myResearchSpace

The next meeting (already notified by Talitha) is on Tuesday 7 July, 1pm, second-floor lunch area, Soil Science building, UWA. The article to be mused upon is :Piao S, Fang J, Ciais P, Peylin P, Huang Y, Sitch S, Wang T. 2009. Carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in China. Nature, 458:1009-1014.

Musings on:Stewart CE, Paustian K, Conant RT, Plant AF, Six A. 2007. Soil carbon saturation: concept, evidence and evaluation. Biogeochemistry 86:19-31. On first glance I thought that this was too obvious to be significant - if carbon input fluxes (e.g. litter fall) are increased (in a single step), then of course soil carbon will increase, but ...

Article for 2 July 2007:Parton W, Silver WL, Burke IC, Grassens L, Harmon ME, Currie WS, King JY, Adair EC, Brandt LA, Hart SC, Fasth B, 2007. Global-scale similarities in nitrogen release patterns during long-term decomposition. Science 315:361-364. Finding a global pattern in nature would be a worthy achievement for any scientist, and this is ...

This one's from 21 May 2007: Davidson EA, Janssens IA (2006) Temperature sensitivity of soil carbon decomposition and feedbacks to climate change. Nature, 440:165-173. A useful article on the face of it, especially in light of Article 3.4 of Kyoto which allows for carbon credits on the basis of increased soil carbon storage. It provides a ...

Article for 26 March 2007:  Meir P, Cox P, Grace J. 2006.The influence of terrestrial ecosystems on climate. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 21:254-260. This is a review article that promised a stimulating discussion of the global function of soils and their response to one of the most significant (or at least newsworthy) ...