Modern technological advances and trends require new pedagogy and delivery of mapping materials to prepare the future workforce in the disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) for an increasingly technology-dominated society. The purpose of this study was to develop an Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) Story Map “Soil Forming Factors: Climate” for multiple STEM disciplines based on the design guidelines from the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML). The study incorporated a two-group post-test only design that utilized multiple methods of analysis, including a quality assessment of the ESRI Story Map using the five principles of effective storytelling, direct quantitative measures of learning (quiz), and surveys of participants’ perceptions (PowerPoint presentation versus ESRI Story Map) using Qualtrics^TM. Survey results were summarized by gender, academic classification (year), and academic major program. The newly developed ESRI Story Map was an effective teaching tool as demonstrated by quiz scores and students’ positive responses. Post-testing scores indicated that ESRI Story Maps were an effective way to learn and were viewed as effective as traditional teaching methods (e.g., PowerPoint). Additionally, students reported feeling comfortable using ESRI Story Maps. These positive responses were consistent by gender, major, and academic classification (year). This research indicates that adding audio may improve the use of this ESRI Story Map for educational concept delivery. Empirical studies such as this that include multifaceted quantitative and qualitative assessments are critical to understanding the benefits of new types of multimedia learning in an educational setting.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) generates several ecosystem services (ES), including a regulating service by sequestering carbon (C) as SOC. This ES can be valued based on the avoided social cost of carbon (SC-CO₂) from the long-term damage resulting from emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂). The objective of this study was to assess the value of SOC stocks, based on the avoided SC-CO₂ ($42 per metric ton of CO₂ in 2007 U.S. dollars), in the contiguous United States (U.S.) by soil order, soil depth (0–20, 20–100, 100–200 cm), land resource region (LRR), state, and region using information from the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) database. The total calculated monetary value for SOC storage in the contiguous U.S. was between $4.64T (i.e., $4.64 trillion U.S. dollars, where T = trillion = 10¹²) and $23.1T, with a midpoint value of $12.7T. Soil orders with the highest midpoint SOC storage values were 1): Mollisols ($4.21T), 2) Histosols ($2.31T), and 3) Alfisols ($1.48T). The midpoint values of SOC normalized by area within soil order boundaries were ranked: 1) Histosols ($21.58 m⁻²), 2) Vertisols ($2.26 m⁻²), and 3) Mollisols ($2.08 m⁻²). The soil depth interval with the highest midpoint values of SOC storage and content was 20–100 cm ($6.18T and $0.84 m⁻², respectively), while the depth interval 100–200 cm had the lowest midpoint values of SOC storage ($2.88T) and content ($0.39 m⁻²). The depth trends exemplify the prominence of SOC in the upper portions of soil. The LRRs with the highest midpoint SOC storage values were: 1) M – Central Feed Grains and Livestock Region ($1.8T), 2) T – Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region ($1.26T), and 3) K – Northern Lake States Forest and Forage Region ($1.16T). The midpoint values of SOC normalized by area within LRR boundaries were ranked: 1) U – Florida Subtropical Fruit, Truck Crop, and Range Region ($6.10 m⁻²), 2) T – Atlantic and Gulf Coast Lowland Forest and Crop Region ($5.44 m⁻²), and 3) K – Northern Lake States Forest and Forage Region ($3.88 m⁻²). States with the highest midpoint values of SOC storage were: 1) Texas ($1.08T), 2) Minnesota ($834B) (i.e., $834 billion U.S. dollars, where B = billion = 10⁹), and 3) Florida ($742B). Midpoint values of SOC normalized by area within state boundaries were ranked: 1) Florida ($5.44 m⁻²), 2) Delaware ($4.10 m⁻²), and 3) Minnesota ($3.99 m⁻²). Regions with the highest midpoint values of SOC storage were: 1) Midwest ($3.17T), 2) Southeast ($2.44T), and 3) Northern Plains ($2.35T). Midpoint values of SOC normalized by area within region boundaries were ranked: 1) Midwest ($2.73 m⁻²), 2) Southeast ($2.31 m⁻²), and 3) East ($1.82 m⁻²). The reported values and trends demonstrate the need for policies with regards to SOC management, which requires incentives within administrative boundaries but informed by the geographic distribution of SOC.

