Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils - Hardcover

Brady, Nyle C.; Weil, Ray R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 013048038X ISBN 13: 9780130480385

Publisher: Pearson College Div, 2003

Synopsis

This book opens readers' eyes to the fascinating and important world of soils, and the principles that can be used to minimize the degradation and destruction of one of our most important natural resources. KEY TOPICS Concentrating on essentials, this edition is a more concise version of its parent book, The Nature and Properties of Soils, maintaining its high standards of rigor and readability, and its priority of explaining this science in a manner relevant to many fields of study. It provides a fundamental knowledge that is a prerequisite to meeting the many natural-resource challenges awaiting humanity in the 21st century. For individuals who study the science of soil, and those who make a profession of it.

About this title

From the Back Cover

A fundamental knowledge of soil science is not only intriguing—it is also a prerequisite to meeting the many natural resource challenges facing humanity in the 21st century. This text addresses all of the basic principles of soil science, emphasizing the soil as a natural resource and highlighting the many interactions between the soil and other components of forest, range, agricultural, wetland, and constructed ecosystems.

Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils, Second Edition, is suitable as the core text in an introductory soil science course at the undergraduate level, providing authoritative and up-to-date coverage that is essential for a solid foundation in the study of soils. It is also an excellent resource for anyone interested in the study of soils. Following are only a few of the topics covered:

• formation of soils
• soil classification
• soil architecture and physical properties
• soil water
• soil and the hydrologic cycle
• soil aeration and temperature
• the colloidal fraction: seat of soil chemical and physical activity
• soil acidity, alkalinity, and salinity
• organisms and ecology of the soil
• soil organic matter
• nitrogen and sulfur economy of soil
• soil phosphorus, potassium, and micronutrients
• practical nutrient management
• soil erosion and its control

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Like mountains or lakes, soils are both natural bodies in the landscape and ecosystems in their own right. Soils are among our most important natural resources. Soil science therefore lies at the heart of terrestrial ecology; understanding the soil system is key to the success and environmental harmony of any human use of the land.

This textbook is designed to help make your study of soils a fascinating and intellectually satisfying undertaking. We are confident that much of what you learn will be of enormous practical value in equipping you to meet the natural resource challenges of the 21st century. Whether your interests lie in forestry, agriculture, ecology, geography, or landscaping, you will soon find that soil science is critical to solving a wide range of problems relevant to these and similar fields. Because soil science integrates concepts from physics, chemistry, geology, and biology, this textbook will provide many opportunities for you to see practical applications for principles from these and other basic sciences.

As is the case for its parent book, The Nature and Properties of Soils, 13th edition, this newest edition of Elements of the Nature and Properties of Soils explains the fundamental principles of soil science in a manner that you will find relevant to your interests. Throughout, the text emphasizes the soil as a natural resource and highlights the many interactions between the soil and other components of forest, range, agricultural, wetland, and constructed ecosystems. We have sought to craft a book that will serve your needs well, whether your reading this textbook is to be your only formal exposure to soil science or you are embarking on a comprehensive soil science education. This new textbook is meant to provide both an exciting, accessible introduction to the fascinating world of soil science and a reliable reference for your professional bookshelf.

The parent 13th edition of The Nature and Properties of Soils maintains the ecological approach to soil science education characteristic of the two previous editions. This approach helps you understand the many critical ecosystem processes that are centered in the soil and that form the basis of interactions between soils and other ecosystem components such as groundwater, air, streams, and vegetation. This Elements version preserves the ecological approach of its parent book, while telling the story of soil science in a more condensed form that some students and professors have found more suitable to their needs.

Since 2000, when the first Elements edition was published, we have conferred with many students and professors who used the textbook. They told us that they need an updated coverage of soil science principles in approximately 550 pages, rather than the 960 pages of the parent textbook. They also urged that we not diminish either the scientific rigor or the easy readability of the parent book. We have tried to follow their advice. We have been able to limit Elements to about 60% of the number of pages in the parent book by rewriting and condensing many sections, by reorienting much of the artwork, and by reorganizing and reducing application details so as to allow the fundamentals of soil science to be covered in 15 rather than 20 chapters.

New to this edition of Elements is expanded coverage of topics that are critically important to the future role of soils in natural resource sciences: wetlands, septic drain fields, salt-affected soils, bioremediation, soil ecology, nutrient and irrigation management, soil hydrology, and new concepts in Soil Taxonomy. This edition includes new sections on the pedosphere concept, nonsilicate colloids, inner and outer sphere complexes, effective CEC, proton balance approach to soil acidity, acid and non-acid cation saturation, human-influenced acidity, Ca and Mg in plants and soils, irrigation water quality, biomolecule binding, soil food web ecology, forest nutrient management, a phosphorus pollution site index, indicators of soil quality, and many other topics of current interest in soil science. In response to their popularity in the previous two editions, we have also added new "boxes" that present either engaging examples and applications or technical details and calculations. These boxes both highlight material of special interest and allow the logical thread of the regular text to flow smoothly without digression or interruption. In addition to updating many references, we have added a new feature to this edition, a set of World Wide Web links printed in the margins of the relevant chapter sections.

We could not have done all this without the many valuable suggestions, ideas, and corrections sent to us by soil scientists, instructors, and students from around the world. This edition has once again greatly benefited from such contributions. The high level of professional devotion and camaraderie shared by so many students and practitioners of soil science never ceases to inspire us. We appreciate the comments and suggestions concerning the makeup of this abridged edition made by a number of students and professors who responded to inquiries from the field staff of Prentice Hall. We are especially grateful to Lyle Nelson, Professor Emeritus at Mississippi State University for reviewing the entire text and making excellent and constructive comments. Joyce Torio of the American Chemical Society provided very useful background information on the problems and opportunities affecting global soil quality. In addition, Karen Lowell Langholtz provided able research and editorial assistance for this edition.

Special thanks go to the following colleagues who generously reviewed portions of the parent textbook in detail and made valuable suggestions for improvement: Duane Wolf (University of Arkansas); J. Kenneth Torrence (Carleton University); Jessica Davis (Colorado State University); Harold van Es and Martin Alexander (Cornell University); Dan Richter (Duke University); Michael Beug (Evergreen State University); Lee Burras (Iowa State University); Kudjo Dzantor, Delvin Fanning, Robert Hill, Bruce James, Martin Rabenhorst, and Patricia Steinhilber (University of Maryland); Daniel Hillel (University of Massachusetts); Lyle Nelson (Mississippi State University); Jimmie Richardson (North Dakota State University); Darrell Schultze (Purdue University); Murray Milford (Texas A & M University); Rattan Lal (Ohio State University); Mike Swift (UN Tropical Biology Program); Allen Franzluebbers, Jeff Herrick, Scott Lesch, and Jim Rhoades (USDAAgricultural Research Service); Bob Ahrens, Hari Eswaran, Paul Reich, and Sharon Waltman (USDA/Natural Resources Conservation Service); Fred Magdoff and Wendy Sue Harper (University of Vermont); W. Lee Daniels, S. K. de Datta, and Lucian Zelazny (Virginia Tech.); Clay Robinson (West Texas A & M University); and Tom Siccama (Yale University).

Once again, we express our heartfelt thanks to our wives, Martha and Trish, for their encouragement, understanding, and patience without which we could not possibly have found the time and energy required to make such extensive improvements to this textbook. They bear witness to the fact that our effort to continuously improve The Nature and Properties of Soils textbooks is truly a labor of love.

— N.C.B. and R.R.W.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pearson College Div
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 013048038X
• ISBN 13: 9780130480385
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 606