Pereira P, Úbeda X, Mataix-Solera J, Oliva M, Novara A: Short-term changes in soil Munsell colour value, organic matter content and soil water repellency after a spring grassland fire in Lithuania. Solid Earth, 5, 209-225. DOI: 10.5194/se-5-209-2014. Abstract Fire is a natural phenomenon with important implications on soil properties. The degree of this impact depends upon fire severity, the ecosy ...[Read More]
Under research
Connectivity: an emerging issue
Antonio Jordán (University of Seville, Spain) Paulo Pereira (Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania) Saskia Keesstra (Wageningen University, The Netherlands) Artemi Cerdà (University of Valencia, Spain) What is connectivity? Over the recent decades, a growing number of studies have highlighted the role of hydrological and sediment connectivity processes in relation to watershed management, t ...[Read More]
Environmental Management Centre Research Group
Paulo Pereira pereiraub@gmail.com Mykolas Romeris University, Lithuania The Environmental Management Centre The Environmental Management Centre (EMC) was founded in 2013 at Mykolas Romeris University, Vilnius, Lithuania. The group is composed by young and proactive researchers from the entire world. The centre has an interdisplinary vision of science and aims to connect environmental, sociological ...[Read More]
Special issue on geo-environmental effects of wildfires
Noemí Lana-Renault Monreal noemi-solange.lana-renault@unirioja.es University of La Rioja, Spain We are glad to announce that the Special Issue on “Geo-environmental effects of wildfires”, which has been recently published by Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica (volume 40 (2), 2014). This Special Issue aims at bringing together the key impacts of wildfires on runoff, soil properties and erosion, ...[Read More]
Connecting European connectivity research (COST Action ES1306)
Saskia Keesstra E-mail: saskia.keesstra@wur.nl Deputy President of the Soil System Sciences Division of the European Geosciences Union Why connecting connectivity research? Successful prediction of pathways of storm runoff generation and associated soil erosion is of considerable societal importance, including off-site impacts such as water quality and the provision of related ecosystem services. ...[Read More]
Monday paper: Use of phytoremediation and biochar to remediate heavy metal polluted soils: a review
Paz-Ferreiro, J., Lu, H., Fu, S., Méndez, A., and Gascó, G.: Use of phytoremediation and biochar to remediate heavy metal polluted soils: a review, Solid Earth, 5, 65-75, doi:10.5194/se-5-65-2014, 2014. Soil heavy metal pollution Due to increased extraction and use by various industries, heavy metals come easily to the environment in various ways. Unlike organic substances, heavy metals can not be ...[Read More]
Mediterranean Environmental Research Group (GRAM)
By Marc Oliva The Mediterranean Environmental Research Group, (GRAM) from the University of Barcelona has over 20 years of working experience in the field of the effects of forest fires on soil properties. In 1998 the doctoral thesis entitled “Fire effects on soil properties, the role of fire intensity” carried out by Xavier Úbeda emphasized the importance of fire intensity impa ...[Read More]
Permafrost Young Researchers Network: the study of permafrost in a climate change scenario
Marc Oliva University of Lisbon, Portugal The World Climate Research Program (WCRP) and the IPCC Working Group 1 (Fourth Assessment Report) recognize the Cryosphere as one of the most significant challenges of climate science and as a major source of uncertainty in global climate projections. While the permafrost carbon feedback has been identified as potentially the largest terrestrial fee ...[Read More]
Soil colors – what more could you want?
Nuno Simões University of Algarve, Portugal E-mail: nuno_simoes58@hotmail.com We can easily see that soil color varies from one site to another, with depth, with topographic position and composition. Even color may be light brown in one side of the road and dark brown in the other. Whether for scientific purposes, or just curious, you study the colorimetric interesting variations. Why does soil co ...[Read More]
Will drinking tea get us thinking about soils? Yes, but only if you help us spread the word!
Taru Lehtinen PhD candidate at the Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Iceland tmk2@hi.is The Tea Bag Index Project wants to create a global map on decomposition with the help of citizen scientists. We use teabags to collect vital information on the global carbon cycle. With our protocol (see our web page and our article: Keuskamp et al., 2013), citizen scientists worldwide c ...[Read More]