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Eric C. Brevik

Bio: Eric C. Brevik is an academic researcher from Dickinson State University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Soil water & Soil map. The author has an hindex of 39, co-authored 215 publications receiving 5781 citations. Previous affiliations of Eric C. Brevik include Southern Illinois University Carbondale & Valdosta State University.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
16 Jan 2015
TL;DR: SOIL as mentioned in this paper is a journal dedicated to the study of soil science and its applications to other related fields, such as bio-energy, bio-food, bioenergy, energy, and water.
Abstract: . The holistic study of soils requires an interdisciplinary approach involving biologists, chemists, geologists, and physicists, amongst others, something that has been true from the earliest days of the field. In more recent years this list has grown to include anthropologists, economists, engineers, medical professionals, military professionals, sociologists, and even artists. This approach has been strengthened and reinforced as current research continues to use experts trained in both soil science and related fields and by the wide array of issues impacting the world that require an in-depth understanding of soils. Of fundamental importance amongst these issues are biodiversity, biofuels/energy security, climate change, ecosystem services, food security, human health, land degradation, and water security, each representing a critical challenge for research. In order to establish a benchmark for the type of research that we seek to publish in each issue of SOIL, we have outlined the interdisciplinary nature of soil science research we are looking for. This includes a focus on the myriad ways soil science can be used to expand investigation into a more holistic and therefore richer approach to soil research. In addition, a selection of invited review papers are published in this first issue of SOIL that address the study of soils and the ways in which soil investigations are essential to other related fields. We hope that both this editorial and the papers in the first issue will serve as examples of the kinds of topics we would like to see published in SOIL and will stimulate excitement among our readers and authors to participate in this new venture.

506 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jul 2014-Geoderma
TL;DR: Electromagnetic induction (EMI) has been used to characterize the spatial variability of soil properties since the late 1970s as mentioned in this paper, which can provide a more complete characterization of the spatial variations in soil properties than traditional sampling techniques.

301 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The geoaccumulation index indicated that the commercial sector was moderately to strongly polluted while the other sectors fell into the unpolluted category, and using the ecological risk index theCommercial sector fell intoThe considerable category while theother sectors classified as low risk.

269 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a 90 m long transect was established to compare temporal changes in soil electrical conductivity (ECa) between different soils, to investigate the influence of changes in the soil water content on soil ECa, and explore the impacts these ECa changes might have on soil mapping applications.
Abstract: Apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa) has shown promise as a soil survey tool in the Midwestern United States, with a share of this interest coming from the precision agriculture community. To fully utilize the potential of ECa to map soils, a better understanding of temporal changes in ECa is needed. Therefore, this study was undertaken to compare temporal changes in soil ECa between different soils, to investigate the influence of changes in soil water content on soil ECa, and to explore the impacts these ECa changes might have on soil mapping applications. To this end, a 90 m long transect was established. Soil ECa readings were taken in the vertical and horizontal dipoles at five points once every one to two weeks from June until October in 1999 and 2000. At the same time, soil samples were collected to a depth of 0.9 m for volumetric soil water content analysis. Soil ECa readings were compared to soil water content. At four of the five sites linear regression analysis yielded r2 values of 0.70 or higher. Regression line slopes tended to be greater in lower landscape positions indicating greater ECa changes with a given change in soil water content. Two of the soils had an ECa relationship that changed as the soils became dry. This is an item of concern if ECa is to be used in soil mapping. Results indicated that soil water content has a strong influence on the ECa of these soils, and that ECa has its greatest potential to differentiate between soils when the soils are moist. Soil water content is an important variable to know when conducting ECa surveys and should be recorded as a part of any report on ECa studies.

221 citations


Cited by
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols used xiii 1.
Abstract: Preface to the Princeton Landmarks in Biology Edition vii Preface xi Symbols Used xiii 1. The Importance of Islands 3 2. Area and Number of Speicies 8 3. Further Explanations of the Area-Diversity Pattern 19 4. The Strategy of Colonization 68 5. Invasibility and the Variable Niche 94 6. Stepping Stones and Biotic Exchange 123 7. Evolutionary Changes Following Colonization 145 8. Prospect 181 Glossary 185 References 193 Index 201

14,171 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
16 Feb 2017-PLOS ONE
TL;DR: Improvements in the relative accuracy considering the amount of variation explained, in comparison to the previous version of SoilGrids at 1 km spatial resolution, range from 60 to 230%.
Abstract: This paper describes the technical development and accuracy assessment of the most recent and improved version of the SoilGrids system at 250m resolution (June 2016 update). SoilGrids provides global predictions for standard numeric soil properties (organic carbon, bulk density, Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC), pH, soil texture fractions and coarse fragments) at seven standard depths (0, 5, 15, 30, 60, 100 and 200 cm), in addition to predictions of depth to bedrock and distribution of soil classes based on the World Reference Base (WRB) and USDA classification systems (ca. 280 raster layers in total). Predictions were based on ca. 150,000 soil profiles used for training and a stack of 158 remote sensing-based soil covariates (primarily derived from MODIS land products, SRTM DEM derivatives, climatic images and global landform and lithology maps), which were used to fit an ensemble of machine learning methods-random forest and gradient boosting and/or multinomial logistic regression-as implemented in the R packages ranger, xgboost, nnet and caret. The results of 10-fold cross-validation show that the ensemble models explain between 56% (coarse fragments) and 83% (pH) of variation with an overall average of 61%. Improvements in the relative accuracy considering the amount of variation explained, in comparison to the previous version of SoilGrids at 1 km spatial resolution, range from 60 to 230%. Improvements can be attributed to: (1) the use of machine learning instead of linear regression, (2) to considerable investments in preparing finer resolution covariate layers and (3) to insertion of additional soil profiles. Further development of SoilGrids could include refinement of methods to incorporate input uncertainties and derivation of posterior probability distributions (per pixel), and further automation of spatial modeling so that soil maps can be generated for potentially hundreds of soil variables. Another area of future research is the development of methods for multiscale merging of SoilGrids predictions with local and/or national gridded soil products (e.g. up to 50 m spatial resolution) so that increasingly more accurate, complete and consistent global soil information can be produced. SoilGrids are available under the Open Data Base License.

