The Queensland State Soils Collection is a

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

scientific collection A scientific collection is a collection of items that are preserved, catalogued, and managed for the purpose of scientific study. Scientific collections dealing specifically with organisms plants, fungi, animals, insects and their remains, may al ...

based in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The collection is a component of the Queensland Government's response to the need to understand the properties of

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

across the state. Samples within the Queensland State Soils Collection represent most of the major soil types and regions of Queensland and have associated morphology, physical and chemistry data recorded and stored digitally. This data is available through the Queensland Globe Soil and Landscape information (SALI) database. The nature of the collection lends itself for various scientific usage, including an evolving understanding of the ecology of the Queensland landscape and its natural resources. According to the

, the Queensland State Soils Collection supports activities integral to the: *

Biosecurity Act 2015 The ''Biosecurity Act 2015'' is an Act of the Parliament of Australia which manages biosecurity risks in Australia at the national border. It was enacted on 16 June 2015, after the Bill was passed with bipartisan support on 14 May 2015. It co ...

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 The ''Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999'' (Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of Australia that provides a framework for protection of the Australian environment, including its biodiversity and its natural and cult ...

* Soil Survey Act 1929

History and current use

The samples in the collection represent various soil assessment and monitoring programs from across the state since 1978. Prior to 1978, samples were often discarded, resulting in the loss of the opportunity for re-analysis to answer new questions, such as a benchmark for soil health in a changing climate and as a repository of potentially unknown therapeutic compounds. The largest part of the Queensland State Soils Collection is physically held at a storage facility in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

, but smaller collections can also be found in

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

and

Mareeba Mareeba is a rural town and locality in the Shire of Mareeba in Far North Queensland, Australia. Between 2008 and 2013, it was within the Tablelands Region. The town's name is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ''meeting of the water ...

. The main collection consists of over 120,000 individual soil samples that are air-dried and sieved with a 2mm sieve, which is consistent with international soil sampling methodology.

Significance of collection

The collection has been integral to one of the largest scale projects to improve the

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

in the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

- the Paddock to Reef monitoring project. It is a collaborative program between the

, industry in Queensland, and the local community to identify the sources of pollution in water runoff that flows into the Great Barrier Reef and take appropriate action through best practice farm management. As part of the project, soils in the Great Barrier Reef catchments are collected and stored as part of the Queensland State Soils Collection. These soils provide an important snapshot of the situation at a given moment in time and therefore act as a benchmark for the planned future improvement of the region. Together with river and reef water analysis, these data points provide a full picture that allows the creation of soil and water quality maps which allow policymakers to make targeted decisions.

References

{{Reflist Collections Soil Geology of Queensland