Interpreting Soil Test Results: What Do All the Numbers Mean?

by Pam Hazelton PhD, Brian Murphy PhD

Overview

Interpreting Soil Test Results is a practical reference enabling soil scientists, environmental scientists, environmental engineers, land holders and others involved in land management to better understand a range of soil test methods and interpret the results of these tests. It also contains a comprehensive description of the soil properties relevant to many environmental and natural land resource issues and investigations.

This edition has an additional chapter on soil organic carbon store estimation and an extension of the chapter on soil contamination. It also includes sampling guidelines for landscape design and a section on trace elements. The book updates and expands sections covering acid sulfate soil, procedures for sampling soils, levels of nutrients present in farm products, soil sodicity, salinity and rainfall erosivity. It includes updated interpretations for phosphorus in soils, soil pH and the cation exchange capacity of soils.

Features:
* A quick reference guide to interpreting the numbers associated with a range of soil tests.
* A list of soil properties for which soil testing may be required. Users will be able to judge what soil tests are available for various purposes and how the results of these tests may be interpreted.
* A comprehensive list of references for soil properties and interpretation of results for those who wish to access more detailed information.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781486303960
Publisher:	CSIRO Publishing
Publication date:	01/26/2017
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	808,388
Product dimensions:	6.62(w) x 9.62(h) x (d)

About the Author

Dr. Pam Hazelton has been a practicing soil scientist for over 35 years. She graduated in Science from the University of Sydney and gained her PhD for her work on semi-arid soils from the University of NSW. She was a consultant to the Soil Conservation Service, a soil surveyor in the Department of Conservation and Land Management and has worked with environmental consultants. She has been a lecturer at a variety of universities and in the Faculty of Engineering and IT at the University of Technology Sydney specifically focused on the environmental and engineering problems of urban soils. She is a former President of Soil Science Australia and also Vice President of the International Union of Soil Scientists Commission for Education in Soil Science.

Dr. Brian Murphy has worked as a soil scientist for 30 years with a strong focus on applied science. He graduated in Agricultural Science from the University of Sydney, from where he also gained his Masters and his PhD for his work on soil structure in cropping systems. Dr. Murphy’s interests lie in the application of soil science to environmental management, hydrology, salinity and urban land use. His work involves providing day-to-day advice on the management of soils for a range of natural resource issues. He is also an experienced researcher and has published numerous scientific papers, and is an editor of a very successful, widely used textbook, now in its third edition, on the characterization and management of soils. He is a former President of the NSW Branch of Soil Science Australia.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Soil sampling issues: aspects of design and implementation of soil investigations
2. Soil physical properties
3. Soil properties and soil behaviour for engineering
4. Soil erodibility and erosion hazard
5. Soil chemical properties
6. Organic matter content of soils
7. Application of waste-water and waste materials to soils
8. Soil contamination
9. Units and conversions
10. General and technical suggested references
11. References
Appendix 1 – Assessing soil texture using field behaviour of moist soil
Index

Editorial Reviews

Review of the Second Editon:
“Interpreting Soil Test Results is a handy compendium. Soil scientists who write for clients and the clients who read their reports...should find this book valuable.

European Journal of Soil Science

"Here in this updated and expanded edition they have broadened their canvas to embrace all of Australia and in doing so have made it relevant to much of the rest of the world."

From the Publisher