Soil quality and classification
Projects:
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Grass for biofuel: a scoping study on the alternative use of grassland biomass in Ireland (5608)
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ISIS: Developing 1:250,000 soil mapping for Ireland with associated Soil Information System (5809)
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Integrating fundamental aspects of soil biological processes into environmental research (5882)
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Soil Library (Archive from the National Soil Database) (5884)
Grass for biofuel: a scoping study on the alternative use of grassland biomass in Ireland (5608)
Project leader: R. Schulte
Start and end date: Sept 06 – Sept 09
Abstract:
Collaborations: Biorefinery Irl, Wageningen University (NL)
Publications:
ISIS: Irish Soil Information System. Developing 1:250,000 soil mapping for Ireland with associated Soil Information System (5809)
Project leader: R. Creamer
Start and end date: Jan 08 – Jun 13
Abstract: The demise of the national Soil Survey in Ireland has left a serious data deficit in the soils thematic area. This project will address this issue through the application of modern digital soil mapping techniques deployed in tandem with traditional field survey techniques for sampling and validation. A representative profile description database will be created for the 56% of Ireland that remains unsurveyed beyond general reconnaissance level. This complex project is built on the inclusion of participants with the best experience and skill sets that can be employed to produce high quality output to specification. The final products will provide a strengthened Irish national response to emergent policy and legislative developments in the environmental area.
Key outputs from this project will be a 1:250,000 soils map of Ireland and an associated Soil Information System which will be fully open and accessible to all. The detailed research aspects of this project will provide key contributions to developments internationally in soils research. A significant number of peer reviewed papers are anticipated along with national reports detailing the results from individual sub projects. The project will provide significant advancement of national capacity in tandem with new employment in the soils thematic area. Of particular importance will be the creation of a common framework for the provision of soil data to the stakeholder community to enable maximum benefit to be derived from Irish soil data.
Collaborations: Cranfield University, UCD
Publications:
Walsh Fellowship Cluster: Soil Processes (5811)
Project leader: R. Creamer
Start and end date: Nov 07 – Dec 10
Abstract:
Current agro-environmental challenges to agriculture can no longer be addressed by single-disciplinary research and mitigation approaches, since individual abatement strategies may well be mutually antagonistic. Instead, Irish agriculture requires an integrated, multi-disciplinary strategy for environmental sustainability in a competitive market-climate. As part of the Johnstown Castle Research Strategy, we have identified that this strategy should be based on a solid understanding of the soil processes that are the interface between agriculture, nutrient efficiency, gaseous emission, water quality, and soil functioning.
Historically, soil science in Teagasc, and indeed elsewhere, has largely been based on the classical disciplines of soil chemistry, agronomy, soil physics, etc. However, an integration of all these disciplines is required to understand soils systems as the interface between agriculture and the environment. Currently, there is no expertise available in Ireland to develop this multi-disciplinary paradigm on Soil Systems Research. For this reason, Johnstown Castle has now formed a Strategic Alliance with Cranfield University, UK, which has a proven cutting-edge track record in this research area. The Cluster of Walsh Fellows proposed here will spend considerable time at Cranfield for formal training and training-through-research, and these direct links will facilitate the creation of new critical mass in Teagasc on Soil Systems Research
Collaborations: Cranfield
Publications:
Integrating fundamental aspects of soil biological processes into environmental research (5882)
Project leader: B. Griffiths
Start and end date: Apr 08 – Apr 13
Abstract: It is increasingly recognised that soils are the interface between agriculture and the water, air, and biotic environments, e.g. it is in soils where crop yield meets nutrient mineralisation, nitrate leaching meets nitrous oxide emissions, ecology meets nutrient remediation, and grassland agronomy meets plant ecology. Therefore, Teagasc aims to spearhead research into understanding the complex of fundamental soil processes that underlie the environmental sustainability of production systems, with a view to develop a new paradigm of soil functioning.
The focus of this new research programme will be on:
1) Understanding the interaction between carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics as part of the biotic soil environment at the microbial level. C/N dynamics in soils determine nitrogen mineralisation, potential for nitrate leaching, nitrous oxide emissions, as well as carbon sequestration or carbon emissions.
2) Understanding of the interactions between soil ecology (including microbial, meso-fauna and macro-fauna) and soil functioning in terms of soil quality, nutrient remediation and pathogen buffering
3) Understanding of the interactions between above-ground and below-ground ecology
4) Integrating the emerging molecular and other novel technologies with the existing skillbase to answer fundamental questions with practical applications.
