UC Davis 2008-2010 General Catalog - General Catalog - UC Davis

480 Soil Science
Courses selected from Soil Science 105, 107,
109, 111, 112, 118, 120, Plant Biology
158, Hydrologic Science 124, 134 .......16
Minor Adviser. R.J. Southard (Land, Air, and
Water Resources)
Graduate Study. Programs of study leading to the
M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Soils and Biogeochemistry
are available. Information regarding these programs
can be obtained from the graduate advisers,
at http://soils.ucdavis.edu/ and in the Graduate
Announcement. See also Graduate Studies, on page
104.
Graduate Adviser. R. Zasoski (Land, Air, and
Water Resources)
Courses in Soil Science (SSC)
Questions pertaining to the following courses
should be directed to the instructor, to the Resource
Sciences Teaching Center in 1152 Plant and
Environmental Sciences Building (530) 752-1669,
or see undergraduate and graduate Soils
and Biogeochemistry courses at
http://lawr.ucdavis.edu/undergrad_sws.htm or
http://lawr.ucdavis.edu/graduate_sbg.htm.
Lower Division Courses
10. Soils in Our Environment (3)
Lecture—3 hours; independent study. Soils in our
global ecosystem; soils as natural bodies formed by
interactive environmental processes; soil response to
use and management; sustainable use of soil
resources; role of soils in agricultural and environmental
issues; role of soils in our daily lives. Limited
enrollment. GE credit: SciEng.—I. (I.) Dahlgren
92. Soil Science Internship (1-12)
Internship—3-36 hours. Prerequisite: lower division
standing and consent of instructor. Work experience
off and on campus in soil science. Internship supervised
by a member of the faculty. (P/NP grading
only.)
Upper Division Courses
100. Principles of Soil Science (5)
Lecture—3 hours; laboratory—3 hours; term paper.
Prerequisite: Chemistry 2A-2B, Physics 1A-1B, Biological
Sciences 1A; Geology 50, Biological Sciences
1C recommended. Soil as part of natural and
managed ecosystems and landscapes. Solid, liquid,
and gas phases and their interactions in the soil.
Water, gas and heat movement in soil. Soil biology.
Plant nutrient acquisition and use. Soil development,
management and use.—I. (I.) Singer
102. Soil and Water Chemistry (5)
Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour; laboratory—3
hours. Prerequisite: course 100 or the equivalent.
Soil solution and solid-phase chemistry of soils in
relation to agricultural and environmental concerns.
Interactions between soil solids, precipitates and
solution phases: mineralogy, ion exchange, adsorption,
weathering and buffering, soil colloidal behavior,
models of solution and solid-phase
interactions.—II. (II.)
105. Field Studies of Soils in California
Ecosystems (5)
Prerequisite: courses 100 and 120, or equivalent
recommended. Field-based studies of soils in California
ecosystems, away from campus, throughout California.
Emphasis on description and classification of
soils; relationships among soils, vegetation, geology,
and climate; physical, chemical, and biological processes
in soils on the landscape; and the role of soils
in land use. May be repeated one time for credit.—
IV. (IV.) Amundson, Dahlgren, O'Geen, Singer,
Southard
107. Soil Physics (5)
Lecture—3 hours; laboratory—3 hours; discussion—
1 hour. Prerequisite: course 100, Environmental and
Resource Sciences 100, Mathematics 16A, or the
equivalent. Physical properties of soil. Principles of
water, gas, heat, and solute movement in soil with
selected examples related to soil and water management.
Influence of soil properties on transfer processes.—I.
(I.) Hopmans
109. Sustainable Nutrient Management (4)
Lecture—3 hours; laboratory—3 hours. Prerequisite:
course 100 or the equivalent. Availability of nutrients
in organic and conventional agricultural, vineyard,
orchard and plantation forest soils; management of
fertilizers, cover crops, compost, sewage sludge and
manures for crop production and to prevent loss to
the environment is emphasized.—III. (III.) Horwath
111. Soil Microbiology (4)
Lecture—3 hours; laboratory—3 hours. Prerequisite:
Chemistry 1C and Biological Sciences 1C. Major
groups of microorganisms in soil, their interrelationships,
and their responses to environmental variables.
Role of microorganisms in cycling of nutrients.
Plant-microbe relationships. Transformations of
organic and inorganic pollutants.—II. (II.) Scow
112. Soil Ecology (3)
Lecture—2 hours; laboratory/discussion—2 hours.
Prerequisite: Biological Sciences 1B, 1C, course
100. The biology and ecology of soil communities,
emphasizing the soil food web and litter decomposition.
Role of specific biota, ranging from microorganisms
to earthworms. Applications to restoration,
remediation, ecosystem science, and agriculture. GE
credit: Wrt.—I. (I.) Jaffee
118. Soils in Land Use and the Environment
(4)
Lecture—3 hours; discussion—1 hour; one one-day
field trip. Prerequisite: course 100 or consent of
instructor. Soils are considered as elements in land
use planning and environmental quality. Topics
include: soil survey reports, remote sensing, land
capability classification, soil erosion/conservation,
waste disposal on soils and soil reclamation.—III.
(III.) Singer
120. Soil Genesis, Morphology, and
Classification (5)
Lecture—4 hours; laboratory—3 hours (includes five
one-day weekend field trips). Prerequisite: course
100; Geology 50 recommended. Recognition and
description of soils; chemical, biological and physical
processes of soil formation. Factors of soil formation.
Interactions of soils with diverse ecosystems.
