medal during the 19th World Congress of SoilScience in 2010 Brisbane, Australia. More information on the notes from the businessmeeting, upcoming awards, meetings, and other ac-tivities can be found on IUSS Commission 1.1 web-page http://www.agry.purdue.edu/pedology/iuss/

EUROSOIL 2008August 25-29, 2008The Congress EUROSOIL 2008 was jointly organised bythe soil science societies of Austria, Croatia, the CzechRepublic, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland,under the chairmanship of Prof. Winfried E.H. Blum, atthe Technical University Vienna /Austria.About 1500 scientists from 77 countries participatedwith approx. 650 oral and 750 poster presentations,organised within 30 symposia and 13 workshops.Moreover, 3 technical excursions took place.

26 presidents of national soil science societies ortheir representatives participated in the CouncilMeeting of ECSSS, with the main outcome: The next venue for EUROSOIL 2012 will be Bari/Italy.The next President and Vice-President of ECSSS willbe Prof.Dr. Nicola Senesi, from the University of Barias President and Prof. Teodoro Miano, from thesame University, as Vice-President. Congratulationsto both!For EUROSOIL 2016, the Polish Soil Science Society


presented its bid for the city of Olsztin, in Masuria,in the north-east of Poland. The 10 best posters were awarded a prize from theorganisers (diploma and 200 €).An additional prize was provided by the interna-tional journal “Biology and Fertility of Soils”(Springer), providing a free copy of this journal tothe winner and free electronic access to further jour-nals by Springer.A motion in support of the European Framework Di-rective for Soil Protection, prepared by the French SoilScience Society, was unanimously accepted by theCouncil of ECSSS and unanimously backed by the par-ticipants of the Congress at the Closing Ceremony:Motion to support the EU Framework Directive on soilsSoil is a vital, non-renewable resource, providing es-sential goods and services to human-life and ecosys-tems. For instance, soil plays a major role in climatechange, food, fiber and energy supply, water regula-tion, biodiversity, and human health. Therefore, it isessential to maintain and preserve the soil functionsfor the sustainable development of our societies. Long-term soil sustainability is endangered by nu-merous threats that have been listed in the proposalof a European directive for soil protection.The over 1500 participants of the EUROSOIL congressheld in Vienna (August 25-29, 2008), soil scientists from77 countries, including the representatives of the 43European national soil science societies, consider thata unique legal and political framework for soil protec-tion is an absolute necessity to preserve soil resourceat the European level. We therefore urge the French Presidency to resumethe discussions aiming to reach a political agreementin the Environmental Council on 20 October. We re-quest the 5 Member States that could not agree withthe Portuguese Compromise text on 20 December2007 to reconsider their position for the sake of pre-serving this precious natural resource.

Inaugural International Conference on HydropedologyBoth soil science and hydrology are at a criticalthreshold of advancing frontiers and exploringbreakthroughs. Synergies are expected by bridgingclassical pedology with soil physics, hydrology, geo-morphology, and other related bio- and geosciencesto address complex soil and water interactionsacross spatial and temporal scales. Holistic study ofthe earth’s Critical Zone (i.e., the critical interfacebetween the surficial solid earth and its fluid en-velopes, which ranges from the top of the vegeta-tion to the bottom of aquifers) demands aninterdisciplinary systems approach to tackle a widearray of environmental, ecological, agricultural, ge-ological, and natural resource issues that are of highsocietal importance. In this spirit, and with a goal ofpromoting integration between disparate fields andfostering new collaboration, the 1st InternationalConference on Hydropedology was held at the Penn-sylvania State University – University Park campus inJuly 28-31, 2008. The conference theme was “Waterand Soil: Key to Sustaining the Earth’s Critical Zone.”The International Union of Soil Sciences (IUSS) Work-ing Group on Hydropedology organized this meetingwith sponsorships from the U.S. Department of Agri-culture (USDA) National Research Initiative, multipleunits of Penn State Univ. (College of Agricultural Sci-ences, Dept. of Crop and Soil Sciences, Penn StateInstitutes for Energy and the Environment, and En-vironmental and Natural Resources Institute), USDANatural Resources Conservation Service’s NationalWater and Climate Center, and three companies(Decagon Devices, RDS Inc., and UGT).This was a focused interdisciplinary conference with145 participants from over 20 countries (covering allcontinents except Antarctica). A total of 110 ab-stracts were received. A large number of leading sci-entists from diverse fields (including pedology, soilphysics, and other branches of soil science; water-shed hydrology, ecohydrology, hydrogeology, remotesensing hydrology, and other subdisciplines of hy-drology; geomorphology, geochemistry, microbialecology, botany, agricultural engineering, and otherrelated bio- and geosciences) participated and pre-sented their perspectives on various issues relatedto hydropedology. The three-day program, plus thefourth day field trip, gave the participants opportu-nities to analyze what has been accomplished in hy-dropedology and to discuss ways of advancing thisemerging field and collaborations across scientific

