Ailsa Hardy's presentation from the February 2014 Agroecology, Water and Resilience Workshop held at Coventry University, UK.

1. Overview of Research
at the Department of Soil Science
University of Stellenbosch, South Africa
Dr Ailsa G. Hardie
E-mail: aghardie@sun.ac.za

2. Department of Soil Science
University of Stellenbosch
• 6 Academic staff members (4 lecturers and 2 researchers) and 6 support staff
• 20-25 Postgraduate students
• 12-25 Undergraduate students majoring in soil science (4-year BSc degree)
annually
• Conduct fundamental and applied research in all major sub-disciplines of Soil
Science, funded by NRF, WRC, Dept. Agriculture, Crop and fruit Research Trusts

4. Staff Member Area of Specialisation
Dr Eduard Hoffman
(Chairperson, Senior Lecturer)
Soil Physics, Soil Water Management,
Physical Preparation of Soils
Dr Willem de Clercq
(Senior Researcher)
Modelling Soil Hydrology, Soil Salinity,
Remote Sensing of Soils
Dr Andrei Rozanov
(Senior Lecturer)
Soil Biology, Modelling Spatial Distribution of
Soil Properties, Soil Information Systems, Soil
Health
Dr Ailsa Hardie
(Senior Lecturer)
Soil Chemistry and Soil Fertility, Soil Organic
Matter Chemistry, Soil C sequestration, Soil
Health, Soil Biochemistry
Dr Cathy Clarke
(Lecturer)
Soil Classification and Mapping, Soil
Geochemistry
Dr Anthony Mills
(Researcher)
Soil Ecology, Soil C sequestration and Soil
Rehabilitation

5. Research Facilities
• Soil chemical analysis:
– pH, Electrical conductivity and redox meters
– Flame AAS (Ca, Mg, K, Na, Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Si)
– ICP-OES and ICP-MS (All metals)
– Ion chromatograph (Cl, NO2/3, PO4, F)
– Dry combustion CNSH analyser​
– UV-Vis spectrophotometer (colorimetry)
– XRF
– TGA
• Soil physical analyses:
– Soil moisture meters (neutron, capacitance, tensiometers)
– Wet sieving apparatus for aggregate stability
– Porometer
– Pressure plates
– Modulus of rupture
– Particle size determination
– BET specific surface area and microporosity
• Spectroscopy:
– XRD
– Liquid and solid state NMR
– ESR
– NIR and FTIR (including ATR-FTIR)
– SEM and AFM
– CT scanner
– HPLC
– LCMS
• Soil Microbiology
– Staining and microscopy
– Culturing
– DNA sequencing

6. Soil Organic Matter Chemistry and Soil Quality
Research Projects (Dr AG Hardie)
• Soil health (microbiological, chemical and
physical properties) in Rooibos tea
production compared to natural fynbos
vegetation
• Organic fertilization of Rooibos tea
• Biochar amendment of sandy Cape Flats
soils
• Characterisation of biochar produced
from local biomass wastes for use as a soil
amendment
• Biochar interactions with mineral nitrogen

7. Soil Organic Matter Chemistry and Soil Fertility
Research Projects (Dr AG Hardie)
• Long-term effect of (rain-fed) tillage
and crop/pasture rotation practices
on soil organic matter functional
pools (labile, intra-aggregate, stabile
mineral-bound pools) and SOC
stocks in W. Cape, SA
• Elucidation of soil carbon
stabilization mechanisms in humic
topsoils

8. Soil Hydrology Research Projects
(Dr WP de Clercq)
• Modelling the effects of climate
change on groundwater recharge
in catchments in the W. Cape
• Dry-land salinization in the W.
Cape in wheat production areas
and use of indigenous fynbos
vegetation to curb problem
• Introduction of scheduled
irrigation practices, mulching and
soil nutrient accounting to small-
holder tomato farmers; Effect on
yields, water productivity and net
financial income

9. Soil Physics and Water Management Research
Projects (Dr JE Hoffman)
• Long-term effect of tillage and crop/pasture
rotation practices on soil water balance (run-
off, evaporation, plant available soil water)
and physical properties (bulk density,
infiltration rate)
• Evaluation of biochar and other soil
conditioning agents on soil water retention
and movement, soil aggregation and crop
root structure
• Optimization of irrigation scheduling for
specific crop-climate-soil types (vines,
apples, citrus, bananas, etc)
• Long-term monitoring of soil water in
wetlands and groundwater in mountainous
aquifers and catchment areas

10. Soil Physics and Water Management Research
Projects (Dr JE Hoffman)
• Long term monitoring of
water balance in natural
wetlands in conservation
areas
• Determination of geological
links of aquifer with wetland
• Determination and modelling
the effect of soil types and
properties on groundwater
recharge in natural
ecosystems

11. Further information
• www.sun.ac.za/soil