This course will provide undergraduate and graduate students background in 
characteristics and key processes of forest soils and exposure to approaches used in 
management of soils for wood and fiber production. The course focuses on the US 
Southeast, but has application to management of soil elsewhere in world. By the end 
of this course you should be able to do the following:

1. Identify important soil characteristics in the field and verify soil map units
2. Recognize key soil systems in physiographic regions of the Southeast
3. Be able to construct a local soil key and verify soil maps
4. Describe organic matter decomposition and role of key soil organisms
5. Identify chemical and environmental controls on decomposition and apply several
decomposition models
6. Describe the process of nutrient uptake and how root architecture affects nutrient
completion
7. Be familiar with nutrient uptake modeling
8. Quantify nutrient storage and utilization in forest systems
9. Evaluate forest harvesting and utilization practices with respect to nutrient 
balance
10. Know how to sample soil and assess N mineralization and soil P availability
11. Diagnose nutrient deficiency and toxicity in forest plantations
12. Recommend fertilization regimes, measure and evaluate fertilizer response
13. Assess soil physical conditions and their effect on tree growth
14. Make site preparation recommendations
15. Sample soils for contaminants
16. Apply knowledge of soils to forest management decisions

Global Soils and Forests
Guide to Soil Taxonomy
Soils of the South
Uses of Soil Information
Map Essential
Organic Horizons in Forests (The Forest Floor)
Effects on soil properties
Classification
Biology of Plant Litter Decomposition
Steps of decomposition
Soil organisms and their roles
Decomposition and Mineralization
Substrate and chemical limitations C/N ratios
Temperature and moisture
Decomposition models
Rates and management impacts
Nutrient Phases and Availability
Mineralization vs. surface control
Nutrient Mobility and surface interaction (Ks, Kd, Q/I)
Root architecture
Structural roots
Fine root distribution
Competition for water and nutrient resources
Role of herbicide application
Mycorrhizae
Benefits of mycorrhizae
Application in forests (severe sites, exotics, nursery management)
Nutrient Accumulation and Cycling in Forests
Quantities of nutrients in different forests
Effects of Age and Site
Geochemical, biogeochemical and biological cycles
Nutrient Balance in Undisturbed systems
Management Impacts on Nutrient Balance
Harvesting
Site preparation
Burning
Pinestraw harvest
Silviculture
Nutrient Deficiencies in Plantation Forests
Extent
Symptoms
Diagnosis of Nutrient Limitations
Soil groups and site types
Soil tests
Critical concentrations
Directional analysis
Foliar analyses
DRIS
LAI – combined evaluations
Forest Fertilization at Establishment
Nutrients and rates
Response patterns
“Weed and feed”
Interactions with other treatments
Forest Fertilization in Established Stands
Response patterns and magnitude
Root growth and soil physical conditions
Mechanical resistance
Porosity
Aeration/Water
Soil Compaction and Rutting
Physical Process
Factors Affecting Damage
Growth impacts
Soil Compaction
Damage assessment
Minimizing damage
Mechanical Site Preparation
Slash reduction
Bedding, subsoiling, spot cultivation
Growth response to mechanical treatments
Soil Health 
Carbon Change and Storage 
Soil Management and Sustainability
Defining sustainability
Concerns and evidence for productivity declines