Development of soil and terrain digital database for major food-growing regions of India for resource planning

Soil information system in SOTER (soil and terrain digital database) framework is developed for the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) and black soil regions (BSR) of India with the help of information from 842 georeferenced soil profiles including morphological, physical and chemical properties of soils in addition to the site characteristics and climatic information. The database has information from 82 climatic stations that can be linked with the other datasets. The information from this organized database can be easily retrieved for use and is compatible with the global database. The database can be updated with recent and relevant data as and when they are available. The database has many applications such as inputs for refinement of agro-ecological regions and sub-regions, studies on carbon sequestration, land evaluation and land (crop) planning, soil erosion, soil quality, carbon and crop modelling and other climate change related research. This warehouse of information in a structured framework can be used as a data bank for posterity

Size Doesn't Matter: Towards a More Inclusive Philosophy of Biology

notes: As the primary author, O’Malley drafted the paper, and gathered and analysed data (scientific papers and talks). Conceptual analysis was conducted by both authors.publication-status: Publishedtypes: ArticlePhilosophers of biology, along with everyone else, generally perceive life to fall into two broad categories, the microbes and macrobes, and then pay most of their attention to the latter. ‘Macrobe’ is the word we propose for larger life forms, and we use it as part of an argument for microbial equality. We suggest that taking more notice of microbes – the dominant life form on the planet, both now and throughout evolutionary history – will transform some of the philosophy of biology’s standard ideas on ontology, evolution, taxonomy and biodiversity. We set out a number of recent developments in microbiology – including biofilm formation, chemotaxis, quorum sensing and gene transfer – that highlight microbial capacities for cooperation and communication and break down conventional thinking that microbes are solely or primarily single-celled organisms. These insights also bring new perspectives to the levels of selection debate, as well as to discussions of the evolution and nature of multicellularity, and to neo-Darwinian understandings of evolutionary mechanisms. We show how these revisions lead to further complications for microbial classification and the philosophies of systematics and biodiversity. Incorporating microbial insights into the philosophy of biology will challenge many of its assumptions, but also give greater scope and depth to its investigations

Soil and terrain database for Kenya (KENSOTER), version 2.0

Version 2.0 of the Kenya Soil and Terrain database (KENSOTER) at scale 1:1 M. replaces version1.0. The KENSOTER dataset was compiled by the [email protected]">Kenya Soil Survey (KSS) and ISRIC according to the SOTER methodology. The update includes additional and new soil profile data, replacing synthethic profile data. The geographic database was made congruent to the Digital Chart of the World (DCW). The primary data (ver. 1.0) have been used for the assessment of water erosion risk (GEO1 Pilot Project). Subsequently, SOTER-derived soil data for Kenya have been used for the assessment of soil carbon stocks and change at national scale The primary data (ver. 2.0) have recently been used for the Green Water Credit (GWC) programme in the Upper Tana River Valle

Soil and Terrain Database for Nepal (version 1.0) - scale 1:1 million (SOTER_Nepal)

The Soil and Terrain database for Nepal primary data (version 1.0), at scale 1:1 million (SOTER_Nepal). SOTER_Nepal is generalized from the original Soils and Terrain database of Nepal at scale 1:50,000 compiled by FAO and Nepal's Survey Dept. The SOTER_Nepal database provides generalized information on landform and soil properties at a scale 1:1 million. It consists of 17 SOTER units, ... characterized by 56 representative and four synthetic profiles for which there are no measured soil data. The SOTER database includes also attribute data of 99 profiles initially selected as references to soil components that have already a representative profile. SOTER forms a part of the ongoing activities of ISRIC and FAO to update the world's baseline information on natural resources.The project involved collaboration with national soil institutes from the countries in the region as well as individual expert

From soil map to digital database: land resources inventories, SOTER and its applications

Readily accessible information of up-to-data geo-referenced land resources is being requested with increasing frequency. This demand comes not only from the traditional group of researchers on land resources, but also from others such as the environmentalists using land resource data for their modeling (e.g. global change). Increased data storage capacity, faster processing speeds, improved database management and the use of geographical information systems have made it possible to provide more information in a shorter time, at lower costs and in formats suited to the need of the user. In many cases traditional soil survey reports with maps, as common in the past, have been replaced by tailor made databases, which stores profile information linking it only to the polygons of the soil map. A more comprehensive approach is making use of a relational database management system and geographic information system (GIS) linking the soil and land attributes to its spatial distribution. This has resulted in the development of the SOTER methodology (Soil and Terrain digital database) for storage of land resources attribute data in a database system, which is linked to `mapping units`, the SOTER units. These units are defined on their unique combination of terrain and soil characteristics. Once the SOTER units are defined and described in the database the information can serve for all kind of interpretations and assessments such as land evaluation, erosion risk assessment and, for production assessments and modeling. The SOTER methodology is standardized; it describes most attributes according to the Guidelines for Soil Profile Description (FAO, 1990) and the legend of the Soil Map of the World (FAO, 1988). The present SOTER database has the possibility for soil classification inputs, not only according to the FAO-1988 version and WRB (1998), but also for a national classification system. The link of the database to geo-referenced SOTER units makes it possible to produce thematic maps in formats suited for different users