The SSSA Fundamental Changes to Soil Taxonomy Task Force.

The Soil Science Society of America has created a Task Force to develop and facilitate the implementation of fundamental changes to Soil Taxonomy. These changes are intended to decrease the complexity and increase the ease of use of Soil Taxonomy such that it can and will be used by more than trained soil scientists. In this poster presentation, we will discuss the background, rationale, objectives, guiding principles, and current activities of this task force including an update on active subcommittee work on initial proposed changes. The guiding principles of the task force include solicitation of broad input from both the U.S. and international community, having minimal negative effects on existing National Cooperative Soil Survey mapping products, complementing concepts used in other soil taxonomic systems, and retention of knowledge embedded in the current system. We will discuss how Soil Science Society members can stay aware of and contribute to this effort. We will also be soliciting input from conference attendees during the poster session.