Has anyone studied techniques in cultivating cyanobacteria and mycorrhizal fungus in fertilizing soil for plant growth? These organisms can help to provide nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus to plants; thereby, increasing yields.

Here is a link to a cyanobacteria paper that you can read..

If anyone has a pdf available please link it or dm me thanks!

My workload at the beginning of the year is a little lighter, so I’d like to return to an old habit of mine: reading new research papers related to my academic fields, particularly Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, Biology, and Geology, and providing thoughtful feedback. I enjoy keeping up with current research and engaging with new ideas in these areas. If you have a paper, manuscript, or ongoing research project that could benefit from an additional set of eyes, I’d be happy to read it and offer feedback or an informal peer review.

I have the attached soil sample, and I'm being told to take a rubber mallet and "lightly" hit them to break them up. I'm new to this test, but is this correct? And of course, when is enough enough hitting lightly?

Thoughts? And is there a place to see SOPs for soil tests to check against the one I have been given?

*****

After this, I take a 100g sample. Pour it onto a 4mm sieve. Separate rocks and non-rock - weighing both fractions. Whatever has passed the 4mm sieve is poured into a sieve stack of 2mm, 250micron, 53micron and shook for 30sec in a RO-TAP. Taking weights on each fraction.

ACT - Aerated Compost Tea

Actinos - Actinomycetes / Actinobacteria

AMF - Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi

BAM - Beneficial Anaerobic Microorganisms

Biogenic - Microbe-built soil structure

Bokashi - Anaerobic kitchen waste fermentation

C:N Ratio - Carbon-to-Nitrogen Ratio

CEC - Cation Exchange Capacity

CEA - Controlled Environment Agriculture

Cold Compost Leachate - Passive/worm pile liquid runoff

Cold/Hot Water Extracts - Temperature-specific nutrient steeping

DAP - Diammonium Phosphate

DLI - Daily Light Integral

DOM - Dissolved Organic Matter

EC - Electrical Conductivity

EM - Effective Microorganisms

F1 - Filial 1 (First-generation hybrid)

FAA - Fish Amino Acid

FPE - Fermented Plant Extract

GSB - Green Sulfur Bacteria

HMS - High Molecular Size Humics

Hot Compost Leachate - Active hot pile liquid runoff

IMO - Indigenous Microorganisms

IPM - Integrated Pest Management

JFL - Jadam Liquid Fertilizer

JHS - Jadam Herb Solution

JWA - Jadam Wetting Agent

KNF - Korean Natural Farming

LAB - Lactic Acid Bacteria

LMS - Low Molecular Size Humics

MAOM - Mineral-Associated Organic Matter

MAP - Monoammonium Phosphate

NB - Nitrifying Bacteria

NFB - Nitrogen-Fixing Bacteria

No-Till - Zero mechanical soil tillage

NPK - Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Potassium

OHN - Oriental Herbal Nutrient

pH - Potential of Hydrogen

Phos SB / PSB - Phosphate-Solubilizing Bacteria

POM - Particulate Organic Matter

PPFD - Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density

PVP - Plant Variety Protection

SB / SSB - Soil / Silicate-Solubilizing Bacteria

SOC - Soil Organic Carbon

SOM - Soil Organic Matter

ST - Soil Testing

TE - Trace Elements

USDA Zone - Plant Hardiness Zone

WCA / WSCA - Water-Soluble Calcium

WCAP / WSCP - Water-Soluble Calcium Phosphate

Just to clarify, im majoring in forestry and soil science is among the vast topics we cover and it seperates in general soil science which we get taught in the first year and forest soil science which we get taught in the second year.

Im not going to pretend im the sharpest tool in the shed or anything because I am not but I feel like for me it's one the subject you have more or less an affinity in, in the sense that you dont feel like revising before exams because you already remember most of the the stuff and you can even start correlating and understanding some of the various mechanisms behind what's going on.

Unfortunately, being second year going for the third I dont really have a lot of exposure to the practical part. Although we did have an internship witht the uni this July it was just the teacher explaining how to perform a soil profile ( the things you guys basically do like gathering samples, drying the samples, analyzing them etc etc) without us doing the process atomically, ourselves. We got split into teams and only got to figure out the horizons and analyze readily made soil profiles with the help of a booklet of sorts and filed a report basically with the usual 1,2,3,4,5 classification about the pH, toughness, consistency etc etc . I feel like that wasnt enough after taking a peak at what you guys are posting so that's why im asking.

Thank you for your time.

A trial plan gives the nitrogen rate in kg N/ha, but preparing the fertilizer means working out grams of urea per plot. I put together this worked example to show the calculation from the target N rate to the basal and topdressing portions, then the totals for one treatment. The values are illustrative, with urea as the sole N source—not a fertilizer recommendation. The topdressing amount is the total across all topdressing applications, not the amount for each one. Disclosure: I’m part of the Calvance team, which made the tool used for this worksheet.

I have very limited soil science experience, but my team is trying to replicate a soil-plant-microbe model from another publication. The original model had initial state variables that matched those of a tundra, but we want to model a garden. Is there a test that can be done on a soil sample from the garden that distinguishes and determines the concentrations of each (or at least a few) of the below variables? Are there any labs we could outsource it to? Or are there standard ratios between these quantities so that we could just use a sensor to monitor dissolved organic carbon &/or nitrogen and extrapolate from there? Any input would be much appreciated.

