I have attached he diagram produced by utilizing the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Web Soil Survey online tool. This Soil Map and accompanying Legend display the outline of the property as well as the contours of soil variation within the study area.
This software was easy to navigate and following initial trials it was comfortable to design and identify the soil types and percentages in my study area. I was surprised by the diversity of soil types as no specific soil type comprised more than 22.2% in the Area of Interest (AOI). Considering that the are researched is covered by a uniform canopy of hardwoods and the understory varies depending on the amount of sunlight available. While some variation exists in the understory is still mainly populated by succession and shade tolerant species in most areas.
The most consistent soil type was found near the stream bed which traverses through the most southeastern portion of the forest. Spillville loam represents 8% of the total acreage while also representing 0 to 2 percent slope which is consistent with this portion of the property and follows the streambed leading to minor bank overflow during spring snowmelt and heavy rain event flows.
The report breaks down each of the types of soils found in the study area including type of soil, specific name, characteristics and profile depth, drainage capabilities (class), and mineral content. A very in-depth tool for many applications.
I found this tool to be very helpful and I will be utilizing the printed report to identify commonalities of succession and understory species and their frequencies based upon the existence of the soil within the study area.
I have attached he diagram produced by utilizing the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Web Soil Survey online tool. This Soil Map and accompanying Legend display the outline of the property as well as the contours of soil variation within the study area.
This software was easy to navigate and following initial trials it was comfortable to design and identify the soil types and percentages in my study area. I was surprised by the diversity of soil types as no specific soil type comprised more than 22.2% in the Area of Interest (AOI). Considering that the are researched is covered by a uniform canopy of hardwoods and the understory varies depending on the amount of sunlight available. While some variation exists in the understory is still mainly populated by succession and shade tolerant species in most areas.
The most consistent soil type was found near the stream bed which traverses through the most southeastern portion of the forest. Spillville loam represents 8% of the total acreage while also representing 0 to 2 percent slope which is consistent with this portion of the property and follows the streambed leading to minor bank overflow during spring snowmelt and heavy rain event flows.
The report breaks down each of the types of soils found in the study area including type of soil, specific name, characteristics and profile depth, drainage capabilities (class), and mineral content. A very in-depth tool for many applications.
I found this tool to be very helpful and I will be utilizing the printed report to identify commonalities of succession and understory species and their frequencies based upon the existence of the soil within the study area.
I have also included a link to the full report provided by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the USDA. A glossary of terms can be found at the back of the report to assist in explaining terms which may not be intuitive in the report.
https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:71fdf5a9-5eef-36d0-b2e4-7e575cf25376
Watershed Stewardship - Coldstream Creek 