Advances in Measuring Soil Health

Dr Wilfred Otten is Professor of Soil Biophysics at Cranfield University, UK. He was the President of the British Soil Science Society (2017-2018), and is a Fellow of the Institute of Soil Science. Professor Otten is internationally-renowned for his research on measuring and modelling physical, chemical and microbial processes in soil.

Part 1 Measuring soil biological activity
1.Assessing soil health by measuring fauna: Felicity Crotty, Royal Agricultural University, UK;
2.Quantifying earthworm community structures as indicators of soil health: Jacqueline L. Stroud, formerly Rothamsted Research, UK;
3.Characterisation of fungal communities and functions in agricultural soils: Andy F. S. Taylor, The James Hutton Institute and University of Aberdeen, UK; and Thomas Freitag, Lucinda J. Robinson and Duncan White, The James Hutton Institute, UK;

Part 2 Measuring soil physical and chemical properties
4.Advances in visual soil evaluation techniques: Mansonia Pulido-Moncada, Aarhus University, Denmark; Bruce C. Ball, formerly Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), UK; and Wim M. Cornelis, Ghent University, Belgium;
5.Imaging soil structure to measure soil functions and soil health with X-ray computed micro-tomography: Alexandra Kravchenko and Andrey Guber, Michigan State University, USA;
6.Geophysical methods to assess soil characteristics: Ho-Chul Shin, Rothamsted Research, UK; Guillaume Blanchy, Lancaster University, UK; Ian Shield, Peter Fruen, Timothy Barraclough and Christopher W. Watts, Rothamsted Research, UK; Andrew Binley, Lancaster University, UK; and William R. Whalley, Rothamsted Research, UK;
7.Advances in techniques to assess soil erodibility: R. J. Rickson, E. Dowdeswell Downey, G. Alegbeleye and S. E. Cooper, Cranfield University, UK;
8.Advances in measuring mechanical properties of soil in relation to soil health: Muhammad Naveed, University of West London, UK;
9.Advances in near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to assess soil health: Francisco J. Calderón, Oregon State University, USA; Andrew J. Margenot, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA; and Scarlett Bailey, National Resources Conservation Service - National Soil Survey Center, USA;
10.Spectral mapping of soil organic carbon: Bas van Wesemael, Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium;

Part 3 From measurement to management
11.Developing soil health indicators for improved soil management on farm: Elizabeth Stockdale, NIAB, UK; Paul Hargreaves, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), UK; and Anne Bhogal, ADAS Gleadthorpe, UK;
12.Developing decision support systems (DSS) for farm soil and crop management: Matt Aitkenhead, The James Hutton Institute, UK;