Tag Archives: Soil

The Soil Will Save Us – Kristin Ohlson

by Myrna Posted on October 18, 2019

READ GREEN WITH E-BOOKS

The Soil Will Save Us

How Scientists, Farmers, and Foodies Are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet

Kristin Ohlson

Genre: Nature

Price: $1.99

Publish Date: March 18, 2014

Publisher: Potter/Ten Speed/Harmony/Rodale

Seller: Penguin Random House LLC


Journalist and bestselling author Kristin Ohlson makes an elegantly argued, passionate case for "our great green hope"—a way in which we can not only heal the land but also turn atmospheric carbon into beneficial soil carbon—and potentially reverse global warming. Thousands of years of poor farming and ranching practices—and, especially, modern industrial agriculture—have led to the loss of up to 80 percent of carbon from the world's soils. That carbon is now floating in the atmosphere, and even if we stopped using fossil fuels today, it would continue warming the planet.  As the granddaughter of farmers and the daughter of avid gardeners, Ohlson has long had an appreciation for the soil. A chance conversation with a local chef led her to the crossroads of science, farming, food, and environmentalism and the discovery of the only significant way to remove carbon dioxide from the air—an ecological approach that tends not only to plants and animals but also to the vast population of underground microorganisms that fix carbon in the soil. Ohlson introduces the visionaries—scientists, farmers, ranchers, and landscapers—who are figuring out in the lab and on the ground how to build healthy soil, which solves myriad problems: drought, erosion, air and water pollution, and food quality, as well as climate change. Her discoveries and vivid storytelling will revolutionize the way we think about our food, our landscapes, our plants, and our relationship to Earth.

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The Soil Will Save Us – Kristin Ohlson

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12 of the Best Cover Crops for Your Garden

by GuadaluMJXP Posted on September 4, 2017

Also known as green manure, cover crops are plants grown for the purpose of adding organic matter to your soil.

Organic matter from broken down plant material is vital for soil health. Not only does it contain essential nutrients for the growth of new plants, organic matter also stores carbon in the soil. This is important for maintaining the earth?s atmosphere and mitigating climate change.

Cover crops are typically planted in the fall or early spring when your garden beds are empty. You can also plant them in open areas during your growing season.

They can either be pulled up or tilled under when finished, or left in place to die over winter. It?s best to wait 3 to 5 weeks after tilling for the cover crop to decompose before planting any food or ornamental plants.

Almost any plant could be used as a cover crop, although the plants given below stand out because they?re fast, easy to grow and have proven benefits for your soil. You can get seeds at most garden centers or online retailers.

1. Alfalfa

Scientific name: Medicago sativa

Benefits: Alfalfa?s long tap roots are good for breaking up hard soils, which improves soil aeration and drainage. The long roots can also bring up trace minerals from deep in the soil. Alfalfa is a legume that fixes nitrogen in the soil.

Hardiness: Perennial in USDA zones 3 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring

Maintenance: Can be tilled under in summer or fall. Good to shear the plants periodically to prevent flowering and seeding.

2. Barley

Scientific name: Hordeum vulgare

Benefits: Barley has a short growing season, so it is ideal for northern gardens. It produces more biomass in a shorter time than other cereal grasses used for cover crops. Barley is also drought resistant.

Hardiness: Annual, but can live over winter in USDA zones 8 and higher. Barley will die over winter in lower zones.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring in lower zones, or fall for zones 8 or higher.

Maintenance: Barley does not reseed very well, so you can let it grow throughout your regular season, and let it die over winter in lower zones or till in spring for higher zones.

3. Berseem Clover

Scientific name: Trifolium alexandrinum

Benefits: Berseem clover builds the most nitrogen in your soil compared to all other legume crops. It also creates the most biomass of all the clovers.

Hardiness: Annual, but can live over winter in USDA zones 8 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring or early summer in lower zones, or fall for zones 8 or higher.

Maintenance: If you cut or mow the plants prior to seed set, they can grow back at least 2 to 3 times over your growing season to provide more organic matter.

4. Common Buckwheat

Scientific name: Fagopyrum esculentum

Benefits: Buckwheat can germinate within days of planting if planted in warmer weather. It can tolerate drought and poor soils. It will start to bloom after about 5 weeks and is excellent for supporting bees and other pollinators.

Hardiness: There are a few different varieties of buckwheat. Some are perennial, but common buckwheat is an annual. This is ideal because it dies over winter.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring or early summer

Maintenance: Mow or cut down buckwheat within two weeks of the first flowering if you want to avoid setting seed.

5. Crimson Clover

Scientific name: Trifolium incarnatum

Benefits: The fastest growing annual nitrogen fixer, which makes it great for fall seeding. Grows well in many conditions, including shade.

Hardiness: Annual, but can live over winter in USDA zones 8 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Due to its rapid growth, you can seed in spring, summer or fall.

