Soil and Water Conservation: An Annotated Bibliography

Soil and Water Conservation: An Annotated Bibliography highlights freely-available online resources covering various aspects of soil and water conservation, and is designed to be a resource for conservation students and practitioners. The thirteen chapters in the annotated bibliography are grouped into four sections, including History and Fundamentals, Conservation Practices, Conservation Implementation, and Careers. Types of cited resources include extension bulletins, USDA NRCS conservation practice standards, and other government reports and resources. Cited resources are generally concise, easily read, and meant for general audiences. Annotations and images are used to provide context for each resource. Many contributors made Soil and Water Conservation: An Annotated Bibliography possible through their assistance with technical edits, outline development, identifying resources, or writing annotations. Chapter authors are experts and practitioners of soil and water conservation, or students of soil and water conservation who worked under the supervision of the editor, Colby Moorberg. The annotated bibliography is used as the primary text for Kansas State University’s AGRON 635 – Soil and Water Conservation, which is taught by Moorberg.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1030/thumbnail.jp

An experimental evaluation of cattail (Typha spp.) cutting depths on subsequent regrowth

Citation: Moorberg, C. & Ahlers, A. (2020). An experimental evaluation of cattail (Typha spp.) cutting depths on subsequent regrowth.Cattail (Typha spp.) expansions can negatively affect both native wetland flora and fauna diversity, and active management is often needed to maintain wetland habitat quality. Cattail removal is often non-permanent, requiring repeated treatments to retard reestablishment. Mechanically cutting cattails is a common management technique, but it is unclear what cutting depths are optimal. We conducted an experiment at Cheyenne Bottoms Wildlife Area (Kansas, USA) during 2017-2019 to address this question. We established a randomized complete block design experiment with four blocks and three cutting treatments in July 2017, including cattail cut above water, cut below water, and an uncut control. We hypothesized that cattails cut below water would have reduced gas-exchange capabilities due to flooded aerenchyma. We quantified emergent stem densities in each plot in September 2017 to assess the effectiveness of simulated management actions. The above water treatment had significantly fewer total stems than both the control (p = 0.0003) and the below water treatments (p = 0.0203). The above water treatment also had significantly fewer stems than the control treatment (p = 0.0032). Our results suggest that management efforts focused on cutting cattails below water slow cattail reestablishment

Soils Laboratory Manual, K-State Edition

The Soils Laboratory Manual, K-State Edition is designed for students in undergraduate, introductory soil science courses, and highlights the many aspects of soil science, including: soil genesis and classification, soil physical properties, soil-water interaction, soil biology, soil chemistry, and soil fertility. The lab manual includes 15 different laboratories, each one starting with an introduction and pre-lab assignment, followed by in-lab activities, and complimented by post-lab assignment. In-lab activities involve field trips, experiments, observation stations, or problem sets. Post-lab assignments include online quizzes, problem sets, or laboratory summary reports. The Soils Laboratory Manual, K-State Edition is used in Kansas State University’s AGRON 305 class, and is based on the Soils Laboratory Manual, NC State Edition used in North Carolina State University’s SSC 201 class. The Soils Laboratory Manual, K-State Edition was originally published as a supplement to ‘An Open-Source Laboratory Manual for Introductory Undergraduate Soil Science Courses’ in Natural Sciences Education, Vol. 46:170013, and is also available for download at https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/nse/articles/46/1/170013. Moorberg and Crouse presented information about the manual at NACTA 2017, in West Lafayette, Indiana. Supporting materials, assignments, instructor versions, and DOCX and RTF files of the lab manual are available at open.soilscience.info. The lab manual is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike 4.0 International License.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1016/thumbnail.jp

Soils Laboratory Manual: K-State Edition, Version 2.0

The Soils Laboratory Manual, K-State Edition is designed for students in undergraduate, introductory soil science courses. The manual highlights the multidisciplinary aspects of soil science with laboratories focused on soil formation, classification, and mapping; soil physics, soil biology; soil chemistry; and soil fertility and management. The lab manual includes 16 different laboratories, each one starting with an introduction and pre-lab assignment, followed by in-lab activities, and complimented by a post-lab assignment. In-lab activities involve field trips, experiments, observation stations, or problem sets. Post-lab assignments include online quizzes, problem sets, or laboratory summary reports. Version 2 of the lab manual exhibits a completely new design with improved functionality and accessibility. In addition to a PDF, Version 2 is available in MOBI and EPUB eBook formats and as a web book. A new laboratory, the SoilWeb Field Trip, was added to Version 2 along with significant revisions to the Compost Facility Field Trip and Soil Carbon and Respiration laboratories. The recommended readings in each laboratory now include links to free, online resources in place of conventional textbook reading assignments. The Soils Laboratory Manual, K-State Edition is used in the AGRON 305 – Soils course at Kansas State University, and is based on the Soils Laboratory Manual, NC State Edition used in the SSC 201 – Soil Science Laboratory course at North Carolina State University. The Soils Laboratory Manual, K-State Edition was originally published by New Prairie Press in 2017, and was included as a supplement to ‘An Open-Source Laboratory Manual for Introductory Undergraduate Soil Science Courses’ in Natural Sciences Education, Vol. 46:170013, https://dl.sciencesocieties.org/publications/nse/articles/46/1/170013. Supporting materials, assignments, and instructor versions of the lab manual are available at open.soilscience.info. The lab manual is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.https://newprairiepress.org/ebooks/1039/thumbnail.jp

