Soil Science Fundamentals

This course includes an overview of soil for­ma­tion and soil clas­si­fi­ca­tion with empha­sis giv­en to soils of West­ern Cana­da. Addi­tion­al top­ics will include basic soil chem­i­cal, phys­i­cal and bio­log­i­cal prop­er­ties and process­es. Soil make-up and why air and water are impor­tant com­po­nents of soil will also be includ­ed, water hold­ing and trans­mis­sion, soil nutri­ent cycling by microor­gan­isms, effects of salt on soil prop­er­ties, and soil inter­ac­tions with­in ecosys­tems will also be cov­ered. Course con­cepts will pro­vide a broad under­stand­ing of soil sci­ence as prepa­ra­tion for more spe­cial­ized soil and envi­ron­men­tal sci­ences courses.