In Memoriam: Gregory Arkady Buyanovsky

Dr. Gregory Arkady Buyanovsky, a 29-year member with SSSA and ASA and Professor Emeritus of the College of Agriculture, Food & Natural Resources, University of Missouri, passed away on Nov. 4, 2024. Born on Jan. 1, 1927 in Baku, Azerbaijan to Arkady and Dina Buyanovsky, he studied biology at Baku State University and earned a full professorship by the age of 35.

Buyanovsky worked at the Soil Amelioration Laboratory, Institute of Soil Science and Agrochemistry, Baku (former U.S.S.R.), moving in 1976 to The Jacob Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Sede Boqer, Israel. He then became a visiting scientist and research professor in 1981 at the University of Missouri, working on soil microbiology with Professor George Wagner.

Buyanovsky’s research made significant contributions documenting carbon dynamics in native and cultivated ecosystems, finding combined CO₂ losses from litter decay were twice as great under wheat as for native prairie. He also analyzed long-term carbon losses at Sanborn Field (Missouri) and the Morrow Plots (Illinois), showing soil organic carbon losses following conversion of native prairie to arable cropland were rapid (within 20-40 years) because of greatly reduced C inputs and accelerated C decay rates. Buyanovsky also documented climate effects on corn yield in Missouri using unique long-term (1895—1998) data. Results showed that the climate effects on corn yield can only be explained by within-season variations in rainfall and temperature and could not be distinguished by average growing-season conditions.

Buyanovsky is survived by his wife Olena, sons Sergey and Cyril, and six grandchildren in Olathe, KS. 

—Source: Clark Gantzer with assistance from Steve Anderson