permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <venaurafarm@bellsouth.net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [SANET-MG] Soil Ecology (Was: BBC NEWS | UK | England | 
Tyne/Wear | Researchers hail organic potatoes)
Date: Mon, 16 Jul 2007 08:55:36 +0200
From: Douglas Hinds <cedecor@GMX.NET>
Reply-To: Douglas Hinds <cedecor@gmx.net>
Organization: CeDeCoR, A.C.
To: SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU

I sent this to sanet more than an hour ago but it wasn't sent out -
perhaps due the size (over 10K). If it fails to come back again I'll
cut it down to under 10 K and try again.

---------

All interested saneters are invited to participate in this discussion.

Lawrence F. London Jr. said:

> While we're at it we might as well put together a complete list
> of all soil-dwelling growth promoting, disease preventing,
> nitrogen-fixing, soil health and biodiversity-building
> microorganisms, invertebrates and other organisms.

Right. We have to identify, catalog and build on all that's already
known; and researching that is a job in itself. So logically, we
should start by identifying the journals and data base's that cover
this orientation, that share our belief in the importance of
studying, understanding and working with -instead of against- the
beneficial microorganisms that inhabit the soil; without excluding
those sources that study microorganisms and publish data in a more
isolated or different context (i.e., biomedical data bases - which
don't show up in standard web searches).

We must also be aware of the benefits that can be derived from
realizing activities that assure the presence, activity and
diversity of these organisms in the soil of our farms; we need to
identify the substances they produce, the conditions that must be
present in order for them to flourish, reproduce and be productive,
and determine the activity (and therefore usefulness), of the
substances each one produces.

> Elaine has a list of 7 of the most important. We could use them as
> primary categories to build on.

As I understand Elaine, the majority of the soil's microorganisms
haven't even been identified and even less is known about the
substances they produce, the conditions that must be present and the
activity of each substance.

This knowledge depends on being able to study (and thereby classify)
each microorganism ALIVE and within the ecosystems that give rise to
them, and few laboratories have the capacity (much less the goal) to
do that. So that is another category we need to define: Who is doing
this research, where is it being done, and where can the results be
obtained, at no or low cost.

I discussed this issue a few years back with Diego Gonzalez,
Director (at the time) of the INIFAP (Instituto Nacional de
Investigacion Forestal y Agropecuario - the Agriculture
Secretariat's research branch) in the State of Jalisco and he said
he knew of only one researcher whose work is dedicated to these
questions here in Mexico (who I did talk to also), who was at one of
the top agricultural universities (he wasn't an INIFAP researcher).

Is the situation any different in the USA, Canada, Latin America,
Europe, Asia, Africa and the Pacific?

The home page of Soil Food Web, Inc.'s website begins with:

  "Everywhere on Earth, life on land depends on soil microbes and
  the services they provide".

OK - that's exactly what we're talking about, right?

Up to a point, because the next line, says:

  "WE measure the life in your soil."

I added emphasis to the "We" because I looked for links to other
sources of data and didn't see any. In any case, I'm sure that
Elaine would be happy to let us know who in the public or private
sectors is working with these questions and publishing their
conclusions in peer-reviewed journals; and the soil food web's
practical application of the principle's we're discussing provides a
valuable service to farmers.

Also, it may have been difficult for her to get Oregon State U. to
focus enough attention (and provide enough funding) for the research
needed on these issues, which may have led her to open her own lab.

However - the worldwide interchange and universal applicability of
science is the foundation of it's beauty and importance, and there's
a real and pressing need for locating available data, applying that
knowledge to create practical Crop, Climate and Soil Type specific,
biologically intensive farming systems, and realize hands on,
farm-based collaborative research projects assisted by laboratory
studies that confirm the presence or absence of the beneficial soil
microorganisms known to produce valuable substances in our soils,
and / or enlarge our current knowledge regarding these phenomena.

So for now, we need to identify educational and / or research
institutions offering degree programs or courses that present soil
ecology -and the living organisms responsible for creating it- as A
or THE fundamental element capable of turning agriculture into a
truly sustainable activity, as well as the researchers sharing that
vision and the studies they've published.

I know there are researchers working in these areas that subscribe
to sanet (Elaine Ingham, Joel Gruver and Michelle Schroeder -all of
whom are familiar with the current state of the art - they
contribute to it's development- and have been kind enough to send me
valuable reference documents, come to mind), and I hope we hear from
them soon, on or off sanet. To start with, what's their take on the
statements made above? Do they share this evaluation of the problem?

Regarding fundamental categories of the soils inhabitants
(unicellular and multicellular), Joel mentions:

  Bacteria
  Fungi
  Algae
  Protozoa
  Nematodes
  Microarthropods
  Enchytraeids
  Earthworms
  Ants, termites, spiders
  Mollusks
  Others:  rodents, snakes, voles, amphibians, etc.

To which I would add, armadillos.

