[erich]

WOW..............This revolation by Charles C. Mann on the origin of earthworms and bloodworms to the new world was entirely new to me. I wonder if this can be confirmed by following the genetic trail to the earthworm's of the British Isles?

Jamestown, Colonial Landscapes - National Geographic Magazine

Erich J. Knight

[Michaelangelica]

Ancient microbes might have used a molecule other than chlorophyll to harness the Sun's rays — one that would have given the organisms a violet hue.

http://hypography.com/forums/newrepl...ote=1&p=174301

Do any of these live now?
Some plants have red or purple leaves

DasSarma thinks it is because chlorophyll appeared after another light-sensitive molecule called retinal was already present on early Earth.

Retinal, today found in the plum-colored membranes of photosynthetic microbes called halobacteria, absorbs green light and reflects back red and violet light, the combination of which appears purple.

Primitive microbes that used retinal to harness the sun's energy might have dominated early Earth, DasSarma said, thus tinting some of the first biological hotspots on the planet a distinctive purple color.

Being latecomers, microbes that used chlorophyll could not compete directly with those utilizing retinal, but they survived by evolving the ability to absorb the very wavelengths retinal did not use, DasSarma said.

"Chlorophyll was forced to make use of the blue and red light, since all the green light was absorbed by the purple membrane-containing organisms," said William Sparks, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Maryland, who helped DasSarma develop his idea.

Chlorophyll more efficient

The researchers speculate that chlorophyll- and retinal-based organisms coexisted for a time.

"You can imagine a situation where photosynthesis is going on just beneath a layer of purple membrane-containing organisms," DasSarma told LiveScience.

[Michaelangelica]

Two Articles on Glomalin
1 (5 page pdf with photos of Glomalin)

AMF are ancient microorganisms that evolved with plants as they moved from water to land.
These fungi are beneficial to plants because hyphae, hair-like projections of the fungus, explore more soil than plant roots can reach and transport phosphorus and some other nutrients to the plant. In return, plants provide carbon for growth of the fungus.

How to increase glomalin in soils:

1. · Use no-till management practices to allow AMF to grow during the cropping season. Tillage disrupts the hyphal network that produces glomalin. Disruption of the hyphal network also decreases the number of spores and hyphae to start the process again on the next crop.
2. · Use cover crops to maintain living roots for the fungi to colonize.
3. · Maintain adequate phosphorus level for crops, but do not over-apply P because high levels depress the activity of these fungi.
4. · Be aware that there are some crops that do not associate with AMF. These plants are primarily Brassicaceae (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, canola). A nonmycorrhizal crop is equivalent to fallow for AMF.

Benefit of glomalin:
Increased aggregate stability which leads to better soil structure which, in turn, leads to better
plant production.

http://invam.caf.wvu.edu/methods/myc...n_brochure.pdf
2.

A sticky protein seems to be the unsung hero of soil carbon storage.

Until its discovery in 1996 by ARS soil scientist Sara F. Wright, this soil "super glue" was mistaken for an unidentifiable constituent of soil organic matter. Rather, it permeates organic matter, binding it to silt, sand, and clay particles.
Not only does glomalin contain 30 to 40 percent carbon, but it also forms clumps of soil granules called aggregates.
These add structure to soil and keep other stored soil carbon from escaping. A sticky protein seems to be the unsung hero of soil carbon storage.
. . .
Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, found living on plant roots around the world, appear to be the only producers of glomalin.
Wright named glomalin after Glomales, the taxonomic order that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi belong to.
The fungi use carbon from the plant to grow and make glomalin.
In return, the fungi's hairlike filaments, called hyphae, extend the reach of plant roots.
Hyphae function as pipes to funnel more water and nutrients--particularly phosphorus--to the plants.

Glomalin hiding place for a third of the world's stored soil carbon Agricultural Research - Find Articles
3 Ok I can't count, just added this & some pics.
Glomalin is brown. I don't know why the pictures of it are green?

Specific practices that could accomplish this (reducing SOC turnover and enhancing sequestration,) include manipulating the quality of plant C inputs, planting perennial species, minimizing tillage and other disturbances, maintaining a near-neutral soil pH and adequate amounts of exchangeable base cations (particularly calcium), ensuring adequate drainage, and minimizing erosion. In some soils, amendment with micro- and mesoporous sorbents that have a high specific surface – such as fly ash or charcoal – can be beneficial.