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disciplines. While multiple interpretations of theterm “hydropedology” appeared during the confer-ence, it became clear that the main goal of hy-dropedology is to understand interactive hydrologicand pedologic processes across scales and their im-pacts on biogeochemical cycling and ecological func-tioning in the earth system. Two fundamentalquestions at the “heart” of hydropedology are:How do soil architecture and the distribution of soilsover the landscape exert a first-order control on hy-drologic processes and the associated biogeochemi-cal and ecological dynamics across spatio-temporalscales in the surface and shallow subsurface?How does landscape water, and the associatedtransport of energy, chemicals and sediment by flow-ing water, influence soil genesis, evolution, variabil-ity, and functions?

Through presentations and discussion, it was evidentthat hydropedology emphasizes in situ soils in the land-scape, where distinct pedogenic features (e.g., peds,horizons, and catenae), environmental variables (e.g.,climate, landforms, and organisms), and anthropogenic

impacts (e.g., land use and management) interact,thereby determining landscape water availability andquality. The conference participants suggested that,whereas the focus of hydropedology must be clear, itsboundary with adjacent disciplines is better left “fuzzy”in order to avoid building walls that would block inter-disciplinary collaborations.

The conference began with five invited keynote pre-sentations on the “big picture” pertinent to hy-dropedology, including 1) Frontiers of MarsExploration – “Follow the Water” by Raymond Arvid-son (Washington University in Saint Louis) (note thathydropedology goes beyond our home planet andinto extraterrestrial environments), 2) The Depend-ence of Watershed Processes on the Evolution of theCritical Zone by William Dietrich (UC Berkeley), 3)Streamflow Generation Theory in the Headwaters: aHydropedology Approach by Jeffery McDonnell (Ore-gon State University), 4) Hydropedology as a Foun-dation for Environmental Policy and Regulations byJohan Bouma (Wageningen University), and 5) Digi-tal Soil Mapping and Hydropedology by Alex McBrat-


ney (University of Sydney). The subsequent presen-tations were grouped into the following five sessionsspread over two and half days: 1) Emerging conceptsand theories in soil science, hydrology, and relateddisciplines; 2) Frontiers of integrated and multiscalemodels of soils and hydrologic systems; 3) Advancedmonitoring, sensing, mapping, and visualization ofthe subsurface; 4) Integrated studies of the earth’sCritical Zone and its relations to hydropedology; and5) Cutting-edge applications and innovative educa-tion/outreach related to hydropedology. Poster ses-sions, breakout discussions, and evening featuredpresentations were also included in the conferenceprogram. Some research priorities highlighted dur-ing the conference include:• Potential conceptual breakthroughs in hillslope/

catchment hydrology, including subsurface excesstheory, preferential flow networks, and dynamicboundary conditions

• Quantification of soil architecture, landscape pat-terns, and their functional manifestations as a newbasis for landscape-soil-hydrology research acrossscales, which should be explicitly considered forscalable processes and tools

• Investigation of the continuous field assumptionvs. the discrete object approach to incorporateflow and transport pathways, patterns, residencetimes, and networks into models

• Coupling hydropedology and biogeochemistry toidentify “hot spots” and “hot moments” of chem-ical reaction, nutrient cycling, ecological function-ing, and microbial activity as triggered by soilhydrologic conditions and limited by transport andpathways in the field