Regarding: "What do bacteria do in soil"?
he mentions:

  Colonize aerobic and anaerobic environments
  Decompose labile substrates
  Mediate redox transformations
  Nourish bacterivores
  Fix N

Regarding What Fungi Do in the Soil?
he mentions:

  Decompose recalcitrant organic compounds
  Penetrate residues
  Stabilize soil structure
  Nourish fungivores
  Form symbioses with plant roots and soil fauna
  Compete with plant pathogens
  Parasitize plants and soil animals
  Produce toxins e.g.  aflatoxin produced by Aspergillus flavus on peanut

He doesn't specifically mention producing phyto-hormones or
antibiotic substances but the phyto-hormones are formed in symbiosis
with plant roots and antibiotics work by competing with (and thereby
interrupting) one or more of a pathogen's fundamental metabolic
processes.

His Soil Ecology Primer includes information from <http://soils.usda.gov/>:

   "Soils is part of the National Cooperative Soil Survey, an effort of
   Federal and State agencies, universities, and professional societies
   to deliver science-based soil information."

Maybe Joel can tell us where his primers on Soil Ecology and
Taxonomy can be downloaded.

Lawrence mentioned a need to establish "primary categories" and
referred to 7 categories Elaine Ingham presents. It would be
interesting to compare her classification system with the
taxonomical approach used by National Cooperative Soil Survey
mentioned by Joel and available via the above website.

The Soil Foodweb approach to soil management emphasizes the
importance of soil microorganisms and focuses on the use of compost,
compost tea and soil testing. Soil Foodweb provides information and
offers lab services and courses related to those key elements.
<http://www.soilfoodweb.com/03_about_us/approach.html> contains
links to information on compost tea theory, manufacture and
application, while <http://www.soilfoodweb.com/site_map.html> allows
visitors to the Soil Foodweb website to locate links that fill out
it's approach. I'm not sure about where soil structure, water
retention, mineral composition and acidity fit in, but they're
probably covered.

ATTRA, the National Agriculture Library (NAL), WinRock and the
principle agricultural universities' websites are other sources that
surely contain information relevant to this issue. (There's another
on-line soil library with links to an important work, original from
Russia on soil organisms not available elsewhere, but I can't
remember it's name - Lawrence, you probably have a link to it on one
of your ibiblio websites on sustainable agriculture).

Also, biologist Lynn Margulis has published a number of important
works, including:

  Five Kingdoms: An illustrated guide to the phyla of life on Earth
  (1998), and

  Symbiosis in Cell Evolution: Microbial communities in the Archean
  and Proterozoic eons (second edition, 1993).

Her classification system for organisms is unique and deserves
attention.

Incidentally, googling on "soil ecology" produced 355,000 hits,
including these (the first 10):

  The Soil Ecology Society (SES) is an international organization of 
researchers, students, environmental professionals and others interested 
in the ...
  www.wcsu.edu/ses/ses.html - 4k - Cached - Similar pages

  Soil ecology
  D C Coleman & D A Crossley in 'Fundamentals of soil ecology, 1996, 
assign functions and influence on nutrient cycling and soil structure to 
these groups in ...
  www.seafriends.org.nz/enviro/soil/ecology.htm - 55k - Cached - 
Similar pages

  Soil Ecology
  Lab Study Questions. Exam Questions from Labs. Soil Ecology Links 
.... For more information on soil ecology and soil organisms, visit The 
Microbe zoo ...
  cropsoil.psu.edu/courses/soils101/labs/ecology.html - 17k - Cached - 
Similar pages

  Gordon's Soil Ecology Page
  An Introduction to the amazing world of the soil, its inhabitants and 
their ecology.
  www.earthlife.net/insects/soileco.html - 50k - Cached - Similar pages

  Soil Ecology in the Yahoo! Directory
  Yahoo! reviewed these sites and found them related to Soil Ecology.
  dir.yahoo.com/Science/Ecology/Soil_Ecology/ - 7k - Cached - Similar pages

  Applied Soil Ecology - Elsevier
  Applied Soil Ecology addresses the role of soil organisms and their 
interactions in relation to: agricultural productivity, nutrient cycling 
and other soil ...
  www.elsevier.com/wps/product/cws_home/524518 - 68k - Cached - Similar 
pages

  GSF Soil Ecology
  The primary concern of the Institute of Soil Ecology is the 
conservation and evaluation of soil in its role as the support for 
plants and as a significant ...
  www.gsf.de/iboe/ - 8k - Cached - Similar pages

  Laboratory of Soil Ecology and Microbiology
  Research projects and publications (University of Rhode Island, USA).
  www.uri.edu/cels/nrs/seml/ - 7k - Cached - Similar pages

  Soil Ecology and Restoration Group
  Primary focus is on soils and below-ground processes in arid and 
semiarid ecosystems with emphasis on microbial ecology and 
plant-microorganism ...
  www.sci.sdsu.edu/SERG/ - 3k - Cached - Similar pages

  Soil ecology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  Soil ecology is the study of the interactions among soil organisms, 
and between biotic and abiotic aspects of the soil environment. ...
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_ecology - 22k - Cached - Similar pages

Douglas

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