Biochar significantly reshapes the social lives of ants, which further improves soil ecosystems At first glance, biochar seems like an easy win. Turn plant waste into charcoal, mix it into soil, and you get healthier ground that holds more water and supports better plant growth. But soil isn’t just dirt – it’s a living system. A new study from Shenyang Agricultural University found that adding biochar can ripple through that system in unexpected ways, even changing how ants live, work, and interact with each other. The results reveal a much more complicated picture of what happens when we try to “improve” nature. Soil is full of life Soil may look empty, but it is full of life. Tiny creatures and microbes are always at work, even if we cannot see them. They help keep the soil healthy. Once this balance breaks, problems appear quickly. Plants stop growing well. Food becomes harder to produce. Even the climate can feel the impact. People use biochar to fix damaged soil. It helps the ground hold water and improves its quality. At first, it seems like an easy solution. But soil is not just chemicals mixed together – it is a living environment. This study reveals something unexpected. Even small changes in soil can alter how animals...

Biochar significantly reshapes the social lives of ants, which further improves soil ecosystems
->Earth.com | More on "Biochar effects on soil ecosystems" at BigEarthData.ai | #Soil #Ecosystem

Mohican River Watershed is the epicenter of water quality improvement Solutions Journalism Series This story is Part II of a two-part Solutions Journalism series about the Mohican River’s water q...

#Outdoor #Solutions #Ashland #County #Park #District […]

[Original post on richlandsource.com]

Mohican River Watershed is the epicenter of water quality improvement Solutions Journalism Series This story is Part II of a two-part Solutions Journalism series about the Mohican River’s water q...

#Outdoor #Solutions #Ashland #County #Park #District […]

[Original post on richlandsource.com]

Mohican River Watershed is the epicenter of water quality improvement Solutions Journalism Series This story is Part II of a two-part Solutions Journalism series about the Mohican River’s water q...

#Outdoor #Solutions #Ashland #County #Park #District […]

[Original post on richlandsource.com]

Custom Biochar Fuels Alfalfa Growth in Salty Soils Soil salinization is a growing global threat that reduces crop yields and limits sustainable agriculture, especially in arid and semi-arid regions. A new study shows that carefully designed biochar amendments can significantly improve plant growth and soil health in these challenging environments by reshaping both plant metabolism and soil microbial communities. Researchers investigated how two contrasting types of biochar, an acid-modified version and a conventional alkaline form, affect alfalfa growth in saline-alkali soils. Their findings reveal that not all biochars work the same way. Instead, each type triggers distinct biological processes that help plants cope with salt stress. "Biochar is often viewed as a general soil conditioner, but our results show that its effects can be highly targeted," said the study's lead author. "By selecting the right type and dose, we can actively guide plant metabolism and microbial interactions to improve resilience under stress." The study found that both biochars improved soil conditions by reducing salinity and adjusting pH, while also increasing nutrient availability. These changes translated into stronger plant growth and improved forage quality. However, the mechanisms behind these benefits differed markedly between the two biochar types. Alkaline biochar, applied at higher levels, was particularly effective at enhancing overall...

Custom Biochar Fuels Alfalfa Growth in Salty Soils
->Mirage News | More on "Biochar saline soil crop resilience" at BigEarthData.ai | #Soil

Soil biodiversity linked to lower human infectious disease risk 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,…

#Soil #biodiversity linked to lower human #infectious #disease risk ...

| #microbial | #microbiology | #pathogens | #microbes | Via @sciencex.bsky.social

#soil #jobfairy #jobs #biodiversity

Happy #Colorful #ForestFriday
🌲🌳🌴🌲🌳🌴
Wonderful #Trees
#Forests
#ForestRestoration
#Nature #soil
#Birds #Bees #Butterflies #Pollinators #topsoil
#BlueSkyArtShow
🌳🌲🌳😋👍😋

