ABSTRACT
Systematic surveys of Brazilian soils began in the decade of 1950, and since the beginning they have been influenced by both U.S. system and FAO-UNESCO legend. The main objective was to make an inventory of Brazilian soils. This was accomplished with the publication of the Brazilian Soil Map at scale 1:5,000,000 in 1981. During the course of subsequent soil surveys, criteria and attributes for characterization of soil classes under varied environments were refined. This process also provided the information and data for developing the next version of the Brazilian Soil Classification and the Soil Map of Brazil. Phases of soil classes were also devised to highlight limitations for land use, constraints for specific uses, and the ecological relationship concerning potential land use. The current Brazilian system, published in 2000, presents adaptations of criteria and concepts established in Soil Taxonomy and in the World Reference Base for Soil Classification. However, the structure of the system and the emphasis given to various criteria differ from these international systems. These differences reflect the experience of Brazilian soil scientists, specifically in the context of use and management of the soils. It is structured in six categorical levels, arranged in a hierarchy of increasing information content: Order, Suborder, Great Group, Subgroup, Family, and Series.
