2005 SSSA Annual Meeting Symposium entitled,
'Long-term Soils Research (2005 SSSA Symposium) Interdisciplinary Opportunities to Examine Soil Change'
Daniel D. Richter, Duke University; drichter@duke.edu
Long-term soil studies were first initiated in the 19th century when questions about long-term agricultural sustainability were first addressed by field studies. A number of these 19th century studies are still in operation, and many more rigorous long-term soil experiments have been initiated during the 20th century. In aggregate, these field studies have been critical to our understanding of how soils function and change over time scales of decades to a century. The value of the long-term soil studies is rarely questioned, as there are no other substitutes (including sophisticated computer modeling) for examining long-term soil change. New scientific techniques in molecular biology, organic chemistry, information science, computer modeling, and isotope biogeochemistry are being applied to long-term studies and greatly enriching our understanding of long-term interactions of management with soils.
In 2005, it is proposed that we convene an interdisciplinary symposium that is based around interdisciplinary research, both basic and applied, currently being conduced at the world's long-term soil studies. The intention of the symposium will be to invite speakers from across several SSSA divisions.
Long-term soil experiments are mainly based on arable soils of high native fertility, Alfisols and Mollisols, most especially. The great preponderance of the long-term studies are also located in Europe and in North America. As speakers are assembled for the symposium, consideration will be given to research conducted on a range of soil orders, in a range of ecosystems and management regimes, and from the developed and developing world as well.
The last time that a major SSSA symposium was convened around the theme of long-term soil studies was in 1989, with the papers collected in a 1991 number of Agronomy Journal. Depending on the development of the symposium and the speakers, a similar approach might well be taken.