Wilde Ideas in the 21st Century.

During more than 40 years S. A. "Doc" Wilde and his students and colleagues published papers about an eclectic range of topics, reflecting Doc's broad perspectives and fertile mind, and the outstanding competence of his co-workers.  Some are about: subdividing mountain forests for management in 1930; the relation of soils and forest vegetation of the Lake States Region in 1933; a rapid method for soil texture (1935); beavers and ground water (1950); carbon dioxide evolution (1957); fertility standards, compost and "liquid humate" fertilizers for forest tree nurseries; humus classification, "crypto-mull" humus, and a new systematic terminology of forest humus layers (1966 & 1971); mycorrhizae; soil reaction (pH) tests; pulpwood yields; specific gravity of aspen; height growth of red pine; fertility standards for game food plants; soils and forest tree breeding; "symbiotrophy of lignophytes and fungi: terminological and conceptual deficiencies"; production of energy material by forest stands.

From 1946 to 1958 Wilde wrote three versions of a forest soils textbook, the last: "Forest Soils: their Properties and Relation to Silviculture", and he led authorship of three versions of a small, book, "Soil and Plant Analysis for Tree Culture".

Current and recent forest soils research reflects significant advances in knowledge, and has involved some of Wilde's topics; but not all (?beavers?).  There is excellent work on C storage and dynamics in soils, significance of deep soil and roots, significance of mineralogy for nutrient supplies, and refinements of assessments of nutrient supplies for trees, all significant refinements of some of Wilde's ideas.  To emulate Wilde's range of thinking, current scientists should constantly be challenged to put work in contexts of landscape, regional and wider scales to have maximum relevance for sustainable management of forests, and to avoid "swatting at gnats while being trampled by elephants".