Maintenance: Cutting or mowing when crimson clover starts to set flower buds will kill the plants. If you want it to flower and reseed, it will naturally die back after flowering.

6. Fall Mustards

Scientific names: Sinapsis alba (aka. Brassica hirta), Brassica juncea, or Brassica nigra

Benefits: All plants in the cabbage family have been shown to release biotoxic compounds that act against bacteria, fungi, insects, nematodes and weeds. These compounds are especially high in mustard crops.

Hardiness: Annuals, but may live over winter in USDA zones 8 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring or summer

Maintenance: The biotoxic compounds of mustards are only released when individual plant cells are ruptured. In order to maximize this, it?s best to till the plants under to break them up and incorporate them into the soil during your growing season.

7. Fall or Winter Rye

Scientific name: Secale cereale

Benefits: Rye is the hardiest cereal crop, so it makes an excellent winter cover crop in most climates. Rye quickly establishes a dense root system, which effectively suppresses weeds and breaks up hard soils.

Hardiness: Annual, but will live over winter in USDA zone 3 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring or fall

Maintenance: Beneficial to cut the plants periodically to prevent flowering and seeding.

8. Field Peas

Scientific name: Pisum sativum subsp. arvense

Benefits: Field peas grow rapidly in cool, moist weather. Their succulent stems break down easily for a quick source of available nitrogen.

Hardiness: Annual, but will live over winter in USDA zone 6 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Early spring

Maintenance: Field peas tend to stop growing in hot weather, so they?re best grown in spring and tilled under in early summer.


Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

9. Hairy Vetch

Scientific name: Vicia villosa

Benefits: Hairy vetch is the hardiest legume cover crop, so it overwinters well and provides plenty of soil nitrogen for spring.

Hardiness: Annual, but will live over winter in USDA zone 4 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Fall

Maintenance: Hairy vetch grows slowly at first, but will continue establishing roots over winter. In spring, it grows long, vine-like branches up to 12 feet (3.7 meters) long. This provides great biomass as long as you have a tiller strong enough to break them up. Otherwise, cut hairy vetch early to prevent its extensive growth.

10. Marigolds

Scientific name: Tagetes species

Benefits: Marigolds can control a variety of pests, including nematodes, fungi, bacteria, weeds and insects. Research has shown marigolds are most effective when planted in large quantities as a cover crop.

Hardiness: Annual, will die as soon as temperatures reach freezing.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring

Maintenance: Can be tilled under in summer or fall.

Related: Do Marigolds Really Repel Garden Pests?

11. Oats

Scientific name: Avena sativa

Benefits: Oats grow well in cool weather, so they can be planted in the fall. They also can improve the productivity of legumes when planted in a mixture.

Hardiness: Annual, but can live over winter in USDA zones 7 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Summer or fall alone, or spring as part of a mixture with legumes.

Maintenance: When planted in spring, oats can be tilled under with your legume crop. If planting in summer or fall alone, try to seed them 40 to 60 days before your first frost. This will give them enough time to mature, but they will be winter killed before they set seed.

12. White Clover

Scientific name: Trifolium repens

Benefits: White clover can make a good living mulch in areas such as footpaths, between shrubs and trees, or on slopes. It only grows 6 to 12 inches (15 to 30 centimeters) high and does well with regular mowing or foot traffic.

Hardiness: Perennial in USDA zones 3 and higher.

Best time to sow seeds: Spring or summer

Maintenance: Can be tilled under in summer or fall, or left as a long-term, nitrogen-fixing groundcover.

Related
How to Share Extra Bounty from Your Garden with the Community
9 Mistakes to Avoid When Planting a New Vegetable Garden
Which Type of Mulch Is Best for Your Garden?

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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12 of the Best Cover Crops for Your Garden

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A Crucial Climate Mystery Is Just Under Our Feet

by LibbyHammqmm Posted on April 15, 2017

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.

What Jonathan Sanderman really wanted was some old dirt. He called everyone he could think of who might know where he could get some. He emailed colleagues and read through old studies looking for clues, but he kept coming up empty.

Sanderman was looking for old dirt because it would let him test a plan to save the world. Soil scientists had been talking about this idea for decades: farmers could turn their fields into giant greenhouse gas sponges, potentially offsetting as much as 15 percent of global fossil fuel emissions a year, simply by coaxing crops to suck more CO2 out of the air.

There was one big problem with this idea: It could backfire. When plants absorb CO2 they either turn it into food or stash it in the ground. The risk is that if you treat farms as carbon banks, it could lead to smaller harvests, which would spur farmers to plow more land and pump more carbon into the air than before.

Back in 2011, when Sanderman was working as a soil scientist in Australia (he’s now at Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts), he’d figured out a way to test if it was possible to produce bumper crops on a piece of land while also banking carbon in it. But first, he needed to get his hands on that really old dirt.

