Applied Earth Sciences

This paper integrates an understanding of land/soil and water processes that occur at paddock to catchment to national scales. The focus is on land management practices and land evaluation to optimise resource use for productive purposes while avoiding or minimising unwanted environmental effects. Topics include: soil degradation, physical properties, fertility and pH, cycling of organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus, greenhouse gas emissions, the role of pedology in land-use related issues, drainage and irrigation. These topics are coupled to the hydrological setting within which land management practices lie.