Abstract: Soils associated with wet and ephemerally wet environments, i.e. wet soils, cover an area greater than 12.1 million km2; inland wetlands deliver at least Int$27.0 trillion in tangible and intangible benefits. However, due to their intimate association with wet environments, wet soils are at risk of degradation during drought events. This review investigates the …
Continue reading In simple terms: Drought effects on wet soils in inland wetlands and peatlands
An interesting talk I went to once discussed biofilms in public buildings such as hospitals and schools. The speaker had collected pipe samples from a variety of buildings and had analysed the scum growing inside for common disease-causing microbes. From memory, they had found Legionella in a fairly high proportion of these films. The conclusion …
There are many types of ‘black’ waters around the world: places, wastes, natural waters, and… hypoxic blackwater. Natural waters are a simple enough thing in Australia at least: water stained to a dark brown by tannins in the barks, woods, and leaves that end up in pools. Best observed in rock pools or sandy pools …
Abstract: Background: Microbial interactions shape the structure and function of microbial communities; microbial co-occurrence networks in specific environments have been widely developed to explore these complex systems, but their interconnection pattern across microbiomes in various environments at the global scale remains unexplored. Here, we have inferred an Earth microbial co-occurrence network from a communal catalog …
Two common complaints at the ABC Gardener’s Market were ‘my soil pH is too acid’ and ‘my soil pH is too alkaline’. Anyone that grows ornamental or consumable plants should be interested in their soil pH. Too alkaline and plants will struggle for nutrients; too acid and they can both struggle for nutrient and succumb …
I work on soil biogeochemical cycling in wet soils, which I understand is basically French to an English only speaker. Biogeochemical cycling and nutrient cycling are basically the same thing – biogeochemistry simple means any natural chemical reaction in the environment that has something to do with ‘life’ while nutrient cycling is a suite of …
Soil colour conveys a wealth of information. Not only are soil colours a key diagnostic feature of horizonation (and therefore classification) but they can also tell you about soil organic matter, clay mineralogy, salt and carbonate accumulations, and drainage conditions. Most people know that dark brown or black soils are good for growing plants. Why? …
‘Soil’ is composed of the mineral particles, organic matter, and living organisms of a sample that pass through a 2 mm sieve. I’m not going to give a precise definition of ‘soil’ because, to a certain degree, it depends on what you want it to be. Some might argue that beach sand is (or is …
Abstract: In pine forest litters, decomposition rate is directly affected by the pathway the needle followed to the ground, whether that was via programmed apoptosis and abscission or via stress induced loss through branch damage or tree death. Stress induced losses may occur due to fire damage, which leads to a post-fire litter layer composed …
Abstract: Under conditions of increased fire season length and area affected by fire, stocks of carbon stored in forests are at increased risk of burning. While much research has investigated the immediate loss of above ground and below ground carbon stocks through combustion during a fire, there has been little research on subsequent organic matter …
Erinne Stirling 