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How Much Margin Is Left For Degrading Agricultural Soils? The Coming Soil Crises, Maheteme Gebremedhin, Mark S. Coyne, Karamat R. Sistani Feb 2022

How Much Margin Is Left For Degrading Agricultural Soils? The Coming Soil Crises, Maheteme Gebremedhin, Mark S. Coyne, Karamat R. Sistani

Plant and Soil Sciences Faculty Publications

Agricultural soils are in peril. Multiple lines of observational and empirical evidence suggest that we are losing the world’s fertile soils at an alarming rate, worsening the on-going global food crisis. It is increasingly clear that the risk of soil crises driven by erratic precipitation, warming air, and farming mismanagement is coming sooner rather than later. At this critical time, society cannot avoid looking for ways to curb soil crises. We argue that now is the right time for science-based mitigation strategies and new insights to protect soils. We offer four research priority areas that society needs to address. Arresting …


Assessing Kiln-Produced Hardwood Biochar For Improving Soil Health In A Temperate Climate Agricultural Soil, Emily J. Cole Nov 2015

Assessing Kiln-Produced Hardwood Biochar For Improving Soil Health In A Temperate Climate Agricultural Soil, Emily J. Cole

Doctoral Dissertations

Soil quality has become a major factor used in assessing sustainable land management and the overall environmental quality, food security, and economic viability of agricultural lands. Recently, biochar has been touted as having many potential uses as a soil amendment for improving soil quality, specifically improving cation exchange capacity, pH and nutrient availability. However, soil biology also plays a significant role in biogeochemical processes that influence soil health and should be included in a more comprehensive study of soil health. This dissertation describes 4 projects within the same 3-year field study with the cumulative purpose of better understanding the effect …