70th SWCS International Annual Conference July 26-29, 2015 Greensboro, NC

1. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
Tropical Soil Surveys
In the Caribbean Area

2. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
 Soil Science Division - Mid-Atlantic and Caribbean Area Soil
Survey Region
 Tropical Soils Diversity
 History of the Soil Survey Program in the Caribbean Area
 Challenges to Conducting Soil Surveys in the Tropics
 Tropical Soil Surveys of Today
Outline

3. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
Soil Survey Region 3
Mid-Atlantic and Caribbean Area

4. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
Soil Forming Factors in
the Tropics

5. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C E
RELIEF
 Erosion
(high precipitation)
 Sedimentation
 Heating/Cooling
 Soil Moisture

6. Southwestern Puerto Rico
N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
RELIEF

7. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
CLIMATE
 Air and Soil Temperature
 Averages between 68 to 87 degrees F versus 46 to 69 degrees F for
Greensboro, NC
 Moisture
 Averages 36 to 157 inches of rainfall annually compared to 47 inches for the
Greensboro area

8. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
Keep in mind, this all happens in an area this size…

9. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
PARENT MATERIAL
• Wind-blown deposits
• Alluvium
• Bedrock
• Organic Matter

10. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
BEDROCK
Very diverse geology
• Old volcanic intrusive and extrusive
materials with diverse mineralogy
• Metamorphic
• Sedimentary
• 75% of soils in Puerto Rico
developed from bedrock

11. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils

12. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
Flora
Organisms
millipedes
ants
nematodes
earthworms Animals
Fauna

13. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
Time
Caribbean Area
soils range in age
from thousands to
millions of years

14. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
Soil Diversity in The Caribbean Area

15. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
 100 x 35 miles
 NRCS Soil Survey identifies 10 of
12 soil orders (exceptions: Gelisols
and Andisols)
 253 Official Series Descriptions
(PR, USVI and Haiti)
Soil Diversity in The Caribbean Area

16. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils

17. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
Humatas
Ultisols
Sosa
Alfisols
Caguabo
Inceptisols
Dwarf
Oxisols
Aguirre
Vertisols
Parguera
Aridisols
Toa
Mollisols
Joyuda
Histosols
Corozo
Spodosols
Cataño
Entisols

18. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
 In the Caribbean Area, the U.S. began
conducting and publishing soil surveys in the
early 1900’s
 In the US, soil surveys began in 1899
 Parts of Utah, Maryland, and Connecticut were first
published soil surveys
History of Soil Surveys in the Caribbean Area

19. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
1. (1902) - Arecibo to Ponce Reconnaissance Survey
2. (1932) - St. Croix Island Reconnaissance Survey
3. (1942) – Puerto Rico Soil Survey –R.C. Roberts
4. (1965) – Lajas Valley
5. (1970) – Virgin Islands of the US
6. (1975) – Mayaguez
7. (1977) – Humacao
8. (1978) - Soil Survey of San Juan
9. (1979) – Soil Survey of Ponce
10. (1982) – Soil Survey of Arecibo
11. (1995) - Luquillo Long-Term Ecological Research Grid
12. (2000) – Camp Santiago and Fort Allen
13. (2002) - Caribbean National Forest and
Luquillo Experimental Forest
14. (2002) – Soil Survey of United States Virgin Islands
15. (2008) – Soil Survey of San Germán Area
16. (2012) – Soil Survey of El Yunque National Forest

20. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
In 2014, a pilot
soil survey in
Haiti was
published

21. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
Challenges in Conducting Soil
Surveys in the Caribbean
 Use same standards in the National Cooperative
Soil Survey program
 Big differences were accessibility, terrain
conditions, and weather
 Lack of access to lab data to classify the soils
correctly and quickly
 Around 20 different soil scientists worked in
different decades to produce what we have today

22. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
 Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
 To digitize and analyze soil survey maps and data

23. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
 Tabular data is stored in the National Soil Information System (NASIS) database
 Spatial data is certified for a 1:1 join with tabular data
 SSURGO (Soil Survey Geographic Database) certification of spatial and tabular data
allows for standard and customized reports or interpretations (Web Soil Survey)

24. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
In the past…

25. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
Today
http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/

26. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
http://casoilresource.lawr.ucdavis.edu/drupal/

27. N A T U R A L
R E S O U R C E S
C O N S E R V A T I O N
S E R V I C EHelping People Understand Soils
Mayaguez MLRA Soil Survey Office
 Soil Data Join Re-Correlation
 Rapid Carbon Assessment Sampling
 Assisting with the Haiti Pilot Soil Survey Project
 Soil Health
 Ecological Site Descriptions
 Technical Soil Services:
 NRCS Field Offices
 National Science Foundation-NEON project
 EPA-Urban Soils Assessment project
 Outreach