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8U3s...
Discover Tribiome this pioneering European project delves into the complexities of microbiomes in agriculture. #nopesticides #horizoneurope #onehealth #microbiome #soil #goodfood #agricultureoftomorrow #biosolutions

Warming soils signal the start of garden season

Warming soils signal the start of garden season
->News Journal | More on "Soil temperature spring gardening season" at BigEarthData.ai | #Garden #Soil

How Ukraine Turned the War Back on Russian Soil: A Timeline Russia is routinely hit by deep strikes; Ukraine is now capable of mass-launching drones, creating its own long-range missiles, and firing them at Russian military and oil infrastructure. Four years ago, this would have been unthinkable. “No region of Russia can feel safe” due to Ukrainian drones, including the Ural region, Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu said in 2026. Russia is too large to defend against Ukrainian strikes, said another official. It is now a regular part of the consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. From partisans and early drone strikes into neighboring regions, Ukraine’s ability to bring the fight back to Russia has improved significantly, especially since Russia invaded Ukraine on a full scale. Ukraine has been growing its ability to combine asymmetric warfare, intelligence operations, long-range FPV drones, and use long-range missiles. We lay out the timeline of Ukraine’s key attacks against the military targets inside Russia. 2022: Sabotage, partisans, and the first signs of reach First rumours Many rumored and unconfirmed attacks on facilities inside Russia, like an oil depot in Belgorod, came in 2022, not long after the full-scale invasion. Some were proven, but many of the alleged attacks were denied by Kyiv and suspected...

How Ukraine Turned the War Back on Russian Soil: A Timeline
->UNITED24 Media | More on "Ukraine deep strikes Russian territory" at BigEarthData.ai | #StandWithUkraine #Soil #RussiaUkraineWar

Close-up of white fungal hyphae intertwined in soil, illustrating microbial activity relevant to soil ecosystem studies.

Soil microbes drive #soil carbon & nutrient cycling—but how can microbial data improve ecosystem predictions and land management? We’re inviting studies that link microbial traits to functional outcomes.

➡️ Find out more- https://ow.ly/Nkfi50YCle0

#Soilscience #Soils #SoilMicrobiome

This week's internal seminar was a fascinating insight into Arthur Broadbent's #research on understanding the combined effects of winter thawing and summer droughts on #soil fungal communities and carbon storage in the 🇦🇹 #Alps 🏔️

Sharper Soil Moisture Maps From Space Newswise — Soil moisture is a key variable linking the water, energy, climate, and agricultural systems of the Earth. It influences heat exchange, hydrological processes, ecosystem dynamics, and crop conditions, making accurate monitoring essential for weather forecasting, drought assessment, and land management. Microwave remote sensing has become an important tool for soil-moisture retrieval because it can work in nearly all weather conditions. However, in areas with dense vegetation, commonly used vegetation indicators such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) do not fully capture canopy structure or directional reflectance effects, which can reduce retrieval accuracy. Based on these challenges, deeper research is needed into improved soil-moisture retrieval methods that better represent vegetation complexity. Researchers from Beijing Normal University and related research centers reported the study (DOI: 10.34133/remotesensing.0981) in the Journal of Remote Sensing, published on January 26, 2026. The team addressed a practical remote-sensing problem: how to retrieve soil moisture more accurately in regions where vegetation interferes with microwave signals. Their solution combines Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) information with Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) observations in a Random Forest model, aiming to reduce the limitations of conventional vegetation-index-based methods and...

Sharper Soil Moisture Maps From Space
->Newswise | More on "Satellite soil moisture mapping accuracy" at BigEarthData.ai | #Soil

Unanticipated similarities and expected differences in the taxonomic composition and potential #toxicity of #cyanobacteria in biological #soil crusts across hot and cold deserts. //
www.frontiersin.org/journals/mic... // ⚒️ #microbiology #taxonomy #biology

