A Note on Soil Studies 



COMPONFXT RLLATIONSHIPS 



Soil science in the United States 

 is now scientifically stronger than 

 ever before. Virtually each branch 

 of the field is staffed with a sizable 

 number of fundamentalists whose 

 contributions are adding materially 

 to an understanding of the soil sys- 

 tem. Primary direction has been to- 

 ward agricultural production, and 

 results have been impressive. Labora- 

 tories are generally well equipped 

 with the most modern instruments. 



However, with each step toward 

 increased specialization, we have 

 fewer and fewer investigators who 

 are capable of understanding in depth 

 the entire soil system. Thus, we are 

 developing more and more specialists 

 working in highly technical corners 

 with fewer and fewer investigators 

 comprehending soils from the stand- 

 point of the "field effect." Of course, 

 this problem is not unique to soil 

 science. 



Status and Needs 



In examining global soil resources, 

 we find the subject fairly well docu- 

 mented in the United States, Europe, 

 the western sectors of the Soviet 

 Union, and Australia. Through vari- 

 ous international organizations we 

 are getting a more complete picture 

 of soil resources in other locations, 

 such as Africa and South America; 

 but even on these continents the 

 picture is understood in at least gen- 

 eral terms. Climate-wise, soil re- 

 sources in the tropics, deserts, and 

 the polar regions are not too well 

 known. Strengthening the former 

 two is more critical than the third, 

 since congestion in the temperate 

 climates is likely to bring increased 



population first to the desert sectors 

 and then to the tropics, and only last, 

 if needed, the polar regions. 



Water Quality and Quantity — 

 Since water supply and water quality 

 are of great importance not only for 

 agriculture but for all of mankind, 

 the major problem concerns the des- 

 ert or desert-like areas. Water quality 

 as well as quantity is related to cli- 

 mate, substrate, soil, plants, and so 

 on. The more arid the climate, the 

 more acute the problem of quantity 

 and natural quality of water. For 

 example, drainage waters from desert 

 areas are more likely to be charged 

 with excessive salts for irrigation. 



Pollution and Soils — In the more 

 densely populated areas (e.g., east- 

 ern North America and Europe), the 

 pollution problem is becoming acute. 

 When potential pollutants enter the 

 soil — whether they be industrial 

 wastes, fertilizers, insecticides, or 

 detergents, among others — we know 

 very little of how they react. More 

 emphasis should be directed to the 

 study of organic matter, types of 

 minerals, aeration, acidity, and so on, 

 to learn how they affect the fate of 

 potential pollutants. Stronger studies 

 are needed on persistence adsorption, 

 translocation, solution, and precipita- 

 tion of potential pollutants in soils. 

 If there is one area in which a team 

 approach is needed, it is on the prob- 

 lem of ecology and pollution. 



Wet Soil Areas — Since most po- 

 tential pollutants entering the soil 

 eventually find their way, in one form 

 or another, to water courses, lakes, 

 estuaries, coastal sectors, and the 

 like, these locations are all materially 



affected. There are few soil and 

 substrate studies being conducted in 

 these critical low areas. Traditionally. 

 our soils effort has been confined to 

 farming areas and the growing of 

 crops. Certainly, the problem of the 

 soil system in low, wet areas and in 

 the vicinity of lakes and shores needs 

 to be strengthened. Soil classification 

 in wet soil areas is weak; in general, 

 little attention has been paid to these 

 areas. 



Need for Balance 



Soil scientists are not now being 

 used to full advantage in the United 

 States. Virtually all ecological and 

 environmental studies involve the 

 soil system in some way. The soil 

 is the link between the organic and 

 inorganic worlds. But we see vir- 

 tually all important soil research in 

 this country being carried out under 

 the aegis of agriculture, while soil 

 studies dealing with ecosystems, a 

 field currently as critical or more 

 critical than agriculture, are poorly 

 organized and poorly staffed. 



If we are going to master the 

 pollution problems and problems of 

 ecology and environmental control, 

 then there must be a strengthening 

 of undergraduate and graduate pro- 

 grams in the subject of soil science 

 in non-agriculturally oriented in- 

 stitutions. Soil science should be 

 programed — as are geology, hydrol- 

 ogy, climatology, botany, and zool- 

 ogy — as one of the natural sciences. 

 It is not implied that the agricultural 

 effort should be weakened; rather, 

 the non-agricultural viewpoint should 

 be strengthened. 



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