Lessons from a landmark 1991 article on soil structure: distinct precedence of non-destructive assessment and benefits of fresh perspectives in soil research
2022
Baveye, Philippe | Balseiro-Romero, María | Bottinelli, Nicolas | Briones, María | Capowiez, Yvan | Garnier, Patricia | Kravchenko, Alexandra | Otten, Wilfred | Pot, Valérie | Schluìter, Steffen | Vogel, Hans-Jörg | Saint Loup Research Institute | Instituto de Recursos Naturales y Agrobiología de Sevilla (IRNAS) ; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas [España] = Spanish National Research Council [Spain] (CSIC) | Institute of Mechanics [Hanoi] ; Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) | Universidade de Vigo | Environnement Méditerranéen et Modélisation des Agro-Hydrosystèmes (EMMAH) ; Avignon Université (AU)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) | Ecologie fonctionnelle et écotoxicologie des agroécosystèmes (ECOSYS) ; AgroParisTech-Université Paris-Saclay-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE) | Michigan State University System | Cranfield University | Helmholtz Zentrum für Umweltforschung = Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ)
International audience
Mostrar más [+] Menos [-]Inglés. In 1991, at the launch of a national symposium devoted to soil structure, the Australian Society of Soil Science invited Professor John Letey to deliver a keynote address, which was later published in the society’s journal. In his lecture, he shared the outcome of his reflexion about what the assessment of soil structure should amount to, in order to produce useful insight into the functioning of soils. His viewpoint was that the focus should be put on the openings present in the structure, rather than on the chunks of material resulting from its mechanical dismantlement. In the present article, we provide some historical background for Letey’s analysis, and try to explain why it took a number of years for the paradigm shift that he advocated to begin to occur. Over the last decade, his perspective that soil structure needs to be characterised via non-destructive methods appears to have gained significant momentum, which is likely to increase further in the near future, as we take advantage of recent technological advances. Other valuable lessons that one can derive from Letey’s pioneering article relate to the extreme value for everyone, even neophytes, to constantly ask questions about where research on given topics is heading, what its goals are, and whether the methods that are used at a certain time are optimal.
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