Kentucky Soil Atlas

From preface: Kentucky has a diverse array of geologic, topographic, physiographic, ecological, and aquatic features that have contributed to the development and present characteristics and productivity of the soils in the state. This Soil Atlas has been prepared as an aid to further the knowledge of soils in our state and provide a basic exposure of Kentucky’s soil resources to educators, students, natural resource planners, policy makers, citizens and visitors. The objective of the publication is to present the prominent characteristics of representative soils and how they may affect soil use and management. The Atlas is meant to give a generalized view of the soil resources in the state and serve as an introduction to understanding their complex nature. More complete information about the soils found in Kentucky is available in the Web Soil Survey (https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm) and archived PDF files of the soil survey manuscripts (https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/surveylist/soils/survey/state/?stateId=KY). The information compiled in this publication is a product of great efforts by many soil scientists throughout the state over the last 50 years. These efforts included strong collaborations among the Kentucky USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, the University of Kentucky, the US Forest Service and the Kentucky Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet. Employees of these agencies have worked for decades to map the state soils and produce the information needed for developing improved land-use planning and resource management practices. An assortment of landscape, geology, and soils images along with associated maps has been included in this publication to document the uniqueness of Kentucky’s soils and other resources. It was impractical to present information about all the soils mapped in the state. Instead, certain soils were selected from different regions based on their importance, areal extent, or uniqueness of their characteristics. Many of the selected soil profile images and some landscape pictures have been published in soil survey reports. Others have been obtained by soil scientists, colleagues, and University of Kentucky extension agents. Geology and some physiography maps were obtained from the Kentucky Geological Survey. Other maps have been acquired from various web sites or generated by USDA-NRCS personnel. Each depicted soil is classified according to the Soil Taxonomy System. Soil profile descriptions and characterization data for selected soils have also been included to provide additional information for some important soils. These data were produced by the Pedology Laboratory of the University of Kentucky. Additional soil characterization data for about 1000 soil sites in the state have been published in several reports and are also available from the National Cooperative Soil Survey Soil Characterization Database.https://uknowledge.uky.edu/pss_book/1004/thumbnail.jp

Watershed-based Conservation Case Study Workshop

The workshop focuses on new Watershed-Based Case Studies that were developed to be easy and ready to use by educators for grades 8-12. All materials will be provided, including a flash drive containing booklets for educators and students, as well as PowerPoints and agendas. The workshop will be interactive and an opportunity to explore the case studies firsthand

West Virginia Food Dessert Summit Handout

Handout from the 2019 West Virginia Food Desert Summit

Perennial Filter Strips Reduce Nitrate Levels in Soil and Shallow Groundwater after Grassland-to-Cropland Conversion

Many croplands planted to perennial grasses under the Conservation Reserve Program are being returned to crop production, and with potential consequences for water quality. The objective of this study was to quantify the impact of grassland-to-cropland conversion on nitrate-nitrogen (NO3–N) concentrations in soil and shallow groundwater and to assess the potential for perennial filter strips (PFS) to mitigate increases in NO3–N levels. The study, conducted at the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge (NSNWR) in central Iowa, consisted of a balanced incomplete block design with 12 watersheds and four watershed-scale treatments having different proportions and topographic positions of PFS planted in native prairie grasses: 100% rowcrop, 10% PFS (toeslope position), 10% PFS (distributed on toe and as contour strips), and 20% PFS (distributed on toe and as contour strips). All treatments were established in fall 2006 on watersheds that were under bromegrass (Bromus L.) cover for at least 10 yr. Nonperennial areas were maintained under a no-till 2-yr corn (Zea mays L.)–soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] rotation since spring 2007. Suction lysimeter and shallow groundwater wells located at upslope and toeslope positions were sampled monthly during the growing season to determine NO3–N concentration from 2005 to 2008. The results indicated significant increases in NO3–N concentration in soil and groundwater following grassland-to-cropland conversion. Nitrate-nitrogen levels in the vadose zone and groundwater under PFS were lower compared with 100% cropland, with the most significant differences occurring at the toeslope position. During the years following conversion, PFS mitigated increases in subsurface nitrate, but long-term monitoring is needed to observe and understand the full response to land-use conversion

