Elsevier

Advances in Agronomy

Volume 63, 1997, Pages 179-236
Advances in Agronomy

Ultisols: Characteristics and Impacts on Society

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2113(08)60244-8Get rights and content

Publisher Summary

This chapter presents a brief overview of Ultisols in terms of their genesis, classification, distribution, and properties. The chapter illustrates crop management systems that have been used for agricultural production on these soils. The central concept of Ultisols is a group of soils with an argillic or kandic horizon and a few basic cations that have developed under forest vegetation in humid climates. The chapter describes classifications and geographic distributions of Ultisols. Climate is one of the most critical factors in soil formation. Climate affects all the other factors, except time, because it controls the kind and rate of weathering, the type of vegetation and other biota, and the nature of landscapes. The kaolinitic mineralogy of most Ultisols results in low shrink-swell potential and relatively favorable water-retention properties. Many Ultisols have thick sandy epipedons and/or horizons with high bulk density, which may limit water storage and root proliferation. Ultisols are an extensive and valuable resource base; this resource has been abused and degraded, mostly because of improper management.

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