Jenny Davies, PhD Student, Lancaster Environment Centre
j.davies24@lancaster.ac.uk
Carbon and nitrogen are usually the superstars when we look at nutrients in soil for food production. But there is another vital nutrient people often forget about that deserves a spot on the main stage. Phosphorus, or P for short.
To celebrate World Soil Day on the 5th of December we have written a series of blogs that dig in (pun intended) to the many connections between soils and food. These blogs are inspired by our sustainable soils research at Lancaster and include a recipe that connects our soil research to the dinner plate! We are publishing a blog a day between 21st November and the 5th of December. We hope you enjoy digging into both our research stories and recommended recipes. Enjoy – bon appetit!
Compaction is a growing problem as farm machinery has become as big as the biggest dinosaurs that roamed the Earth. Read more about this study in Jess and John’s accessible write up in The Conversation.
Initial Sustainable Farming Incentives promising as they focus on protecting our soils.
Members of the Sustainable Soils group in The Conversation UK.
View the online launch of our report ‘Building on soil sustainability: Principles for soils in planning and construction’ here
The Task Force is made up of professionals from across soil science, local authorities, urban design and landscape architecture. We have come together to drive better management of soils through the planning and construction stages of development projects. We want to protect and improve our vital soil resources, enabling soils in the built environment to function and provide crucial ecosystem services that support thriving places to live and work.
In the UK, an increasing maize cropping area and more frequent, more intense rainfall events are accelerating soil erosion and compaction, potentially exacerbating the impacts of flooding and diffuse pollution. Researchers at Lancaster University are assessing whether under-sowing cover crop mixtures in maize affect soil water retention and movement, and soil strength as assessed by penetrometer profiles.
Author: Helena Ripley
My PhD research is focused on the use of cover crops to control soil erosion in hillside orchards in Spain. I am currently working on my third data chapter: a mesocosm trial to assess the effectiveness of different species and mixes to reduce soil loss under overland water flow. This blog will give an overview of the process of starting an experiment.
Urban soils support a range of ecosystem services and they need to be included in urban planning and design.
Read more in Roisin’s news article in The Conversation.
New research from our group has taken a look at how land use change, agriculture and centuries of pollution have affected stores of carbon in plants and soils across the UK.
Read more in this news article in The Conversation.
Our recent research has explored how long-term changes in land use, agriculture, atmospheric pollution and human waste generation and management has changed the flows of nutrients through our waterways.
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