Standard Soil Methods for Long-Term Ecological Research

• 1. Soil Sampling, Preparation, Archiving, and Quality Control ; 2. Site and Landscape Characterization for Ecological Studies ; I. SOIL PHYSICAL PROPERTIES ; 3. Soil Water and Temperature Status ; 4. Soil Structural and Other Physical Properties ; II. SOIL CHEMICAL PROPERTIES ; 5. Soil Carbon and Nitrogen: Pools and Fractions ; 6. Exchangeable Ions, pH, and Cation Exchange Capacity ; 7. Soil Phosphorus: Characterization and Total Elemental Analysis ; 8. Analysis of Detritus and Organic Horizons for Mineral and Organic Constituents ; 9. Collection of Soil Solution ; III. SOIL BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES ; 10. Soil CO[2, N[2O, and CH[4 Exchange ; 11. Measuing Decomposition, Nutrient Turnover, and Stores in Plant Litter ; 12. Dinitrogen Fixation ; 13. Soil Carbon and Nitrogen Availability: Nitrogen Mineralization, Nitrification, and Soil Respiration Potentials ; 14. Denitrification ; IV. SOIL ORGANISMS ; 15. The Determination of Microbial Biomass ; 16. Characterizing Soil Microbial Communities ; 17. Soil Invertebrates ; 18. Methods for Ecological Studies of Mycorrhizae ; 19. Measurement of Static Root Parameters: Biomass, Length, and Distribution in the Soil Profile ; 20. Fine Root Production and Demography

"Sure an old farmer can taste the dirt and tell whether to plant cotton or corn, but scientists working on studies that may stretch over decades and will probably include other people need some uniformity in how they take measurements and record the results. So in 1996 a group of scientists began developing a set of common protocols that could be used to characterize the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil and soil organisms from disparatesites ranging from tundra permafrost to desert aridosols, and with the land use ranging from annual cropping systems to old-growth forest. Their report also includes protocols for soil sampling,preparation, archiving, and quality control and for characterizing sites and landscapes for ecological studies."--SciTech Book News"Sure an old farmer can taste the dirt and tell whether to plant cotton or corn, but scientists working on studies that may stretch over decades and will probably include other people need some uniformity in how they take measurements and record the results. So in 1996 a group of scientists began developing a set of common protocols that could be used to characterize the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil and soil organisms from disparatesites ranging from tundra permafrost to desert aridosols, and with the land use ranging from annual cropping systems to old-growth forest. Their report also includes protocols for soil sampling,preparation, archiving, and quality control and for characterizing sites and landscapes for ecological studies."--SciTech Book News