Specifically, he needed to find a farm that kept decades of soil samples and precise records of its yields. That way he could compare the amount of carbon in the soil with the harvest and see if storing carbon kneecapped production.

Sanderman’s office was in the southern city of Adelaide, directly across the street from the Waite Agricultural Research Institute. The researchers there supposedly had the soil and records that Sanderman needed, dating back to 1925. But no one had any idea where to find the dirt. After numerous dead ends, a chain of clues led Sanderman into the basement of a big research building down the road, covered in greenhouses.

The basement was a big, dimly lit room full of floor-to-ceiling shelves crammed with boxes in various stages of disarray. He walked the rows slowly, scanning up and down until they were in front of his nose: scores of gallon jars made of thick, leaded glass with yellowing labels. “Like something you’d find in a second-hand store and put on your shelf,” Sanderman says.

He felt a rush of excitement. Then he squinted at the labels. There were no dates or locations. Instead, each bore a single series of numbers. It was a code, and Sanderman had no clue how to crack it.

The question that Sanderman wanted to answer was laid out by the Canadian soil scientist Henry Janzen. In 2006, Janzen published a paper, “The soil carbon dilemma: Shall we hoard it or use it?” Janzen pointed out that since the dawn of agriculture, farmers have been breeding crops that suck carbon out of the air and put it on our plates, rather than leaving it behind in the soil.

“Grain is 45 percent carbon by weight,” Janzen told me. “So when you truck away a load of grain, you are exporting carbon which, in a natural system, would have mostly returned to the soil.”

Janzen has the rare ability to explain complicated things with such clarity that, when talking to him, you may catch yourself struck with wonder at an utterly new glimpse of how the world works. Plants, he explained, perform a kind of alchemy. They combine air, water, and the sun’s fire to make food. And this alchemical combination that we call food is, in fact, a battery—a molecular trap for the sun’s energy made of broken-down CO2 and H2O (you know, air and water).

Sugars are the simplest batteries. And sugars are also the building blocks for fat and fiber, which are just bigger, more complicated batteries. Ferns, trees, and reeds are the sum of those parts. Bury these batteries for thousands of years under conditions of immense heat and pressure, and they transform again—still carrying the sun’s energy—into coal, oil, and gas.

To feed our growing population, we keep extracting more and more carbon from farms to deliver solar energy to our bodies. Janzen pointed out that we’ve bred crops to grow bigger seeds (the parts we eat) and smaller roots and stems (the parts that stay on the farm). All of this diverts carbon to our bellies that would otherwise go into the ground. This leads to what Janzen dubbed the soil carbon dilemma: Can we both increase soil carbon and increase harvests? Or do we have to pick one at the expense of the other?

Sanderman thought he could help answer those questions if he could crack the codes on those glass bottles. But the codes on the labels didn’t line up with the notes that Waite researchers had made. After a flurry of anguished emails, Sanderman tracked down a technician who had worked at Waite 25 years earlier, and she showed him how to decode the numbers. Finally, after a year of detective work, he could run his tests.

In January, Sanderman and his colleagues published their results. Carbon wasn’t simply going into the ground and staying there, they found; it was getting chewed up by microbes and floating into the air again. Fields with the biggest harvests had the most carbon turnover: more microbes chewing, while carbon gas streamed out of the soil.

Bizarrely enough, these same fields with the biggest harvests also had the most carbon in their soils. How could this be?

To answer that, it helps to think of carbon like money. We have an impulse to hide our savings under a mattress. But if you want more money, you have to invest it.

It’s the same with carbon. Life on earth is an economy that runs on carbon—the conduit for the sun’s energy. You have to keep it working and moving if you want your deposits to grow. The more busily plants and microbes trade carbon molecules, the more prosperous the ecological economy becomes.

That’s the key—you’ve got to use carbon to store carbon. By amping up harvest and turning up the volume on the microbes, sure, you get higher carbon emissions, but you also get more vigorous plants sucking up even more carbon. That, in turn, gives the plants enough carbon to produce a big harvest with a surplus left over to feed the dirt.

“You can have your soil carbon and eat it, too,” Sanderman says.

Is all this too good to be true? Soil scientist Whendee Silver at U.C. Berkeley had some reservations about Sanderman’s methods. She wondered if the Australian soils that he studied might have changed during decades of storage, and if the results would have been different if researchers had looked at more than just the top 10 centimeters of soil.

That said, Silver thought Sanderman’s conclusions made sense: Grow more stuff, and you get more carbon left behind in the soil. Rattan Lal, director of the Carbon Management and Sequestration Center at Ohio State, also gave the study his seal of approval.

The implications are huge. The study suggests we can slow climate change simply by feeding people. But there’s a gap between discovering something and putting it to use.

