The “extra pinch” of pseudosand to enhance tropical biogeochemical processes understanding

authored by: Simone Kilian Salas, Katharina H.E. Meurer, Diana Boy, Elisa Díaz García, Susanne K. Woche, Jens Boy, Georg Guggenberger, Stephan Peth, Paul A. Schroeder, Hermann F. Jungkunst
Abstract: Despite knowing better, water-stable aggregates like pseudosands are still disintegrated into their clay- and silt-sized bits and pieces to serve standardization in texture determination. Lacking yet a viable alternative, this deliberately committed mistake seems the contemporary best practice for modeling purposes, which is far from being ideal. Here, we propose this misconception to be a major cause for flawed process understanding of tropical soils, leading to substantial uncertainties in model development. There is enough evidence as to why pseudosands are neither sand nor the plain sum of their clay- and silt-sized units and should therefore better be defined as an additional soil texture class for which properties have yet to be examined across the tropics.
Organisation(s): Institute of Microbiology
Institute of Soil Science
External Organisation(s): Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
University of Georgia
University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU)
Type: Editorial in journal
Journal: Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science
Volume: 187
Pages: 161-170
No. of pages: 10
ISSN: 1436-8730
Publication date: 02.04.2024
Publication status: Published
Peer reviewed: Yes
ASJC Scopus subject areas: Soil Science, Plant Science
Electronic version(s): https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.202400090 (Access: Open)