ABSTRACT:
The purity of soil map units depends upon the distribution and kinds of soil taxa, landform configuration, and geology of the region to be inventoried. Soil map units may be dominant in one soil taxon (consociation) or may be composed of more than one taxon (complex or association). Published soil maps show the various soil taxa and other components of the landscape. Variability is inherent in soil map units. Conveying this variability to users is essential to the proper use of soil surveys. This study was conducted to determine the purity of four soil mapping units (two consociations and two complexes) and their relationship to selected soil-woodland interpretive ratings. A stratified random transect sampling scheme was used to collect field data. Shannon's measure of entropy was used to express the variability within the map units. Results show the percentage and kinds of inclusions present. Because most inclusions found have similar interpretations to the named soil, the map units still differentiate areas having similar woodland interpretive ratings.
Footnotes
T. P. D'Avello is a resource inventory specialist with the Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1902 Fox Drive, Champaign, Illionis 61820, and a former graduate research assistant in the School of Forestry and Wood Products at Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan 49931, where S. G. Shetron is a professor and A. L Maclean is an assistant professor in the School of Forestry and Wood Products. The authors thank the Environmental Division of the Michigan Department of Agriculture for financial assistance in support of this study and C. Schwenner, K. Wikgren, and T. Bauer for assistance in soil classification and soil map unit design.
- Copyright 1990 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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