We need to talk more about soil. In articles and poems I try to bring the hidden world beneath the ground closer. The soil is buzzing with diverse forms of life that literally carry all life above-ground on their back. And still, so often, soil life and its importance is overlooked. Lets change this.
Here I am sharing some insights into my work and my thougths on soils.
- Going on soil safari
What you need for a soil safari: How to do a soil safari: Excravate a 25x25cm quadrad that is 20 cm deep. Put the soil on a close plastic layer or also on asphalt or any other flat surface will do the job. Start with kneeing over the soil pit looking for animals. Put in… Read more: Going on soil safari - Pesticides: of addictions, missing data and the importance of the EU
Pesticides: of addictions, missing data and the importance of the EU From fewer multi-pitch bird songs in spring, fewer cricket concerts in summer and fewer butterfly colours around. Gone are the days of swatting insects off windscreens in the summer. Today, many farmers already support plant pollination by purchasing bumblebee pollination boxes, and machines are… Read more: Pesticides: of addictions, missing data and the importance of the EU - Digging for soil lifeHow to find the organisms living in soils? Well, this depends on their size. Some are easily visible and can just be collected to then count and identify them. The earthworms for example. To find macro- and mesofauna, we dig a 25cm x 25cm square to a depth of 20cm. This block of soil is… Read more: Digging for soil life
- How diverse is the soil life across Europe?
On grasping soil biodiversity through DNA analysis or a little discourse into my PhD work (the struggle is real putting three years of research into a little blog article). The Diversity of Life Beneath Our Feet Soils are so much more than a brown mass – they are full of life. But how diverse is… Read more: How diverse is the soil life across Europe?