paleorthid's Feed

transect points: The Smell of Healthy Soil

paleorthid — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 11:42:00 -0500

Actinobacteria are a hyphae-producing soil bacteria that, in appearance and behavior, have more in common with soil fungi. The spores of Actinobacteria have a distinctive, earthy smell we often associate with rainfall. The smell comes from a compound, geosmin, which translates to "earth smell". The human nose is exquisitely sensitive to geosmin, able to detect it at concentrations down to 10 parts per trillion. Tagged by paleorthid under soil, bacteria, smell, health,

Evolution Research - General Evolution News: Metagenomics: Investigating the invisible life in our environment

paleorthid — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 01:32:00 -0500

Data indicates microbes have more difficulty adapting than previously thought. Tagged by paleorthid under soil, biology, genome, rna, ecology, environment, fungi, bacteria, habitat, microbiology, research, science, soil_microbiology,

rec.gardens.ecosystems: course text about soils

paleorthid — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 11:09:00 -0500

One-page primer on soil texture and soil microorganisms for the gardener. One of several soil articles from ibiblio.org. Tagged by paleorthid under garden, soil, microbiology, article, fungi, bacteria,

transect points: Teaming with Microbes Arrived Today

paleorthid — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 10:36:00 -0500

"Teaming with Microbes", by Jeff Lowenfels and Wayne Lewis. Foreword by Elaine Ingham. Strong soil science orientation. Well organized. Extensive index. Valuable guide to labs and suppliers. Looking forward to actually reading it. Tagged by paleorthid under bacteria, book, review, environment, fertility, fungi, garden, glomalin, microbiology, new, organic, science, soil,

transect points: Black Earth

paleorthid — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 11:31:00 -0500

Peak Energy has a long post on Terra Preta that brings together what has been established on the subject. As of yet, there is no direct mention of the role of glomalin , just a minor mention of the mutualistic fungi that produce it. Glomalin is an unvalidated factor in Terra Preta formation that several of us sense will be demonstrated by soil research as fundamentally important. Spurred on by back40, I am fascinated with bio-char, Terra Preta's key soil amendment. Last summer I constructed a small charcoal retort out of a cracker tin. I used it to produce small pilot batches of low temperature charcoal. Hoping to transform my simple charcoal into a reasonably bio-char-like material, I am currently composting my bits. Tagged by paleorthid under terra_preta, bio-char, soil_science, blog, fungi, glomalin,

http://transectpoints.blogspot.com/2006/12/invasive-earthworms.html

paleorthid — Sat, 16 Dec 2006 04:30:00 -0500

Research shows that invasive earthworms are damaging forest soils and are a menace to species diversity. The problem is most often associated with formerly glaciated regions, where native populations of earthworms are not present. Comparing soil in front of the invaders to post invasion conditions demonstrates that these worms cause soil compaction, reduced soil fertility, and increased erosion. It appears that these invaders are capable of alterations deep enough into the soil profile to result in a change in soil taxonomic classification at the order level. Other concerns are damage to rhizosphere functions, impairing soil carbon sequestration capacity. Tagged by paleorthid under ecology, edaphology, fertility, forest, fungi, habitat, health, microbiology, pedology, research, soil,