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  5. Soil Science
  6. SS5305: Soils for Food Security

SS5305: SOILS FOR FOOD SECURITY (2015-2016)

Last modified: 25 Mar 2016 11:39


Course Overview

This advanced soil science course provides additional teaching of physical, chemical and biological properties of soils in the context of food security.  You will learn a variety of processes that affect soil productivity, accompanied by practical sessions that will teach relevant analytical methods.  The wide range of soil processes taught will be brought together at the end of the course to provide a working knowledge of agronomy, including the interactions between crops and specific chemical or physical properties of soils.

Course Details

Study Type Postgraduate Level 5
Session First Sub Session Credit Points 15 credits (7.5 ECTS credits)
Campus Old Aberdeen Sustained Study No
Co-ordinators
  • Professor Paul Hallett
  • Dr Gareth Norton
  • Professor Graeme Paton

Qualification Prerequisites

None.

What courses & programmes must have been taken before this course?

  • Either Any Postgraduate Programme (Studied) or BI4015 Grant Proposal (Passed)
  • One of MRes Ecology & Environmental Sustainability (Studied) or MRes Applied Marine and Fisheries Ecology (Studied) or MRes Environmental Science (Studied) or MRes Soil Science (Studied) or MSc Ecology & Environmental Sustainability (Studied) or MSc Applied Marine and Fisheries Ecology (Studied) or MSc Forestry (Taught) (Studied) or MSc Soil Science (Studied) or MSc Environmental Science (Studied) or MSci Biological Sciences (Studied)
  • Either Any Postgraduate Programme (Studied) or MSci Biological Sciences (Passed)

What other courses must be taken with this course?

None.

What courses cannot be taken with this course?

Are there a limited number of places available?

No

Course Description

The course examines soil conditions in relation to environmental sustainability and food security.  It starts with the soil physical environment, teaching aspects of structure, mechanical behaviour and the relationship with water.  This will be into context of soil management, inherent soil properties and major limiting factors such as water availability.

The soil chemical environment will focus on pH, mineralogy, exchange sites and nutrient/trace nutrient availability.  Contrasting soil types will be used to underpin these concepts.

The final stage will bring in the plant environment, with a specific emphasis on agronomy. 

Associated Costs

None

Contact Teaching Time

Information on contact teaching time is available from the course guide.

Teaching Breakdown

More Information about Week Numbers


Details, including assessments, may be subject to change until 31 August 2023 for 1st half-session courses and 22 December 2023 for 2nd half-session courses.

Summative Assessments

The assessment for this course is 100% continual assessment. The assessments are based on three assignments related to the practical sessions

Formative Assessment

There are no assessments for this course.

Feedback

None.

Course Learning Outcomes

None.
 

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