Carbon sequestered as soil inorganic carbon (SIC) provides a regulating ecosystem service, which can be assigned a monetary value based on the avoided social cost of carbon (SC-CO₂). By definition, the SC-CO₂ is a measure, in dollars, of the long-term damage resulting from the emission of a metric ton of carbon dioxide (CO₂). Therefore, this dollar figure also represents the value of damages avoided due to an equivalent reduction or sequestration of CO₂. The objective of this study was to assess the value of SIC stocks in the contiguous United States (U.S.) by soil order, soil depth (0–20, 20–100, 100–200 cm), land resource region (LRR), state, and region using information from the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) database together with a reported SC-CO₂ of $42 (U.S. dollars). With this approach, the calculated monetary value for total SIC storage in the contiguous U.S. was between $3.48T (i.e., $3.48 trillion U.S. dollars, where T = trillion = 10¹²) and $14.4T, with a midpoint value of $8.34T. Soil orders with the highest (midpoint) values for SIC storage were: 1) Mollisols ($3.57T), 2) Aridisols ($1.99T), and 3) Alfisols ($841B) (i.e., $841B is 841 billion U.S. dollars, where B = billion = 10⁹). When normalized by land area, the soil orders with the highest (midpoint) values for SIC storage were: 1) Vertisols ($3.57 m⁻²), 2) Aridisols ($2.45 m⁻²), and 3) Mollisols ($1.77 m⁻²). Most of the SIC value was associated with the 100–200 cm depth interval, with a midpoint value of $4T and an area-normalized value of $0.54 m⁻². The LRRs with the highest (midpoint) values of SIC storage were: 1) D—Western Range and Irrigated Region ($1.77T), 2) H—Central Great Plains Winter Wheat and Range Region ($1.49T), and 3) M—Central Feed Grains and Livestock Region ($1.02T). When normalized by land area, the LRRs were ranked: 1) I—Southwest Plateaus and Plains Range and Cotton Region ($5.36 m⁻²), 2) J—Southwestern Prairies Cotton and Forage Region ($4.56 m⁻²), and 3) H—Central Great Plains Winter Wheat and Range Region ($2.56 m⁻²). States with the highest (midpoint) values for SIC storage were: 1) Texas ($2.96T), 2) New Mexico ($572B), and 3) Montana ($524B). When normalized by land area, the states were ranked: 1) Texas ($4.47 m⁻²), 2) Utah ($2.77 m⁻²), and 3) Minnesota ($2.17 m⁻²). Lastly, regions with the highest (midpoint) values for SIC storage were: 1) South Central ($3.13T), 2) West ($1.98T), and 3) Northern Plains ($1.62T). When normalized by land area, the regions were ranked: 1) South Central ($2.90 m⁻²), 2) Midwest ($1.32 m⁻²), and 3) West ($1.02 m⁻²). Results from this study demonstrate a new approach for assigning monetary values to SIC stocks at various scales based on their role in providing ecosystem services for climate regulation and carbon sequestration.

Total soil carbon (TSC) is a composite (total) stock, which is the sum of soil organic carbon (SOC) and soil inorganic carbon (SIC). Total soil carbon, and its individual two components, are all important criteria for assessing ecosytems services (ES) and for achieving United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The objective of this study was to assess the value of TSC stocks, based on the concept of the avoided social cost of carbon dioxide emissions, for the contiguous United States (U.S.) by soil order, soil depth (0–20, 20–100, 100–200 cm), land resource region (LRR), state, and region using information from the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) database. The total calculated monetary value for TSC storage in the contiguous U.S. was between $8.13T (i.e., $8.13 trillion U.S. dollars, where T = trillion = 10¹²) and $37.5T, with a midpoint value of $21.1T. Soil orders with the highest TSC storage midpoint values were Mollisols ($7.78T) and Aridisols ($2.49T). Based on area, however, the soil orders with highest midpoint TSC values were Histosols ($21.95 m⁻²) and Vertisols ($5.84 m⁻²). Soil depth was important, with the highest values of TSC storage being found in the interval 20–100 cm ($9.87T—total midpoint value, and $1.34 m⁻²—midpoint area density). The soil depth interval 0–20 cm had the lowest TSC storage ($4.30T) and lowest area-density ($0.58 m⁻²) value, which exemplifies the prominence of TSC in the deeper subsurface layers of soil. The LRRs with the highest midpoint TSC storage values were: M—Central Feed Grains and Livestock Region ($2.82T) and D—Western Range and Irrigated Region ($2.64T), whereas on an area basis the LRRs with the highest values were I—Southwest Plateaus and Plains Range and Cotton Region ($6.90 m⁻²) and J—Southwestern Prairies Cotton and Forage Region ($6.38 m⁻²). Among the U.S. states, the highest midpoint TSC storage values were Texas ($4.03T) and Minnesota ($1.29T), while based on area this order was reversed (i.e., Minnesota: $6.16 m⁻²; Texas: $6.10 m⁻²). Comprehensive assessment of regulating ES requires TSC, which is an important measure in achieving the UN SDGs. Despite the known shortcomings of soil databases, such as their static nature and the wide ranges of uncertainty reported for various soil properties, they provide the most comprehensive information available at this time for making systematic assessments of ecosystem services at large spatial scales.

