Library Guides: Open Educational Resources (OER): Agriculture and Soil Science

Agriculture and Soil Science

History and Science of Cultivated Plants
History and Science of Cultivated Plants narrates how humans transitioned from foragers to farmers and have arrived at present-day industrial agriculture-based civilization.
Inanimate Life
Inanimate Life is an open textbook covering a very traditional biological topic, botany, in a non-traditional way. Rather than a phylogenetic approach, going group by group, the book considers what defines organisms and examines four general areas of their biology: structure, reproduction, energy needs, and interactions with other organisms.
Plant Anatomy and Physiology: Images and diagrams to explain concepts
This book was created to support teaching of an introductory unit on plant environmental physiology. It makes use of various images of cells and tissues to introduce and illustrate the range of plant organelles, cells, tissues and organs.

Plant Breeding

Crop Wild Relatives and their Use in Plant Breeding
This text is being developed through a collaboration between Colorado State University and the United States Department of Agriculture.
Genetics, Agriculture, and Biotechnology
This textbook provides an introduction to plant genetics and biotechnology for the advancement of agriculture.
Crop Adaptation and Improvement for Drought-Prone Environments
This books shares the latest developments relevant to concepts, methods, and technologies associated with dry cereals and legume crops’ production in the semiarid West Africa.
Introduction to Permaculture
Permaculture Design is a method of land planning that can be applied at scales from the home garden to city block to village to farm.

Soil Science

Introduction to Soil Science
This textbook introduces readers to introductory soil science topics including the physical, chemical, and biological properties of soils; soil formation, classification, and global distribution; soil health, soils and humanity, and sustainable land management.
Soils Laboratory Manual
The manual highlights the multidisciplinary aspects of soil science with laboratories focused on soil formation, classification, and mapping; soil physics, soil biology; soil chemistry; and soil fertility and management.
Properties and Behavior of Soil – Online Lab Manual
This project aims to provide a complete guide for the CE/AREN 3143 course (Properties and Behavior of Soil) at the University of Texas Arlington. Video demonstrations of lab processes accompany each chapter.
Soil and Water Conservation: An Annotated Bibliography
The goals for this textbook are to create an up-to-date resource for soil and water conservation students and practitioners.
Soil and Water Conservation Laboratory Manual
This laboratory manual was developed for graduate and upper-level undergraduate students in soil and water conservation classes who have previously taken a course on introductory soil science. It is designed with a “scaffolding” approach in which each laboratory builds on the previous ones on the way to developing a conservation plan for a single study site.
Virtual Soil Science Learning Resources
Virtual Soil Science Learning Resources (VSSLR) group is focused on developing innovative, OER for a variety of undergraduate and graduate natural resource courses and programs.
Soil Formation and Parent Material
Graphics, videos, and short descriptions of the soil formation process. The website includes information on landscape evolution, soil formation, parent materials, soil landscapes, and more.

Horticulture

The Science of Plants
An approachable guide to the fundamentals of plant science. Created for horticulture students, gardeners, science teachers, and anyone interested in understanding plants and how they grow. This is the required text for HORT 1001/6001 Plant Propagation at the University of Minnesota Department of Horticultural Science.
Botany Lab Manual
With regard to organisms, this course begins with the Cyanobacteria, winds through several groups of unrelated organisms that were all once categorized as fungi, picks apart pieces of the "protista," and finally emerges into Kingdom Plantae.
A Photographic Atlas for Botany
This book provides images and descriptions for the organismal groups and anatomical features covered in general botany.
Red Seal Landscape Horticulturist Identify Plants and Plant Requirements
This is an editable, open access learning resource with interactive web-based experiences customized for horticulture students studying plant identification.
Understudied Indigenous Crops
This eBook focuses on highlighting examples of understudied Indigenous crops, providing information on their origins, production, use, conservation, and breeding.
Anatomy and Physiology of Plants in Carolinian Canada
Conspicuous plants in the Carolinian Zone of Southwestern Ontario are described in this text. Identification, life cycle, and cultural information are given for each plant.
Virginia Cooperative Extension Gardener Handbook
This text covers a variety of topics important for beginning and experienced gardeners, including soil health, native plants, and integrated pest management.
Hedges: A Brief History and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Hedge Collection
This book provides a brief history of hedge displays in the U.S., especially at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, and a glimpse at the cultural significance of these iconic landscape plants.

PBEA Series

The following books, co-edited by Drs. Walter Suza and Kendall Lamkey, are adapted from Plant Breeding in E-Africa modules funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Abbey Elder

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