image: Soil after a wildfire view more
Credit: USDA Forest Service
In honor of World Soil Day on December 5, the Research and Development arm of the USDA Forest Service is announcing the release of a major new synthesis of research on soils. The open-access book, Forest and Rangeland Soils of the United States under Changing Conditions, compiles the latest soil research in the fields of forest and rangeland science. Published by Springer, the book is available for free online at https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/61256 or https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030452155.
Forest Service scientists--along with dozens of authors from across the Forest Service and other federal agencies, universities, and nonprofit organizations--led the collaborative effort to capture and synthesize the state-of-knowledge of forest and rangeland soils. This publication explores the current understanding of soils and science around soil carbon, hydrology, biogeochemistry, and biological diversity, and discusses the effects of natural and human-caused disturbances. It also provides managers with information to improve soil health by examining region-specific soil responses to various land management techniques. The impacts of a changing climate on soils also are explored.
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