Verena Winiwarter

Publications

• From marl to rock powder: On the history of soil fertility management by rock materials

  Verena Winiwarter, Winfried E.H. Blum

  Plant Nutrition and Soil Science. 01/2008; 171:316–324.

  The ancient practice of marling and the recent application of rock powder to soils are interventions into the orogenic energy budget of soils. Both are slow-release, long-term fertilizers or better, soil conditioners. Marls and their uses are reviewed by a study of knowledge and practices from the 1... [more] The ancient practice of marling and the recent application of rock powder to soils are interventions into the orogenic energy budget of soils. Both are slow-release, long-term fertilizers or better, soil conditioners. Marls and their uses are reviewed by a study of knowledge and practices from the 1st century AD to the 1800s, for rock powders, a review of the recent theoretical and experimental literature is presented. Under pre-industrial conditions, paucity of energy prevented the wide-spread use of such materials, today they are marketed as by-product of industrial operations. For marls and rock powders alike, their positive effect depends to a large extent on the soil matrix to which the minerals are applied, on the cultivar, and the specific type of applied material. Drawing parallels between the two materials, we suggest that the long-term experience with marls could be used to study the effects of rock powders, as duration of experiments with these is most often too limited to allow conclusions.
• 29.75

  Impact points

  Breaking the sod: humankind, history, and soil.

  J R McNeill, Verena Winiwarter

  Science (New York, N.Y.). 07/2004; 304(5677):1627-9.

  For most of history, few things have mattered more to human communities than their relations with soil, because soil provided most of their food and nutrients. Accordingly, some of the earliest written documents were agricultural manuals intended to organize, preserve, and impart soil knowledge. Ind... [more] For most of history, few things have mattered more to human communities than their relations with soil, because soil provided most of their food and nutrients. Accordingly, some of the earliest written documents were agricultural manuals intended to organize, preserve, and impart soil knowledge. Indeed, ancient civilizations often worshipped the soil as the foundry of life itself. For the past century or two, nothing has mattered more for soils than their relations with human communities, because human action inadvertently ratcheted up rates of soil erosion and, both intentionally and unintentionally, rerouted nutrient flows.