SpringerLink - Journal Article

[Michaelangelica]

Originally Posted by malcolmf

This is a key point in relation to your beasties, Michael. Models of the soil carbon cycle (e.g. Colorado Uni's Century) usually allow for such pools as fast (1 year), slow (decades) and stable (centuries / millennia) turnover rates. However, even these are approximations: some papers on mycorrhizae suggest their turnover time can be as little as five days, as compared to the glomalin they produce which seems to join the slow pool.

The headline is that, once creatures get hold of carbon, it is as good as gone, back to the air. This implies a trade-off between the two main goals of carbon burial, namely removal from the air and agricultural productivity. The former does not want creatures to access the carbon, the latter does. We have to examine our motivations for making terra preta, and the two camps might choose very different methods as a result. I suggest that atmospheric goals might require high-tech, high-volume, highly recalcitrant carbon while soil goals might require something much closer to Amazonian practices or RBlack's carbon-compost approach.

Your history is in compost, isn't it? How do you feel about the potential conflict of goals between atmosphere and soil?

M

Still thinking.

Unless Tera preta/pyrolysis businesses can show how long the charcoal they put in the soil stays there; they will be hard pressed to get carbon credits.
carbon credits will help fund the whole (needs to be massive) programme.

A little work has been done (posted somewhere her?) but a lot more needs to be done

Your history is in compost, isn't it? How do you feel about the potential conflict of goals between atmosphere and soil?

No my history is in Industrial psychology. I have never made half decent compost despite many, many tries.
I think I know what you are getting at here but could you please explain more fully?

high-tech, high-volume, highly recalcitrant carbon while soil

A good pyrolisis unit such as BEST Energies and the Oz CSIRO unit should be able to give a range of carbon outcomes from low temp high resin char to high temp (650C) and also partially activate it as well if wanted.

You can buy rice hull Char from the Philippines for around $750 a tonne.
(This from a pyrolysis unit with the potential to produce 20+ tonne a day. )
(The environmental balance is good hear as farmers used to just burn the char by the side of the road)

I think char needs to be cheaper than this if it is going to be shipped around the planet and packaged and sold retail or to farmers.

I would like to see char produced and sold from mobile pyrolysis units.
I believe BEST in Oz did investigate this but there were so many government regulations in the way. Also how do you sell or store the energy/electricity you produce?

I have seen a mobile pyrolysis unit for sale in Canada and have emailed them for information. It looks like it can be hooked up to the tow bar of a car.

I am not sure where the backyard operator sits environmentally yet.
Certainly he/she has the potential to do more damage to the environment making the char than benefits in using it in the soil.

[Michaelangelica]

Alternative Soil Amendments

Microbial Inoculants

Inoculants, which are dry or liquid preparations of one or more species of microorganism, fall into three broad groups: 1) those that inoculate individual plants with symbiotic organisms (chiefly Rhizobia spp.), 2) those that inoculate the soil with desirable organisms, and 3) those that are used as "cover crops" (algae).
Rhizobia

The most clearly beneficial microbial preparations for agricultural use are the different strains of Rhizobia used to inoculate legumes.
Specific strains of these bacteria live in a mutually beneficial (symbiotic) relationship with specific species of legumes.
The bacteria penetrate the plant roots, causing the formation of root nodules containing both plant tissue and bacteria. In very simple terms, the plant supplies the physical environment and certain nutrients to the bacteria; the bacteria "fix" nitrogen from the air into compounds that then become available to the plant. Typical nitrogen fixation rates vary from 50 lbs/acre to over 300 lbs/acre, depending on climate, species, and soil conditions. On most farms these rates make it possible to harvest good crops without purchasing additional nitrogen.
Mycorrhizae

The mycorrhizae (my-cor-ry-'zee) group of fungi live either on or in plant roots and act to extend the reach of root hairs: into the soil. Mycorrhizae increase the plant's uptake of water and nutrients, especially in less fertile soils. The superfine, root-like structures of these fungi are more extensive and more effective than plant root hairs at absorbing phosphorus, and other nutrients as well.
Phosphorus moves slowly in soils but the fungi can absorb it much faster than the plant alone can. This enhanced root feeding makes it possible to reduce fertilizer rates for plants having a healthy colony of mychorrhizae. Some plants including citrus, grapes, avocados, and bananas, are dependent on mycorrhiza fungi. Others that benefit from having them are artichokes, melons, tomatoes, peppers, and squash.

