May 2022 issue

Volume 67, Issue 5

Measuring soil moisture is commonplace, but measuring moisture in rock? Not so much. Scientists at Texas A&M piloted a new method of measuring rock moisture using an inexpensive soil moisture sensor. The method, published in the Vadose Zone Journal, details an inexpensive means of better understanding the dynamics of water movement in rock—and how that water content supports plant life in dry environments. See story on p. 12. The cover photo shows Pedro Leite mapping roots on the wall of a limestone trench in Texas. Photo by Marluci Rebelato.