April 2022 issue

Volume 67, Issue 4

The Galápagos Archipelago is home to an astonishing amount of biodiversity, but scientists know much less about the soil below the flora and fauna's feet. New research in the Soil Science Society of America Journal looks at soil formation using the unique properties of these volcanic islands, creating a timeline of pedogenesis in this “outdoor laboratory” that has led to further research into the impacts of soil formation on modern-day problems like heavy metal contamination in agricultural soils. See story on p. 14. The cover photo shows researchers describing and sampling the oldest soil of the chronosequence in the humid highlands of San Cristóbal Island in the Galápagos. Photo by Sebastian Postl.