Make soil-based land use assessments and recommendations for a community farm by using and interpreting soil suitability, capability and limitations information you obtain from Web Soil Survey
Study site is Coasset Dr, Hermitage Pa 16148
Lab 4: Community Farm Land Use Plan Introduction There are two primary objectives for this laboratory exercise. 1. Learn to use the Web Soil Survey or comparable mapping tool. 2. Make soil-based land use assessments and recommendations for a community farm by using and interpreting soil suitability, capability and limitations information you obtain from Web Soil Survey (or a comparable on-line soil mapping information tool) together with other soils knowledge you have obtained in this class or elsewhere. Earth’s human population recently crossed the 7 billion threshold and is likely to reach at least 10 billion by the year 2100. This coupled with human induced soil degradation is causing a steady decrease in per capita arable land area (currently at 0.2 ha/person) and decreases in forested land area. In addition to arable land for food, feed, fiber and fuel production we need land area for forests, range land, recreation, housing, industry, retail and transportation. Consequently, decisions about how we will use our finite land area and the associated soil and water resources will become ever more critical in the years ahead. Prudent land use decisions require knowledge of the properties, capabilities and limitations of the soils forming that land area. In this laboratory exercise you will learn how to access and use Web Soil Survey (Links to an external site.) an interactive online soil mapping and georeferenced soil information program that is a powerful tool for land use planning and decision making. Web Soil Survey In this laboratory exercise you will develop a land use plan for a 1,000 – 1,500 acre Community Farm project. The site needs to include several land use elements: crop and garden area, recreation and camping area, housing and sanitation area and ponds. Based on soil capabilities and limitations in the land parcel, you will develop a land use plan that places these elements in the best possible locations. You must provide a sound rationale for the placement of each element in the land use plan. Activities Part 1. Preparation You were introduced to Web Soil Survey in the soil profile lab (Lab 2). In this lab you will learn to access and use many more of Web Soil Survey’s capabilities. It would be good to spend some time exploring the site. The Web Soil Survey home page has instructions and tutorials on how to get started using the program. Links to these helps are located in the “I want help with…” box on the right side of the home page. Review those tutorials to help you get started. Below are specific tutorials to show you how to access soils information and mapping tools required for this land use planning exercise. You may also find it helpful to review Module 6 on Web Soil Survey and Soil Interpretation. Introduction and Navigation to Site Please follow these tips before navigating the Web Soil Survey Web Site Make sure your system is configured to allow pop-up windows. This is often tricky because pop-up blockers can be in several places on your system. If you are not sure how to configure your system to allow pop-up window please follow the steps below: On the Web Soil Survey application page, select the Preferences link in the Navigation bar. Uncheck "Open Links and PDFs in External Windows". Select the Save Preferences button. To save the maps and tables you generate in Web Soil Survey use the "Printable Version" button to create a .pdf file that you can save. Using the →File, →Print options from your browser will not produce a desirable output. Part 2. Community farm land use plan Step 1. Select the "donated" land parcel. For this project you must select the “donated” parcel of land. The actual area of land you select must be between 1,000 and 1,500 acres and it must include the soil study site you selected and sampled in Lab 1. If your study site from Lab 1 is in a highly urbanized area you should instead select a land parcel that is primarily outside the urbanized area but is as close as possible to your study site. Ideally the site you select would have a mix of agricultural fields and forests. Students in arid to semi-arid regions may find it difficult to locate areas of their land that are suitable for crop production or ponds. Similarly, students in humid, low-lying areas with high water tables may find it impossible to locate areas suitable for in-ground septic systems. In these cases you should come up with alternative plans or land uses that are better adapted to your region and conditions. Students living outside the United States will need to search for equivalent soil mapping and soil information for their country and sample location. If equivalent local information is not available, you should contact your instructor who will help you select a parcel of land within the United States. Step 2. Generate the Area of Interest (AOI) for your community farm land parcel. You will use Web Soil Survey to select the land parcel (called an “Area of Interest” or AOI in Web Soil Survey) you will use for your community farm project. You may need to repeat the AOI selection process a couple of times to get an area that is the required size (1,000 – 1,500 acres). After selecting your AOI, check the total acreage that