An innovative bio-engineering retaining structure for supporting unstable soil

The paper presents a new prefabricated bio-engineering structure for the support of unstable soil. This prefabricated structure is made of a steel frame which is completely filled with soil and a face made of tree trunks among which scions or autochthonous bushes are planted. Due to the difficulties in interpreting the complex interaction between soil and structure during the installation and lifetime, an in situ test was carried out in order to evaluate the state of stress in the steel frame and to understand the global behavior of the structure under service loads. On the basis of the obtained results, a procedure for checking the structure safety was proposed and discussed. An easy design method was developed during the research. Moreover, the use of this type of prefabricated structure shows several advantages, such as good performances in terms of stabilizing effects, and easy assembly and transport

Monarch butterflies do not place all of their eggs in one basket: oviposition on nine Midwestern milkweed species

Over the past two decades, the population of monarch butterflies east of the Rocky Mountains has experienced a significant decline in overwintering numbers. Habitat restoration that includes planting milkweeds is essential to boost monarch numbers within the breeding range. Milkweeds are the only host plants for larval monarch butterflies, but female oviposition preference for different milkweed species, especially those with overlapping ranges, is not well documented. We examined the relative inclination to lay eggs on nine milkweed species native to Iowa (no choice), and oviposition preference (choice) among the four most commonly occurring Iowa species (Asclepias incarnata, Asclepias syriaca, Asclepias tuberosa, and Asclepias verticillata). In both experiments, eggs were counted daily for four days. The milkweeds tested were Asclepias exaltata (poke milkweed), Asclepias hirtella (tall green milkweed), A. incarnata (swamp milkweed), Asclepias speciosa (showy milkweed), Asclepias sullivantii (prairie milkweed), A. syriaca (common milkweed), A. tuberosa (butterfly milkweed), A. verticillata (whorled milkweed), and Cynanchum laeve (honeyvine milkweed). When females were given only a single species on which to lay eggs, there were significant differences among milkweed species in the average number of eggs laid; A. incarnata had the highest average egg count. When females were given a choice among A. incarnata, A. syriaca, A. tuberosa, and A. verticillata, there were also differences among milkweed species in the number of eggs laid; again, A. incarnata had the highest average number of eggs laid. Additionally, females laid more total eggs when four plants of different milkweed species were available than when there were four plants of a single milkweed species. Our results show that monarch butterflies will lay eggs on all nine milkweeds, but that there are clear preferences for some milkweed species over others

Interactions between white-tailed deer density and the composition of forest understories in the northern United States

Forest understories across the northern United States (US) are a complex of tree seedlings, endemic forbs, herbs, shrubs, and introduced plant species within a forest structure defined by tree and forest floor attributes. The substantial increase in white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimmerman) populations over the past decades has resulted in heavy browse pressure in many of these forests. To gain an objective assessment of the role of deer in forested ecosystems, a region-wide forest inventory across the northern US was examined in concert with white-tailed deer density information compiled at broad scales. Results indicate that deer density may be an additional driver of tree seedling abundance when analyzed along with stand attributes such as above ground biomass, relative density, and stand age. Tree seedling abundance generally decreased as deer density increased above 5.8 deer km2 for all forest type groups with the exception of oak-dominated forests. Findings indicate that introduced plant species, of which 393 were recorded in this study, increased in areas with higher deer density. The abundance of white-tailed deer is just as important as forest stand and site attributes in the development of forest understories. Given the complexity of forest and land use dynamics across the northern US, this study provides directions for future research as more data linking forest-dependent wildlife and forest dynamics at regional and national scales become available