1. Introduction: history of pedology. The role of soil in various grassland and forest ecosystems. Definitions of soil and chemical, physical and biological characteristics (1 ECTS).
2. Theory and measurement of the following soil properties: cation exchange capacity, soil reaction, macro and micro-element content, texture, apparent density and porosity, structure and water retention, biomass content and activity microbial. Soil composition (1 ECTS)
3. The causes of soil degradation and desertification. Soil erosion. The pedogenic profile and horizons. The subordinate horizons. The types of humus and their classification. The factors of pedogenesis: climate, lithology, geomorphology, biotic, anthropic factor, time. (1 ECTS)
4. The types of pedogenetic processes: alteration, translocation, addition and loss. Specific processes of formation and evolution of the soil. The profile description. Surface and deep diagnostic horizons. The soil humidity and temperature regimes. Forest soils: characteristics and classification (1 ECTS)
5. Classification of soils. Soil classification systems. The characteristics of soils belonging to the Soil Taxonomy classification orders. The hierarchy of pedopaesaggi. The soil regions in Italy. (1 ECTS)
6. Exercises: profile analysis and field card on excursion in areas of particular forest interest. The morphological description of the pedon. Chemical-physical analysis of soil in the laboratory (1 ECTS)

Recommended texts:
Giacomo Certini and Fiorenzo Cesare Ugolini Basis of Pedology - Edagricole
Carmelo Dazzi Foundations of Pedology - Le Panseur

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