9 Site Evaluation and Soil Health Assessment Report

Acknowledgement and Recommended Reading

This laboratory was designed to conduct in-field assessments of soil health and is based on the Cropland In-Field Soil Health Assessment Guide from the USDA-NRCS (2021). The LandPKS app (LandPKS 2023) also uses the same criteria as the NRCS assessment guide, but within the LandPKS app.

Learning Objectives

By the end of the laboratory you will:

  1. Complete a field assessment to characterize soil health
  2. Identify soil health resource concerns
  3. Determine need for conservation practices to address soil health resource concerns
  4. Prescribe conservation practices that address resource concerns

Materials

Materials required to complete this laboratory activity include the following:

Introduction

Now that onsite observations and data collection for the in-field soil health assessment is complete you will summarize your findings. These findings, and the responses from the land manager to the management history interview will later be used to guide the development of the conservation plan for this site.

The Cropland In-Field Soil Health Assessment Worksheet

Using the observations and data you collected in the Soil Health Assessment Parts I-IV, complete the Cropland In-Field Soil Health Assessment Worksheet on page 15 of the Cropland In-Field Soil Health Assessment Guide. For each soil health indicator check “Yes” for each indicator that is met, and “No” for each indicator that is not met. Also complete the meta data for this location along the left side of the assessment worksheet. Submit a copy of the completed worksheet with your laboratory report.

Using the SoilHealth Report in LandPKS

You can use the LandPKS app to summarize the soil health assessments. Navigate to the “SoilHealth (beta)” tab in the “Report” section for your site within the LandPKS app. Click on the green “Download PDF Report with NRCS Criteria” button. This will open a PDF with each of the soil health assessments summarized for this site next to  “Yes/No” check boxes for the criteria. Review the summarized data for each indicator and determine if the site does meet the NRCS soil health criteria, then check the appropriate box. Submit a copy of the completed LandPKS SoilHealth report with your laboratory report.

The Cropland In-Field Soil Health Assessment Resource Indicator Decision Trees

The Cropland In-Field Soil Health Assessment Guide includes four decision trees on page 16 for different soil health resource concerns. The four decision trees are for compaction, soil organism habitat loss or degradation, soil organic matter depletion, and aggregate instability. The decision trees each list the indicators relevant to the soil health resource concerns and a single a yes-no question focused on how many indicators were not met. Complete each of the four decision trees and determine what soil health resource concerns exist on this site.

Questions

  1. Describe the site conditions and recent operations (tillage, tillage implements used, planting, etc.).
  2. What field operations are planned for this site between now and the next time it is planted?
  3. What was the average percent ground cover for each location?
  4. Based on your responses to the questions above, estimate the remaining plant residue at the time of planting the next crop using this extension publication from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.
  5. Did any of the soil health indicators above not meet the soil health assessment criteria? Explain why.
  6. Could any recent operations or site conditions have influenced any soil health assessments? Explain how the assessments may have been impacted.
  7. What soil series was the closest match to the soil(s) at your site? Explain why you thought that series was the best fit.
  8. Was the soil series you identified one of the primary map unit components or was it a minor map unit component?
  9. What was the land capability classification limitation(s), and how can that limitation(s) be addressed through your conservation plan for this site?
  10. Based on the surface textures you observed, are water or wind erosion a concern at this site? Explain why or why not.
  11. In what MLRA (name and number) is your site located?
  12. Describe the decisions you made using the ESD key to determine the most appropriate ESD for your site. Provide data or observations from your site that was used to make decisions as needed.
  13. Identify the representative ESD state that best represents your site. Describe how you came to that conclusion based on the state-and-transition model and supporting information in the “Ecosystem Dynamics” section of the ESD.
  14. How did the ESD you identified using the ESD keys compare to the ESD identified using Web Soil Survey or SoilWeb? It is alright if they differed. If they did differ, explain what may have caused a difference.
  15. Recall the responses to the interview questions from the land manager who oversees the site. What are their goals for the site, and how does that differ from the current ESD state?
  16. Based on the potential transitions described in the ESD, how could your site be managed differently to transition it to a different state? If the current state and the land managers desired state are different, how could the site be managed to achieve that transition?
  17. If you had access to locations that represent reference plant communities as well as other states and had permission to sample those locations, describe what you would do to determine the “potential” of your site for improvements to soil health or carbon sequestration. Also, describe the limitations of such comparisons.
  18. What are the soil health resource concerns for this site and which indicators allude to those resource concerns? To fully answer this question, complete the Cropland In-Field Soil Health Assessment Worksheet (page 15 of the assessment) and the Cropland In-Field Soil Health Assessment Resource Indicator Decisions Trees (page 16 of the assessment) for each management area at your study site. These should be included in the Results section of the report.
  19. What conservation practices (USDA-NRCS 2022) can be implemented to address those resource concerns?
  20. Based on the responses of the land manager to the management history interview, which of the conservation practices you list for #2 align best with the goals of the land manager?

Laboratory Report Components

Each laboratory report should include the following components unless otherwise specified. Points allocated to each component may vary as necessary.

Name

Include your first and last name.

Laboratory Number and Title

List the laboratory number and title. For example: “Laboratory 4 – Soil Health Assessment 2: Infiltration, Surface Crusts, Soil Structure, and Water Stable Aggregates”.

Date Each Exercise was Conducted

Identify the day you conducted each laboratory exercise. Note, this is likely different than the date you submit the report. Do not include the date of submission, as that will be identified in the learning management system. Also, summarize the weather and site conditions for each day when these exercises were conducted. Soil moisture in particular can play a major role in several soil health assessments.

Introduction

Provide a brief (one to two paragraph) introduction to the site evaluation and soil health assessment. Explain the importance or significance of the procedure(s) being performed.

Methods

Write a concise yet detailed summary of the methods used for the laboratory exercise written in your own words. The methods should contain enough detail that you could use it to perform the same activity again using only your written summary of the methods.

Results

Present your raw data in one or more organized tables. You are encouraged to format and organize your data in a logical way that is useful to you and is able to be appropriately interpreted by your instructor and the land owner/manager. The results section should also include the completed Cropland In-Field Soil Health Assessment Worksheet (page 15 of the assessment) and the Cropland In-Field Soil Health Assessment Resource Indicator Decisions Trees (page 16 of the assessment) for each management area at your study site.

Responses to Questions

In lieu of a traditional results section you will instead respond to a series of questions posed at the end of each laboratory exercise. In some cases these questions will require data analysis, presentation of data in summary tables and/or well-designed figures, or exploration of additional resources and scientific literature. Answer the questions to the best of your ability. Contact the instructor with any questions. The responses to these questions will later be added to the Conservation Plan.

References

Provide a list of all references that were cited within the text of your report. Citations should follow the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Style Guide (Soil and Water Conservation Society 2023) which is based on the Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press 2017). References cited in this laboratory manual are cited according to the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Style Guide, so you are welcome to use citations in this laboratory manual as examples.

Supplemental Information

Required supplemental information includes:

  • The Web Soil Survey PDF report for your site
  • Ecological Site Descriptions for all ESDs identified at your site
  • Photos taken during the laboratory exercise

Additional information can be included in the supplemental information as needed.

References

LandPKS. 2023. LandPKS. https://landpotential.org/.

USDA-NRCS. 2021. Cropland In-Field Soil Health Assessment Guide. USDA-NRCS. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/national/soils/health/?cid=nrcs142p2_053869.

USDA-NRCS. 2022. Conservation Practices. https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/national/technical/cp/ncps/?cid=nrcs143_026849.

License

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Soil and Water Conservation Laboratory Manual Copyright © by Colby J. Moorberg is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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