Soil Biodiversity

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Soil Biodiversity Sampling techniques for school
science
Dr Kerry Bridle Tas Institute Agricultural
Research University of Tasmania Kerry.Bridle_at_utas.
edu.au
Ms Anna Paice PICSE Science Education
Officer School of Ag Science, UTAS Anna.Paice_at_utas
.edu.au
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What is PICSE?

• Primary Industry Centre for Science Education
  based at UTAS
• National program
• 8 Activity Centres
• Attracting talented students to study science,
  suffering from major skills shortages
• Teacher PDs, class visits, Industry Placement
  Scholarship for yr 11/12, Science Camps yr 10,
  classroom resources, UTAS Science Investigation
  Awards yr 5-12

www.picse.net
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Biodiversity in Grain Graze
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Site selection for comparison
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1/5 teaspoon of soil (1g) contains

• 100 million bacteria
• 1 million actinomycetes
• 100, 000 funghi with hyphae, that if strung
  together would measure 5 metres in length
• 75 soil biota are found in the top 10cm of soil
  easy to find, look at and measure!

www.bfa.com.au/_files/sustainable20olive20orchar
ds20pg27-28.pdf
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Sampling patterns

• X pattern for bulk sampling
• Z pattern for bulk sampling

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Getting a random sample using Excel

• Random numbers generated in Excel using command
  rand()50, then copy the formula to other cells.
• Gives quadrat locations in metres along 8, 50 m
  long transects (T1-T8), two transects for each
  paddock on one farm

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50m or 100m transects for sampling
www.environment.utas.edu.au/documents/BiGGFieldDat
aManual.pdf
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Soil Health slides
Relating Soil Health indicators to biodiversity
is a great way of linking different concepts
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Salinity

• Airdry soil sample warm, dry room for 24 hours
• Crush dry sample, remove stones and grass
• 1 in 5 dilution 20mL soil 100mL deionised
  water 120mL total in measuring cylinder
• Shake/stir to dissolve salts, allow to settle 10
  mins
• Test with salinity probe linked to datalogger
• EC meter often in Waterwatch kits or available
  from Roberts rural supplies

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Compaction

• Screwdriver test how deep does it penetrate?
• Instead of expensive equipment called
  penetrometer
• Can be used to compare land use areas 4WD track,
  sheep track, open pasture, school lawn, remnant
  veg

http//www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/resources/so
ils/structure/compaction
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Use Score Card to measure compactionBill
Cotching (2009) Soil Health for Farming in
Tasmania
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Soil moisture

• Take sample, weigh, oven dry overnight at low
  temp (50C), reweigh
• To calculate percentage soil moisture
• (Wet weight - dry weight)/dry weight x 100
• Why is this important?
• Affects earthworm counts, crop and pasture
  growth etc

www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/soils/testmet
hods/mc.pdf
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Soil pH

• Dilute 1 part soil in 5 parts deionised water
• Swirl pH meter in solution until reading
  stabilises
• Record readings in triplicate and average

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• Use the following techniques to sample different
  soil biodiversity indicators
• Provide some example investigation questions for
  students to complete
• Science as a Human Endeavour
• Science Inquiry Skills
• Science Understanding

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Litter bags

• Make the litter bags
• Fill with toilet paper
• Bury at different depths or in different land
  use types
• Do a visual comparison of break down over 1-2
  months
• Use an un-buried paper as control for comparison
• Indicates soil microbial biodiversity and
  health, also relates to temperature and moisture

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Investigation Questions

• Which type of toilet paper breaks down the
  fastest?
• Which type of soil breaks down toilet paper the
  fastest?
• Does soil moisture affect the rate of toilet
  paper break down?
• What is the ideal depth to bury your toilet paper
  when camping?

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Cotton strip assay

• For soil microbial activity indicator of soil
  health and biodiversity

• Leave strips for 2 weeks, remove with trowel,
  strength test using wool micron tester or suspend
  bucket on hook and add water (1mL 1g) until
  each strip breaks!!
• Average results from different land-use areas,
  graph and present

www.environment.utas.edu.au/documents/BiGGFieldDat
aManual.pdf
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Investigation Questions

• How can you measure the strength of different
  cotton strips? (methods, technology)
• Which land use type has the most active soil
  organisms?
• Relates to all the soil health measures, great
  way of discussing science content

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Earthworm Counts

• Dig down 10cm and place all soil onto plastic
• Sort through carefully and count aestivating
  earthworms and adult earthworms
• Take an individual of each type to identify
  later, preserve in metho
• Do the same with next 10cm of soil

• Make a standard sampling quadrat for all groups
• Each groups needs shovel, quadrat, plastic sheet
  or bin liner, containers for collecting into and
  preserving vials/solution

http//www.naturewatch.ca/english/wormwatch/how_to
_participate/choosing_method/quantitative_sort.htm
l
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Investigation Questions

• Which land use type has the highest earthworm
  count?
• How does earthworm count change with depth in
  soil profile?
• How does soil moisture or time of year effect
  earthworm counts?

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Pitfall traps
www.environment.utas.edu.au/documents/BiGGFieldDat
aManual.pdf
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Pitfall traps
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Resources for using Pitfall Traps

• Good Bugs, Bad Bugs on PICSE GrowSmart website
  www.picse.net/GROWSMART
• find a spider http//www.findaspider.org.au/
• soil invertebrates in Vic (similar to Tas)
  http//morwellnp.pangaean.net/browser/invertebrate
  s.html

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Comparing land-use types
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Pest and predator invertebrates
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Investigation Questions

• What is the difference in species diversity
  between organic, conventional and Integrated Pest
  Management (IPM) orchards?
• What is the difference in number of insects in
  native grassland, bushland, gardens and cropland?

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Research Example

• Sticky traps from research at TIAR by Steve
  Quarrell in Tassie apple orchards
• good guys in blue
• bad guys in red

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Conventional
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IPM
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Organic
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Using Scat Counts of native animals to determine
stocking levels and grazing competition for
pastures Copies of this fact sheet available
from Anna Paice Anna.Paice_at_utas.edu.au
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The Ecological Society of Australia will be
holding its annual conference in Hobart in
2011 (from November 21-24th) Approximately 500
ecologists from Australia and overseas are likely
to attend. We invite schools around Tasmania to
participate in this event. We are still working
out the details but would appreciate input from
you regarding how this might happen.
We are also keen to support statewide ecological
surveys done by schools and colleges. A challenge
is to come up with a statewide database (and some
funds to develop it) that all the information can
be stored in.
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Free teacher resources for TQA Chemistry,
Enviro, Biology
Contact Anna Paice at Anna.Paice_at_utas.edu.au