Soils: Principles, Properties and Management

285 Pages·2013·4.783 MB·English

by  Khan Towhid Osman (auth.)

Soils

Khan Towhid Osman
Soils
Principles, Properties and Management
Khan Towhid Osman
Department of Soil Science
University of Chittagong
Chittagong , Bangladesh
ISBN 978-94-007-5662-5 ISBN 978-94-007-5663-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5663-2
Springer Dordrecht Heidelberg New York London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012951125
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For my teacher
Professor Aminul Islam

Preface
I obtained my M.S. degree in Soil Science in 1976, and I had been a teacher in the Department
of Botany, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh, for 25 years since 1977. I taught undergraduate
and graduate students of Botany the origin and development of soils, properties of soils, growth
and distribution of plants in relation to properties of soils, soil fertility and productivity manage-
ment, and soil conservation. I also gave lectures on different aspects of ecology, particularly
edaphic factor of vegetation development and distribution, and agronomy, especially soil and
crop management for sustainable yield. For sometime in the 1990s, I worked off and on as a
guest faculty in the Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, where I lectured on
forest soils and forest soil management to the undergraduate students of forestry. Meanwhile,
I obtained my Ph.D. in 1996 on the growth of teak ( Tectona grandis ) in relation to soil proper-
ties in the southeastern hilly areas of Bangladesh. I joined the Department of Soil Science in
2000 as the founding chair and have been working there as a professor since. Versatile as my
academic experiences have been, I could see the connections of soil science with other relevant
branches of knowledge and felt the necessity of integrating them in one volume.
During my studentship and teaching life, I had the opportunity to study some good books
on soil science. I enjoyed much the works of H. O. Buckman and N. C. Brady ( The Nature and
Properties of Soils , 10th edn.); N. C. Brady and R.R. Weil (T he Nature and Properties of Soils ,
14th edn.); L. M. Turk and H. D. Foth ( Fundamentals of Soil Science ); M. J. Singer and D. N.
Munns ( Soils: An Introduction ); M. E. Sumner ( Handbook of Soil Science ); R.L. Donahue, R.
W. Miller, and J. C. Shikluna (S oils: An Introduction to Soils and Plant Growth ); E. A.
Fitzpatrick (A n Introduction to Soil Science ); C. A. Black (S oil Plant Relationships ); E. J.
Russel (S oil Conditions and Plant Growth ); J. S. Joffe (P edology ); H. Jenny (F actors of Soil
Formation ); R. J. Schaetzl and S. Anderson (S oils Genesis and Geomorphology ); R.E. Grim
( Clay Mineralogy ); F. E. Bear (C hemistry of the Soil ); H.L.Bohn, B. L. McNeal, and G. A.
O’Connor (S oil Chemistry ); G. Sposito (T he Chemistry of Soils ); D. L. Sparks (E nvironmental
Soil Chemistry ); K. H. Tan (P rinciples of Soil Chemistry ); USDA ( Soil Survey Manual, Soil
Taxonomy ); USDA Salinity Laboratory Staff (D iagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkali
Soils ); L. D. Baver ( Soil Physics ); D. Hillel ( Introduction to Soil Physics ); M.B. Kirkham
( Principles of Soil and Plant Water Relations ); P. J. Kramer ( Plant and Soil Water Relationships:
A Modern Synthesis ); H. Marschner (M ineral Nutrition of Higher Plants ); H. D. Chapman
( Diagnostic Criteria for Plants and Soils ); M. M. Kononova ( Soil Organic Matter ); H. H.
Benett (S oil Conservation ); S. L. Tisdale, W. L. Nelson, and J. D. Beaton (S oil Fertility and
Fertilizers ); K. Kilham (S oil Ecology ); R. P. C. Morgan (S oil Erosion and Conservation ); N.
van Breemen and P. Buurman ( Soil Formation ); A. Martin ( Introduction to Soil Microbiology );
F. J. Stevenson ( Cycles of Soil: Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Sulfur, Micronutrients ); N.
Juma ( The Pedosphere and Its Dynamics ); R. F. Fisher and D. Binkley ( Ecology and
Management of Forest Soils ); K. A. Armson (F orest Soils: Properties and Processes ), J. B.
Jones, Jr. ( Agronomic Handbook ), and so on. These authors have stimulated my interest in
learning soil science and delivering my acquired knowledge to my students in a systematic
way. I have keenly noticed the responses of my students, whom I have seen to have hard times
with information extraction and interpretation of texts, which led me to conclude that despite
the availability of plenty of good texts, there is still scope of new books with novel styles of
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viii Preface
presentation, updated information, and new interpretations. The present work is an attempt
toward this.
