Recent  

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) stabilize the soil surface mainly in arid regions but are also present in Mediterranean and humid climates. We studied this stabilizing effect through wet and dry sieving along a large climatic gradient in Chile and found that the stabilization of soil aggregates persists in all climates, but their role is masked and reserved for a limited number of size fractions under humid conditions by higher vegetation and organic matter contents in the topsoil.

Historically, many peatlands in the boreal region have been drained for timber production. Given the prospects of a drier future due to climate change, wetland restorations are now increasing. Better maps hold the key to insights into restoration targets and land-use management policies, and maps are often the number one decision-support tool. We use an AI-developed soil moisture map based on laser scanning data to illustrate how the mapping of peatlands can be improved across an entire nation.

The chemical quality of biomass can be described with holocellulose (relatively easily decomposable by microorganisms) and Klason lignin (relatively recalcitrant) contents. Measuring both is laborious. In a recent study, models have been proposed which can predict both quicker from mid-infrared spectra. However, it has not been analyzed if these models make correct predictions for biomass in soils and how to improve them. We provide such a validation and a strategy for their improvement.

We found that climatic, edaphic, plant and microbial variables jointly affect soil inorganic carbon (SIC) stock in Tibetan grasslands, and biotic factors have a larger contribution than abiotic factors to the variation in SIC stock. The effects of microbial and plant variables on SIC stock weakened with soil depth, while the effects of edaphic variables strengthened. The contrasting responses and drivers of SIC stock highlight differential mechanisms underlying SIC preservation with soil depth.

Major soil carbon pools and fluxes were assessed along a climatic gradient expanding 4 °C in mean annual temperature for two important boreal conifer forest stand types. Species and a warmer climate affected soil organic matter (SOM) cycling but not stocks. Contrarily to common hypotheses, SOM lability was not reduced by warmer climatic conditions and perhaps increased. Results apply to cold and wet conditions and a stable vegetation composition along the climate gradient.

This study shows how an innovative soil and crop management including no-tillage, cover crops and organic amendments is able to improve the topsoil physical quality compared to conventional management for rainfed cereal cropping in a semi-arid Mediterranean area in Navarre (Spain).