Phosphorus Dynamics Near Bald Cypress Roots in a Restored Wetland

Core Ideas Previous tree exposure to saturated conditions limited root death after ponding. Root growth and death had no apparent effect on concentrations of Fe2+, DOC, or DTP. Concentrations of Fe2+ were related to water table levels and redox status. Phosphorus concentrations were controlled by iron reduction and oxidation. Phosphorus (P) dissolution occurs commonly in wetland soils restored from agricultural land. Associated with P release are high concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and Fe2+. This field study evaluated the effect of a fluctuating water table on the root dynamics of bald cypress (Taxodium distichum L. Rich.) to determine whether root death created soil reduction microsites, potentially contributing to P dissolution. The study site is a restored Carolina bay wetland with organic soils. Root growth and death were monitored on 16 6-yr-old bald cypress using minirhizotrons. Root dynamics, water table levels, and soil porewater chemistry and redox potential in the root zone were monitored for 2 yr. Soil solution samples were analyzed for Fe2+, pH, DOC, and P. High rates of root growth occurred during dry conditions, whereas root death occurred during sustained periods of saturation, particularly within 20 cm of the surface. Cyclic changes in concentrations of Fe2+, DOC, and dissolved total P (DTP) were related to water table position but not to changes in root numbers. After sustained periods of saturated conditions, redox potential decreased to 0 mV, Fe2+ increased to 1.75 mg Fe2+ L–1, and DOC increased to 350 mg L–1, resulting in peak DTP concentrations of 750 μg L–1, compared with 100 μg L–1 during dry periods. This study showed that in these high-C soils (∼20% organic C) rooting dynamics had minimal impact on changes in P concentrations and that P dissolution was largely controlled by Fe reduction processes occurring within the C-rich soil matrix

Soils of the Central Nebraska Loess Hills and Central Loess Plains

Understanding soil systems that characterize a region is critical to natural resource management. However, the knowledge gained through intensive study of local soil systems, which takes place annually as part of collegiate soil judging contests, is often poorly preserved for future use. In this study, field descriptions and laboratory data for 16 soil profiles described for the 2019 Region 5 Soil Judging Contest were used to characterize the soil system of the Central Nebraska Loess Hills and Central Loess Plains. Three landscape components of this soil system were analyzed: the loess uplands and rainwater basins, the transitional zone, and bottomlands. Rainwater basins exhibit increasing clay, clay films, and melanization compared to surrounding uplands. The transitional zone between the upland and bottomlands exhibits fining and aging of parent material with increasing elevation, resulting in increased prevalence of clay films, lower pH relative to parent material, and melanization. The bottomlands exhibited subtle variations in texture of the alluvium resulting in differences in expression of melanization, effervescence, pH, and redoximorphic features. Patterns observed within this soil system are well explained by existing pedogenic theories and demonstrate the unique interplay between soil-forming factors characteristic of this region of the Great Plains

Manganese-coated IRIS to document reducing soil conditions

Iron-coated indicatorof reduction in soils (IRIS) devices have been used for nearly two decades to help assess and document reducing conditions in soils, and official guidance has been approved for interpreting these data. Interest in manganese (Mn)-coated IRIS devices has increased because Mn oxides are reduced under more moderately reducing conditions than iron (Fe) oxides (which require strongly reducing conditions), such that they are expected to be better proxies for some important ecosystem services like denitrification. However, only recently has the necessary technology become available to produce Mn-coated IRIS, and the need is now emerging for guidance in interpreting data derived from Mn IRIS. Ninety-six data sets collected over a 2-yr period from 40 plots at 18 study sites among eight states were used to compare the performance of Mn-coated IRIS with Fe-coated IRIS and to assess the effect of duration of saturation and soil temperature as environmental drivers on the reduction and removal of the oxide coating. It appears that the current threshold prescribed by the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils for Fe-coated IRIS is appropriate for periods when soil temperatures are warmer (\u3e11 °C), but is unnecessarily conservative when soil temperatures are cooler (5–11 °C). In contrast, Mn-coated devices are particularly useful early in the growing season when soil temperatures are cool. Our data show that when using a threshold of 30% removal of Mn oxide coatings there is essentially 100% confidence of the presence of reducing soil conditions under cool (\u3c11 °C) conditions

