2001
ESA Symposium
2001 Soil Ecology Section Symposium, Madison,
WI
Title
Sustaining and Restoring our Soils
Organizers
Sina M. Adl (University of Georgia)
and Sherri Morris (Bradley University)
Description
The soil is responsible for irreplaceable ecosystem services,
such as water filtration, food production, recycling of nutrients
through decomposition, and detoxification of chemicals. However,
soils are variously abused by agricultural over-exploitation,
chemical pollution or poor management. As our global population
density increases, our demands from the soil and the impact on
soil ecosystems is exacerbated. The complexity of the soil, and
of decomposition, is illustrated by the hundreds of species of
bacteria, protozoa, fungi and invertebrates that can be found
in just a few grams of most soils. The role of soil processes
in nutrient cycling, carbon storage and the return of C as CO2
to the atmosphere, sustains primary production upon which organisms,
including people, depend. The challenge before us is to understand
soil ecology sufficiently so as to manage these processes sustainably
for the future. Our speakers with diverse backgrounds will address
topics in agro-ecology, global change issues, conservation and
management, soil biology and biogeochemistry. Selection of good
soil bioindicators, with predictive ability for food-web management,
are considered by B. Stenberg. D. Neher discusses how to manage
agriculture as ecosystems so as to sustain soil processes. Consequences
of long-term conservation practice on soil food-webs in previously
eroded agricultural sites is presented by S. Adl. The interactions
between soil organisms and soil restoration practice are discussed
by M. Allen. The effectiveness of forest soil restoration with
prescribed fire in relation to nitrogen loading is discussed
by R. Boerner. Global aspects of soil management with respect
to climate change and the Kyoto protocol are considered by W.
Schlesinger. Lastly, P. Smith discusses the predictive ability
of our global change models for ecosystems based on current knowledge.
Tentative Schedule
12:00 - 12:05. Introduction and welcome. Sina Adl and Sherri
Morris.
12:05 - 12:35 Bo Stenberg, Swedish University of Agricultural
Sciences. Microbiological indicators for monitoring changes in
soil sustainability and quality.
12:35 - 1:05 Deborah Neher, University of Toledo. Comparing
ecosystem processes and soil community composition.
1:05 - 1:35 Sina Adl, University of Georgia. Consequences of
long-term conservation practice on trophic structure of agro-ecosystems.
1:35 - 1:50 Break.
1:50 - 2:10 Mike Allen, University of California Riverside.
Arbuscular mycorrhizae and restoration of disturbed soils: structure
of hyphae and non-nutritional roles.
2:10 - 2:40 Ralph Boerner, Ohio State University. Is prescribed
fire effective in restoring eastern forest soils under heavy
atmospheric N loading?
2:40 - 3:10 William H. Schlesinger, Duke University. Changes
in soil carbon stocks with land management and increasing atmospheric
CO2.
3:10 - 3:40 Pete Smith, IACR-Rothamstead. Approaches to modeling
soil biota to predict the impacts of global change at the ecosystem
level.
3:40 - 3:50 Synthesis and concluding comments. Sherri Morris.