Sandy Soils

Sandy soils cover approximately 900 million ha worldwide, and there are extensive areas of sandy soils under cultivation. Most sandy soils have high water permeability, low water-holding capacity, low ability to retain and exchange nutrients, weakly developed soil structure and they may be prone to erosion by wind. As irrigation is required for obtaining good crop yields, there is a risk of substantial leaching of nutrients and pesticides, and ground water depletion. Due to global pressure on land resources, marginal soils such as sandy soils are taken into production or cultivated more intensely. Sandy soils – as a group of soils with specific characteristics and ecological limitations – have received limited research attention. This books presents the main papers from the Global Conference on Sandy Soils which was held in June 2023 in Madison, USA. This book focuses on novel and exciting aspects of research on sandy soils which is presented into three sections: Distribution and Assessment, Soil Carbon and Soil Health, and Water and the Environment. It presents a global glimpse on what recent progress has been in the study of sandy soil and their properties and management.

Alfred Hartemink is professor of soil science at the University of Wisconsin - Madison. He was trained in pedology and soil fertility, and his research focuses on novel ways to explore the soil profile, and the management of soil carbon in natural and agricultural ecosystems. Before his current position, he was for 12 years at ISRIC-World Soil Information in the Netherlands and between 1987 and 1999, he worked at research institutes and universities in Tanzania, Congo, Indonesia, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, and Australia. Alfred has written several books.Jingyi Huang is an professor in the Department of Soil Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is internationally recognized for developing sensor-model integration frameworks to characterize the spatial and temporal variations of soil from the field to global scales and model soil-plant-atmospheric interactions under climate change and human disturbance. Jingyi is an Early Career Fellow of the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) and provides leadership for several soil committees in SSSA, American Society of Agronomy, and American Geophysical Union. He serves as an associate editor for Geoderma and Soil Science Society of America Journal.