Pedology (from Greek: πέδον,
pedon, "soil"; and λόγος,
logos, "study") is the study of soils in their natural environment. It is one of two main branches of
soil science, the other being
edaphology. Pedology deals with
pedogenesis,
soil morphology, and
soil classification, while edaphology studies the way soils influence
plants,
fungi, and other living things.