Introduction to soil classification. Practice using soil
taxonomy. Practical experience describing soil properties
in the field.—III. (III.) Southard
192. Soil Science Internship (1-12)
Internship—3-36 hours. Prerequisite: completion of
84 units and consent of instructor. Work experience
off and on campus in soil science. Internship supervised
by a member of the faculty. (P/NP grading
only.)
198. Directed Group Study (1-5)
(P/NP grading only.)
199. Special Study for Advanced
Undergraduates (1-5)
(P/NP grading only.)
Graduate Courses
202. Topics in Advanced Soil Chemistry (3)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours. Prerequisite: undergraduate
course in soil chemistry, water chemistry,
or consent of instructor. Reviews of current research
in soil chemistry. Topics include double layer theory;
clay mineral and oxide surface chemistry; adsorption
on soil surfaces; speciation and modeling of
solution ions; solubility and mineral stability diagrams.
Discussion of current journal articles. May be
repeated once for credit when topic differs. Offered
in alternate years.—II. Zasoski
205. Field Studies of Soils in California
Ecosystems (5)
Fieldwork—50 hours; discussion—15 hours; lecture—5
hours. Prerequisite: courses 100 and 120 or
equivalent recommended. Field-based soil studies in
California ecosystems. Description and classification
of soils; relationships among soils, vegetation, geology,
and climate; physical, chemical, and biological
processes; their role in land use. Similar to SSC 105;
requires additional work for graduate credit. May
be repeated once for credit if geographic locale
changes. Limited enrollment.—IV. (IV.) Amundson,
Dahlgren, Singer, Southard
208. Soil-Plant Interrelationships (3)
Lecture—3 hours. Prerequisite: course 100, Plant
Biology 111B, or consent of instructor. Plant needs,
occurrence and reactions of water and mineral nutrients
in soils; root systems and their growth in soils;
mass flow and diffusion mechanisms in nutrient
acquisition; models relating nutrient uptake to soil
and plant characteristics; nutrient assimilation and
crop quality. Offered in alternate years.—(II.) Richards
209. Physiology and Ecology of
Mycorrhizal Symbioses (3)
Lecture/discussion—3 hours. Prerequisite: Plant Biology
111 or consent of instructor; course 100 recommended.
Structure, function and evolutionary
development of mycorrhizal fungi and the root-fungal
symbiosis. Emphasis on regulation of carbon
and nutrient exchanges between host and symbiont.
Course integrates mycorrhizal physiology and ecology
in an ecosystem context. Offered in alternate
years.—(I.) Bledsoe
211. Advanced Soil Microbiology (3)
Lecture—3 hours. Prerequisite: Chemistry 8A-8B;
course 111; Biological Sciences 102, 103 or an
equivalent course recommended. Microbial metabolism
of organic chemicals in soil, both natural and
xenobiotic. Decomposition of organic matter. Kinetics
of microbial processes in soil. Offered in alternate
years.—(III.) Scow
216. Physical Geochemistry (3)
Lecture—3 hours. Prerequisite: course 102 or Chemistry
110A or Geology 115 and Mathematics 119.
First half emphasizes equilibrium thermodynamics,
including choices of standard states, ideal solutions,
and use of the Gibbs-Duhem relation. Second half
covers geochemical kinetics including simple rate
laws, transition state theory, solute diffusion, and
experimental methods.—I. (I.) Casey
218. Soil Erosion and Conservation (3)
Lecture—2 hours; discussion—1 hour. Prerequisite:
graduate standing; courses 118, 120. Processes of
soil erosion by wind and water in agricultural areas,
and methods of soil conservation will be discussed.
Methods of predicting rates of soil erosion will be
considered. Offered in alternate years.—(II.) Singer
219. Ecosystem Biogeochemistry (4)
Lecture—3 hours; laboratory/discussion—2 hours.
Prerequisite: introductory courses in ecology/biology
and soils recommended; undergraduates
accepted with consent of instructor. Multidisciplinary
analysis of energy and nutrient transfers within terrestrial
ecosystems. Examination of processes and
inter- and intra-system interactions between the atmosphere,
biosphere, lithosphere and hydrosphere.
Laboratory section uses biogeochemical simulation
models to examine case studies. (Same course as
Ecology 219.)—III. (III.) Dahlgren
220. Pedology (3)
Lecture—3 hours. Prerequisite: consent of instructor;
course 120 recommended. Topics selected from
studies of soil-forming processes, soil-geomorphic
relations, mineral weathering, new developments in
soil classification, and development of pedologic
theory. Topics vary from year to year. May be
repeated once for credit. Offered in alternate
years.—(I.) Southard
222. Organic Chemistry of Soil (3)
Lecture—3 hours. Prerequisite: Chemistry 8A, 8B,
Mathematics 16A, 16B, course 100 or the equivalent.
Structure and function of soil organic matter,
biochemistry of humic substance formation, relationship
of organic matter to nutrient cycling and sustainability
in agricultural and natural ecosystems,
reactions of organics with humic substances in soil
and water, methods for characterization. Offered in
alternate years.—II. Horwath
290. Special Topics in Soil Science (1)
Seminar—1 hour. Prerequisite: graduate standing.
Oral presentation and discussion of scientific material
and procedures for review and critique of publications.
(S/U grading only.)—I, III. (I, III.)
298. Group Study (1-5)
Prerequisite: consent of instructor.
Quarter Offered: I=Fall, II=Winter, III=Spring, IV=Summer; 2009-2010 offering in parentheses
General Education (GE) credit: ArtHum=Arts and Humanities; SciEng=Science and Engineering; SocSci=Social Sciences; Div=Social-Cultural Diversity; Wrt=Writing Experience