This document provides instructions on how to find and download Ecological Site Descriptions (ESDs) using the Web Soil Survey (WSS) for use in a range management plan.
The newest release of the WSS as of July 2020 (version 3.3.2) removed the ESD tab from the WSS interface. This has made locating and downloading the new, updated ESDs a little bit trickier. Here I provide instructions on how to find and download the ESDs through the WSS website.
The Ecosystem Dynamics Interpretive Tool, or EDIT, hosted by Jornada, houses ESDs and users can navigate to ESDs of interest through that site by first selecting a major land resource area, or MLRA through a list or map. For users who wish to first explore the soils data, and view a particular area of interest, such as a ranch, we suggest using the WSS.
Step 5
Once you have located the area on the map, use the rectangle tool to draw a rectangle around the area, or the polygon tool to draw an irregular shape around your AOI. Those buttons are circled in light blue in the image above. To draw the rectangle I clicked in the top left corner of the area I was interested in, then dragged along the diagonal grey line to the bottom right corner of the area I was interested in. This created the blue rectangle AOI with diagonal lines pictured here.
Step 11
- To download the entire ESD, under the general information link, scroll down until you see the link “download full description” circled in black above.
- This will download a pdf report with the reference plant community by functional group, soil type, water features, herbage production value estimates, and state and transition models. To learn more about what the ESDs are and how to use them as a management tool, see the extension publication An Introduction to Using Ecological Site Descriptions as a Management Tool by Dustin Johnson and Kirk Davies.
Final Thoughts
Information from the WSS instructions on how to download the ESDs was used to help create this how-to guide.
Below is more information from the WSS website on the ESD report from EDIT:
Link to Ecological Site
This report generates a list of components and any associated ecological sites. Hyperlinks are created for each ecological site. Clicking on the hyperlink opens the Ecological Site Description in the USDA-Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS) Ecological Site Interpretative Tool (EDIT).
EDIT is an online information system that contains the official list of publicly available USDA-NRCS ecological sites. It replaces the out-of-date Ecological Site Information System (ESIS).
Not all Ecological Site Descriptions are publicly available in EDIT. Please contact your local State Soil Scientist if you have problems viewing the ecological site description within EDIT.
The report only displays information for those soils that are within the Area of Interest and are linked to an ecological site in the Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO). If a soil (component) is not linked to an ecological site, it will not be displayed in the report.
The report displays soil map unit names and symbols, ecological site IDs, ecological site names, and available links to the EDIT website.