Solving one puzzle often opens up many, many more. Humphry Davy invented the electric light in 1802, but lightbulbs weren’t available for regular use until Thomas Edison’s day, 75 years later.

In this case, Sanderman’s sleuthing provides a proof of concept. To apply it, farmers would have to get more plants turning carbon to sugars on every acre of land. Now scientists and policy makers just need to find the barriers that prevent farmers from putting this knowledge into practice.

One issue is that the high-yield Australian fields in Sanderson’s study were growing grass, not wheat or corn. Grass directs its carbon into roots that stay in the soil, while grains are bred to shove carbon into their seeds. That doesn’t compromise the point of the study; the grass was still able to produce tons of hay for harvest while also making the dirt carbon-rich.

But it does add a new riddle: How do we get food crops to act like grass and spend more of their carbon budget on their roots, while still producing bountiful harvests?

The simplest answer, Janzen says, would be to boost yields. Anything farmers can do to allow more plants to thrive—like improving nutrition, irrigation, and protection from insects—will mean more carbon flowing into the soil. And in the long run, breeding for more roots as well as more grain will be a key to getting carbon into the ground without losing food production. Ultimately, that requires improving on photosynthesis, which is as difficult as putting a man on the moon (yep, scientists are working on it).

Another approach is to grow plants on fields that would otherwise be bare. By rolling out a carpet of green during the winter, farms could suck more carbon from the air into the soil. Some farmers are already doing this—growing cover crops like clover and ryegrass and experimenting with a suite of techniques often called “climate-smart agriculture.”

But there’s yet another barrier here: money. For farmers, the costs of planting cover crops often outweigh the immediate benefits. That’s why Ohio State’s Lal argues that farmers should get some help. “We have to recognize that farmers are making an investment that benefits society as a whole,” she says. “They should be compensated. My estimate is $16 per acre per year.”

Some companies have already started paying farmers to employ these techniques, says Roger Wolf, director of the Iowa Soy Association’s environmental programs. These corporations see a trend toward sustainability, with more of their customers pushing for environmental stewardship, and are trying to get out in front of it. The food and cosmetics giant Unilever and the grain trader ADM offer farmers a premium price for adhering to practices that accrue carbon.

Ever since people began pushing seeds into the dirt, we’ve been eating away the carbon from our topsoil. Now we’re finally developing the knowledge necessary to pump that carbon back into the ground. We have a proof of concept and Sanderson has taken the next logical step: He’s working on creating the tools farmers need to put this knowledge into practice. It’s one more link in the chain humans are forging to hold back the worst ravages of climate change.

Continued: 

A Crucial Climate Mystery Is Just Under Our Feet

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How Much Do You Actually Have to Water Your Plants?

by ArlenEusebio23 Posted on June 29, 2016

Efficient watering practices can save you a lot of time and money, as well as preserving our planets resources. A bit of planning and a good understanding of your soil will help your plants thrive on less water.

What kind of soil do you have?

The main components of soil are sand, clay and organic matter. A good balance will give you a crumbly, easy-to-dig soil that takes up water easily.

Dig a few small holes around your yard to see your soils structure. A soil with too much sand is grainy and drains very quickly. Sandy soils benefit from adding lots of organic matter to hold in the water.

Clay soils can feel like concrete when theyre dry and will absorb water very slowly. Once clay soil is wet, it can become dense and oversaturated with very little oxygen or space for plant roots. Adding gypsum (calcium sulphate), sand or organic matter will help break up clay soils.

For containers, its best to use commercial potting mixes based on peat moss or coconut fiber. Both of these are organic materials that hold water well and are still light enough for pots and hanging baskets. Soil straight from your garden is usually too heavy.

How to Judge When Your Plants Need Water

1. Container Plants

Lift up your containers or hanging baskets when possible to gauge their water content. If theyre too large to lift, use your finger or a soil probe to check how far down the pot has dried out. Its time to water when the container is dry about half way down.

Add water until it comes out the bottom of the pot. Check back in 5 to 10 minutes to see if the water absorbed. If the container still feels dry, keep adding water in small doses until the soil is saturated.

2. Outdoor Areas

The roots of perennial plants, shrubs and trees generally grow in the top 12 inches (30 centimeters) of soil. The roots of lawns and annual plants, including most vegetables, are typically in the top 6 inches (15 centimeters) of soil.

These are the depths youll need to water to for each type of plant. The actual amount of water you need to apply will vary depending on your soil structure.

When you water an area for the first time, use your finger or a shovel to check the soil every few minutes and see how far down the water has penetrated. Take note of how long it took to reach the needed depth.

Continue to monitor your soil and keep track of how long it takes to dry out again. Drought-tolerant plants will be able to handle drying out to the bottom of their root zone. Whereas, plants with higher water needs should only dry out to around half the depth of their root zone.