Biochar Innovation Breaks Down Soil Antibiotic Pollution A new study reveals how an advanced iron-modified biochar can harness the natural chemistry of soils to break down persistent antibiotic contaminants, offering a sustainable and chemical-free approach to environmental remediation. Antibiotics such as sulfamethoxazole are widely detected in agricultural soils due to manure application and wastewater reuse. These compounds can persist in the environment, contributing to antibiotic resistance and ecosystem risks. Traditional treatment methods often rely on strong chemical oxidants, which can disrupt soil health and are not well suited for low-concentration contaminants. Researchers have now developed a novel iron-modified biochar that activates naturally occurring oxygen in soils to generate highly reactive hydroxyl radicals, enabling the in situ degradation of contaminants without external chemical inputs. The findings are reported in Biochar. "This work shows that we can activate the soil's own oxidative capacity rather than relying on added chemicals," said the study's corresponding author. "By engineering biochar to regulate iron cycling and electron transfer, we create a self-sustaining system for pollutant removal." The innovation lies in designing biochar that functions simultaneously as an "electron highway" and a "redox regulator." By carefully controlling iron species and the carbon structure, the material enhances the cycling between Fe(II) and Fe(III), a key...

Biochar Innovation Breaks Down Soil Antibiotic Pollution
->Mirage News | More on "Biochar remediation soil antibiotic pollution" at BigEarthData.ai | #Antibiotic #Soil #Pollution

#Soil microbial diversity associates with lower prevalence of human bacterial pathogens across global soils.

Global soil metagenomes show human pathogens thrive in wet croplands & rise as biodiversity falls under global change.

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #microbiota #MicroSky

Unlock the Beauty of Victoria, BC | Tourism Victoria Explore a world of possibilities with us in Victoria. From accommodations to experiences, uncover the best of travel on our platform. Start your journey today

Can't wait to get to #Victoria BC for the #GSB2026 Global #Soil #Biodiversity conference? You can get prepared with ideas from www.tourismvictoria.com

The countdown has begun! Only 9 days left before #GSB2026 Global #Soil #Biodiversity Conference. @thegsbi.bsky.social

Global Potential and Trade‐Offs of Conservation Tillage for Crop Productivity and Ecosystem Services This global assessment demonstrates that conservation tillage effectively balances agricultural productivity with environmental sustainability. The findings reveal that minimizing soil disturbance in...

NEW in @GlobalChangeBi
Global Potential and Trade-Offs of Conservation Tillage for Crop Productivity and Ecosystem Services

doi.org/10.1111/gcb....

#SoilOrganicMatter #carbonsequestration #soil #agriculture #CO2 #N2O #CH4 #landuse #Fertilisers #tillage

haiku #194

Roots weave old wisdom
Hands shape soil, then let it heal
Wild breath returns home.

#haiku #roots #wisadom #hands
#soil #healing #breath #home

Original post on mastodon.social

theconversation.com/ai-laws-overlook-environ... www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1757996... (full text). "AI is an energy-intensive & thirsty industry. It leads to huge #greenhouse #gas #emissions, #pollution & […]

UK soil policy tracker - Sustainable Soils Alliance Our scan of UK policies involves the tracking and analysis of a range of existing and ongoing policy instruments as they relate to soil.

Has Scotland's Environment Strategy been adopted? Has the Land Use Framework landed? For the answers to these and other soil-related policy questions, take a look at our Policy Tracker.

www.sustainablesoils.org/our-work/out...

#Soil #Policy

On the occasion of the new paper on LIBS by PhD student Teresa Hu in the @ejsoilscience.bsky.social, I wrote about why soil sensing needs more than just spectroscopy.

📝 research.curtin.edu.au/scieng/resea...

📑 doi.org/10.1111/ejss.70305

🧪🔬🌏 #soil #soilscience @slsl-curtinuni.bsky.social

Soil Sensing With a Handheld LIBS: Effect of Sample Preparation and Instrument Precision Rapid and scalable methods for characterising soil elements are needed to understand soil conditions. Handheld Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) enables simultaneous multi-element analysis,...

