Soil Biota Collection: Soil Maps, Series, and More!

Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture

Kim took the liberty of collecting our samples from her neighborhood, Oak Creek Center for Urban Horticulture and from the side of the intersection of the 22 and 99 highways in 10 miles west of Salem. These are the locations in Soil Map Form!!

Salem

The major soils at Kim's neighborhood, Oak Creek and the Salem locations were Dayton/Willamette, Bashaw/Dayton, and Cove/Coburg respectively.

Kim's Neighborhood

Kim's Neighborhood Soil Stats!!

Soil Stats	Dayton Silt Loam	Willamette Silt Loam
Color	10 YR 3/1	10 YR 2/2
Texture	30.4% clay 7.3% sand 62.4% silt	26.2% clay 6.3% sand 67.4% silt
Structure	Moderate medium and fine subangular blocky	Weak medium subangular blocky
Organic Matter Content (%)	0.64%	1.24%
Drainage	Poorly drained	Well drained
Hydraulic Conductivity (mm per second)	5.8662	8.3671
CEC (milliequivalents per 100 grams)	26.6	22.6
Bulk Density (g/cm^3)	1.34	1.4
Assumed Particle Density (g/cm^3)	2.65	2.65
Water Holding Capacity (cm per cm)	0.19	0.2
Available Water 0-100 (cm)	17.88	20.45
Susceptibility to Compaction	Low resistance to compaction	Low resistance to compaction

Oak Creek Soil Stats!!

Soil Stats	Bashaw Clay	Dayton Silt Loam
Color	10 YR 3/1	10 YR 5/2
Texture	60.7% clay 5.7% sand 33.6% silt	30.4% clay 7.3% sand 62.4% silt
Structure	Moderate medium and fine subangular blocky structure	Moderate medium granular structure
Organic Matter Content (%)	2.04%	0.64%
Drainage	Poorly Drained	Poorly Drained
Hydraulic Conductivity (mm per second)	0.2	5.8662
CEC (milliequivalents per 100 grams)	45.2	26.6
Bulk Density (g/cm^3)	1.2	1.34
Assumed Particle Density (g/cm^3)	2.65	2.65
Water Holding Capacity (cm per cm)	0.16	0.19
Available Water 0-100 (cm)	15.95	17.88
Susceptibility to Compaction	Low resistance to compaction	Low resistance to compaction

Salem Soil Stats!!

Soil Stats	Coburg Silty Clay Loam	Cove Silty Clay Loam
Color	10 YR 3/2	10 YR 3/1
Texture	37.8% clay 10.5% sand 51.7% silt	52.4% clay 17.1% sand 30.6% silt
Structure	Weak medium subangular blocky and moderate medium granular	Moderate fine subangular blocky
Organic Matter Content (%)	1.94%	3.05%
Drainage	Moderately well drained	Poorly Drained
Hydraulic Conductivity (mm per second)	4.5	0.5684
CEC (milliequivalents per 100 grams)	22.5	41.2
Bulk Density (g/cm^3)	1.3	1.26
Assumed Particle Density (g/cm^3)	2.65	2.65
Water Holding Capacity (cm per cm)	0.19	0.17
Available Water 0-100 (cm)	19	16.81
Susceptibility to Compaction	Low resistance to compaction	Low resistance to compaction

What We Takeaway In The Big Picture:
Dayton Silt Loam- Fine, smectic, mesic Vertic Albaqualfs. Alfisols. Low bulk density means high porosity. High porosity means well aerated soil. Low organic matter means poor nutrient and water supply in this particular soil.
Willamette Silt Loam- Fine-silty, mixed, superactive, mesic Pachic Ultic Argixerolls. Mollisols. Low bulk density means high porosity. High porosity means well aerated soil. Well drained means roots can easily get oxygen which means plants would do well in this soil.
Bashaw Clay- Very-fine, smectic, mesic Xeric Endoaquerts. Vertisols. Low bulk density means high porosity. High porosity means well aerated soil. High CEC means high clay content. High clay content means generally higher amounts of organic matter. More organic matter means more nutrients and water for the soil.
Coburg Silty Clay Loam- Fine, mixed, superactive, mesic Oxyaquic Argixerolls. Mollisols. Low bulk density means high porosity. High porosity means well aerated soil.
Cove Silty Clay Loam- Fine, smectic, mesic Vertic Endoaquolls. Mollisols. Low bulk density means high porosity. High porosity means well aerated soil. High organic matter means good supply of nutrients and water to soil.

These are the soils at the locations we got our soil biota from, however most of the biota came from compost piles, and leaf litter above the soil/in the Oi horizon. Here are some pictures from the Oak Creek Compost Piles...