Soil sciences are a cluster of scientific disciplines focused on the physical, chemical, biological, and mineralogical properties and processes of soils as natural bodies and as dynamic systems within the critical zone. They encompass soil genesis and classification (pedology), soil physics (water, gas, energy transport), soil chemistry (ion exchange, sorption, redox, nutrient cycling), and soil biology and ecology (microbial and faunal communities, decomposition, biogeochemical transformations). Soil sciences provide quantitative frameworks for understanding soil functions in terrestrial ecosystems, including carbon and nutrient cycling, plant growth support, contaminant fate, and regulation of hydrological processes, and underpin evidence-based management in agriculture, forestry, environmental remediation, and climate research.
Conservation tillage practices, such as no-till and reduced till, are critical for sustainable agriculture, and they are gradually becoming popular with farmers across the Midwest. Monitoring tillage usage can provide insights ...
Ecology
21 hours ago
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Soil biologist Eric Slessarev has some advice for conservationists, landscapers, and farmers with fallow fields: Go touch deep-rooted grass. Or better yet, go plant some. Slessarev, an assistant professor of ecology and evolutionary ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 21, 2026
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A greater focus on roots during plant breeding could ensure staple grain crops continue to feed the world as recycled nutrients substitute conventional fertilizers in the future, a University of Queensland study published ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Apr 17, 2026
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51
In a three-year project, researchers at NIBIO have tested how biochar affects potato yields and soil quality under Norwegian conditions. The results show that biochar has little effect on yield, but that it may offer other ...
Ecology
Apr 10, 2026
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Pennsylvania is the fourth-largest wine producer in the United States, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. The industry supports nearly 11,000 jobs and directly contributes $1.77 billion to the state ...
Ecology
Apr 9, 2026
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Advanced technology can help farmers get to the root of a growing problem—overwatering in an era of increasing drought and water scarcity. A new UC Riverside system can map soil moisture tree by tree, so growers water only ...
Biotechnology
Apr 2, 2026
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Diverse soil microbial communities may help suppress pathogens naturally, acting as a biological barrier against their establishment and spread, according to a new study. Professor Brajesh Singh, from The University of Western ...
Cell & Microbiology
Apr 1, 2026
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Wild animals are not just inhabitants of the natural world. Many also act as natural landscape engineers, reshaping Earth's surface as they burrow, feed, and build shelters that move soil and sediment across ecosystems. From ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 30, 2026
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Farmers have long debated which practices do the most to keep their soil healthy. Now, after pulling data from 21 long-term field trials scattered across the United States, a multi-state research team has found cover crop ...
Agriculture
Mar 30, 2026
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16
Plants need water, light, and air to thrive. But when they transport water from the soil up to their leaves, they defy gravity. Scientists describe this astonishing phenomenon as "negative water potential," a form of negative ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Mar 23, 2026
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