Australian soils and landscapes – an illustrated compendium By Neil McKenzie, David Jacquier, Ray Isbell and Katharine Brown ISBN 0643069585, published in 2004 by CSIRO Publishing, colour, hard cover, 416 pages Price $A125.00 plus $A11.00 postage within Australia, overseas postage please request a quote

This essential reference provides an introduction to the remarkable soils and landscapes of Australia and explains why an understanding of their properties and processes respectively should guide our use of the land. It describes and illustrates over 100 of the more important and widespread soils of Australia, along with their associated landscapes. There is a brief account of eeach soil’s environment, usage and qualities, as well as details on chemical and physical properties so we can make more informed decisions about appropriate land use. It will be a valuable resource for farmers, natural resource managers, soil and environmental scientists, students and anyone with an interest in Australia’s unique environment.

About the authors

Neil McKenzie is a principal research scientist with CSIRO Land and Water. He has been closely involved with the setting of standards and development of new methods for land resource survey in Australia.

David Jacquier specialises in the collection and management of land resource information. He is a project officer with CSIRO Land and Water.

Ray Isbell (deceased) had a long and distinguished career as a soil scientist specialising in soil description, distribution, genesis and classification.

Katharine Brown, formerly a project officer with CSIRO Land and Water, is a soil scientist and doctoral candidate at the University of Western Australia.

Table of contents

• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1. Properties of soil: Soil morphology, Mineralogy, Chemical properties, Physical properties, Biological properties
• 2. The evolution of Australian soil: A simple model for soil formation, Dominant processes of soil formation, Environmental change in ancient landscapes
• 3. Characteristic Australian landscapes: Ancient deeply weathered landscapes, Erosional landscapes, Fluvial landscapes, Aeolian landscapes, Coastal landscapes, Alpine and subalpine landscapes, Contrasts with other continents
• 4. Soil function within ecosystems: Cycles of matter and energy, Water, Vegetation, Fire, Fauna, Lessons from natural landscapes
• 5. Land use, soil change and future management: Impacts of land use, Managing Australian landscapes, information on soil and land resources
• Compendium of Australia soils: Rationale and format, The representative soils [pages 139-387]
• Endnotes
• References
• Index