About

Kyungsoo Yoo was born and raised in South Korea. He studied physics at Yonsei University before pursuing doctoral research in Ecosystem Science at U.C. Berkeley. After completing his doctorate, he taught at the University of Delaware for 4.5 years. In 2010, he moved to Minnesota and is currently a professor of soil science at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. His academic journey reflects a transition from physics to ecosystem science and soil science, highlighting a multidisciplinary approach to understanding environmental and soil processes.

Research topics

• Geography
• Ecology
• Geology
• Biology
• Environmental science
• Chemistry
• Paleontology
• Soil science
• Archaeology
• Oceanography

Selected publications

• Earthworm biomass, soil temperature, bulk density, organic matter, pH, and leaf litter data from jumping worm and European earthworm-invaded forests at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 2020–2022

  Data Repository for the University of Minnesota · 2026-01-01

  datasetOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This dataset accompanies a study on the invasion of Asian jumping worms (Amynthas spp.) into hardwood forests previously infested with European earthworms (Lumbricus spp.) at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. The manuscript is current in revision (Baumann, T.T., Frelich, L., Buchholz, E., Wang, S., and Yoo, K. Jumping worm invasion in a European earthworm-infested hardwood forest in Minnesota: population surveys and soil changes. Ecosphere. In Revision.) The dataset includes: (1) earthworm population surveys identifying species composition and biomass across three sugar maple forests, with sampling points classified as Amynthas-dominated (A-sites), Lumbricus-dominated (L-sites), or transitional (T-sites); (2) soil physical and chemical properties including bulk density, soil organic matter, and pH measured at three depth intervals (0-5, 5-10, 10-15 cm); (3) seasonal leaf litter dry mass measurements; (4) continuous soil temperature records from iButton sensors at multiple depths; and (5) GPS coordinates for all sampling locations. Data were collected during 2020-2022.

  PublisherDOI

• Sentinel soil-plant continuum: how public gardens can advance early detection and monitoring of invasive jumping worms

  Frontiers in Forests and Global Change · 2026-05-18

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Over the last decade, researchers have demonstrated that invasive earthworms significantly re-engineer surface soil conditions. Following the invasion of European earthworms, the recent expansion of Asian jumping worms has alarmed land managers and gardeners, as they are known to create loose granular aggregates, alter seasonal soil coverage of the forest floor by litter, and affect soil temperature. Because their primary introduction agents are mulch and container-grown ornamental plants, it is not surprising that much of the jumping worm invasion research has been conducted in botanical gardens and arboreta, and the forests adjacent to horticultural activities. However, predicting the future expansion of jumping worms into native forests and their ecosystem-level impacts is challenging. We argue, based on published and unpublished data, that the intense public interest in jumping worms provides a unique opportunity to expand the current sentinel plant network to include soils. Adoption of a soil-plant continuum as a sentinel system, we argue, will allow for improvements in the early detection and monitoring of plant health against pests and climate change. To support this position, we will build on published research on jumping worm impacts on soil-plant relationships. Current reporting and monitoring systems for invasive plants, insect pests, and pathogens already exist within botanic gardens and arboreta networks, and while focused on plant symptoms, they can be modified to include soil data.

  PublisherDOI

• The Potential of Chemical and Biological Management Options for Controlling Jumping Worms (Amynthas spp.) in Container Nursery Production

  HortTechnology · 2025-09-09

  articleOpen access

  Jumping worm species belonging to the genus Amynthas (Kinberg) threaten biodiversity and soil health significantly across temperate ecosystems. One inadvertent method of invasive jumping worm spread is through container-grown nursery stock. In nursery production, jumping worms modify substrate characteristics such as water holding capacity and nutrient availability by consuming and redepositing organic matter, resulting in negative effects to plant quality and appearance. There are currently no products listed for controlling jumping worms in the United States, leading to challenges in managing their spread. With increasing regulation on the transport of jumping worms by state agencies, plant producers may face unrealistic or labor-intensive management options. We hypothesized that control methods not yet listed for jumping worms in the United States have the potential to suppress jumping worm populations effectively in container-grown crops. Therefore, we studied chemical and biological controls touted as potential options for controlling jumping worms in nursery containers by measuring their effects on jumping worm mortality. In addition to an untreated control, we evaluated BotaniGard Ⓡ 22WP, T-Bird Ⓡ 4.5L (thiophanate-methyl fungicide), Root Cleaner Ⓡ (sodium lauryl sulfate and soybean oil), Cedarcide Ⓡ (cedarwood oil), Conserve Ⓡ SC (spinosad), Castaway Ⓡ 3-0-1 Tea Seed Meal Fertilizer, Slug Magic TM (iron phosphate), and Sevin Ⓡ (zeta-cypermethrin). The results of our work suggest differential efficacy among treatments and highlight viable options with the potential for application in horticultural production. Specifically, T-Bird Ⓡ 4.5L (thiophanate-methyl fungicide) and Sevin Ⓡ (zeta-cypermethrin) demonstrated at least 80% mortality in two trials, whereas all remaining products yielded no effect or less than 12% mortality. Identifying effective control methods benefits the scientific community and the horticultural industry by providing a foundation for future research activities centered on jumping worm management and by supporting the goal of limiting their spread through horticultural products.

