Standard Soil Methods for Long-Term Ecological Research (Long-Term Ecological Research Network Series)
"Sure an old farmer can taste the dirt and tell whether to plant cotton or corn, but scientists working on studies that may stretch over decades and will probably include other people need some uniformity in how they take measurements and record the results. So in 1996 a group of scientists began developing a set of common protocols that could be used to characterize the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil and soil organisms from disparate sites ranging from tundra permafrost to desert aridosols, and with the land use ranging from annual cropping systems to old-growth forest. Their report also includes protocols for soil sampling, preparation, archiving, and quality control and for characterizing sites and landscapes for ecological studies."--SciTech Book News