📣 New paper from one of our PhD students, Teresa Hu, out in the @ejsoilscience.bsky.social! 🍾

Hu et al. (2026) investigate what it takes to get reliable measurements from handheld LIBS for soil analysis.
Read: doi.org/10.1111/ejss.70305

🧪🔬🌏 #soil #soilscience #SLSL @curtinuniversity.bsky.social

Pound Hill — ECOLOGICAL CONTINUITY TRUST - About the Pound Hill long-term experiment (LTE) in England that is managed by Imperial College London, and is registered with the Ecological Continuity Trust (ECT).

2/5 At the Pound Hill #LTE, Mick Crawley at @imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social wants to keep the #rabbits out as he looks at how the timing of #soil disturbance affects the plant community 🌏

bit.ly/PoundHillLTE

#Easter #EasterWeekend #EasterWeekend2026

Bio Potash Granules

Potassium is the nutrient behind good fruit size, strong roots, and disease resistance but it's the one most farmers underapply.
Bio potash granules release K slowly and actually feed your soil microbes too. Chemical K can't say the same.
#SustainableFarming #Soil
humicfactory.com/product/bio-...

Deep storage #irrigation can recharge #farmland deep #soil moisture and sustain production of summer #maize (Zea mays L.) through flood resources utilization in irrigation districts of northern #China
🔎🔎https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jia.2025.07.013
#agroecology @agroecologymap.bsky.social

Biochar Boosts Soils, Enhances Tea Safety A new scientific review highlights how biochar, a carbon-rich material produced from biomass, could transform tea farming by restoring soil health, reducing pollution risks, and improving both yield and quality. Tea, derived from Camellia sinensis, is one of the world's most widely consumed beverages and supports millions of livelihoods across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. However, intensive cultivation practices have led to widespread soil degradation, acidification, and contamination with toxic metals, posing risks to both crop productivity and food safety. The new study synthesizes current research on the "biochar–soil–tea" system, revealing that biochar can address many of these challenges simultaneously. "Biochar provides a multifunctional solution for tea agroecosystems by improving soil conditions, enhancing plant resilience, and reducing environmental risks," the authors note. "It represents a promising strategy for sustainable and climate-smart tea production." Biochar is produced by heating agricultural waste such as rice husks, bamboo, or tea residues in low-oxygen conditions. This process creates a stable, porous material rich in carbon and functional groups that interact with soil and contaminants. According to the review, adding biochar to tea soils can significantly improve physical and chemical properties. It raises soil pH, helping to neutralize acidity, while increasing nutrient retention and water-holding...

Biochar Boosts Soils, Enhances Tea Safety
->Mirage News | More on "Biochar soil health tea farming" at BigEarthData.ai | #Soil

Hydrochar Outperforms Biochar in Soil Carbon Storage Improving soil health is essential for sustainable agriculture and global food security. A new study reports that hydrochar, a carbon-rich material produced from organic waste, may outperform traditional soil amendments such as biochar and crop residues in strengthening soil structure and storing carbon. Researchers conducted controlled soil incubation experiments to compare how different organic amendments affect soil organic carbon and soil aggregation. The findings show that hydrochar significantly enhanced both soil carbon storage and the formation of stable soil aggregates, two key indicators of healthy and productive soils. "Our results show that hydrochar can simultaneously improve soil structure and increase carbon sequestration, offering a promising strategy for sustainable soil management," said one of the study's corresponding authors. Soil organic carbon plays a central role in maintaining fertility, supporting microbial activity, and stabilizing soil structure. However, many agricultural soils fall below optimal carbon levels, limiting productivity. At the same time, soil aggregates, which bind soil particles together, are critical for water retention, aeration, and resistance to erosion. While organic inputs such as straw and manure have long been used to improve soils, their efficiency in building stable carbon pools is often limited. Biochar, a widely studied carbon material, is more stable...

Hydrochar Outperforms Biochar in Soil Carbon Storage
->Mirage News | More on "Hydrochar soil carbon sequestration benefits" at BigEarthData.ai | #Soil