Phosphorus Fluxes in a Restored Carolina Bay Wetland Following Eight Years of Restoration

Restoring wetlands on agricultural land can release soil phosphorus (P) to surface waters. Phosphorus is a limiting nutrient in many freshwater systems, thus restricting its release will improve surface water quality by preventing algal blooms. A P balance was used to examine how P was cycling in a Carolina Bay wetland eight years after restoration from prior-drained agricultural land. The change in soil P was evaluated between archived samples taken at restoration (2005), and eight years after restoration (2013). Measured P fluxes included atmospheric deposition, plant uptake, and loss to surface water outflow. The soil total P pool at the time of restoration was 810 kg P ha-1. No significant (α=0.05) decrease in the soil P pool was observed over the eight years. Atmospheric deposition contributed 1.0 kg P ha-1 yr-1, plants incorporated 3.3 P ha-1 yr-1 into woody biomass and 0.4 kg P ha-1 yr-1 as forest floor litter, and 0.2 kg P ha-1 yr-1 was lost to surface waters draining the wetland. Because the loss of P to surface waters was small, and because runoff water concentrations of P declined through this period of study to concentrations below those likely to cause eutrophication (< 0.1 mg L-1), we concluded that the wetland was not contributing to the degradation of surface water quality of nearby streams following restoration. Further, isolated wetlands such as that studied may be promising sites for future wetland mitigation projects due to limited impacts on surface water quality

Mn-Coated IRIS to Document Reducing Soil Conditions

Iron-coated indicator of reduction in soils (IRIS) devices have been used for nearly two decades to help assess and document reducing conditions in soils, and official guidance has been approved for interpreting these data. Interest in manganese (Mn)-coated IRIS devices has increased because Mn oxides are reduced under more moderately reducing conditions than iron (Fe) oxides (which require strongly reducing conditions), such that they are expected to be better proxies for some important ecosystem services like denitrification. However, only recently has the necessary technology become available to produce Mn-coated IRIS, and the need is now emerging for guidance in interpreting data derived from Mn IRIS. Ninety-six data sets collected over a 2-yr period from 40 plots at 18 study sites among eight states were used to compare the performance of Mn-coated IRIS with Fe-coated IRIS and to assess the effect of duration of saturation and soil temperature as environmental drivers on the reduction and removal of the oxide coating. It appears that the current threshold prescribed by the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils for Fe-coated IRIS is appropriate for periods when soil temperatures are warmer (\u3e11 °C), but is unnecessarily conservative when soil temperatures are cooler (5–11 °C). In contrast, Mn-coated devices are particularly useful early in the growing season when soil temperatures are cool. Our data show that when using a threshold of 30% removal of Mn oxide coatings there is essentially 100% confidence of the presence of reducing soil conditions under cool (\u3c11 °C) conditions

Jumble judging: Cognitive and affective outcomes of intercollegiate collaboration at a soil judging competition

Student-student interactions are influential parts of field experiences. While competitive judging events are a fun way to engage students in field-based learning, the focus on competition leads to an atmosphere that discourages collaboration between students. The objective of this study was to evaluate the cognitive and affective learning outcomes resulting from intercollegiate collaboration at a soil judging competition. Teams with students from two to three different universities were assigned and referred to as jumble judging teams. Jumble judging was held for the first time in the 2021 Region 5 Collegiate Soil Judging Contest. Learning outcomes were assessed using a pre- and post-survey, as well as group and individual reflections completed in the field. Student responses were generally positive, with 70% of students expressing agreement or strong agreement that they would like jumble judging to be included in future contests, 54% citing jumble judging as one of the best parts of the contest, and 93% identifying learning outcomes or describing an affective learning experience resulting from jumble judging. Evidence of both cognitive and affective learning were identified through student surveys and reflections. Overall, the event created a collaborative and collegial atmosphere and increased interaction between students from different universities, while maintaining the competitive nature of the event that motivates many students to get involved with judging teams.This is a manuscript of an article published as Young, Rebecca A., Judith K. Turk, Nicolas A. Jelinski, Amber D. Anderson, Kerry M. Clark, Ashlee Dere, Colby J. Moorberg, Kristopher Osterloh, and DeAnn Presley. "Jumble judging: Cognitive and affective outcomes of intercollegiate collaboration at a soil judging competition." Natural Sciences Education: e20104. doi:10.1002/nse2.20104. Posted with permission