will appear in the table to the left of the AOI map. Step 3. Generate a soil map of your community farm land parcel. Generate a soil map of your land parcel that includes a map legend, map scale, and a table listing each soil mapping unit. Be sure to save a pdf version of this map. Step 4. Access soil information and generate soil suitability/limitations maps for specified land uses. The soil information you will need to plan your community farm can be obtained from Web Soil Survey by generating the maps and tables of soil information pertaining to the six land uses listed below. For each land use, a suggested specific category of use or structure is given in italics. However, these specified uses may not be appropriate for your particular land parcel. For example if you have an area with high water table, dwellings with basements and in-ground conventional septic systems will not be successful. In such cases you should select an installation that is more appropriate to your site limitations. Similarly, in arid to semi-arid regions non-irrigated crops will not be successful and you may want to consider irrigated crop yields. As you generate each map and table be sure to save it as a pdf so you will be able to access this information again when you develop the land use plan for your farm. You will also need to include a screen shot of these in your lab report. Instructions for how to generate these maps and tables using Web Soil Survey, and how to save them as pdf files are provided above under Preparation. The six land uses and capabilities to investigate are: 1. Building Site Development, Dwellings with Basements 2. Sanitary Facilities, Septic System In-Ground Bed (Conventional) 3. Land Classifications, Nonirrigated Capability Class 4. Vegetative Productivity, Yields of Non-Irrigated Crops (Map Unit) (select the crop you are most interested in) 5. Recreational Development, Camp Areas 6. Water Management, Pond Reservoir Areas If you are outside the United States and are not using Web Soil Survey submit maps and tables that provide similar soil information and interpretations. If you cannot locate such information for your site, contact your instructor to select a site within the United States. Step 5. Develop a land use plan for your community farm land parcel. Once you have generated the soil map for your project site, as well as the six land use and capability maps and tables listed above, you will have the information you need to develope a land use plan for your community farm project. Considering the suitabilities, capabilities and limitations of the soils in your land parcel, decide on the best locations for crop production land, buildings with basements and sanitary facilities, recreational areas with campsites, and locations for ponds. Again, if your project site is not suitable for one or more of these uses provide an alternative land use that is in keeping with the spirit of the community farm. Alternatively, you may want to select a project site in a more suitable location. In your lab report you will need to provide reasons and justification for your land use decisions based on the soils that are present. Use the Interpretation of Soils - Web Survey module for help in assessing the suitability and limitations of soils in your land parcel and in making and justifying your land use decisions. After you have made your land use decisions, create a land use map on which you indicate where the required elements of the community farm will be located. This map can be created by taking a snapshot of the soil map you created for step 1 above and importing the image into a drawing program such as Paint, Photoshop or PowerPoint. Using a freeform drawing tool outline each land use area and label what the land use will be. Also draw where the pond(s) will be located. On this land use map you should also mark and label the location of the soil you sampled in Lab 1 (if it is included in your community farm land parcel). This land use map will be included as an image in your Lab report. An example land use map is shown below. In the narrative of your lab report you will discuss your reasons (based on soil suitabilities and limitations) for locating each element of the farm where you did. Lab 4 Report: Community Farm Land Use Plan Write a 4 – 5 page, double spaced report using a 12 point font and one inch margins. Your report must be organized into the sections listed below with each section heading clearly indicated in your report. Write your report in prose style with complete sentences and well developed paragraphs. Do not use an outline style or bulleted lists. Do not copy the bulleted lists below and then add your information under each item. Points will be deducted for poor spelling, poor grammar and poor organization. Introduction · Describe in general what a Soil Survey is, the type of information that can be found in a Soil Survey, and why that information is useful for land use and development. · Describe in general terms the goals of your community farm project, the land use objectives, and the specific land uses that will be part of your community farm plan. Materials and Methods Describe methods used to generate the soil map for your community farm land parcel and the methods used to locate soils information and generate soil capability maps for your community farm using Web Soil Survey. Results and Discussion · Present as a figure in your report the soil map