2,228 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an international treaty (the 1971 Ramsar Convention) has helped 144 nations protect the most significant remaining wetlands in the world, and restoration techniques are improving, although the recovery of lost biodiversity is challenged by invasive species which thrive under disturbance and displace natives.
Abstract: ▪ Abstract Estimates of global wetland area range from 5.3 to 12.8 million km2. About half the global wetland area has been lost, but an international treaty (the 1971 Ramsar Convention) has helped 144 nations protect the most significant remaining wetlands. Because most nations lack wetland inventories, changes in the quantity and quality of the world's wetlands cannot be tracked adequately. Despite the likelihood that remaining wetlands occupy less than 9% of the earth's land area, they contribute more to annually renewable ecosystem services than their small area implies. Biodiversity support, water quality improvement, flood abatement, and carbon sequestration are key functions that are impaired when wetlands are lost or degraded. Restoration techniques are improving, although the recovery of lost biodiversity is challenged by invasive species, which thrive under disturbance and displace natives. Not all damages to wetlands are reversible, but it is not always clear how much can be retained through re...

1,714 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a bottom-up approach derived from upscaling a compilation of published individual estimates of carbon burial in vegetated habitats (seagrass meadows, salt marshes, and mangrove forests) to the global level and a top-down approach derived derived from considerations of global sediment balance and the organic carbon content of vegeatated sediments was evaluated.
Abstract: . The carbon burial in vegetated sediments, ignored in past assessments of carbon burial in the ocean, was evaluated using a bottom-up approach derived from upscaling a compilation of published individual estimates of carbon burial in vegetated habitats (seagrass meadows, salt marshes and mangrove forests) to the global level and a top-down approach derived from considerations of global sediment balance and a compilation of the organic carbon content of vegeatated sediments. Up-scaling of individual burial estimates values yielded a total carbon burial in vegetated habitats of 111 Tmol C y-1. The total burial in unvegetated sediments was estimated to be 126 Tg C y-1, resulting in a bottom-up estimate of total burial in the ocean of about 244 Tg C y-1, two-fold higher than estimates of oceanic carbon burial that presently enter global carbon budgets. The organic carbon concentrations in vegetated marine sediments exceeds by 2 to 10-fold those in shelf/deltaic sediments. Top-down recalculation of ocean sediment budgets to account for these, previously neglected, organic-rich sediments, yields a top-down carbon burial estimate of 216 Tg C y-1, with vegetated coastal habitats contributing about 50%. Even though vegetated carbon burial contributes about half of the total carbon burial in the ocean, burial represents a small fraction of the net production of these ecosystems, estimated at about 3388 Tg C y-1, suggesting that bulk of the benthic net ecosystem production must support excess respiration in other compartments, such as unvegetated sediments and the coastal pelagic compartment. The total excess organic carbon available to be exported to the ocean is estimated at between 1126 to 3534 Tg C y-1, the bulk of which must be respired in the open ocean. Widespread loss of vegetated coastal habitats must have reduced carbon burial in the ocean by about 30 Tg C y-1, identifying the destruction of these ecosystems as an important loss of CO2 sink capacity in the biosphere.

1,145 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
07 Apr 2016
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore and discuss how soil scientists can help to reach the recently adopted UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the most effective manner and recommend the following steps to be taken by the soil science community as a whole: (i) embrace the UN SDGs, as they provide a platform that allows soil science to demonstrate its relevance for realizing a sustainable society by 2030; (ii) show the specific value of soil science: research should explicitly show how using modern soil information can improve the results of inter-and transdisciplinary studies on SDGs related to food security
Abstract: . In this forum paper we discuss how soil scientists can help to reach the recently adopted UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the most effective manner. Soil science, as a land-related discipline, has important links to several of the SDGs, which are demonstrated through the functions of soils and the ecosystem services that are linked to those functions (see graphical abstract in the Supplement). We explore and discuss how soil scientists can rise to the challenge both internally, in terms of our procedures and practices, and externally, in terms of our relations with colleague scientists in other disciplines, diverse groups of stakeholders and the policy arena. To meet these goals we recommend the following steps to be taken by the soil science community as a whole: (i) embrace the UN SDGs, as they provide a platform that allows soil science to demonstrate its relevance for realizing a sustainable society by 2030; (ii) show the specific value of soil science: research should explicitly show how using modern soil information can improve the results of inter- and transdisciplinary studies on SDGs related to food security, water scarcity, climate change, biodiversity loss and health threats; (iii) take leadership in overarching system analysis of ecosystems, as soils and soil scientists have an integrated nature and this places soil scientists in a unique position; (iii) raise awareness of soil organic matter as a key attribute of soils to illustrate its importance for soil functions and ecosystem services; (iv) improve the transfer of knowledge through knowledge brokers with a soil background; (v) start at the basis: educational programmes are needed at all levels, starting in primary schools, and emphasizing practical, down-to-earth examples; (vi) facilitate communication with the policy arena by framing research in terms that resonate with politicians in terms of the policy cycle or by considering drivers, pressures and responses affecting impacts of land use change; and finally (vii) all this is only possible if researchers, with soil scientists in the front lines, look over the hedge towards other disciplines, to the world at large and to the policy arena, reaching over to listen first, as a basis for genuine collaboration.

1,010 citations