• Joining of pedology (with field expertise and with-out Soil Taxonomy luggage) with soil physics/hy-drology (quantitative, process-orientated butwithout abstract excesses)

• Technology advancements in new tools and sen-sors, sensor/monitoring networks, and spatially/temporally continuous imaging/monitoring of thesubsurface

• Development of a common platform to share data,information, and model with interoperable format

• Three best posters were selected by voting fromthe participants. They were (in the order from the1st to 3rd prize):- Takahiro Sayama (Kyoto Univ., Japan) and Jeffrey

McDonnell (Oregon State Univ.): The effect of soildepth distribution on the age, origin and flow-path of water at the catchment scale: A virtualexperiment approach

- Michael Jones, Stephen Carpenter (USDA-NRCS),Michael Harman, James Thompson, and EugeniaPena-Yewtukhiw (West Virginia Univ.): Seasonal In-filtration and Subsurface Water Dynamics acrossBenchmark Soil Catenas of Eastern West Virginia

- Horst Gerke, Michael Sommer, Sylvia Koszinski,and Thomas Kalettka (ZALF-Institute of LandscapeHydrology, Germany): Structures and hydrologicfunction of soil landscapes with kettle holes

The field trip included a show-and-tell visit to the ShaleHills Critical Zone Observatory (CZO), one of the firstthree CZOs established in the U.S. by National ScienceFoundation (NSF). Other field destinations included Ke-pler Farm (including a demonstration of geophysicaltools and precision agriculture practices in relation to hy-dropedology), Penn State’s long-operating “Living Filter”(showcasing the use of natural soils for filtering treatedwastewater and the resulting changes in soils), andpyrite remediation at the adjacent I-99 construction site(illustrating the impacts of exposed pyrite on water qual-ity in the area). “The kinds of initial steps and resultsshown at the Shale Hills CZO and the synergy amongstthe CZO PIs, students and collaborators are the reasonsfor optimism on the future of CZOs,” commented Dr. JunAbrajano, Head of Surface Earth Processes Section ofNSF, who attended the conference. An additional objective of the conference was to char-ter a roadmap for international collaboration to ad-vance the frontiers of hydropedology and itscontributions to the larger scope of Critical Zone sci-ence. A new initiative to foster a global alliance forMonitoring, Mapping, and Modeling of the CriticalZone (called the “3M” initiative) was proposed by theHydropedology Working Group. This initiative followsthe example of the Mauna Loa Observatory that firstalerted the world to the anthropogenic contribution tothe “greenhouse effect” and global warming. The fa-mous “Keeling Curve” of long-term CO2 data demon-strated the value of continuous recording of aseemingly routine atmospheric measurement, whichturned out to be a vital sign of the earth’s changing cli-mate. The discovery of “acid rain” in North Americathrough long-term monitoring at Hubbard Brook is an-other role model for the proposed initiative ¾ whichcalls for a networked long-term recording of the healthof our land via near real-time monitoring, precisionmapping, and process-based modeling of its “bloodpressure,” temperature, respiration, and other vitalsigns of global land change. While often hidden un-derfoot, soils are fundamental to the earth’s ecosys-tems and the sustainability of human society.Therefore, serious efforts must be taken to monitor soil

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change and its diverse functions over space and time.At the closing session of the conference, representa-tives from the NSF and USDA spoke about the potentialfunding opportunities.This inaugural conference contributed to the cele-bration of the International Year of Planet Earth. Italso marked the 125th anniversary of the birth ofmodern soil science with the 1883 publication ofsoil-forming theory by V.V. Dokuchaev. A book and aspecial issue of two journals (Journal of Hydrologyand Hydrology and Earth System Science) areplanned to publish selected papers from this con-ference. In addition, a DVD, containing the confer-ence proceedings (presentations, posters, videotapes, and photos), will be produced. The IUSS Hy-dropedology Working Group has decided that the 2nd

International Conference on Hydropedology will beheld in Germany in 2012. Between now and then, adedicated website (http://hydropedology.psu.edu/) willbe used to continue dialogs started at the confer-ence and maintain communications about hydrope-dology-related activities to the community. Severalrelated scientific activities have already beenplanned in the following years. For more information, please contact Henry Lin([email protected], 814-865-6726).

