With an emphasis on the fundamentals, this book explores the 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. Fully updated in this edition, it includes the latest information on soil colloids; nutrient cycles and soil fertility; and soils and chemical pollution. This edition is filled with hundreds of new figures and photos and continues to use examples from many fields, including agriculture, forestry, and natural resources. Taking an ecological approach, it emphasizes how the soil system is interconnected and the principles behind each soil concept. Updated information in this edition includes:
- Engineering properties of soils.
- Expanded treatment of soil quality, soil degradation and soil resilience.
- A new section on septic tank drain fields.
- Expanded section on irrigation management.
- A new section on wetlands and their poorly aerated soils.
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.
Product Details
- Paperback: 624 pages
- Publisher: Prentice Hall; 3 edition (June 27, 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0135014336
- ISBN-13: 978-0135014332
- Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 8.2 x 1 inches