This will give you a basic idea of how long you should water each area of your garden and how often.

The last step is to make sure your watering system is as efficient as possible. Try the following tips to get started.

How to Reduce the Amount You Water

Water at cooler times of day. You can lose a lot of water to evaporation when its hot. Morning is often the best time to water because its the coolest time of day. You can also set your automatic irrigation system to run during the night.

Dont panic. Its normal for some of your plants to wilt in the mid-afternoon sun to conserve water. Wait until the sun goes down to check whether or not the wilt is permanent. If your plants dont perk up again by morning, its time to water.

Choose drought-tolerant plants when possible. Many varieties of ornamental annual and perennial plants do well with limited water. You can also get lawn seed mixes designed for dryer conditions.

Group plants by water needs. This can make watering much easier. For instance, you can group drought-tolerant plants together in a difficult-to-access corner of your yard, or plant your most water-demanding veggies at the front of your beds near a hose.

Have a flexible watering schedule. Take advantage of cooler weather periods to reduce how often you water. Also keep in mind that young seedlings or new plantings will have smaller root systems than when mature. These will need shallower, more frequent irrigation until they get established.

Water slowly. Too much water at one time will simply run out of a container or off the soil surface in garden beds. When watering by hand, go over a container or outdoor area a few times rather than trying to do it all at once. Or look for an automatic irrigation system that can deliver smaller amounts of water over longer periods of time.

Make use of technology. Many automatic irrigation systems can make watering more efficient, such as drip irrigation, soaker hoses or overhead sprinklers. Automatic timers are also very useful. You can get simple timers that are battery powered or more complicated systems that are wired into your house.

Track your water. A general recommendation is to apply 1 to 2 inches (2.5 to 5 centimeters) of water to your garden per week. This is easiest to track with automatic irrigation systems that deliver set amounts of water. You can also check hand watering by attaching a flow meter to the hose spigot. About 60 gallons (227 liters) will provide 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) of water over 100 square feet (9 square meters).

Keep your ground covered. A layer of mulch, ground cloth or rocks will help stop evaporation from the soil and keep it moist. Planting a living ground cover is another great option.

Focus on the roots. Water should be applied as close to the root zone as possible. Water left on the leaves is often lost through evaporation. It can also cause sun damage on a hot day or promote leaf diseases. Try to get underneath the plants when youre hand watering, or choose drip irrigation systems instead of overhead sprayers.

Related:
12 Ways to Get Rid of Aggressive Weeds Without Resorting to Roundup
5 Surprising Animals You Didnt Realize Were Pollinators
How to Use Food Scraps to Control Pests and Help Your Garden Thrive

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

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How Much Do You Actually Have to Water Your Plants?

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Show your love with earth-friendly flowers

by ElsaCoventry Posted on February 13, 2016

green4us

White Dwarf Issue 107: 13th February 2016 (Tablet Edition) – White Dwarf

The ancient Space Wolf returns! That’s right, Ulric the Slayer, greatest and most ancient of the Space Wolves’ Wolf Priests returns, and alongside him a brand new Space Wolves Iron Priest. We’ve got a first look at these heroes of Fenris, including painting guides for each of them in Paint Splatter and full rules for […]

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Codex: Space Wolves – Wulfen Edition (Enhanced Edition) – Games Workshop

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Spark Joy – Marie Kondo

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Show your love with earth-friendly flowers

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Why is this Colorado river orange?

by Myrna Posted on August 10, 2015

EPA to blame for the catastrophe on the Animas. See more here:  Why is this Colorado river orange? ; ; ;

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Why is this Colorado river orange?

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Nicotine-like pesticide blamed in bee deaths widespread in Midwestern rivers

by EddyAtfxhxwqthx Posted on July 29, 2014

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Cesar Millan’s Short Guide to a Happy Dog – Cesar Millan

After more than 9 seasons as TV’s Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan has a new mission: to use his unique insights about dog psychology to create stronger, happier relationships between humans and their canine companions. Now in paperback, this inspirational and practical guide draws on thousands of training encounters around the world to present 98 essential lesso

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White Dwarf Issue 26: 26 July 2014 – White Dwarf

Bursting through the cloud layer like the snout of a flying mechanical wolf stuffed full of bloodthirsty maniacs, the Stormfang Gunship makes its grand entrance this week and is accompanied by full rules and a Paint Splatter guide. In issue 26 you’ll also find a guide to the Great Companies of the Space Wolves, designers notes and more. About this Serie

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The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition) – Monks of New Skete

For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond. In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as t

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How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes,

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White Dwarf Issue 25: 19 July 2014 – White Dwarf

The new Sector Imperialis Realm of Battle board is here, and that means an amazing new battleground for your games of Warhammer 40,000. We show you exactly how cool it is with a very urban Battle Report, along with painting guides and tips, the return of Dark Vengeance, Hall of Fame and much more besides. White Dwarf is Games Workshop’s weekly magazine,

