Soil Horizons

Issue 32, October 2023

This issue of Soil Horizons showcases recent research on developing practical tools to help end-users. We include guidance for managing ‘surplus soil’ (derived from infrastructure development or natural processes such as sediment deposition) and describe a farmer-friendly infiltrometer to measure soil water infiltration.

There are two new web services: one for land-use capability and one that provides fascinating insights into our Antarctic soil's heritage and early exploration. New Zealand’s most favourable soils for food and fibre production need safeguarding, so the tools on the new land-use capability site will help councils to zone their highly productive land.

We provide stories on enhancing S-map (New Zealand’s digital soil map), including how the complex array of soils is being mapped on Banks Peninsula, the use of proximal sensing to improve S-map in Marlborough, and keeping our team’s soil description skills up to date. Some of Marlborough’s very stony soils are challenging to dig, so new techniques were adapted from precision agriculture to overcome the problem.

We also present work on the development of a plant growth chamber for investigating future climate conditions.

John Drewry
Editor
Senior Researcher - Soil Physics

Issue 30, November 2021

The front of Soil Horizons Issue 1, from April 1997.

This issue of Soil Horizons is our 30^th. The first issue of Soil Horizons, published in April 1997, was aimed at communicating our soils-related research to stakeholders, customers, and colleagues. It still is.

A review of Issue 1 shows articles on nitrate in soils, greenhouse gases, soil quality indicators, erosion, the National Soils Database, contamination, nematodes, and soil records. Issue 1 also had a feature on the soil chemistry and soil physics laboratories in Palmerston North and Hamilton.

Many of these topics sound familiar! Nitrate losses, greenhouse gases, soil quality, erosion, and soil contamination are key topics today, 24 years on, with several large current research programmes in action.

Issue 30 has articles on several topics that were in Issue 1. We have an article on ‘reducing nitrogen losses from farms’ – from a co-author also featured in Issue 1. Other articles include soil quality, and the use of technology to better understand erosion and soil conservation mitigation, and soil moisture. Issue 1 had an article on the ‘National Soils Database,’ an essential inter-generational resource that now supports S-map and various research directions. So, this year, we have two articles on S-map – one on using field and digital techniques to improve mapping in the Wairarapa, and the other on developing a ‘landform trees’ tool.

Issue 1 had a feature on the South Pacific laboratories network. Issue 30 has an article on the Pacific Soils Portal to make soils information more widely available.

Our other articles this year include ‘land fragmentation’, and a book review of ‘The Soils of Aotearoa New Zealand’.

Many thanks to the teams who have contributed to research and writing in all 30 issues of Soil Horizons!

John Drewry, Editor.