  PublisherDOI

• Neglecting vertical transport leads to underestimated soil carbon dynamics

  Nature Geoscience · 2025-12-01 · 3 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• The radiocarbon age of soil carbon is a function of vertical transport rates

  Research Square · 2024-09-22

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Anthropogenic transport mechanisms of invasive European earthworms: a review

  Biological Invasions · 2024-08-14 · 7 citations

  reviewSenior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Mineral surface area in deep weathering profiles reveals the interrelationship of iron oxidation and silicate weathering

  Earth Surface Dynamics · 2023-01-31 · 3 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Abstract. Mineral specific surface area (SSA) increases as primary minerals weather and restructure into secondary phyllosilicate, oxide, and oxyhydroxide minerals. SSA is a measurable property that captures cumulative effects of many physical and chemical weathering processes in a single measurement and has meaningful implications for many soil processes, including water-holding capacity and nutrient availability. Here we report our measurements of SSA and mineralogy of two 21 m deep SSA profiles at two landscape positions, in which the emergence of a very small mass percent (<0.1 %) of secondary oxide generated 36 %–81 % of the total SSA in both drill cores. The SSA transition occurred near 3 m at both locations and did not coincide with the boundary of soil to weathered rock. The 3 m boundary in each weathering profile coincides with the depth extent of secondary iron oxide minerals and secondary phyllosilicates. Although elemental depletions in both profiles extend to 7 and 10 m depth, the mineralogical changes did not result in SSA increase until 3 m depth. The emergence of secondary oxide minerals at 3 m suggests that this boundary may be the depth extent of oxidation weathering reactions. Our results suggest that oxidation weathering reactions may be the primary limitation in the coevolution of both secondary silicate and secondary oxide minerals. We value element depletion profiles to understand weathering, but our finding of nested weathering fronts driven by different chemical processes (e.g., oxidation to 3 m and acid dissolution to 10 m) warrants the recognition that element depletion profiles are not able to identify the full set of processes that occur in weathering profiles.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Rats, Bats, and Birds: The Role of Non-Human Ecosystem Engineers in Pre-European Polynesian Agriculture

  University Press of Colorado eBooks · 2023-03-16

  book-chapterSenior author

  The concept of the Anthropocene is based on the premise that humans have had a profound and increasing impact on our environments.Yet many environmental conditions (earthquakes, storms, tsunamis, fire, disease, and other dramatic natural phenomena) can easily overpower human capacities and result in significant change.Incremental processes such as soil creep, vegetation growth, oxidation, and material fatigue similarly act against human intentionality by causing deterioration and decay whose denouement is unpredictable in timing and magnitude.The sentient world of animals, in which behavioral patterns have evolved for viability in a diverse world of predators and reproduction strategies, similarly presents challenges when managed under the assumption that humans are the primary determinant of comportment.In this volume, we consider the agentive effects of natural phenomena to which the direct human response is primarily reactive.The objective is twofold: to highlight that even within the "Anthropocene, " not all natural phenomena can be anticipated, much less controlled, by humans; and second, to critically evaluate the variety of past human responses to natural and biological entities as seen through the archaeological record.The archaeological study of human-environmental dynamics has been heavily weighted on the "human" side of the equation.In recent years, that focus has been augmented by an increasingly pointed indictment of the way human activities can

  PublisherDOI

• Quantifying erosion rates and weathering pathways that maximize soil organic carbon storage

  Biogeochemistry · 2023-06-01 · 9 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• EXPLORING WHETHER WORMS WEATHER SILICATES IN SOILS

  Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America · 2023-01-01

  article
  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• CAREER: Erosion and Weathering Control of Soil Carbon: Tectonics and Plows

  NSF · $400k · 2013–2018

• Empirical and Theoretical Integration of Geochemical and Morphologic Evolution of Soil-Covered Hillslopes: Responses to Channel Incision

  NSF · $333k · 2008–2011

• Empirical and Theoretical Integration of Geochemical and Morphologic Evolution of Soil-Covered Hillslopes: Responses to Channel Incision

  NSF · $210k · 2010–2013

Frequent coauthors

• Jonatan Klaminder

  Umeå University

  27 shared

• Simon M. Mudd

  University of Edinburgh

  26 shared

• Adrian A. Wackett

  Planetary Science Institute

  25 shared

• A. K. Aufdenkampe

  21 shared

• Martin D. Hurst

  15 shared

• Ronald Amundson

  14 shared

• Arjun M. Heimsath

  Arizona State University

  14 shared

• Beth Weinman

  12 shared

Labs

• Yoo Lab@UMNPI

Education

• Ph.D., Environmental Science, Policy, and Management

  U.C. Berkeley

  2003