A medical diagnostic tool - magnetic resonance- is likely to become a secret weapon in the battle to sustain Australian tropical forest soils.
University of Queensland Gatton Associate Professor in Tropical Forestry Paul Saffigna said Queensland scientists were poised to use MR techniques, usually associated with human body imaging, to assess the quality of soil organic matter.
"Magnetic resonance could help Australian scientists unlock mysteries of tropical forest soils which conventional soil analysis techniques are unable to deliver," he said.
Although several research groups have used magnetic resonance in soils projects, the work would be innovative in applying issues of sustainability, carbon sequestration and Greehouse effect to tropical forest soils in Australia.
A world authority on MR for analysing soil organic matter quality, Dr Caroline Preston, of the Canadian Forest Service briefed Queensland scientists on the technique at an Australian Tropical Forest Alliance workshop at UQ Gatton this month. Dr Preston discussed her work in Canada using MR to analyse forest soils, macadamia nut shells, moisture in seeds, and to follow seed germination.
Dr Saffigna said the long term sustainability of Australian tropical forest soils had important implications for the Greenhouse effect. Trees which could sequester carbon could grow more readily in higher quality soils.
"Although organic matter comprises only 5 percent of Australian soil, it provides most of the nutrients promoting plant growth," he said. "Magnetic resonance could move us closer to understanding complex chemical processes in soil organic materials."
Dr Saffigna and Dr Preston plan to link with the University's Centre for Magnetic Resonance (CMR), the largest magnetic resonance centre in the southern hemisphere.
Senior research fellow at the CMR Dr Andrew Whittaker said organic compounds were largely insoluble, and could not be analysed by conventional techniques. "Studying organic matter breakdown and reaction is only possible using solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) methods," he said. Dr Whittaker said NMR experiments could provide a chemical signature of insoluble organic materials. Another technique, Magnetic Resonance (MR) Microscopy determined water distribution in organic materials, and could also be applied to soils.
The Australian Tropical Forestry Alliance is a collaboration between The University of Queensland, Qld Department of Natural Resources and Qld Department of Primary Industries. The workshop, the 6th in the Alliance series, was sponsored by Consolidated Timber Holdings Limited and the Australian Society for Soil Science.
Media: Further information: Dr Paul Saffigna, telephone 0411 511 328 email: psaffigna@uqg.uq.edu.au, or Dr Andrew Whittaker, telephone 07 3365 4236, email: andrew@cmr.uq.edu.au
