212-401 Soil Management and Conservation

Coordinator:

Prerequisite/s:

Timetable:

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Objectives:

On completion of this subject students should understand the major issues currently involving the management of soils under various land uses in Australia; the principles and application of methods of soil survey and land capability assessment; the principles and practical significance of nutrient cycling and sustainable land management in agricultural and forest systems, including the analysis of soils and plants for the assessment of soil nutrient supplies and recommendation of fertilisers; the central role of nitrogen inputs in forest, crop and pasture systems; the physical and chemical processes involved in water and solute movement, the importance of waste management and the impact of agriculture on water quality.

Content:

The need to understand soil variation, techniques for collecting soil information in the field, outputs from soil survey - maps and data bases, current systems of soil classification and land use capability assessment; issues of sustainability - global problems of food production, resource degradation; main issues for Australia - maintaining soil fertility, controlling erosion, salinization, sodicity, acidification; causes of erosion and their control; causes of salinization and sodicity, areas affected, quality of irrigation waters, effects on soil properties and vegetation, remediation techniques, salinity management plans; natural and accelerated rates of acidification, areas affected, prevention and remediation, cost-benefit analysis and case studies; nutrient sources and transport processes in soil, acceptable concentrations and loads, effects on water bodies (including eutrophication), integrated catchment management, the role of the EPA and other statutory authorities; the concept of nutrient budgeting, soil and plant testing for nutrient deficiencies and toxicities, fertiliser recommendations; nutrient cycling and the maintenance of fertility in forest soils; nitrogen inputs and the contribution of nitrogen fixation to sustainable agriculture.

Assessment:

Prescribed Texts:

• White R E, Introduction to the Principles and Practice of Soil Science, 2nd ed., Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 1987.
• Charman, P E V and Murphy, B W, Soils, Their Properties and Management, Sydney University Press, 1991.