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]
Soil color never lies
Often, soil color is described using general terms such as “brown”, “red”, “dark”, etc. When I talk about this issue for the first time with my students of Soil Science, I use to ask them how to describe the color of a soil sample. Normally, in a few seconds, I get a list of color names ranging from dark brown to bright red, including “chocolate”, “coffee” and “ ...[Read More]
Monday paper: A dual isotope approach to isolate soil carbon pools of different turnover times
Torn, M. S., Kleber, M., Zavaleta, E. S., Zhu, B., Field, C. B., and Trumbore, S. E. 2013. A dual isotope approach to isolate soil carbon pools of different turnover times. Biogeosciences, 10, 8067-8081. DOI: 10.5194/bg-10-8067-2013. Abstract Soils are globally significant sources and sinks of atmospheric CO2. Increasing the resolution of soil carbon turnover estimates is important for predicting ...[Read More]