Soil taxonomic classes, including soil series:

1. Soil taxonomic classes, including soil series: A ….. exist in nature as discreet entities like plants and animals. Soil series accurately reflect the soils in the landscape. A competent soil scientist can map out taxonomic classes quite accurately. B ….. are not discreet entities like plants and animals. The classes are human concepts reflecting our general understanding of major soil forming processes and the resulting pattern of soils in the landscape. The taxa were developed by studying real soils, but in the end they are just conceptual models representing the real soils found in the landscape.

2. You are a new MLRA office leader assigned to an unfamiliar area. Which of the two approaches would you like best? A ….. Start with the OSDs. Ask your SDQS for a list of OSDs applicable to the area. Once you are familiar with them, go to the field and map as many of them as you can find. Once a thousand acres have been mapped, select pedons that represent the official series well and describe and sample them. B …... End with the OSDs. Make maps or revise map units based on the separation of landscape segments, parent materials, soil properties, and your general knowledge of Soil Taxonomy. Once a thousand acres are mapped, select pedons to represent the major components you encountered, classify them, and then work with your SDQS to select series that best represent what you found.

3. You completed your soil survey. All of the typical pedons (TP) used to represent your map unit components have been classified with Soil Taxonomy. President Obama announces that in an effort to reach out to the rest of the world, all soil surveys in the USA, starting with yours, will use the World Reference Base for soil resources (WRB), as the official classification system. Since there is not a one-to-one conversion of taxa from Soil Taxonomy to WRB, what is the most likely result of this change? A … You’ll have to learn a new classification system and reclassify all your TPs, but the design of your map units and the lines on the maps will pretty much remain the way they are. B … The survey will essentially have to be done over again with new map units designed to reflect the new taxonomic system.