Chapters 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 of this book emphasize soil as a natural dynamic body, its origin and
development, and its systematic study for a better understanding of its properties and manage-
ment. Chapter 1 deals with the concepts of soil—soil as it occurs in nature, its makeup, and
ecosystem functions. Chapter 2 gives an account of the elemental, mineralogical, and petro-
logical composition of the lithosphere and weathering of rocks and minerals including biogeo-
chemical weathering and its products. Chapter 3 is a brief account of soil-forming factors and
processes. Chapter 4 contains modern soil classi fi cation systems. Chapters 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , and 9
describe physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils in relation to plant growth.
Chapter 6 deals with soil water—water as a component of soil, its hydrological properties,
moisture constants and potentials, water movement through soil and plant, water stress, and
waterlogging. Irrigation and drainage methods have also been treated in considerable detail.
Chapter 9 deals with biological properties of soils with a good account on soil fauna, which is
not generally stressed in basic soil science books despite its signi fi cant role in determining soil
characteristics. Chapter 1 0 addresses plant nutrients and soil fertility management. Physiological
functions of nutrients in plants, behavior, and availability of nutrients in soil, plant nutrient
requirements, nutrient interactions in plants and soils, soil fertility evaluation, organic and
inorganic fertilizers, and methods of fertilizer application have been discussed with suf fi cient
details. Problem soils and their management have been treated in Chap. 1 1 . Chapter 12 reviews
soil resources and soil degradation. Recent data and literature have been consulted to incorporate
most recent developments in the fi eld. This book has accommodated one chapter for wetland
soils (Chap. 13 ) and another for forest soils (Chap. 14 ) unlike most fundamental soil science
books. In spite of the fact that forests occupy almost one-third land area of the world and forest
soils have tremendous ecological roles, they are not generally included in discussions of common
basic soil science texts, which, in my view, is a major exclusion. Therefore, I have attempted
to give a comprehensive yet concise account of forest soils. Chapter 1 5 emphasizes soil study
in a changing climate, an issue that has attracted much attention in recent decades.
This book is intended for undergraduate and graduate students of soil science, and agricul-
tural, biological, and environmental sciences, who study soil as a natural resource. Professionals,
including agronomists, horticulturists, gardeners, geologists, geographers, ecologists, biologists,
microbiologists, and silviculturists, may fi nd something of their interest as well.
In this text, soil processes and properties have been explained with adequate examples,
tables, and fi gures. In order to make matters comprehensive, necessary generalization and
simpli fi cation were done, though bearing the danger of oversimpli fi cation of soil as a complex
entity in mind. Students, I have noticed often, get overwhelmed by throngs of information
without being able to have a complete understanding of the central concept. This is why I
inserted meaningful messages in section headings so that even before going over a particular
section, one might get the gist right away.
Chittagong Khan Towhid Osman
Acknowledgements
I sincerely appreciate the inspiration of my students during the preparatory phase of this book.
Their queries and responses made me eager to learn more, systematize topic organization, and
present materials in an interesting way.
My colleague Mr. Mohammad Enayet Hossain went painstakingly and meticulously through
the manuscript and suggested corrections on many occasions. I cannot be more grateful to him.
My colleagues Dr. Abul Kashem, Mr. Enamul Haque, and Mr. Zafar Afsar extended their
cooperation during the fi nalization of the draft. I would also like to thank Professor Brian
Alloway, University of Reading, UK, for his general advice on how to make the text better.
My special thanks go to Dr. Kamrul Huda, Dr. Animesh Biswas, Mr. Md. Mueed Ul Zahan,
Mr. Imam Hossain, Ms. Priyanka Chak, Mr. Khan Md. Rafee, and Mr. M. A. Hannan, who lent
themselves freely in image processing. Many organizations also were kind enough to permit
me to use their resources. I am indebted to them all.
I am grateful to my sons, Shovon, Shajib, and Shourabh, for their encouragement. My wife,
Mrs. Taslima Begum, managed the household and allowed me the time necessary for writing.
Khan Towhid Osman
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