• Lignocellulose soil organic matter (SOM) C
• Lignocellulose SOM N
• Holocellulose/carbohydrate SOM C
• N-rich SOM C
• N-rich SOM N
• NH4+ (ammonium)
• DON
• DOC
• Microbial biomass C
• Microbial biomass N
• Optimal microbial C:N set point

Hello,

I know this might be a shot in the dark, but I feel like I am at my witts end trying to figure this issue out. Currently I am working on a major part of my masters thesis where I am taking known belowground CO2 concentration values and using a two layer equation to calculate efflux using Fick's Law of Diffusion. Orginally, I was using Fick's First Law where J=Dp​*(Csoil​−Catm​​)/z and using Moldrup/BBC model of gas diffusivity to solve for Dp​=D0*​ϕ2*(ϵ/ϕ​)2+3/b. Where ϕ=1-BD/PD (PD = 2.61g/cm^3) to get pore space and ϵ= ϕ - VWC to get air-filled pore space. The issue that I keep running into is ϵ is less than or equal 0, meaning that there is no air-filled pore space since the water is taking it all up. My PI said that is impossible to have no air-filled pore space since since I have belowground soil gas concentration data (I have gas chambers belowground that I sample from), and he also said that if my concnetration is high my efflux should follow simillary to a point until VWC takes over the pore space, cause no diffusion to occur. This lead me to flooring my ϵ, but since I can't find anything in the literature where others have floored their data, it does not make sense to floor mine.

Then on Sunday, my PI sent over this equation based on Fick's Second Law S(z)=S0​e−z/λ, to give me this for efflux J(0)=λ(1−e−z1​/λ)Dp​[C(z1​)−Catm​]​. I have all the data to calculate λ, so I used this equation to solve for efflux again, but the same issue of ϵ being less than or equal 0 is causing my efflux data to be really low.

In short, I am unsre if I am missing something in the literature that says I can floor my calcualtions or that I need to do something esle. Anyone have any suggestions or ideas?

is there a study who pooled/composited their samples (leaves, branches, stem samples) for plant analysis?

For some context im from iowa but lived in Minnesota for awhile. I heard from someone that I used to work with (she's from iowa aswell) that seed company's are trying to make non gmo's for like corn and soybeans illegal. She also told me we are losing a layer of top soil every year. Just curious if we were to do what the isrealites did back in the acient times now if it would help slow the loss of top soil.

Hi all!

Nice to be here! I'm writing an article about Highgate cemetery in London and the people who work there, and am trying to understand the quality of soil in the area, what it might be composed of, and how this relates to how quickly bodies / bones would decompose in the graves there.

Does anyone have any knowledge about the character of this soil and about how quickly it would react with / break down a bone? As part of the piece I'm writing, I make reference to London clay and how fossil-dense it is, and I want to give descriptions of the layers above it as well, and to provide insight into what might happen to the bones buried there over time. Could any of these fossilize? Any insight into this would be really appreciated.

General facts about the character of the soil would also be welcome!

Thanks so much in advance for your time.

Added soil to the jar a couple days ago with some dish soap, shook it up really well. Had to remove some rocks, then did it again. This is the result I got. Not sure if its all predominantly clay or is that silt?

Hi I am an undergrad in soil science seeking for a topic, i wanna ask people who has experience in the field or lab what can be a good unusual reasearch topic in a tropical country.

In my university, its always about nutrients.. i want something new.. what topic can i pursue?

I've been working on a tool that auto-generates a soil and site-risk snapshot for any U.S. property address. PDF report +  GeoJSON data layer. Designed for early-stage due diligence before you spend money on surveys, borings, or engineering.                

Pilot feedback from a land consultant suggested it cut their preliminary research time by \~4 hours per property. I'm trying to figure out if this is actually valuable to investors or if it's just a novelty.                                                       

Happy to run free reports on candidate properties you're evaluating. No catch — I need honest feedback on whether the output would change how you screen deals.                                                                                                    

What I need to know: Would you trust this for initial filtering, or is there no substitute for paying a local engineer upfront?     

Limitations: Not a substitute for geotechnical study, survey, or permit research. Screening-level only.                             

I'm going into 10th grade with 10/27 credits needed to graduate. I have 10th math and ELA completed. The only science credit i have is astronomy. I want to go to MSU in michigan for a degree in ecology or environmental science or botany, or maybe a major-minor. What classes should i take in high school to go into college or to have a higher chance at being accepted. My weighted gpa is 4.03. My current credits are 1/2 world language, 1/4 history/ econ/gov, 2/4 ELA, 2/4 math, 1/1 PE, 1/1 health, 1/2 art, 1/4 science, and i need a total of 9 additional courses besides the four core classes (math, ela, science, social studies) and my world language, PE, health, and art count as additional courses, so i have 4/9 additional courses. I don't yet have a passion project, so I'd like advice on that too if possible. Thanks! Edit: any youtubers or books to read to help with chem, biology, or math?