Soils produce more than 95% of the food we eat. We depend upon them for our food and the clothes on our back but they are so much more than natural factories. For one thing, they act as an important ...

This unit is an introduction to the biology, mineralogy, chemistry and physics of soils, including how soils form and evolve, methods of soil classification, the global distribution of soil types, the ...

A study on 'canopy soils' on old trees in Costa Rica shows they are important habitats and carbon stores that cannot easily be replaced. In certain trees, soils can form along branches and can support ...

From the lava plains of the Alvord Desert to the fertile alluvium of the Willamette Valley, Oregon’s secret wealth is lying all around us. It’s an ingredient forged from stars, fire and ice and, ...

In certain trees, soils can form along branches and can support varied plant and animal life. However, what conditions these ‘canopy soils’ form in, and what kind of biodiversity they support, has ...

Shale Hills in central Pennsylvania is already a busy area in Penn State’s managed forest lands, but now a five-year $4.2 million National Science Foundation Grant will make it even busier as ...

For the first 4 billion years of Earth’s existence, its continents were dusty, barren and rocky landscapes similar to the surface of Mars. But, around 500 million years ago, this all changed. Land ...