By working on this project in the McDonald forest, we were able to see how a soil pit can be dug out so the different soil horizons can be seen. The work crews that maintain the forest trails run equipment over the sides of the trails, which filled in the soil pit. With the soil pit filled in, it was our job to dig out the soil that was in the pit. Since the pit was at the top of a slope, our group also dug steps into the side of the slope to make it easier for students to study the different soil horizons. The soil that was in the pit was shoveled out and set below the pit on the side of the hill. To help prevent erosion of the hillside, we placed twigs and other organic matter on top of the loose soil. This not only helps keep the soil from washing away, but it helps restore the slope to its natural state.
Without soil, our project could not be done. The soil with its horizons and properties are what a soil pit is composed of. Pits that are located in other areas contain different soils. These soils are habitats to billions of organisms that exist and rely on the soil for survival. If the soil wasn’t present, the trees and brush in the forest would not exist and we wouldn’t have a need to look at what makes up a soil profile. For the soil pit to be kept in use, maintenance will be required. By shoveling out loose soil that may end up in the pit from trail maintenance and by picking out growing plants from the pit, it will help keep the pit in working condition. Keeping the different soil horizons exposed improves the knowledge that can be gained from the soil pit. Having students help restore the soil pit every year is a good management technique to advance a classes’ knowledge. This will help keep the soil pit maintenance project going.
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This project provided the group with an opportunity to learn about the soil orders, structure, horizons, and texture. We learned about soil orders through Dr. Noller originally telling us about the soil series that we were studying, which was the Jory series.
For more information about the Jory series, the link below goes to the USDA soil series information about the Jory series.
The Jory series is a fine, mixed, active, mesic xeric palehumults. This tells us that the Jory soil is an Utilsol that is high in humus. Humults are typically found in Oregon and Washington although they can also be found in California and Puerto Rico. As the xeric part of the name indicates, they typically are dry for part of the year but receive high rainfall during other parts of the year (fall, winter, spring). They are commonly found under coniferous forests. The Jory soil that we looked at was found in the McDonald-Dunn forest. The other parts of the soil series name tells us that the soil is fine textured, has mixed mineralogy, and is mesic (soil temperature of 49 to 59 degrees F). The pale part of palehumults tells us that the soil is old. Utilsols are soils that are high in clay, very acidic, highly weathered, and contain Fe and Al oxides. Jory has a soil texture that is classified as a silty clay loam. We observed soil structure through examining soil profiles in the soil pits.
The second soil pit we worked on was the Lewisberg saddle pit located in a public forest that is sometimes covered up by people working to maintain the walkways. The pit is used to educate students in soils classes about the different soil horizons and the differences in soil structure and texture. During our project, we built stairs up to the soil pit so that people could easily access the pit. The stairs make it easier to access and look at the soil pit and observe the different horizons within the soil profile. The more people who are exposed to the soil and the nature of the soil profile, the more likely people will have an appreciation of the soil. By educating our group and school groups from OSU about the functions of soil, the more likely they will have a better knowledge of soil functions. This can help advance the understanding of soil and shape public policy about the future uses of our natural resources.
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