Transdisciplinarity in Groundwater Management — Towards Mutual Learning of Science and Society

Transdisciplinarity is defined as a specific type of knowledge prodution that has to be distinguished from interdisciplinarity. Transdisciplinarity deals with relevant, complex societal problems and organizes processes of mutual learning between agents from the scientific and the non-scientific world. We introduce principles of transdisciplinarity when presenting projects on groundwater and soil management in the Klettgau trough, a catchment of 156 km². Currently, the groundwater aquifer shows a critical nitrate load due to intense agriculture. The projects are the ETH-UNS Case Study Responsible Soil Use in the German-Swiss Area and the Interreg II EG/EU project Developmental Strategy for the Klettgau Trough. The ETH-UNS study is part of a new type of undergraduate course. The project organization, the methods of knowledge integration, process details and results are introduced as an example of transdisciplinary activities. The project was linked to the INTERREG II program that also used participatory methods in soil and groundwater management.     

Pavel Vladimirovich Ototsky (1866–1954): Pedologist and Organizer of Soil Science Research

Eurasian Soil Science - Pavel Vladimirovich Ototsky was the founder and first editor of the Pochvovedenie journal. The article presents his biography and activity in science and organization of...     

Pressurized Hot Water and DTPA‐Sorbitol as Viable Alternatives for Soil Boron Extraction. II. Correlation of Soil Extraction to Responses of Boron‐Fertilized Alfalfa

Abstract

Pressurized hot water and DTPA‐Sorbitol are two relatively new, proposed alternative soil boron (B) extraction methods for which no data on yield or plant nutrient uptake have been reported for validation. Both methods initially have shown significant correlation with the hot water extraction method in untreated soils as well as soils incubated with various levels of B. The objective of the research was to extract samples of B‐treated soils by using all three extraction methods and correlate the B values obtained to yield, B tissue concentration, and total B removal of alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Greenhouse and field experiments on alkaline and limed acid soils naturally low in hot water‐extractable B were conducted to test alfalfa response to B fertilizer. In the greenhouse, highly significant relationships exist between plant uptake and extractable B with all three methods at varying levels of applied B, but no alfalfa yield response was observed. All three methods result in accurate predictions of plant B tissue concentrations and total B removal. The field experiment exhibited a significant positive relationship between total alfalfa yield and extractable B using hot water and pressurized hot water extractions. Extractable B using DTPA‐Sorbitol was not related to total alfalfa yield in the field experiment. This work, coupled with the earlier incubation studies, supports the pressurized hot water extraction method as an improvement over hot water in diverse soil types. The lack of relationship in the acid soil supports DTPA‐Sorbitol as an improvement over hot water in alkaline soils.     

Soil Cover of the Cis-Ol’khon Area,Baikal Region

Eurasian Soil Science - Active development of the Cis-Ol’khon area in the past decades enhanced the conflicts between land users related to multifunctional land use (residential,...