Understanding Soils in Urban Environments

159 Pages·2011·3.888 MB·English

by  Pam Hazelton, Brian Murphy

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Soil properties such as water retention, salinity and acidity are not just issues for
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agriculture and forestry. they are equally as significant in creating environmental d
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and structural problems for buildings and other engineering works. as an increasing
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proportion of the world’s population is living in cities, and building and related s
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infrastructure development continues, these problems assume ever-greater importance.
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in addition, existing works contribute to urban soil erosion and pollution as well as n
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increased levels of urban runoff.
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Understanding Soils in Urban Environments explains how urban soils develop, change g

and erode. it describes their physical and chemical properties and focuses on specific s
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soil problems, such as acid sulfate soils, that can cause environmental concern and also i
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affect engineering works. it also addresses contemporary issues such as green roofs, s

urban green space and the man-made urban soils that plants may need to thrive in. it i
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provides a concise introduction to all aspects of soils in urban environments and will be
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extremely useful to students in a wide range of disciplines, from soil science and urban r
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forestry and horticulture, to planning, engineering, construction and land remediation, as
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well as to engineers, builders, landscape architects, ecologists, planners and developers. n

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About the authors n
pam hazelton is a practising soil scientist who has lectured in soils at universities, was a consultant to m
the Soil Conservation Service of nSW and a soil surveyor in the department of Conservation and land e u n d e r s t a n d i n g s o i l s
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management. She has also worked with private soil consultants. Currently she lectures in the Faculty
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of engineering and it at the university of technology, Sydney, where she focuses her soil science s
i n u r b a n e n v i r o n m e n t s
expertise on environmental and engineering problems in urban soils, their capability and management.
brian murphy has worked as a practising soil scientist for more than 30 years. in that time he has
worked for a range of government organisations as well as with several private soil consultants. his
range of experience includes work on urban soils; the management of soils for agriculture, especially
in relation to tillage; soil sodicity; soil carbon and land capability. he has co-authored several books on h
soils and numerous refereed research papers and scientific reports on soil science. a
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pam hazelton and brian murphy
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u n d e r s t a n d i n g s o i l s
i n u r b a n e n v i r o n m e n t s
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u n d e r s t a n d i n g s o i l s
i n u r b a n e n v i r o n m e n t s
pam hazelton and brian murphy
publishing for a sustainable future
© Pam Hazelton and Brian Murphy 2011
All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Australian Copyright Act 1968 and
subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
duplicating or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Contact CSIRO
PUBLISHING for all permission requests.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Hazelton, P. A. (Pamela Anne)
Understanding soils in urban environments / by Pam Hazelton and Brian Murphy.
9780643091740 (pbk.)
9780643101432 (ePdf)
9780643102200 (ePub)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Urban soils.
Urban ecology (Biology)
Murphy, B. W. (Brian William)
631.4
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.
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Telephone: [phone]
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Email: [email protected]
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Published exclusively in all territories of the world (excluding Australia and New Zealand)
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All photographs are by Brian Murphy.
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Contents
Acknowledgments vi
Preface vii
1 Soils in an urban environment 1
2 Soil characteristics important for urban soil management 13
3 Soils and the hydrological cycle in urban environments 45
Colour plates
4 Soils for engineering purposes 65
5 Soil contamination in urban areas 83
6 Urban soils and ecosystems 97
7 Soils and vegetation: contributing to a more sustainable
urban environment 107
8 Urban development on coastal soils 119
9 Interpretation of soil attributes in an urban environment 129
Glossary 135
Appendix: some international soil classifications 141
Index 145
vi
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Dr Hadi Khabbaz (School of Civil and
Environmental Engineering and IT, University of Technology, Sydney) and
Jillian Murphy for the design and production of figures in this book. We thank
Dr Tatiana Prokofieva for supplying the publication on the soils of Moscow,
that she and her colleagues produced. We also thank her for her useful
comments about the section on the urban environment of Moscow.
vii
Preface
Soils have traditionally been viewed and examined from an agricultural
perspective – the importance of soil functions in urban situations is often
overlooked. This book introduces a better understanding of soils in an urban
environment. It explains what soils are, describes their significant properties
and discusses how soils can influence and be influenced by human activities. It
acknowledges the link between soils and ecological sustainability in the urban
environment, and discusses the effect of climate change on soils in a variety of
situations.
The reference list at the end of each chapter provides a starting point from
which more detailed and technical information can be found.
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1
Soils in an urban environment
Introduction
Soil is everywhere. Although generally associated with agriculture, horticulture
and forestry, soil also underlies most of our cities and urban hinterlands. In the
urban environment soils may vary in natural condition, be slightly disturbed or
completely disturbed, as in the case of man-made landscapes. Soils have always
performed a wide range of useful functions. The range of these functions and
impacts on the environment has changed considerably in the urban
environment as land use is converted from rural to urban. Failure of the soil to
function as expected can have a significant effect on the urban environment,
resulting in serious impacts including damage to buildings and roads, land slip,
poor water quality, soil contamination, dryland salinity and degraded
ecosystems (Scheyer and Hipple 2005; Hicks and Hird 2007).
Whether in a natural or disturbed condition, soils vary widely in their
properties. Disturbed soils especially differ from soils in natural areas because
their horizons have been mixed, destroyed or removed. The natural soil
properties have changed. Subsoils are exposed or mixed with topsoils and
compaction may have occurred. Natural soils may be buried under fill;
chemical and waste materials may have been added. All these activities can
result in large changes in the physical, chemical and engineering properties of
the soils at a site. The natural properties of the soils, or the changes to their
properties, can determine whether the soils can carry out the engineering,
environmental, hydrological, physical, chemical and biological functions