Roots colonized by mycorrhizae are less likely to be penetrated by root-feeding nematodes since the pest cannot pierce the thick fungal network.

Mycorrhizae also produce hormones and antibiotics, which enhance root growth and provide disease suppression. The fungi benefit from plant association by taking nutrients and carbohydrates from the plant roots they live in.

In soils where mychorrhizae have been killed off, an inoculation may be beneficial.
In healthy soils where they already exist there will be little or no benefit to adding more.
There are dozens of mychorrizae species in nature. Additionally, the species found on plant roots may change as the plant matures.
If those that are available are of the correct species, and are handled properly at all stages, they offer interesting potential benefits to farmers in well-managed systems. Generally it is preferred to inoculate with several species rather than a single one. For information on rhizobial and mycorrhizal inoculation for disease suppression, request the ATTRA publication Sustainable Management of Soil-borne Plant Diseases.
Free-living soil organisms

A great many of the products in this category are designed to be sprayed on the soil surface or on crop residues in order to inoculate the topsoil with desirable microorganisms. Manufacturers of these products make numerous and varying claims about their beneficial effects, which fall into three broad categories:

* The microbes will fix enough nitrogen from the air to allow the farmer to eliminate much or all fertilizer.
* The product improves soil organic matter and "releases" soil nutrients to the crop.
* The product produces better yields, especially during times of drought.

Many microbial products do indeed contain free-living (as opposed to symbiotic) microbes that are known to fix nitrogen in certain circumstances. Those species, however, work best in wet, oxygen-poor conditions that most farmers and their crops would prefer to avoid.

Rice paddies are a notable exception. In the vast majority of cropping situations other than rice production, the amount of nitrogen fixed by such free-living microbes is not generally considered economically significant (3).
In other words, the value of any fixed nitrogen may be less than the cost of the product. Far greater nitrogen fixation, for example, can be obtained via symbiotic Rhizobia on a legume sod or cover crop, for much lower cost.

Soil microbes, like all living things, will thrive only in the presence of their preferred environmental conditions-moisture, oxygen, temperature, pH, food, and shelter.
When conditions are not within favorable ranges, the microbes cease reproduction or die.
Natural microbial populations will be abundant if soil conditions are right. Adding a microbial amendment in such circumstances may not be cost-efficient, because the naturally occurring individuals will typically outnumber the same species supplied in a product by 10,000 to 1, or more

If soil conditions are not right, inoculant organisms will reproduce just as slowly as their naturally occurring colleagues, which is to say, not at all.
The consensus among agronomists appears to be that these products perform best when the soil is at or near optimum conditions to begin with.

So does that say it is a good idea to buy some or not?

[Michaelangelica]

Some pesticides can reduce soil fertility

04 June 2007

Some pesticides developed to boost crop yields could be doing the opposite in the long term, report US researchers.

Common pesticides block the chemical signals that allow nitrogen-fixing bacteria to function, report Jennifer Fox and colleagues at Tulane University. Over time, soils surrounding treated plants can become low in nitrogen compounds, so more fertiliser is needed to produce the same yield.

Root nodules
Soybean root nodules, each containing billions of Bradyrhizobium bacteria

© USDA
Sustainable agricultural practices often use crop rotation: growing a different crop in the same soil each year. Alternating crops that fix nitrogen in the soil - so-called leguminous crops, such as beans or clover - with crops, like wheat, that don't fix nitrogen, enables soils to replenish nitrogen levels routinely. Leguminous plants contain root nodules that use soil bacteria to fix nitrogen, a process that converts atmospheric nitrogen into useful compounds like ammonia.

Fox's team tested several common pesticides on leguminous alfalfa plants, relying on the plants' nitrogen-fixing bacteria to provide the nutrients. The insecticides methyl parathion (not used in the UK, but widely used throughout the world, and registered in at least 38 countries) and DDT (which was banned by the World Health Organization for almost 30 years, before being reinstated in 2006 as an effective intervention against malaria) showed a decrease in crop yield of about 20 per cent. Treatment with pentachlorophenol (whose use is restricted in Europe to specialist timber applications), showed a decrease in crop yield of over 80 per cent.

