Edaphology

Edaphology is a branch of soil science that studies the influence of soil on life, particularly plants, but also including organisms like bacteria. Edaphology includes the study of how soil influences humankind's use of land for plant growth as well as man's overall use of the land. General subfields of edaphology include soil formation, soil morphology, and soil classification.

Overview

Edaphology is concerned with the influence of soils on living things. The term is also applied to the study of how soil influences humankind's use of land for plant growth as well as man's overall use of the land. Edaphology is one of two main divisions of soil science, the other being pedology. Pedology is the study of soil in its natural setting. Edaphology is the study of soil in relation to soil-dependent uses.

Subfields

Some of the major subfields of edaphology include:

• Soil formation: Also known as pedogenesis, this subfield studies how soils form and the processes that lead to their formation.
• Soil morphology: This subfield studies the formation and classification of soil structures.
• Soil classification: This subfield is concerned with the categorization of soils based on their properties.

See also

• Pedology
• Soil science
• Soil formation
• Soil morphology
• Soil classification