Henry Lin, Department of Crop and Soil Sciences,The Pennsylvania State UniversityDavid Chittleborough, The University of Adelaide,South Australia, AustraliaHans-Joerg Vogel, Helmholtz Center for Environ-mental Research, GermanyKamini Singha, Pennsylvania State University, USASacha Jon Mooney, Environmental Sciences, Uni-versity of Nottingham, UK

Conservation Agriculture training at CIMMYTFrom May 26th to July 27th, the Center for Maize andWheat Improvement (CIMMYT) successfully hosteda five-week course in conservation agriculture (CA)for visiting scientists titled “Laying the ground for sus-tainable and productive cropping systems.”Participants from China, Ethiopia and Romanialearned about resource conserving technologies inirrigated and rainfed wheat and maize productionsystems, including reduced tillage and crop residuemanagement strategies.Tesfay Araya, who is expected to be the first conser-vation agriculture specialist in northern Ethiopia,commented on the interdisciplinary theme of theprogram: “It was a very holistic approach, with di-verse content from a number of disciplines frombreeders, soil specialists, agronomists, crop protec-tion people and so on.”

With the chance to work directly with the CroppingSystems Management team at CIMMYT’s researchstations and in nearby farmers’ fields, the visitorsdeveloped skills in trial planning, management andmonitoring. There was also first-hand opportunityto initiate individual research, as each participanthad to define a clear research objective and draft apaper for future publication. “We learned skills inpublishing, writing, reviewing data…we didn’t missanything,” said Mr. Araya.Participants took away with them lessons learned forapplication in their home countries. “I saw peoplehere working together with good communication,”said Mr. Araya. “That’s the most important thing,and it’s very unique.” For Zhang Bin, from China, im-


plementation of CA was a consideration. “When I goback I will do research on conservation agriculture,and if I have good results I will demonstrate it tofarmers and try to transfer the technology to them.”Since 1996 CIMMYT has hosted over 86 course par-ticipants and 30 visiting scientists from 26 countriesin its Conservation Agriculture research area. Long-term courses and research are conducted at CIM-MYT’s headquarters in El Batán and at its researchstation in Ciudad Obregon, Mexico.The next course is scheduled for May 25th to June26th in 2009. For more information, please contactPetr Kosina ([email protected]) or visit :http://www.cimmyt.org/english/wps/events/courses/pdf/announcement_CA_course_2009.pdf

Investing in Sustainable Crop Intensification: The Case for Improving Soil HealthThis workshop was held at FAO, Rome, 22-24 July2008, arranged jointly by TAA, FAO, FARA, assistedby ICRAF, CIRAD, ACT, KARI, EMBRAPA, GFAR. Fol-lowing recommendations made at the conclusion ofthe initial TAA Workshop at Newcastle University,UK, on 30 and 31 March 2007, the organizers of this‘follow-on’ 3-day Technical Workshop invited stake-holders concerned with agricultural development inthe tropics, subtropics and elsewhere to considerthe demonstrated potentials of Conservation Agri-culture (CA) to improve soil health, and hence pro-ductivity and sustainability, as a basis for crop andagriculture intensification and managing ecosystemservices. The Workshop was attended by some 100stakeholders, representing governments and inter-

governmental institutions, the private sector, farm-ers and NGOs from 40 countries.The Workshop objectives were: • To describe the principles of Conservation Agricul-

ture and demonstrate its benefits for farmers andsocieties so as to widen attention of potentially-supportive decision-makers in the broad fields ofField Practice & Development; Science & Technol-ogy, and Policy & Financing.

• To discuss, suggest and agree the chief forms of in-terlinking decisions and action which would pro-vide positive encouragement of, and support to,farmers to make and sustain their transition to CAsystems according to their specific situations;

T• o pave the way for comparable forums to developand function at continental, national and locallevels;

• To favour the development of an inter-connected‘Community of Practice’ around the subjects.

