Research Guides: ENVS 241: Soil Science: Reference Sources &amp; Books

Reference sources

Reference sources can:

give you an overview or background on a topic
help you narrow down your topic by suggesting other avenues of research
lead you to reliable and valid sources for further information (a beginning bibliography)
provide statistics and data associated with topics in environmental studies.

The sources in this list are reputable and have been vetted by the library and scholarly communities.

Encyclopedia of Agriculture and Food Systems
The Encyclopedia of Earth
Encyclopedia of Natural Hazards
Encyclopedia of Soil Science -- excellent source!

Soil Reference Sites on the Internet

Soil taxonomy: A basic system of soil classification for making and interpreting soil surveys
Guide to soil taxonomy from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service.
Soil Surveys by State
Provides links to full text of soil surveys. Soil surveys may be for entire states or, more likely, for individual counties within states.
Soil Health Literature
Soil Health Literature from the USDA-NRCS is "compiled from peer-reviewed papers relating to the impact of conservation practices on soil physical and chemical properties important for soil health, as summarized by USDA soil health specialists." Other links to soil health information are provided, so be sure to explore the site.
USDA Agricultural Statistics
You can view the most recent report here, but also search by keyword; also look for the link to statistics by state on the left.
Glossary of Soil Science Terms
From the Soil Science Society of America.

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Use Knox Primo to check for books and technical reports that you can borrow from another I-Share library. When searching, choose the "All I-Share Libraries" search option:

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