Some pesticides can reduce soil fertility

Soybean root nodules, each containing billions of Bradyrhizobium bacteria
© USDA

[Michaelangelica]

Not sure what this means
ScienceDaily: New Plant-bacterial Symbiotic Mechanism Promising For Crop Applications

New Plant-bacterial Symbiotic Mechanism Promising For Crop Applications

Science Daily — The growth of most plants depends on the presence of sufficient amounts of nitrogen contained in the soil. However, a family of plants, the legumes, is partially free of this constraint thanks to its ability to live in association with soil bacteria of the Rhizobium, genus, capable of fixing nitrogen from the air
. . .
ics.

The team from the IRD's 'Laboratoire des Symbioses Tropicales et Méditerranéennes' and its partners taking as model a symbiosis between a tropical aquatic legume, Aeschynomene, and Bradyrhizobium, bacteria of the Rhizobia family, have just revealed a new mode of communication at molecular level between these two organisms. The bacteria of this original model have their own photosynthetic pathway, a unique property in the rhizobia. This special character confers on it the exceptional, rare ability to form nodules on the stems of its host-plant. The plant thus acquires the possibility of fixing much higher quantities of nitrogen than those usually measured in leguminous plants which have nodules only on their roots.

More on pesticides and fertility.

"Our research provides another explanation for declining crop yields," Fox said. "We showed that by applying pesticides that interfere with symbiotic signaling, the overall amount of symbiotic nitrogen fixation is reduced.
If this natural fertilizer source is not replaced by increased application of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, then crop yields are reduced and/or more growing time is needed for these crops to reach the yields obtained by untreated crops.
We feel that this is a previously unforeseen factor contributing to declining crop yields."

ScienceDaily: Satellites Track Human Exposure To Fine Particle Pollution

Alfalfa roots secrete chemical signals into soil to attract and recruit bacteria. These bacteria live in a plant's roots and provide a natural fertilizer source. Pictured is an alfalfa root with root hairs that have attracted rhizobia soil bacteria, which are engineered to appear in green fluorescence for easier visualization. (Credit: Image courtesy of Jennifer E. Fox)

[Michaelangelica]

I always thought algae were in the sea not in soil
Wrong!

Algae are primary producers, i.e. they are the start of the food chain. One third of all the carbon fixed on this planet is achieved by algae, largely in the oceans!

Soil Algae: Several hundred species of algae form three general groups - green , Blue-green algae and diatoms- have been isolated from soils, but a small number are prominent throughout the world.

They consist of eukaryotic cells: have a nuclei within a nuclear membrane. Algal populations typically range from 10,000 - 100,000 cells per gram of soil.

Green algae prefer moist, non flooded acidic soils while diatoms prefer well drained land rich in organic matter.
Blue-green algae, Cyanobacteria, are prokaryotes and are usually classified as bacteria Soil Algae contain chlorophyll enabling them like plants to carry out photosynthesis if exposed to light and moisture.

They produce substantial O.M in some fertile soils and certain algae excrete polysaccharides which increase soil aggregation.

FAO/AGL - Soil Biodiversity Portal

So this is where sweet soil comes from? (polysaccharides =complex sugars)

Algae are common in ponds and streams, but they are also common in soils.
They are pioneer species and contribute to building soil, making it possible for plant species to grow.
Algae photosynthesize energy from sunlight and contribute vast amounts of organic matter to the soil.
Many algae can also fix nitrogen and contribute this nutrient to the soil.
The organic matter that algae add to the soil improves soil quality because it is sticky and contributes to making soil porous.
. . .
Fungi and algae pair together to form lichens. The algae partner produces nutrients through photosynthesis and the fungus partner absorbs inorganic nutrients from the soil which the algae needs for growth.
Lichens can therefore colonize the harshest environments, even those with scarce nutrients, water, and cold temperatures.
Because lichens can absorb even trace inorganic and organic materials, they serve as an indicator of environmental quality, because they take up trace toxic materials in the environment.

The Environmental Literacy Council - Soil Creatures

ninety percent of carbon dioxide produced on Earth from natural processes comes from the biological activity of bacteria and fungi.

The Environmental Literacy Council - Soil Creatures

Garding you tail?

Soils are also home to a variety of snails, slugs, and insects, and, one of the most intriguing creatures of all, the tardigrade.
The tardigrade was first described in 1773 by a German naturalist Johann Goeze, who called it the "little water bear." The name tardigrade means "slow stepper" and describes the slow movement of these creatures. Tardigrades are considered to be related to insects but they are distinct enough to have their own phylum. Tardigrades are most unusual because of their color; although some are brown or colorless, they can also be pink, orange, green, or yellow. Tardigrades are predators in the soil, consuming protozoa, algae, fungi, nematodes, and other tardigrades. Tardigrades are also unusual because they can go into a state of suspended animation to survive when environmental conditions, such as temperature or moisture levels are unfavorable

The Environmental Literacy Council - Soil Creatures

These guys look like the tanks of the soil flroa and fauna

They look a bit bear-like!