On the first day, two initial presentations provided aconceptual and a global overview of Conservation Agri-culture which, in its ideal form, combines (a) perma-nent soil cover with organic materials such as cropresidues, (b) no-till planting/seeding through the coverwith minimal soil disturbance, (c) crop sequences in-cluding legumes. This was followed by illustrationsfrom the field showing successful cases of CA and therelevant features they have in common which arefavourable for scaling. Cases from each region – LatinAmerica (Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina), Asia (China,Kazakhstan and N.Korea), Africa (Tanzania, Kenya,Tunisia, Swaziland, Madagascar) - were presented, cov-ering different agro-ecologic and socio-economic set-tings, each illustrating the basic principles and practicesleading to soil health improvement and agricultural in-tensification based on conservation-effective practices.

N OV E M B E R 2008 55

The global area under such systems now totals some100 million ha (Table 1). Its spread contributes to thestability of landscapes and ecosystems which provideboth plant products and water simultaneously, on asustainable basis. Quantified data on its effects showthat its adoption contributes to alleviating problemsposed by climate change, population increase, hunger,and rising costs of inputs and agricultural products.

The subsequent two days were spent on discussingthe implications and opportunities for ‘mainstream-

ing’ these conservation-effective agricultural prac-tices replacing other methods of intensive farmingthat are now widely practised but detrimental to soilhealth and long-term productivity, and hence non-sustainable. The consensus of the Workshop wasthat tillage-based farming, has unsustainable ele-ments, whose continued promotion and applicationendangers global capacities to respond to globalconcerns. The Workshop delegates agreed that ample evi-dence now exists of successes of Conservation Agri-


Table 1: Conservation Agriculture adoption by country over the last 20 years in ha and in percent of totalarable land (source: FAO AQUASTAT 2008)

culture in Latin America, Asia and Africa to justifymajor investment of human and financial resourcesin catalysing a shift, from tillage-based managementsystems to those based on the principles of CA. Thisshift will lead to reduced machinery and energy use,a rise in soil organic matter content and biotic activ-ity, reduced carbon emissions, reduced erosion, in-creased crop water availability (and in these waysreduce impact of drought), improved recharging ofaquifers and reduce the impact of the apparent in-creased volatility in weather associated with climatechange. It will reduce production costs and con-tribute to more reliable harvest reducing risk espe-cially for the small holder.The main outcome of the Workshop is the Frame-work for Action document entitled: “Investing inAgriculture Intensification: the Role of ConservationAgriculture” (available under “events” atwww.fao.org/ag/ca/). The Framework presents thejoint thinking of Workshop delegates on actions thatwould help empower many more farmers to engagein management methods centred on a fundamentalshift in tillage methods that will enable land to befarmed more intensively, sustainably and profitably.

In order to disseminate knowledge, raise under-standing, share expertise, and support diverse ini-tiatives, the participants wish to establish amulti-stakeholder knowledge-management system,in the form of a system of “Communities of Practice”(CoP), guided by a Facilitating Group. The latter’stasks would be initially to determine appropriate or-ganisational and administrative arrangements, andidentify possible sources of adequate financial sup-port. This would enable establishment of a multi-functional presence on the internet that can bothprovide information about CA and support interac-tive exchanges between CoP participants. A networkof associated CoPs could provide focus on: knowl-edge for CA (e.g. documentation, exchange of expe-riences etc.), advocacy for CA (e.g. public andprofessional communication, policy dialogues, etc.),application for CA (e.g. training modules, cumulationof experiences, etc.); education for CA (e.g. curricu-lum improvement in primary and secondary educa-tion, enrichment of university and professionaleducation, etc.). Support for these CoPs might be worked out withseveral different institutions which are becominghigher-level stakeholders in CA such as GFAR, UNEP,international farmer organizations, and UNESCO,universities and NGOs. FAO is the international or-

ganization with the broadest interest and stake in CAand has indicated its willingness to provide the ad-ministrative support base for the overall CA-CoP. Afirst activity for the Facilitating Group would be thepreparation of policy support papers on CA, whichcould be used in discussions with donor agencies, in-ternational organizations, professional organiza-tions, private sector and others.

