A regional soil classification framework to improve soil health diagnosis and management

Abstract

, 530-333-7925 CORE IDEAS  Soil health research needs to develop diagnostics tailored to regional groupings of soils  Cluster analysis of a soil survey database revealed groups distinct from U.S. Soil Taxonomy  Inherent structure in soil survey data serves as a means to guide soil health investigations  Seven soil health regions were identified in California  Soil survey data classification framework shows promise for place-based soil health approaches ABSTRACT Soil health research has developed soil tests to validate management strategies for creating healthier soils, such as cover crops, compost, and reduced tillage. Missing in this research agenda are soil health management strategies and diagnostics tailored to the systematic variation of soils. The Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database offers comprehensive estimates for many properties linked to soil health indicators. This research

Relationships of on‐farm soil health scores with corn and soybean yield in the midwestern United States

“…However, discretization makes it possible to calculate a cumulative normal curve or parameterize algorithms with fewer observations to generate a suitable scoring curve. With these drawbacks in mind, a recent study demonstrated that applying soil survey data to unsupervised machine learning can classify soils to reflect natural differences in soil properties and characteristics in the western United States (Devine et al, 2020). However, this technique was not applied to calibrating soil health assessment scores.…”

Soil health practices have different outcomes depending on local soil conditions

“…Soil health regions tend to be, but are not necessarily, geographically contiguous, as a result of soil forming factors. Regions were defined in this study using K-means clustering of the Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database and were shown to be distinct from USDA-NRCS Soil Taxonomy (Devine et al 2021).…”

“…To better understand regional soil patterns in California, the USDA-NRCS Soil Survey Geographic (SSURGO) database was grouped into regions of "soil health identity" in California sharing similar inherent soil properties (Devine et al 2021). Using this recently published framework, the main objective of this study was to examine effects of practices that improve or maintain soil health in different regions.…”

“…K-means cluster analysis (table 1) was used to identify seven soil health regions within Central California coastal valleys and the entire Central Valley (13,873,131 acres; 5,614,257 hectares) from a suite of SSURGO properties linked to soil health. This approach to grouping data identified regions distinct from the USDA-NRCS Soil Taxonomy (Devine et al 2021). Soil health regions occur either with or without performance limitations to agriculture (table 1).…”

Soil Classification: A New Approach for Grouping Soils Using Unsaturated Hydraulic Conductivity Data

“…Soil classification is a routine approach for grouping soils based on their intrinsic property, behavior, or genesis with broad applications to soil science, particularly pedometry, soil survey, and soil mapping. In the literature, grouping soils has been performed on the basis of similarities in taxonomic (Devine et al., 2021; Pachepsky & Rawls, 1999), textural (García‐Gutiérrez et al., 2018; Pachepsky & Park, 2015), and structural (Nguyen et al., 2015; Rawls & Pachepsky, 2002a) properties. For example, the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS, 1986) classified soils into four hydrologic groups based on the soil's runoff potential.…”