Learning Outcomes:
On completion of this module, students should understand the nature of soil, its constituents and how they are organised, the main terms used to describe soil, and the major physical and chemical processes that have occurred during its formation and continue today. Students will have been introduced to the role of soils in productive agriculture and other land management systems, and the contribution of soil management to sustainable production systems. Practical skills in observing soil materials, and in describing them from a constrained technical vocabulary will have been gained.
Indicative Module Content:
Soil components: mineral material, organic material, soil water, soil air, and pores, roots and soil organisms.
Soil literacy: soil ecosystem services; how soils are observed and described, soil classification and formation factors.
Soil stucture: arrangement of soil particles, and the pores they define.
Soil biology: plant roots and other organisms in soil.
Soil fertility: fertility concepts, acidity and liming, soil nutrients (N, P, K, S) and managing soil fertility.
Soil management: soils and water quality, the climate system, and threats to soil ecosytem services.