Читать книгу Laboratory Methods for Soil Health Analysis, Volume 2 - Группа авторов - Страница 23

Preliminary site characterization is important and encouraged, especially when spatial variation of inherent soil properties and/or previous land use is unknown. If the site is intended for long‐term monitoring, preliminary site characterization is essential. Referencing maps and/or imagery of the site prior to in‐field assessments may elicit attributes not visible from the ground. Preliminary field assessments can be made rapidly using hand probes, augers, or a shovel to identify variation in morphological attributes. More intensive profile assessments will provide additional information but will increase the investment of time and labor. Profile assessments are especially useful if framed by knowledge of pedogenic processes (Boone et al., 1999), recognizing such assessments are generally beyond the scope of most soil health assessments. Characterizing site geomorphology, however, may be helpful for interpreting landscape attributes and their relationship to ecosystem processes (Gringal et al., 1999).

Collection of metadata (Vol. 1, Chapter 4) is an important part of site characterization and will facilitate interpretation of measurements. At a minimum, geographical, landscape, soil, vegetation, climatic, and management attributes should be recorded and maintained for future reference (Table 2.2). When sampling as part of a long‐term study, more metadata is required to accurately characterize each sampling site (see Table 1.2 in Boone et al., 1999).

Table 2.2 Suggested minimum metadata for site characterization.

Category	Metadata
Geography	Site identifier/nameState/Province, county, city, postal codeLatitude, longitude, and elevationRegional characterization (e.g., Farm Resource Region, Hydrologic Unit Code, Major Land Resource Area)
Landscape, Soil, and Vegetation	Landscape position, slope, and aspectSoil series and taxonomic descriptionNative vegetation
Climate and Weather	Mean annual temperatureMean annual precipitationLength of frost‐free period
Management	Current managementManagement history