This book discusses how research efforts have established an organic link between pedology and edaphology of five pedogenetically important soil orders as Alfisols, Mollisols, Ultisols, Vertisols and Inceptisols of tropical Indian environments. The book highlights how this new knowledge was gained when research efforts were complemented by high resolution mineralogical, micro morphological and age-control tools. This advancement in basic and fundamental knowledge on Indian tropical soils makes it possible to develop several index soil properties as simple methods to study their pedology and edaphology. More than one-third of the world’s soils are tropical soils. Thus the recent advances in developing simple and ingenuous methods to study pedology and edaphology of Indian tropical soils may also be adopted by both graduate students and young soil researchers to aid in the development of a national soil information system to enhance crop productivity and maintain soil health in the 21st century.

This book highlights ecosystem services of Indian tropical soils driven by soil properties. Soils are complex and important biomaterials and have an outstanding role in providing ecosystem services to mankind. The tropical soils have been traditionally and generally considered as either agriculturally poor or virtually useless by many. This book will discuss the difficulties encountered in managing Indian tropical soils in order to sustain their productivity. Some unique soil properties are yet to be linked explicitly to soil ecosystem services and soil care needs to be a constant research endeavour in the Indian tropical environment. This book highlights the new and unique soil knowledge base necessary to close the gap between food production and future population growth.

This monograph covers uniqueness of micromorphology in resolving many important but enigmatic pedological issues such as clay illuviation, formation of pedogenic and non-pedogenic CaCO3, modification of plasmic fabric, contemporary and relict pedogenic processes, polygenesis of soils in Alfisols, Mollisols, Ultisols, Vertisols and Inceptisols of the tropical Indian environments. Chapters in this title also include identification of paleosols, diagenetic overprinting of the pedofeatures in lithified paleosols, and alluvial cyclicity of the fluvial successions. The techniques mentioned in this title are of tremendous value in pedological and geological research for precise and unambiguous definitions of soil taxa to build the national soil information and refine the stratigraphy of the terrestrial sediments. The information is for the benefit the students and researchers of pedology and geomorphology who often come across extreme difficulties in relating to examples applying the principles of soil formation from textbooks devoted almost exclusively to soils of the temperate climates. The format of this publication is arranged for a process-oriented text and figures on micromorphology of the tropical soils and paleosols as a reference for pedologists, earth scientists, M.Sc. and Ph.D. students, and also for land resource managers who are engaged in enhancing the productivity of such tropical soils in India and elsewhere.

This book provides an overview of the diversified soil regimes in India. In addition to the historical advances in soil research and its limitations, it describes the monitoring of various soil conditions and soil uses to improve productivity. Discussing topics such as climate, geology and geomorphology, major soil types and their classification, soil mineralogy and clays, soil micromorphology, soil biogeochemistry, benchmark soils, land evaluation and land use planning, soil health and fertility and soil resilience, the book highlights the multiple uses of soils in industry, human health care, mitigation of challenges due to climate change and construction. It also presents measures for a brighter future of soil science in India, such as imposing organic farming principles toward sustainable agriculture in the context of the second green revolution besides alleviating the poverty and providing the employment opportunities among the farming communities in India.

This book discusses how to apply the basic principles of pedology to the tropical soils of the Indian subcontinent, with an emphasis on ways to enhance crop productivity. The book showcases the research contributions on pedology, geomorphology, mineralogy, micromorphology and climate change collected from the literature on three major soil types: shrink-swell soils, red ferruginous (RF) soils and the soils that occur in the tropical environments of the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). It also provides insights into several aspects of five pedogenetically important soil orders like Alfisols, Mollisols, Ultisols, Vertisols and Inceptisols found in tropical Indian environments. Documenting the significance of minerals in soils and their overall influence in soil science in terms of pedology, paleopedology, polygenesis and edaphology, it provides a knowledge base that is critical when attempting to bridge the gap between food production and population growth.

Mexico is an extensive country with an extremely complex mosaic of landscapes. The soils of Mexico have still not been completely studied, and there are few publications available on this subject. This book provides a state-of-the-art view on Mexican soils, their geographical distribution, their use and degradation. This is a first attempt to give a systematized characteristic of the soil resources of Mexico. Land resources of the second-biggest economy in Latin America are critical for its sustainable development, and a demand for adequate soil information is high. The information contained within can be used for any soil-related research done in Mexico and in neighboring countries. The book includes detailed characteristics of soils of all the physiographic regions of Mexico with maps, photos and explanatory schemes. The book is based on the experiences of the authors in research and soil survey, as well as on the existent, mainly ‘grey’ literature on Mexican soils. The book is recommended for researchers and university readers, students of all levels and decision-makers, working in the area of soil science, environmental issues, Earth sciences, land management and nature conservation.

This handbook is a reference guide for selecting and carrying out numerous methods of soil analysis. It is written in accordance with analytical standards and quality control approaches. It covers a large body of technical information including protocols, tables, formulae, spectrum models, chromatograms and additional analytical diagrams. The approaches are diverse, from the simplest tests to the most sophisticated determination methods.

change is simply described by the rate of income and rate of loss. Our home's energy budget, our firm's inventory, our nation's debt, and humanity's numbers all have accounts that change at rates that are equal to the inputs minus the outputs. Jenny's "system view" of the soil was carried into the fertile fields of Midwestern American prairies from the laboratories of Switzerland in the late 1920s. Jenny's rate equations provided the other paradigm or world view that, I recall, brought us to the threshold of systems ecology as it later evolved in the second half of the twentieth century. As if world renown in the specialties of pedology and soil chemistry were not enough for one lifetime, excerpts below remind us that Hans Jenny has also been a perceptive outdoor field ecologist since his early Alpine expeditions with Braun Blanquet in the mid 1920s. Jenny's ecosystem studies in the pygmy forest, a further classic example of a soil-plant system "run down" over hundreds of thousands of years since its origin, continue to occupy some of the vigorous retirement time near his farm in Mendocino County. But each specific, quantitative case study, and each research area conserved (with additional hard work) for further study by future generations, fits into Jenny's coherent world view. It is that view, and its legacies of discovery and of tangible landscape preserves, which we are privileged to share with their originator in this volume.