Land2003 The Soil Environment

LAND2003                  The Soil Environment

 Course Aims and Structure

 “The Soil Environment”, is a 2 unit course, intended to provide you with an overview of the role that soil plays in the environment.  The course is primarily structured with the role of soils as a plant growth medium as the central theme.  However, a fairly broad view is taken, and the interactions of soil with other aspects of the environment are considered.  Key themes developed in the course are the role of soil in supplying water and nutrients to plants and the role of soil as an environmental buffer.

 This course is an introduction to soil science, and thus aims to introduce you to a number of underlying concepts and to the vocabulary of soil science.  If it seems simple, then that’s great.  We think soil science is simple – it’s largely a matter of common sense.  Most of you will not have thought about soils before, and so the concepts will be new.  Our primary goal is to change the way you look at and think about soil. 

 The coverage of the course is broad, and as a result the detail provided on any one subject area is limited.  For example, only a few plant nutrients will be discussed in detail.  These nutrients, particularly nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur are used as models to demonstrate different types of behaviour.  With an understanding of the underlying processes, a broad range of situations can be interpreted.  This generality of understanding is especially important when working in the environmental sector because the range of situations confronted is great.  Please note that we consider “Agricultural Science” part of this broader environmental sector; agriculture is the major land use in most countries, and agricultural enterprises are increasingly under pressure to decrease their impact on aspects of environmental quality.  Within this course we will also occasionally use examples from the mining and industrial situations as these examples depict conditions that are extreme relative to those found in agricultural situations.  In most instances the examples used to illustrate the soil processes relate to agriculture, forestry or studies of undisturbed ecosystems.  This is because these systems have been studied in detail and well documented examples exist.  Irrespective of the situation, the underlying processes remain the same as those acting in undisturbed forests and in agricultural fields. 

 The lecture notes we have provided, and the powerpoint slides used for the internal delivery, provide all of the information you will need to complete the course.  We do not assume any prior knowledge of soil science, chemistry or physics, and aim to provide you with all of the information you need to understand the course material.  If you do not understand a topic after working through our notes, then you may want to look at the OzSoils package (If you are an external student, this will have been provided to you on loan.  For internal students it is available on the University computers).  OzSoils provides a simple introduction to a range of topics considered in the course.  If you want an introductory soil text book, there are lots available and any one of them would be of use.  We recommend “Soils and the Environment.  An Introduction” by Alan Wild (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1993  ISBN 0 521 43859 4)) - its relatively inexpensive and provides a good coverage of the subject area.  In many instances our lecture notes use material from Wild.  One word of warning, most of the textbooks are written in the context of soils in Europe or North America, these are geologically young soils in temperate environments and in some respects are quite different to the old, infertile soils of Australia.  So the emphasis of the text is often different to the one we will provide; for example “salinity” is not considered in detail in Wild, but is an important topic in the Australian context.

 We have made the same set of learning materials available to both internal and external students.  Indeed, we do not discriminate strongly between the two programs.  If you are an External student who has the opportunity to attend some lectures at Gatton or St Lucia, then you are more than welcome to do so.  The internal program is delivered as three one hour lectures per week, supported by a number of practicals and short films. The external delivery is based primarily on these lecture notes, and a residential school. 

Objectives

Detailed learning objectives are provided at the start of each lecture, for that particular component of the course.  Overall, our expectation is that this course will,

·        introduce you to the vocabulary of soil science

·        provide you with an understanding of the role of soil in agro-ecosystems (water and nutrient supply, environmental buffering)

·        enable you to describe soil processes, and to some extent to predict the behaviour of soil systems on the basis of your knowledge of the controlling processes.

Graduate attributes

As a graduate of LAND2003 you will have

·        a broad overview understanding of the role of soil, and how soil fertility is dictated by a range of chemical and physical characteristics.

·        sufficient knowledge of soil attributes, and of the vocabulary used to describe them, to enable you to interact with professional soil scientists and with soil users (farmers, agronomists, ecologists, engineers)

·        an appreciation of the importance of soil to sustainable land use, and of the need to preserve the soil resource.

Assumed background

There are no prerequisites for this course. Students are assumed to have a satisfactory level of achievement in secondary English (or equivalent) and reasonable general knowledge.

Outline of modules

The course is divided into four modules; soil composition, plant nutrients, soil physical fertility, and environmental soil science.  Within each module there are a number of topics which are intended as learning units – one to two hours of work.  We have tried to develop each unit as a coherent and relatively independent body of material, so that you can work through and finish a unit in one sitting.  Of course there are links between individual units, and there is a linear nature to the course – it is best to learn the material on what the soil is composed of (Module 1), before looking at how these components are arranged and behave (Modules 2 and 3).

Module 1:    Soil Composition, Classification, and Land Use.

Unit 1.1:           An Introduction;  Soils as a three phase system.

Unit 1.2:           Soil Composition; Minerals in soil.        

Unit 1.3:           Soil Organic Matter

Unit 1.4:           Ion Exchange on Soil Colloids

Unit 1.5:           Soil Genesis

Unit 1.6:           Soil Classification and Land Use; Soils ain’t Soils.

Module 2:    Plant Nutrients.

Unit 2.1:           Plant Mineral Nutrition: Some history, some concepts.  

Unit 2.2:           Nutrient Cycling: Understanding the soil plant system.

Unit 2.3:           Nitrogen: Organic matter as a pool of plant nutrients.    

Unit 2.4:           Phosphorus:  Forms and fertilizers.

Unit 2.5:           Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Sulfur; Best of the rest.

Unit 2.6:           Micronutrients

Module 3:    Soil Physical Fertility.