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Travels With Casey – Benoit Denizet-Lewis

A moody Labrador and his insecure human take a funny, touching cross-country RV trip into the heart of America’s relationship with dogs. “I don’t think my dog likes me very much,” New York Times Magazine writer Benoit Denizet-Lewis confesses at the beginning of his journey with his nine-year-old Labrador-mix, Casey. Over the next four months, thirty-two stat

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The Damnation of Pythos – David Annandale

In the aftermath of the Dropsite Massacre at Isstvan V, a battered and bloodied force of Iron Hands, Raven Guard and Salamanders regroups on a seemingly insignificant death world. Fending off attacks from all manner of monstrous creatures, the fractious allies find hope in the form of human refugees fleeing from the growing war, and cast adrift upon the tide

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Nicotine-like pesticide blamed in bee deaths widespread in Midwestern rivers

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Former Queens Fort Revamped for Work on Ecology

by Myrna Posted on March 27, 2014

Fort Totten Park has a laboratory and sleeping quarters for visiting scientists who are happy to get their fingernails dirty in urban soil. Excerpt from:  Former Queens Fort Revamped for Work on Ecology ; ;Related ArticlesNew Mexico Reaps Pecan Bounty as Other States StruggleMost Chinese Cities Fail Pollution Standard, China SaysDanish Zoo Reviled in the Death of a Giraffe Kills 4 Lions ;

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Former Queens Fort Revamped for Work on Ecology

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Fungi could help boost crops and slow global warming

by DieterSkillern Posted on January 14, 2014

Fungi could help boost crops and slow global warming

By

k.segars

Mmmm, fungi.

If not for an underground love affair between the fungal and plant kingdoms, today’s planet would be a far less hospitable place.

Mycorrhizal fungi are critical for more varieties of crops than are bees — nine out of 10 crops have roots that are encrusted with these fungal tentacles. The fungi rummage through soil, fetching water and nutrients and delivering them to the roots of crops and other plants, receiving carbon-rich sugars produced through photosynthesis in return. The fungi protect the plants, which they are basically farming for sugar, from diseases and drought. The myco relationship was formed some 460 million years ago, allowing plants to migrate from the sea onto land, where they started helpfully drawing carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, stowing carbon in the soil, and releasing oxygen into the air.

As scientists search for new ways to boost crop yields, they are turning their attention to this ancient and oft-ignored union between plants and fungus. Along the way, their research could have the additional benefit of slowing down climate change. From a magazine piece that I wrote recently for The Ascender:

The power of myco fungus lies in its partnership with plants. The relationship is known as mutualism — each species benefits. But what if we could make a fungus more generous — turn it into a selfless worker that fetches nitrogen, phosphorous and water for plants while asking for a pittance in return?

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam researcher Toby Kiers thinks cheap-date-tolerating fungi hold promise for the ecosystems of the future — a world in which land recovers more quickly and produces more bountiful crops than ever before.

Kiers is preparing to conduct a series of experiments using different strains of myco fungi. She has secured funding to watch mycelia squeeze through tiny mazes, peering at them through microscopes as they trade nutrients with plants for sugars under different conditions. The goal, she says, is to “study their decision-making skills.”

And here’s Modern Farmer describing research by Monsanto, which is studying how fine-tuning myco fungi and other naturally occurring microorganisms could boost farm productivity:

Monsanto’s partner in the new BioAg Alliance is Novozymes, a Danish company which knows a thing or two about putting microbes to work. They already offer farmers products like JumpStart, a strain of bacteria that grows along crop roots to help the plants take full advantage of phosphorus in the soil. Other agricultural biologicals – the umbrella terms for all living things that could protect plant health and productivity — include fungi that parasitically kills pests and bacteria that promotes root growth. …

Such living pesticides and crop enhancers hold enormous promise for worldwide agriculture. A report from the American Academy of Microbiologists (A.A.M.) estimates that engaging the living world in and around plants could increase yields 20 percent in the next 20 years while at the same time reducing pesticide use by 20 percent. Right now, biopesticides only make up a 2.3 billion dollar industry — only 5 percent of the 44 billion dollars supporting chemical pesticides.

Of course, whenever Monsanto gets involved, things can get scary. Some fear that the company could start patenting microbes that grow naturally beneath our feet, and then sue the rest of us if we benefit from those microbes without forking over royalty payments. Kiers has researched this subject, and she tells me that “the patenting of microbes from farmers’ fields is a huge, unresolved issue that deserves more attention.”

This growing spike in myco research is coming as farmers and other land managers discover that commercial fungal spores can help with the growth of crops and plants — even on marginal, salty, and polluted lands. The sale of such spores is rising in the U.S. and around the world. “We’ve had 17 straight years of growth,” said Mike Amaranthus, founder of Oregon-based company Mycorrhizal Applications. “It’s a growing industry.”

