Edaphology

The word edaphology is derived from the Greek words "edaphos" meaning ground or floor, and "logy" meaning word or wisdom. Edaphology is one of the two main branches of soil science, the other being pedology. Edaphology is concerned with the influence of soils on living things, particularly plants. The term is also applied to the study of how soil influences man's overall use of the land. General subfields within edaphology are agricultural soil science (known by the term agrology in some regions outside of the United States and Canada) and environmental soil science.

References

* Why Study Soils? Url last accessed 2006-04-16
* European Environment Information and Observation Network (EIONET) Url last accessed 2006-04-16
* SSSA Soil Science Glossary Url last accessed 2006-04-16
* USEPA Term list (theme=soil) Url last accessed 2006-04-16