Unit 3.1:           Soil Texture - all the little pieces

Unit 3.2:           Soil Structure - putting it all together

Unit 3.3:           Soil Water - soil as a sponge

Unit 3.4            Soil Water Movement – in one end, and out the other

Unit 3.5            Soil Strength / Soil Temperature

Module 4:    Environmental soil science

Unit 4.1:           Fertility Assessment

Unit 4.2:           Soil Acidity

Unit 4.3:           Soil Salinity and Soil Sodicity

Unit 4.4:           Soils in the Global Carbon Cycle

Unit 4.5:           Soil Erosion by Wind and Water.

Course material

Study package

The study package has three components

·         Intro Book (including the learning guide and WebCT login information)

·         WebCT Site (Discussion area, links, evaluation form)

·         CD (PowerPoint presentations, lecture notes, activities, etc.)

Required texts/resources

There are no required texts/resources for this course but students are expected to access several large reports and other documents on the internet.

Recommended text

“Soils and the Environment.  An Introduction” by Alan Wild (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1993  ISBN 0 521 43859 4))

Teaching Staff

This course is taught by staff from the School of Agronomy and Horticulture and the School of Land and Food Sciences. 

External

            Dr Usha Pillai-McGarry

            School of Agriculture and Horticulture, Gatton Campus

            Ph 07 5460 1319  or  07 3365 2251,  e-mail u.pillaimcgarry@uq.edu.au

 Gatton

            Dr Usha Pillai-McGarry

            School of Agriculture and Horticulture, Gatton Campus

            Ph 07 5460 1319  or  07 3365 2251

            Mr Phil Matthew

            School of Agriculture and Horticulture, Gatton Campus

            Ph 07 5460 1360

 St Lucia

            Assoc. Prof. Neal Menzies

            School of Land and Food Sciences, St Lucia

            Ph  07 3365 2059

            Assoc. Prof. Bing So.

            School of Land and Food Sciences, St Lucia

            Ph 07 3365 2888

            Dr Gunnar Kirchhof

            School of Land and Food Sciences, St Lucia

            Ph 07 3365 1364

Course home page/WebCT site

The course has its own WebCT site which will provide the main means for communication. The course coordinator will post any messages on a central notice board to keep students informed of any developments. The site will also have a discussion facility to enable students to communicate with the teaching staff and with each other. This doesn’t allow real time chat, but students can post messages to the area at a time that suits them individually and any student requested or queries should be directed to this area. Students are strongly encouraged to help each other where possible by using the facility for discussion, but a lecturer will visit the forum at least once a week to answer any questions that students are unable to solve themselves.

Logging on to WebCT

WebCT (Web Course Tools) is a web-based delivery tool that we will be using this semester. To access and use our WebCT site, please follow these instructions and diagrams.

 Please note!

You will need to be connected to the Internet and be using a web browser (Netscape Version 4.0 – 4.7, or Internet Explorer Version 4 or above) to use WebCT. 

Assessment

 At the end of the course we want you to have a better understanding of the role soil plays in the development of an ecosystem.  We consider that as professionals who will move into widely differing work environments, you will put this knowledge to all kinds of use.  Indeed we hope that you use the opportunity to learn the aspects of soil science that are most relevant to you; thus we expect each student to pursue some aspects of soil science in more detail than is provided in the course notes, and to leave with a slightly different knowledge set.  However, there is a core set of knowledge that all of you will need, and this is the focus of the course notes.

 To assess this core body of knowledge, you will sit a two-hour multiple choice examination at the end of the semester.  Sample questions are provided on the course web-site to indicate the type of questions used.  This examination represents 70% of the course mark.  The examination is largely common (80% of questions) amongst all groups, but because of the difference in interest of the various student groups, and to permit staff to place additional emphasis on aspects of the course that are particularly relevant to their student group, there a slight differences in the questions posed to the different enrolled groups (about 20% of questions differ).  You are not permitted to use a dictionary in the examination.

 The practical exercises will require you to submit short written reports which will draw upon what you do in the practical, but also what you have learned in the learning modules and readings.  The practical component is worth 30% of the course total.  Internal students will undertake a number of practical sessions (information on these will be provided by your lecturer).  External students will undertake a residential school for the practical component.

 On the basis of this assessment material, you will be awarded a grade on the 1 to 7 scale.

Support and Advice

 Information regarding this course is available from the teaching staff (Please use one of the contacts listed above for your type of enrolment – External/Gatton/St Lucia.). A good source of advice, both regarding this course and dealing with the University in general, is conversation with tutors. A wide variety of support services are available within the University for students with questions, problems, misunderstandings, uncertainties etc. For example: Academic advisers are available in the various Faculty offices and in the Departments. The Careers and Counselling Service offers a wide variety of services in Personal and Career Advice, a Disability Unit, Equity Support and Learning Assistance. Reach them on 33651704. Any student with a disability who may require alternative academic arrangements in the course is encouraged to seek advice at the commencement of the semester from a Disability Advisor at Student Support Services. The University Chaplaincy can be reached on 33656439.

 Disability. Any student with a disability who may require alternative academic arrangements in the course is requested to notify the course coordinator and is encouraged to seek advice at the commencement of the semester from a Disability Advisor at Student Support Services.

Referencing and citing

 All material that you source from any book, article, report or web page needs to have the source referenced in your reports. References should be cited in the text using the American Psychological Association (APA) style of referencing. Detailed information on how to cite references is available at:

http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/citation/apa.html

 Plagiarism is a serious issue of academic behaviour. The University’s policy on plagiarism makes a comprehensive statement about the University’s approach to plagiarism, the consequences and the principles associated with preventing plagiarism. If you are in any doubt about the University’s expectation of you in this regard, please visit the following website. http://www.uq.edu.au/hupp/contents/view.asp?s1=3&s2=40&s3=12