Carbon, water and soil

The Carbon, water, and soil (#sia_cws) theme conduct basic and applied research to tackle important global issues: In the face of climate change, how can we produce more food and fibre while sustainably managing water and soil?

We confront this important issues by conducting basic and applied research that improve our understanding on the causes and controls of soil distribution, the cycling of water, carbon and nutrients in plant and soil, and manipulating the transfer of energy through the soil-plant-atmosphere system.

Our work has created changes in practice, from global and national digital soil mapping to landscape-scale carbon, water, and soil management, precision agriculture and contaminated-site assessment.

Overall we aim to connect soil, water, carbon, climate, agriculture, the economy and the society based on the best scientific evidence and that serve to balance needs for food production, carbon sequestration, ecosystem services, and farmers profitability.

#Carbon
The research aims to uncover the mechanisms that drive the exchange of carbon, water, and energy between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere.

We aim to untangle the effects of changing climates on agricultural productivity.

We investigate how plant and microbes interact and affect carbon and nutrient cycling to help create farming and land management strategies that will produce high-quality agricultural products.

This includes biogeochemistry and plant ecophysiology.

Specific research topics include:

• Soil carbon auditing protocol that enables the farmer to gain carbon credit confidently.
• Microbial controls over soil carbon stabilisation with drought.
• Impact of pasture management, grazing, and climate on greenhouse gas emissions

#Water

We tackle the most important limiting factor in Australian agricultural production systems: water by improving crop water use efficiency through manipulation of plant’s CO₂  uptake and root traits, investigating the controls of landscape hydrological cycle, and improved seasonal weather forecasting.

Our modelling work enhances water management through better models and better data analysis.

Specific research topics include:

• Forecasting and nowcasting soil water for agricultural farms
• Identification of root traits for improved water use and efficiency in wheat.
• The understanding hydrological model behaviour for better prediction and scenario analysis

#Soil
Our soil research is one of the strongest university-based research groups in Australia.

We lead soil resource assessment globally, by revolutionising the availability of accurate soil information which led to improved agricultural practices with reduced environmental impacts and enhances the security of the world’s soil.

Sydney soil science developed the concept of digital soil mapping, proximal soil sensing, and soil security. 

The research also focuses on cutting-edge fundamental science, including the understanding of soil organic matter and mineral interaction maximise carbon sequestration in soil.

Specific research topics include:

• Proximal soil sensing with emerging technologies to be able to predict soil properties accurately everywhere and anywhere
• Digital soil mapping that enables using big data analytic to accurately predicting soil conditions that to inform better decision making.
• Discover how soil and the environment drives soil microbial diversity, and how soil microbes affect soil function
• Role of aeolian dust in soil formation and alteration, and the environmental effects of dust emission and deposition
• Biochar properties and interaction in soils
• Rapid assessment, delineation, and remediation of contaminated soils.
• The role of soils and management of greenhouse gases emission.