[Enviro-lunch] Enviro-lunch today (zoom)

[Kyungjin Min]

[image: image.png]
Hello,

Hope you all stay healthy. Today Dr. Eric Slessarev at Lawrence Livermore
National Lab will present his research between 12-1 pm. Please join us via
zoom.

Join Zoom Meeting Enviro-lunch
https://ucmerced.zoom.us/j/175736103
Meeting ID: 175 736 103
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+16699006833,,175736103# US (San Jose)
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*Title:*

Using the state-factor concept to model pedogenesis at the global scale



*Abstract:*

Many of the ecological and economic functions of soil depend on properties
like soil pH and the extent of silicate weathering—and these properties in
turn depend on environmental state factors. Can state factors be used to
develop quantitative models for soil properties? We can answer this
question by combining soil profile databases with environmental maps and
process-based models. For instance, a global analysis of more than 60,000
observations reveals that soil pH responds nonlinearly to climate,
declining abruptly from an alkaline to an acid equilibrium as precipitation
begins to exceed evaporative demand. The observations also suggest an
important role for geologic state factors in determining soil pH via their
influence on weathering rates. While weathering rates are challenging to
estimate in-situ, databases of soil elemental abundance can be used to
quantify time-integrated weathering losses. Based on observations across
the USA, time-integrated weathering losses of Na depend jointly on climate,
parent material composition, relief, and landscape age. These factors are
sufficient for parameterizing simple physical models to simulate Na
weathering from soils globally. These results suggest that state factors
can be used to predict basic soil properties from first principles. By
implication, state factors might also be used to predict more complex
aspects of soil function—particularly the accumulation of soil organic
carbon—and thus can help us to better model the role of Earth’s soils in
mediating biogeochemical cycles.

*Bio: *
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Eric Slessarev is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Environmental
Isotope Systems group at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. He
received his PhD at University of California Santa Barbara in 2018. Eric
studies pedology, particularly the geography of soil properties at regional
and global scales. Eric also studies terrestrial biogeochemistry, exploring
how microbes and minerals mediate carbon and nutrient cycling in soils. He
combines field observation, laboratory experiments, and process-based
models to conduct his research. Eric’s current project evaluates the
capacity of deeply rooted perennial grasses to restore soil carbon in
degraded agricultural lands across the USA. In addition to research, Eric
has a strong interest in environmental education, particularly
inquiry-based learning in the field.


KJ and Yang

Organizers for Spring 2020: KJ Min and Yang Yang
Faculty coordinator: Asmeret Asefaw Berhe


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You can find the semester schedule below.

*Date *

*Speaker *

*Topic *

*2/6*

Yang Yang

@ UC Merced

Altitudinal patterns of nutrient fluxes and pools at the Sierra Nevada



*2/13*

Jing Yan

@ UC Merced

Where small-scale process matters: linking transport behaviors of
nano-sized colloids and rhizosphere water, nutrient dynamics to soil
ecosystem functions

*2/20*

Dipankar Dwivedi

@ Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Biogeochemical controls on river water quality: Quantifying dynamic
surface-subsurface interactions using reactive transport models



*2/27*

Lauren Hale

@ USDA

Utilizing rhizosphere microbiomes to improve soil health

*3/5*

Alex Leven

@ Fugro

Working outside of the academia

*3/12*

cancelled



*3/19*

Eric Slessarev

@ Lawrence Livermore National Lab

Using the state-factor concept to model pedogenesis at the global scale





*3/26*

spring break



*4/2*

Zulema Valdez

@ UC Merced

Climate Change and Wildfire Sufferance among Rural California Residents

*4/9*

Caddie Bergren

@ UC ANR

Climate smart agriculture



*4/16*

Hannah Waterhouse

@ UC Davis

Managing greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural soils



*4/23*

Luna Reyes

@ UC Merced

Leverage your coding skills to get your science out there

*4/30*

Ryan Bart

@ UC Merced

Coupling ecohydrology with wildfires



*5/7*

Tracey Osborne

 @ UC Merced

TBD
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