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Soil Horizons articles

  1. Stamp of approval: NZ Post releases soil stamps

    On 4 June 2025 NZ Post issued a new set of four stamps with themes related to the many roles that soils play in our lives and in nature

  2. Digging for treasure: How a new AI tool assists with intergenerational knowledge discovery

    The Bioeconomy Science Institute recently co-developed a web-based AI tool that enables scientists to query research reports from the past 50 years in the blink of an eye. Following successful testing, it will be available to power searches across digital libraries or web pages of the Bioeconomy Sci...

  3. Hole truths: The importance of soil judging competitions in soil management and skills development

    In November 2024, over 200 soil enthusiasts from nine countries gathered in Rotorua for a soil judging competition to develop their skills in soil description, classification, and land-use interpretation. Unprecedented interest in the Moana Oceania Soil Judging Competition, a joint collaboration by ...

  4. Modernising the New Zealand Soil Description Handbook for the 21st Century

    Since its first edition release in 1991 the Soil Description Handbook has been the standard companion for New Zealand for soil surveyors, consultants, and students when characterising and sampling soils in the field. Its longevity is a credit to the quality of the original work, but, like all techni...

  5. Expanding our horizons – further coverage for S-map

    Launched in 2002, and progressively developed and updated by the field teams, soil scientists, and informatics specialists, S-map is New Zealand’s benchmark online soil-mapping tool.

  6. How many landslides were prevented during Cyclone Gabrielle?

    Cyclone Gabrielle triggered large numbers of shallow landslides across the Hawke’s Bay region, resulting in extensive damage to land and substantial sediment deposition in downstream environments. While significant effort has been made to understand the extent of landsliding triggered by Gabrielle, ...

  7. Can incorporation of plantain into pasture reduce nitrous oxide emissions from urine patches in livestock grazing systems?

    Nitrous oxide emissions from grazed pastures primarily originate from nitrogen (N)-rich livestock urine patches. Following deposition, urine-N undergoes microbial nitrification and denitrification, leading to N₂O losses. Developing mitigation strategies for this potent greenhouse gas therefore remai...

  8. Biochar incorporation into soils: initial effects and challenges

    Biochar, as a stabilised form of carbon derived from biomass wastes, can persist in soil environments for decades or longer, and can significantly decrease and/or delay C emissions from biomass. Biochar therefore contributes to C sequestration in soil and greenhouse gas mitigation. However, in New Z...

  9. Can winter-sown catch crops reduce nitrate leaching in cold environments?

    Forage crops (e.g. brassicas, fodder beet) are an important source of high-quality feed for livestock in Southland winters. However, the risk of nitrate leaching under these crops is high, because of high nitrogen (N) return in urine patches at high stock densities and bare soil with no plant N upta...

  10. Major expansion of S-map coverage in Taranaki

    Over 240,000 ha of new S-map is now available in the Taranaki region, the outcome of a partnership over the last 3 years between Taranaki Regional Council, Ministry of Primary Industries, and Bioeconomy Science Institute. The mapping covers the eastern and southern ring plain, from the Manganui catc...

  11. Better nitrogen management: The answer lies in the soil

    There is economic and regulatory pressure on growers to improve nitrogen (N) use efficiency and reduce N losses to the environment. Ultimately, the best way to achieve these objectives is to match N supply (from soil and fertiliser) to crop N demand during the growing season.

  12. Enhanced Rock Weathering: A bulwark against climate warming?

    Silicate and carbonate weathering by carbonic acid is a key component of the natural, mid- to long-term global carbon cycle. This process plays out in two key environments.

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