Science Forums 2

[maikeru]

Originally Posted by Michaelangelica

Yes agreed, problem is we have only named 10% or so of the "wee beasties" that live in the dirt beneath our feet.
There is a whole universe under there. If we can't name them, what chance have we got to understand their behavior, role, reproduction, favorable unfavorable conditions etc.?
Many countries, it seems, may have unique sets of soil zoology; just as they have different animals. The continent of Australia may have different soil 'critters' to the Americas, or Japan. Then, within countries there may be differences; the deserts of Australia say, may be different to the coast or the littoral rainforests different to the tropical rainforests. These is enough here for a truckload of phDs.
Unfortunately many soil bugs don't want to grow on petri dishes. Even if we archived their growth in a laboratory, it does not help with understanding their complex interrelations with each other, with SOM, char, fertiliser, trace elements,heavy metals, pollution etc.
It is a mammoth task. Perhaps we should do it before we go to Mars?
It may be that the "wee beasties" in Terra preta are unique to the Amazon.

Yes that is very true. Unfortunately, at least speaking from my school's program, there's not a huge interest in bacteria or soil microbes any kind unless the "wee beasties" are related to some form of disease or medicine. But at least we have methods of knowing that new and different species of microbes are there by looking at rRNA sequences in samples. Not all microbes grow quickly or numerously, either. A similar problem faces the characterization of microbes that live in aqueous environments like oceans or lakes.

Another coming challenge
Another coming challenge I see for TP is the emerging pyrolysis technology.
This gives us the opportunity to make charcoal out of anything that was once organic (I am hoping to start a TP Funeral Service with the catchy marketing slogan: 'Die, fertilize the earth, and power a big light bulb' ). This means there will be dozens of different charcoals with different properties. Comparative research will thus become difficult if we don't know what we all mean when we say "charcoal".
Even today with wood charcoal there are different woods with different properties. Will what happens in Japan with bamboo charcoal happen in Australia with eucalyptus charcoal? Charcoal can be made at different temperatures and methods resulting in different resin and bio-oil levels. Ash levels may vary; pH may vary, size and shape of char might vary etc.
These problems need to be resolved before charcoal manufacturers (from pyrolysis) can make claims about their product. The problem is, that until these problems are sorted large scale pyrolysis will not be rolled out and pyrolysis will remain a research curiosity. "The energy cum GW solution we nearly had" A classic chicken and egg conundrum. If this happens TP will not be able to claim to be an answer to global warming.

Yes...a lot of things ahead of us. At least let me say that wood charcoal seems to have worked pretty well in my homemade stuff.