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March 2010
Welcome to the March 2010 edition of Fertile Minds, the newsletter of Sydney Environmental & Soil Laboratory.
In this issue we look at the GPS revolution and, for a change, wet soils instead of dry soils.
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In this issue
- The Loam Ranger – Shotgun pellets and wet soils
- GPS + GIS = amazingly accurate mapping at SESL
- Asbestos certification at SESL
- Compost for orchard soil management
- The secret life of roots. 1: Grasses
- Did you know ... ? – Order aerial photos in NSW
The Loam Ranger – Shotgun pellets and wet soils
Dear Loam Ranger,
The local ants have been making piles of big round pebbles. Where did the pebbles come from? My soil’s sandy.
These pebbles are a characteristic feature of soils that experience cycles of wetting and drying.
For a change, we’ve been having a lot of wet weather on the east coast. So instead of talking about dry soils, let’s look at some peculiarities of wet soils, notably these “shotgun pellets” and the stark texture contrast common in eastern Australian soils.
Click here for the story of El Niño and wet-and-dry soils (850 words, 3 minutes)
GPS + GIS = amazingly accurate mapping at SESL
Every now and then a new technology radically changes the way we do things. When mobile phones became affordable, suddenly tradesmen could take calls wherever they were, and now even little schoolchildren use them.
Two technologies that have been maturing over the past few years – GPS (the Geographical Positioning System) and GIS (geographical information systems) – have now converged in a way that makes land use planning so much easier and so much more accurate than ever before. SESL has adopted this new way of working, and all we can say is “Wow!”
Click here to see what this technology can now do for us and you (1000 words, 4 minutes)
Asbestos certification at SESL
SESL’s lab manager, Luzmila Abercrombie, recently received training and certification in asbestos identification with AMCOSH Pty Ltd, Melbourne.
The identification of asbestos is critical to many people, including homeowners, builders and other tradesmen, waste contractors, building demolishers and tip site operators. Although the health dangers of asbestos have been known since the late 19th century, corporate efforts to suppress the information can be dated back to the 1930s, so a general awareness of the dangers of asbestos surfaced only in the 1970s and 1980s. As a consequence, asbestos products were used for decades, and now surround us.
Click here for the story of asbestos and SESL’s new capabilities (850 words, 3 minutes)
Compost for orchard soil management
Using compost in your orchard allows you to:
- turn waste into a resource
- save money on fertiliser
- grow more crop with less irrigation
- get better quality with less disease.
In a natural ecosystem, the litter layer supports organisms that efficiently recycle nutrients back into the plants. When this layer is removed under industrial agriculture practices, nutrients are leached away and lost from the denuded soil, in addition to those removed in the crop. Manufactured fertilisers then become necessary.
In industrial agriculture we have become dependent on manufactured fertilisers. But the price of fertilisers is going up with the price of the fossil fuels used to make them. So even aside from the ecosystem benefits, using compost to retain and recycle nutrients makes economic sense.
It is possible to use compost to totally replace the need for manufactured mineral fertilisers, if the nature of the compost is fully understood. With a bit of work, you can restore the soil’s organic matter and reap many benefits, including improved nutrient- and water-holding capacity, improved soil structure, higher biological activity, better root growth and less disease.
Click here to learn how to cut costs and boost yields by composting (1300 words, 5 minutes)
The secret life of roots. 1: Grasses
Roots are seldom seen and easy to forget, but they are an essential part of plants. Maintaining a healthy root system is essential for healthy plants, especially when conditions are not ideal. Meeting the needs of roots in crop management programs will help maintain plant health and performance.
Roots have four major roles:
- They anchor plants in place.
- They take up water and nutrients from the soil.
- They take up oxygen for root growth.
- They synthesise plant hormones that regulate plant growth and development.
Did you know ... ? – Order aerial photos in NSW
If you’re curious about what your property looks like from the air or you need an aerial photo for planning purposes, you can look on-line at the NSW Land and Property Management Authority.
Go to the AirView site at http://www.lands.nsw.gov.au/airview/.