Download The Evolving Soil Interface of the Earth System Soils are the

The Evolving Soil Interface of the Earth System
Soils are the interface linking vital geologic, atmospheric, hydrologic, and biologic process at Earth’s
surface. Weathering and erosion of the Earth’s crust, atmospheric and climatic patterns and changes,
growth and change in the terrestrial biosphere, and the movement and behavior of water are intricately
connected within the soil interface and have a direct impact on the lives and livelihoods of humans and
the ecosystems with which we interact. The important role of soils and the challenges of understanding
how soils evolve and behave, in particular in a warming world with growing population, were
highlighted during the International Year of Soils in 2015. The Board on Earth Sciences and Resources is
focusing its spring 2016 meeting on two linked soil issues in an effort to continue to highlight the role of
soils and to identify pressing needs in (1) modeling soil-water dynamics for predictions essential to
agriculture, flood and drought forecasting, and assessment of fresh water availability, and (2)
characterizing soil carbon stabilization responses to changing soil hydrology and atmospheric CO2. What
are the priority research and policy questions related to soils and these interacting systems and
processes?
AGENDA – Open Session |08:30 – 15:45
Register: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/2619683/BESR-Spring-2016-Meeting
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08:30
Doors Open
08:45
Welcome and Introductions
09:00
Keynote Presentation: Sustaining “the Genius of Soils”
Gene Whitney, Chair
Board on Earth Sciences and Resources
Garrison Sposito, University of California, Berkeley
10:00 -10:15
BREAK
10:15-12:00
Panel I – Hydropedology: Modeling Soil Water Dynamics
Moderator: David Maidment, BESR member
Modeling soil-water dynamics requires local- to regional-scale assessments of soil moisture. With
multiple agencies developing data they require for models that predict different hydrologic conditions,
we can now seek opportunities to augment the available data and reduce redundancies by identifying
common elements of data requirements and ways to translate and share information.
John Bolten, Associate Program Manager, Water Resources, NASA Applied Sciences Program, NASA
Goddard
David Lindbo, Director, Soil Science Division, USDA, NRCS
Binayak Mohanty, Professor, Texas A&M University
Donald Cline, Associate Director, Water, U.S. Geological Survey
12:00 – 13:00
Lunch
13:00 – 14:45 Panel II - Characterizing Soil Carbon Stabilization Under Evolving Climate &
Environmental Conditions
Moderator: Isabel Montañez, BESR Member
Understanding soil-water relationships is critical to modeling the role of terrestrial carbon reservoirs as
CO2 sources or sinks. As the largest terrestrial reservoir of reactive carbon (up to 75% of the terrestrial
carbon pool) soils play a prominent role in climate change and CO2 sequestration. Model scenarios of
soil carbon emissions indicate it is one of our most serious yet poorly constrained variables in climate
models. Notably, future emissions from soils almost certainly exceed any plausible scenario of
management-based methods to sequester soil carbon. The key to better constraining this issue is
understanding the linkages between long-term soil carbon stabilization (sequestration), CO2 fertilization
effects on vascular plants, soil microbial diversity, and the complex ecosystem (microbial and vascular
plants) responses to changes in soil hydrology and atmospheric CO2. None of this complex biotic
response is adequately captured in large-scale models used to make climate change projections thus
compromising efforts to effectively model the terrestrial carbon cycle and predict its behavior under
different scenarios of future climate.
Oliver Chadwick, University of California at Santa Barbara
Diana Wall, Colorado State University
Noah Fierer, University of Colorado, Boulder
Will Wieder, NCAR
14:45
BREAK
15:00
Synthesis and general discussion of the day
15:45
Adjourn Open Session
Gene Whitney, BESR Chair
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