Such research could also help tackle climate change. That’s because these fungi take carbon captured by their plant partners and deposit it into the soil in the form of glomalin — a carbon-rich substance that fungi use to line the soil around themselves. The U.S. Department of Agriculture discovered the substance in the 1990s, and its scientists now estimate that 27 percent of the carbon in the world’s soil is in the form of glomalin.

“Soil contains more carbon than the atmosphere and vegetation combined,” a team of scientists wrote in a letter published recently in the journal Nature. As Grist’s Holly Richmond noted last week, the scientists concluded that EEM fungi, the variety of myco fungus that produces mushrooms, are better than the more common non-mushrooming variety when it comes to storing carbon in the soil. Here’s more from a press release from the Smithsonian Institution:

Previous studies considered soil degradation, climate and plant productivity to be the most important regulators of soil carbon content. However, findings published this week in Nature … suggest that soil biology plays a greater role. Some types of symbiotic fungi can lead to 70 percent more carbon in the soil. The role of these fungi is currently not considered in global climate models.

We’re going to need to think all this good news over with a big slice of mushroom pizza.


Source
The Macro of Myco, The Ascender
Is Fungus the Next Frontier for Monsanto?, Modern Farmer
Mycorrhiza-mediated competition between plants and decomposers drives soil carbon storage, Nature
Fungi May Determine the Future of Soil Carbon, Smithsonian Institute

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

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A Poison Aficionado’s Guide to 6 Killer Chemicals