Theodor Friedrich Amir Kassam Francis Shaxson (on behalf of the Workshop delegates)

N OV E M B E R 2008 57

200816th National and 4th International congress of soilscience, 16-21 Nov Peru

Interaction of soil minerals with organic compo-nents, 24-29 Nov Chile

Sediment dynamics in changing environments, 1-5 Dec New Zealand

International meeting of soil enzymology, 11-12 Dec Spain

2009Fourth World Congress on Conservation Agriculture, 4-7 Feb India

Integrated Assess. of Agriculture and Sust. Dev.,10-12 Mar Netherlands

14th International Clay Conference, 12-20 June Italy

Meeting on Soils with Mediterranean Type of Climate, 22-26 June Lebanon

16th Nitrogen Workshop, 28 June-1 July Italy

7th International Conference on Geomorphology, 6-11 July Australia

11th International Symposium on Soil and PlantAnalysis, 21-25 July USA

Pedometrics 2009, 26-28 Aug China

International conference on cryopedology, 14-20 Sept Russia

Salinization conference, 20-23 Sept Hungary

Biohydrology 2009: Biology and soil hydrology interactions, 21-24 Sept Slovakia

ASA-CSSA-SSSA International annual meeting, 1-5 Nov USA

Soil geography: New horizons, 16-20 Nov Mexico

XVIII Congreso Latinoamericano de la Ciencia del Suelo, 16-20 Nov Costa Rica

201019th World Congress of Soil Science, Brisbane, 1-6 Aug Australia

ASA-CSSA-SSSA International annual meeting, 31 Oct-4 Nov USA

Upcoming meetings


1924 L. Cayeux † France

K. Glinka † USSR

Jos. Kopecky † Czechoslovakia

E. Ramann † Germany

Sir John Russell † UK

S. Winogradski † USSR

1927 P. Treitz † Hungary

1935 E.A. Mitscherlich † Germany

A. d’Sigmond † Hungary

J. Stoklasa † Czechoslovakia

G. Wiegner † Switzerland

1950 A. Demolon † France

D.J. Hissink † Netherlands

W.P. Kelley † USA

1954 S. Ma�son † Sweden

E. Truog † USA

1956 G. Bertrand † France

E.C.J. Mohr † Netherlands

1960 F.A. Bear † USA

1964 J.A. Presco� † Australia

1968 F. Hardy † UK

W.L. Kubiena † Germany

L.A. Richards † USA

A.A. Rode † USSR

1974 R. Bradfield † USA

G.V. Jacks † UK

Ch.E. Kellogg † USA

M.K. Kononova † USSR

A. Oudin † France

F. Scheffer † Germany

1978 G. Barbier † France

V. Igna�eff † Canada

Y. Ishizuka † Japan

L. Krolikowski † Poland

L. Ve�ori † Brazil

1982 Ph. Duchaufour † France

W. Flaig † Germany

V. Kovda † USSR

E. Mueckenhausen † Germany

E.W. Russell † UK

1986 H. Jenny † USA

D. Kirkham † USA

S.K. Mukherjee † India

R. Tavernier † Belgium

1990 G. Aubert † France

E.G. Hallsworth † Australia

J.S. Kanwar India

P. Schachtschabel † Germany

R.W. Simonson USA

I. Szabolcs † Hungary

1998 G.H. Bolt Netherlands

R. Dudal Belgium

K.H. Hartge Germany

M. Kutilek Czech Rep.

J. Quirk Australia

W.G. Sombroek † Netherlands

K. Wada Japan

D.H. Yaalon Israel

S.V. Zonn † Russia

2002 R.W. Arnold USA

G.V. Dobrovolsky Russia

W. Gardner USA

H.M. Hamdi † Egypt

L.A.L. Sarmiento Colombia

F. Mancini Italy

B.S. Nosko Ukraine

R. Rosell Argentina

A. Ruellan France

A. Tanaka Japan

P.B.H Tinker UK

2006 W.E.H. Blum Austria

H-P. Blume Germany

J. Bouma Netherlands

S-J. Cho South Korea

J. Glinski Poland

M.G.H. Jamagne France

D.R. Nielsen USA

J.H.V. van Baren Netherlands

L.P. Wilding USA

N OV E M B E R 2008 59

IUSS Honorary members

Year Member Country Year Member Country

IUSS Bulletin 113 Hires

Documents

Transcript of IUSS Bulletin 113 Hires