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Sample Preparation

Soil - all soil samples should be air dried and sieved to 2mm. They should be stored in glass jars with screw caps. Plastic bags are not recommended because they break down over time and are subject to rodent attack. Each sample jar will have a permanent label complete with sample ID and barcode.

Plant tissue - all plant tissue should be oven dried and ground to 1mm. Samples should be stored in glass jars or glass vials with screw caps. Exceptions would include tree cores which could be stored in plastic straws or mounted on wooden blocks to preserve the time sequence. Tree disks can be stored in large cardboard boxes and arranged so that air can flow around the samples.

Minimum recommended amount of sample to archive is 100 grams of soil or 20 grams of ground plant tissue. Toxic samples will not be accepted.