Soil Taxonomy and Databases

Charles Tarnocai, Study Leader

• Objectives
• Rationale
• Resources

Objectives

1. To develop, manage and apply a comprehensive and integrated national database of soil, climate, land use, crop yield and socioeconomic information of importance to agriculture and other Canadian industries.

2. To research soil taxonomy, and to maintain and update the national standards to ensure continuing uniformity and usability of the databases.

Rationale

Agriculture increasingly relies on timely and reliable soil and land resource information to improve production efficiency and ensure long-term environmental quality. Improving the competitiveness and sustainability of Canadian agriculture is linked both directly and indirectly to more complete and up-to-date knowledge of the soil and land resource base. The goals described here will lead to the enhancement and further application of natural resource databases for Canada. These databases are essential for generating information about soil landscapes and ecosystem processes, and for providing regional and national interpretations of the resources for numerous applications. These include determination and enhancement of soil productivity and environmental sensitivity, maintenance or enhancement of soil quality, and predictions about the effect of climate change on resources.

Soil taxonomy and standards ensure the uniformity, and thus the usefulness, of soil data across the country. In order to achieve this, it is necessary that soil taxonomy and standards be updated to reflect both the current state of knowledge, and findings and developments in Canada and globally.

The resource databases are applicable to complex problems involving the full range of land usage, and to the conflicts and interactions that arise from such usage. One major concern is management of natural resources to maximize sustainable usage while minimizing both current and future environmental changes resulting from either human activities or such natural phenomena as climate change.

Resources

• Canadian Soil Information System (CanSIS)
• National Soil DataBase (NSDB)