by Myrna Posted on January 10, 2014

Science journalist Deborah Blum explores the homicidal—and, the environmental—ways that chemistry can do us in. Steve and Sara Emry/Flickr As a writer, Deborah Blum says she has a “love of evil chemistry.” It seems that audiences do too: Her latest book, The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York, was not only a bestseller, but was just turned into a film by PBS (you can watch it for free here). The book tells the story of Charles Norris, New York City’s first medical examiner, and Alexander Gettler, his toxicologist and forensic chemist. They were a scientific and medical duo who brought real evidence and reliable forensic techniques to the pressing task of apprehending poisoners, who were running rampant at the time because there was no science capable of catching them. “When Norris came to office in 1918, the same year, the city of New York actually published a report saying that poisoners could operate with impunity in New York City,” explains Blum on the latest episode of the Inquiring Minds podcast [stream below]. Arsenic, cyanide, chloroform—such were some of the favorites of poisoners in the 1920s. Detecting each one presented a different scientific challenge. Take arsenic: “It’s tasteless, so you can put it into anything and your victim doesn’t know,” says Blum. “It’s odorless. They can’t find it that way either. It mimics the symptoms of a natural illness…and, you can’t find it in the body. So even if you’re suspicious, you can’t prove that that person was poisoned. So no wonder it was a golden age for poisoners.” Deborah Blum. Forensic chemistry has come a long way since then, and poisoners don’t exactly run rampant any longer. But poisoning still happens. And as Blum notes in the other branch of her writing—reporting on environmental chemistry for the New York Times—environmental contaminants are, in effect, poisons as well. So on the podcast, Blum helped us to compile this list of the six most worrisome modern day poisons, whether environmental or otherwise, chosen both for their prominence and for the danger they pose. Here they are, progressing from the environmental to the, er, homicidal: 1. Lead. Mother Jones’ Kevin Drum has documented just how deleterious this naturally occurring heavy metal is to us. Lead is particularly dangerous to children, because it acts as a neurotoxin that can stunt brain development. And it’s all around us: Naturally occurring in the soil, but also in substances ranging from paint in older houses, to pipes, to lipstick (the latter in very small amounts that the FDA says are safe). “As a poison, there’s not one redeeming thing you can say about lead. It’s just bad,” says Blum. “And I like to remind people, it’s still around, we’re still exposing ourselves to it, and everyone’s at risk.” For more comprehensive information about lead risks in your home, see this infographic or click here. Native arsenic from the Natural History Museum, London. Aram Dulyan/Wikimedia Commons 2. Arsenic. Another naturally occurring heavy metal, arsenic may not be the favored tool of criminal poisoners that it once was. But its environmental presence remains a serious hazard, in both food and water. “Arsenic is also unambiguously bad for you,” says Blum. “It’s bad at a high dose, and it’s bad at a very low dose.” Because arsenic is naturally found in the Earth’s crust, it makes its way into groundwater, and some of us drink it in dangerous concentrations. One risk arises when people dig their own private wells. Arsenic is also a by-product of industrial activities like mining and smelting, and it makes its way into our food: Rice products are a particular concern. Long-term exposure can lead to various types of cancer, among other health threats. 3. Carbon Monoxide. “I do Google alerts on poison and poisoning, and there are some days where my dose of 10 news stories about people made sick or dead are all carbon monoxide,” says Blum. “Especially in the winter. Especially after a big storm, or in cold temperatures.” Carbon monoxide is a gas that has no color or odor, but that can kill quickly if it is allowed to reach high concentrations in an enclosed space. It results from combustion in gas appliances, chimneys, heaters, generators, and cars. According to the CDC, 400 Americans die each year from carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide detector. Judy van der Velden/Flickr Notably, none of these hazards—lead, arsenic, carbon monoxide—represent some fancy new chemical innovation. Rather, they’re enduring poisons, to which we continue to live in close proximity. “They’re a reminder that we are smarter than we were, about poisonous things, in the days of Gettler and Norris,” says Blum. “But we’re not as smart as we should be.” And then there are the substances that malicious poisoners tend to turn to today. Intentional poisonings are not nearly so rampant as they were in the 1920s, but they’re still out there. Here are some of today’s poisoners’ favorite tools: 4. Ethylene Glycol (Antifreeze). Ethylene glycol is the top ingredient in antifreeze, among other chemical substances. And “it’s actually one of the number one homicidal poisons in the United States,” says Blum. The reason is that ethylene glycol has a sweet taste, a perfect quality in the hands of a poisoner. Plus, buying antifreeze is not generally seen as a suspicious activity. The Poisoner’s Handbook. PBS Here’s one ethylene glycol case: A Georgia woman named Lynn Turner was convicted in 2004 of murdering her husband, and later her boyfriend, by serving them antifreeze, apparently in Jello and other foods and drinks. Here’s another: A doctor in Houston was indicted last year for allegedly placing ethylene glycol in a colleague’s coffee and claiming it was an artificial sweetener, Splenda. (The case is awaiting trial.) “You see people turn to it a lot,” says Blum. “It’s a very nasty poison. It metabolizes to form these very sharp crystals, calcium oxalate crystals, that will slice and dice your kidneys.” Also at risk are animals, says, Blum: Ethylene glycol is “the number one choice” when angry neighbors decide to poison a pet. 5. Ricin. In April of last year, an envelope was received at the US Capitol containing a “white granular substance.” The letter had been sent to the office of Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker. Upon analysis, the substance turned out to be ricin, an extremely deadly, naturally occurring poison that is found in castor beans and can be created from by-products of the making of castor oil. Ricin can come in various forms, including powder or mist, and when inhaled or ingested, causes cell death. This wasn’t the first time there was an attempt to send it through the mail: In 2003, two ricin letters were found at postal facilities in South Carolina and Tennessee; one was addressed to “The White House.” Ricin has long been a favored bioterror agent; for a thorough review of its history and biological effects, see here. An FBI-released image of a ricin letter addressed to the White House in 2003. FBI/Wikimedia Commons 6. Polonium-210. Finally, we come to the really hi-tech poisoning. The radioactive isotope Polonium-210 decays and releases alpha particles; if it does so inside your body, it can be lethal even in small amounts, bringing on death by radiation poisoning. Polonium-210 has been in the news because of charges (unproven ones, Blum thinks) that it was used to murder Yassir Arafat; before that, a Russian dissident, Alexander Litvinenko, was confirmed to have been killed with Polonium-210 in 2006. But unlike antifreeze, this one is hard to get your hands on: You need a nuclear reactor to make it in deadly amounts, though it also occurs naturally in the Earth’s crust and thus, is present in small quantities in the environment. Poisoners who actually try to wield substances like these are undoubtedly “creepy, cold, and calculating,” as Blum puts it. But the real takeaway lesson from her writings and research on poisoning, she thinks, is a different one. “Most of us are surrounded by these really bad things, and we don’t try to harm people with them,” Blum says. “Most of us really want, I think, to see our chemical world be one that makes people safer. And so it’s a really interesting way to explore our history and who we are.” You can stream the full Inquiring Minds interview with Deborah Blum here: This episode of Inquiring Minds, a podcast hosted by best-selling author Chris Mooney and neuroscientist and musician Indre Viskontas, also features an interview with Quartz meteorology writer Eric Holthaus about whether global warming may be producing more extreme cold weather in the mid-latitudes, just like what much of America experienced this week. To catch future shows right when they are released, subscribe to Inquiring Minds viaiTunesorRSS. You can also follow the show on Twitter at @inquiringshow and like us on Facebook. Inquiring Minds was also recently singled out as one of the “Best of 2013″ shows on iTunes—you can learn more here. Taken from: A Poison Aficionado’s Guide to 6 Killer Chemicals ; ;Related ArticlesBrrrr: Incredible Photos of the Polar VortexWhy the Arctic Is Drunk Right NowAntarctic Sea Ice Increase is Because of Weather, Not Climate ;

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A Poison Aficionado’s Guide to 6 Killer Chemicals

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