Soil databases are very important for assessing ecosystem services at different administrative levels (e.g., state, region etc.). Soil databases provide information about numerous soil properties, including soil inorganic carbon (SIC), which is a naturally occurring liming material that regulates soil pH and performs other key functions related to all four recognized ecosystem services (e.g., provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services). However, the ecosystem services value, or “true value,” of SIC is not recognized in the current land market. In this case, a negative externality arises because SIC with a positive value has zero market price, resulting in the market failure and the inefficient use of land. One potential method to assess the value of SIC is by determining its replacement cost based on the price of commercial limestone that would be required to amend soil. The objective of this study is to assess SIC replacement cost value in the contiguous United States (U.S.) by depth (0–20, 20–100, 100–200 cm) and considering different spatial aggregation levels (i.e., state, region, land resource region (LRR) using the State Soil Geographic (STATSGO) soil database. A replacement cost value of SIC was determined based on an average price of limestone in 2014 ($10.42 per U.S. ton). Within the contiguous U.S., the total replacement cost value of SIC in the upper two meters of soil is between $2.16T (i.e., 2.16 trillion U.S. dollars, where T = trillion = 10¹²) and $8.97T. States with the highest midpoint total value of SIC were: (1) Texas ($1.84T), (2) New Mexico ($355B, that is, 355 billion U.S. dollars, where B = billion = 10⁹) and (3) Montana ($325B). When normalized by area, the states with the highest midpoint SIC values were: (1) Texas ($2.78 m⁻²), (2) Utah ($1.72 m⁻²) and (3) Minnesota ($1.35 m⁻²). The highest ranked regions for total SIC value were: (1) South Central ($1.95T), (2) West ($1.23T) and (3) Northern Plains ($1.01T), while the highest ranked regions based on area-normalized SIC value were: (1) South Central ($1.80 m⁻²), (2) Midwest ($0.82 m⁻²) and (3) West ($0.63 m⁻²). For land resource regions (LRR), the rankings were: (1) Western Range and Irrigated Region ($1.10T), (2) Central Great Plains Winter Wheat and Range Region ($926B) and (3) Central Feed Grains and Livestock Region ($635B) based on total SIC value, while the LRR rankings based on area-normalized SIC value were: (1) Southwest Plateaus and Plains Range and Cotton Region ($3.33 m⁻²), (2) Southwestern Prairies Cotton and Forage Region ($2.83 m⁻²) and (3) Central Great Plains Winter Wheat and Range Region ($1.59 m⁻²). Most of the SIC is located within the 100–200 cm depth interval with a midpoint replacement cost value of $2.49T and an area-normalized value of $0.34 m⁻². Results from this study provide a link between science-based estimates (e.g., soil order) of SIC replacement costs within the administrative boundaries (e.g., state, region etc.).

Atmospheric resources are very important for assessing ecosystem services at different administrative levels (e.g., state, region, etc.). Quantification of atmospheric calcium (Ca²⁺) deposition on the total basis provides incomplete information about the ecosystem services flows (both “natural” and “human-derived”), therefore lacking a systems approach to guide sustainable management of the flows which support many ecosystem services. This study assessed the value of wet, dry, and total atmospheric calcium deposition flows in the contiguous United States (U.S.) by different spatial aggregation levels (e.g., state, region) using information from the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NRSP-3) and commodity prices of human-derived materials: agricultural limestone (CaCO₃) and uncalcined gypsum (CaSO₄•2H₂O). The total provisioning ecosystem value of atmospheric calcium deposition flows was $66.7M (i.e., 66.7 million U.S. dollars) ($30M wet + $36.7M dry) based on an average 2014 price of $10.42 per U.S. ton of agricultural limestone (CaCO₃) or nearly $364M ($164M wet + $200M dry) based on an average 2014 price of $33.00 per U.S. ton gypsum (CaSO₄•2H₂O). The quantified spatial distribution of wet, dry, and total atmospheric calcium deposition could be used to identify areas with opportunities for more efficient use of “human-derived” materials since they are already being supplied by atmospheric deposition.