Are they in Oz soil?

A PS on Algae- "Grass eats Cow"

There are algae species that can act both as “plants” and as “animals” at the same time.

As “plants” the algae produce their own food and as “animals” they can eat other plants or even their own grazers.
These organisms are called mixotrophs and their nutritional strategy is thus known as mixotrophy, in other words: “mixed nutrition”.
This dual nutritional behavior affects the notion of food chain mentioned above.
In a comparison, imagine if instead of a cow eating the grass, the grass grabs and eats the cow.

The thesis of Wanderson Carvalho had as one of the objectives to quantify in two mixotrophic species how much nitrogen and phosphorous are needed when they act as “plants” and as “animals”, respectively.
For example, under nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) deficient conditions, mixotrophs can outcompete other algae species by eating them or utilizing the little available nutrients dissolved in the water.
Wanderson also found out that “feeding as animals” can also provide carbon and energy to the mixotrophs if light is low or absent.

In absence of food, mixotrophs can use their photosynthetic capabilities to survive until suitable prey is available again.
Mixotrophs can decrease competition since they can feed on their competitors and predators alike. Mixotrophs can survive adverse periods and because of that many mixotrophs form blooms, becoming potentially harmful to the environment.

ScienceDaily: Understanding Algae That Are Both 'Plant' And 'Animal'

[erich]

Hi All,
This is just the tool we need to totaly validate all the benifites of carbon to the soil, and just in time:

July/August 2007

Metagenomics Defined
Genomics will help explain the microbial world.
By Ed DeLong

"Conventional genomic research on microörganisms determines the DNA sequences of individual microbes by examining cultivated strains. In metagenomics, DNA sequence information is extracted from entire microbial communities in situ."

"The *majority of extant microbial species and their behaviors therefore represent a vast biological terra incognita. Meta*genomic approaches, which sidestep the need to purify and cultivate individual microbial strains, make it easier to retrieve genome sequence information from elusive microbial species. A second, and perhaps more important, point is that microbial species do not generally occur as single strains or pure cultures. Rather, any given microbial assemblage can consist of hundreds of different species, each one displaying significant genetic variability. The biological meaning and functional consequences of this tremendous within- and between-species biodiversity remain obscure. Metagenomic approaches enable direct assessment of community diversity and provide data sets relevant to both measuring and modeling biological processes."

"The study of anthropogenic effects on microbial processes that regulate the mass balance of planetary carbon and nitrogen cycles will also benefit from metagenomics."

Technology Review: Metagenomics Defined


Also;

A Q&A with;
George Whitesides ,The chemistry of energy
. Technology Review: George Whitesides

He hints all around the problems that TP seems to solve. I plan to send him my TP links

ALSO;
I think I'm going to use this title for my next compilation and updated TP posting/article;

"Closed-Loop Pyrolysis; Burning Our Way Back to a Stable Climate"

What ya think?................. and of course, feel free, as with all I write, to plagiarize, cut and paste, whatever, to get this technology seen and heard.


Erich J. Knight
Shenandoah Gardens
1047 Dave Berry Rd.
McGaheysville, VA. 22840
(540) 289-9750

[Michaelangelica]

Can The Right Potting Mix Replace Fungicide?

Science Daily — Potting mixes custom-tailored to fight plant diseases can work much better than systemic fungicides.
The Trichoderma fungus thwarts Botrytis on more than one front. It prevents Botrytis from infecting fresh wounds, and produces compounds that keep Botrytis spores from germinating.

Surprisingly, the compost mix had a similar effect even without Trichoderma. This means there could be naturally occurring beneficial fungi or other biocontrol agents in the compost.

ScienceDaily: Can The Right Potting Mix Replace Fungicide?

Although using biotechnology to develop new drugs is by no means simple, the industry has seen steady success over the past few years.

Between 2000 and 2005, over 20 new drugs were released onto the market originating from natural sources. And although this is the first time SIDR has worked with fungal cultures, there are a number of prescription drugs deriving from metabolites produced by fungi that have been on the market for many years. These include immunosuppressive agents, antibiotics such as penicillin, lipid lowering agents and anti-fungal drugs.