[Terrapreta] Soil Food Web

[Larry Williams]

yep! tony your on target. years ago, i noted in my readings on steam  
ecology how one specific insect used a spacial area over a stream  
that was ten feet off the water, that is, the insect needed a  
decaying log of a certain size that was overhanging the waters of the  
stream. a very specific structural requirement.

---------
a great "ah haw" happen on a landscaping job for a local TV station,  
kvos, in bellingham. we were planting two 6-7' flowering plum trees  
on the back side of some communication discs. after the trees were  
planted, staked and a small water basin was created around the trunk,  
i placed the tools and debris in a wheel barrow and walked away. at  
10 -15' from the last tree planted, i turned around to see how the  
trees looked, as i did an english sparrow landed in the branches of  
one of the trees. the first tree had been in place for under 30  
minutes and the second tree for 10 minutes.

comments made much earlier regarding forest ecology and comments at a  
later workshop on mine restoration sites made sense with this event.

the previous weekend to planting the trees at the kvos site I had  
been in a restoration conference in portland (oregon, usa) where one  
of the speakers had said that "structure leads to function". the  
speaker was restoring mine sites in utah and was referring to planted  
shrubs whose branches were, when established, were used by spiders to  
catch insects. he also noted that in the nutrient poor mind sites  
that the shrubs acted as a collector of nutrients and moisture (dew).  
wind blown organics lodged around the stem of the shrubs and helped  
to retain soil moisture and provide habitat.

the landing of the english sparrow in the just-planted tree clarified  
problems that I was having in understanding the significance of  
function and structure in forest ecology. a year earlier jerry  
franklin and chris maser (pacific northwest forest researchers) were  
discussing these concepts and their significance in the forest  
ecology. i was puzzled. these researchers had not placed a real event  
to the concepts of function and structure. i was unable to use their  
information.

the landing of the english sparrow in the just-planted tree clarified  
problems that I was having in understanding the significance of  
function and structure in forest ecology. the phrase, "structure  
leads to function" and the sparrow landing in the just-planted tree  
made clear to me it's importance.

when charcoal with it's pore spaces are occupied with microbes and  
when charcoal, consisting of carbon binding sites for nutrient ions,  
is used then the structure, charcoal, hosts the functions of  
microbes, fungi, roots and nutrients.

what a neat process and consider it's potential if replicated------- 
larry


p.s. could someone explain entropy in this process? does dr. wardle's  
work express some aspect of entropy?




---------------------------------------
On May 8, 2008, at 10:24 PM, Hunt, Tony wrote:

> Hi All
>
>
>
> I’ve just been reading the discussion about Elaine Ingham’s  
> thoughts on biochar and its benefits to soil (or lack thereof!).   
> The view She puts forward, that “Charcoal, by itself, as an  
> addition to soil, doesn't contribute much besides physical  
> structure” seems to miss the point that physical structure is  
> itself tremendously important to organisms.  The comparison with  
> coral reefs is an apt one, and I think that the description of  
> biochar addition to soil as “building a coral reef in the soil” is  
> spot on.  Coral reef itself is just a network structure of calcium  
> carbonate, and by itself adds little to the productivity of the  
> water column in which it is situated.  However, what it does do is  
> provide STRUCTURE in an environment that otherwise lacks it, and so  
> a water body characterised by low nutrient content and low  
> biological productivity (i.e. shallow tropical seas) instead  
> becomes one of the most diverse and productive ecosystems on  
> earth.  Furthermore, this effect can be reproduced artificially, as  
> any number of artificial reefs around the world has demonstrated.   
> Whether they are concrete structures, sunken ships or just bunches  
> of old tyres tied together, they don’t contribute anything but  
> physical structure, yet they have a startling effect on the  
> productivity and biodiversity of the surrounding water column.  I  
> can’t see any reason why adding biochar to soils that are otherwise  
> lacking in physical structure wouldn’t have a similar effect.
>
>
>
> Regards
>
>
>
> Tony Hunt
> Transfield Services
> E: huntt at transfieldservices.com
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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