Introduction to the Principles and Practice of Soil Science

This introduction to soils, their behaviour and their influence on land use traces the fundamental contribution that soil science has made to many of the applied sciences associated with management of the environment. Soil scientists are increasingly pressed to find ways of both producing food and fibre crops more efficiently, in terms of both yields per hectare and value of product relative to cost of input, while preserving the intrinsic value of the soil resource for posterity. This new edition, which has been extensively revised to reflect these trends, covers all aspects of soil science, the soil habitat, processes in the soil environment and utilization of soils. It also tackles the contemporary problem of the fate of toxic chemicals used in agriculture and their effect on the environment.