The following diagrams, taken from T-Research (Volume 3, number 4) show that even a highly simplified soil food web and soil nitrogen cycle are complex. This project aims to further our understanding of these systems.
Collaborations: INRA, SCRI, NUIG, UCD, WIT
Publications:
DONN, S., GRIFFITHS, B.S., NEILSON, R. and DANIELL, T.J. (2008) DNA extraction from soil nematodes for multi-sample community studies. Applied Soil Ecology 38, 20-26.
GRIFFITHS, B.S., HALLETT, P.D., KUAN, H.L., GREGORY, A.S., WATTS, C.W. and WHITMORE, A.P. (2008) Functional resilience of soil microbial communities depends on both soil structure and microbial community composition. Biology and Fertility of Soils 44: 745-754.
BOHANEC, M., MESSÉAN, A., SCATASTA, S., ANGEVIN, F., GRIFFITHS, B.S., KROGH, P.H., ŽNIDARŠIČ, M. and DŽEROSKI, S. (2008) A qualitative multi-attribute model for economic and ecological assessment of genetically modified crops, Ecological Modelling 215, 247-261.
GRIFFITHS, B.S., CAUL, S., THOMPSON, J., HACKETT, C.A., CORTET, J., PERNIN, C. and KROGH, P.H. (2008) Soil microbial and faunal responses to herbicide tolerant maize and herbicide in two soils. Plant and Soil 308, 93-103.
LIU, M., CHEN, X., QIN, J., WANG, D., GRIFFITHS, B.S. and HU, F. (2008) A sequential extraction procedure reveals that water management affects soil nematode communities in paddy fields. Applied Soil Ecology 40, 250-259.
CLARHOLM, M., BONKOWSKI, M. and GRIFFITHS, B.S. (2007) Protozoa and other protista in soil. In: Modern soil microbiology, 2nd edition. VAN ELSAS, J.D., JANSSON, J.K. and TREVORS, J.T. (eds). CRC Press, Boca Raton. pp. 147-175.
GRIFFITHS, B.S., CHRISTENSEN, S. and BONKOWSKI, M. (2007) Microfaunal interactions in the rhizosphere, how nematodes and protozoa link above- and below-ground processes. In: The Rhizosphere: An ecological perspective. CARDON, Z. and WHITBECK, J. (eds). Elsevier, Amsterdam. pp. 57-71.
GRIFFITHS, B.S. (2008). What lies beneath: digging deeper into the science of soils T Research 3 (4) 42-44.
Soil Library (Archive from the National Soil Database) (5884)
Project leader: R. Creamer
Start and end date: Jan 08 – Dec 12
Abstract: The National Soil Database has produced a national database of soil geochemistry including point and spatial distribution maps of major nutrients, major elements, essential trace elements, trace elements of special interest and minor elements. In addition, this study has generated a National Soil Archive, comprising bulk soil samples each of which represent a valuable resource for future soils research in Ireland. The geographical coherence of the geochemical results was considered to be predominantly underpinned by underlying parent material and glacial geology. Other factors such as soil type, land use, anthropogenic effects and climatic effects were also evident. The coherence between elements, as displayed by multivariate analyses, was evident in this study. Examples included strong relationships between Co, Fe, As, Mn and Cu. T
Collaborations: NUIG EPA
Review and gap analysis of research pertaining to soil threats relevant to Irish agricultural systems (5879)
Project leader: R. Creamer
Start and end date: Aug 08 – Dec 09
Abstract: Soil provides a growing medium for food and fibre, a platform for infrastructure and a large component of biodiversity found on the planet. In addition soil plays a vital role in supporting the other main ecosystem compartments of air and water; through nutrient cycling and sequestration. Soil is often considered a non-renewable natural resource because it develops over very long time scales and therefore the conservation of soil quality must be placed on a similar footing as protection of air and water quality. Currently a Soil Framework Directive is under development to provide European legislation pertaining to soil quality and threats.
The objective of this study is to identify the soil threats, as stipulated by the EC (Draft Soil Framework Directive) relevant to Irish agricultural systems and the research challenges arising from 1) gaps in current research, 2) national legislation compliance 3) stakeholders perspectives on soil quality in an agricultural context. This project will form the basis of future research strategy for the programme on soil quality and classification and will identify links with other Teagasc centres to enhance cross-institute collaboration.
Collaborations: Oak Park, EPA
