Soil: A Renewable Resource

Introduction

Soil is the uppermost layer of the Earth. It originates from parent rock and contains both organic and
inorganic substances. Fertility of soils depends on depth.

Soil resources form a fundamental part of the environment. They provide the physical base to support the
productivity and cycling of biological resources, provide the source of nutrients and water for agricultural
and forestry systems and fulfil a complex buffering role against environmental variability (ranging from
dampening diurnal and seasonal change in temperature and water supply to the storage and binding of a
range of chemical and biological agents). They are also highly biodiverse. Soils themselves vary greatly-
a soil with favorable mix of physical, chemical and biological characteristics will have a much higher
potential for productivity on gross terms than one less favored. A broader ecosystem view complicates
this, however. For example, “poor” soils with low levels of nutrients can have highly diverse flora and
fauna with high levels of endemism.

The coverage of Earth’s surface with soil varies from place to place. Tropical forests have thin soils that
are poor in nutrients, while grasslands in temperate regions have soils that are rich and well able to
support crops. There are several different classes of soil depending on how the soil is formed and where it
is located. An understanding of which class of soil is found in a particular location is an important
foundation to obtaining successful crop yields.

Soil definitions
1) The unconsolidated organic and mineral material on the earth’s surface that is capable of
supporting plants.
2) A dynamic natural body, in which plants grow, that is composed of mineral and organic materials
and living organisms.

Soil-Forming Factors

 Parent material (rock that is slowly broken down by biological, chemical, and physical
weathering processes in nature.)
 Climate (when temperatures are below freezing decomposition of organic matter and water
movement are slow, soil development in the humid tropics is accelerated by the rapid weathering
of rock and soil minerals, the leaching of nutrients, and the decomposition of organic detritus.)
Precipitation and temperature changes.
  Topography (presence or absence of mountains and valleys, steep slopes have little to no soil on
them because soil and rock are continually transported down the slopes by gravity; moderate
slopes and valleys, may encourage the formation the formation of deep soils)
 Organisms (plant roots, lichens produce acids, animals that burrow or tunnel, such as earthworms,
voles, mix the soils, distributing organic and mineral matter

Soil composition

 45% Mineral particles (broken down pieces of rock)

 5% Organic matter (humus – from dead organisms, worm castings, leaf litter)
 25% Water (precipitation)
 25% Air (More with sandy soil, less with clay soil)

Soil organisms – millions in one teaspoon of fertile agricultural soil. (bacteria, fungi, algae, microscopic
worms)

 Provide ecological services such as worm castings,

 Decomposition to humus,
 Breaking down of toxic materials,
 Cleansing water
 Nutrient cycling from decomposers or upon death.

Soil nutrients
Organic- animal manure, bone meal, compost (slow-acting, long-lasting)

 Delay in availability to plants, needs time for the organic materials to decompose
 Delay causes low levels of nutrient leaching
 Improves water holding capacity

Inorganic- manufactured from chemical compounds (fast-acting, short lasting)

 Highly soluble so immediately available to plants

 Highly soluble also makes it leach quickly (pollutes water)
 Suppresses growth of microorganisms
 Source of nitrogen gases that increase air pollution’
Production requires much energy from fossil fuels, increasing CO2 emmisions.
I. Formation of Soil
 Soil is a potentially renewable resource: 200-1000 years to form 1inch topsoil
  Complex mixture of eroded rock, mineral nutrients, decaying organic matter, water,
air and living organisms formed by the physical, chemical and biological breakdown
of rock during weathering.
 Main factors in soil formation: climate, biota, topography, parent material, time
 Soil is the basis of terrestrial life.
II. Layers in Mature Soils
 Mature soils are arranged in a series of horizontal layers- soil horizons- each with a
distinct texture and composition. A cross sectional view is a soil profile.
O: surface litter layer: Consists of fallen un decomposed or partially
decomposed leaves, twigs, crop or animal waste and fungi. Normally brown or
black
A: Topsoil: porous mixture of partially decomposed plant and animal bodies-
humus-and inorganis clay, silt and sand.
B: Subsoil: inorganic material; partially broken down rock
C: Parent Material: un-weathered bedrock

Layers in Mature Soils

 Spaces or pores between solid organic and inorganic particles contain water and
oxygen (needed for cell respiration in roots)
 Infiltration: downward movement of water through soil
 Leaching: as water seeps down, it dissolves various minerals and organic matter
from top layers and transports them to lower layers
 Soil profiles vary by ecosystem
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III. Biology of Soil
 Bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, protozoa
and nematodes
 mostly microscopic decomposers.

IV. Properties of Soil

Physical
Temperature: soil not air temp
that is important to seed
germination. Certain pests and
diseases thrive at different temps

Texture: property used to

describe the relative proportion
of different grain sizes of mineral
particles in a soil: clay, silt, and sand.
Soil texture classification is based
on the fractions using a soil triangle.

Loam: Soil with roughly equal parts of each.

Structure the arrangement of the solid parts of the soil and of the pore space
located between them.

Properties of Soil-Porosity

• The volume of all the open

spaces (pores) between
the solid grains of soil.

• The smaller the particle

size the greater the
porosity. Clay has small
particles and the largest
water holding capacity.
Sand has large particles
and a low porosity
Properties of Soil
Permeability-allows water and air to flow

Properties of Soil-Chemical Properties

• pH: Often referred to as soil acidity. Important in determining which plants will grow because it
influences nutrient solubility and thus nutrient uptake.

Too acidic: add lime Too alkaline: add sulfur

• Soil Nutrients: Macronutrients(N,P,K,S,Ca,Mg)

Micronutrients (Fe,Mn, Zn, Cu, Mo, Co, Cl)

Fertilizers contain N,P,K

Role of Soil Nutrients

• N needed for production of amino acids/proteins; important for photosynthesis

• P important component of nucleic acids (transfer of genetic info)

phosphoproteins and phospholipids.

• K enzyme activator that allows stomates to open and close and water vapor and oxygen
to move in and out of plant cells

V. Soil Degradation
• Two categories:
1) displacement of soil (erosion)
2) in situ physical and chem deterioration
• Can be a result of
1) natural hazards: climate, steep slopes, frequent flooding
 2) in-apprpriate use of land-overgrazing, nutrient depletion.

Erosion: The affect of removal of trees or vegetation

• Water Erosion most influential factor on global soil degradation.

• Natural process increased by human land use.

• Many factors: 1) amount of precip

2) soil texture 3) slope 4) ground cover

5) land use
http://www.hippocampus.org/AP%20Environmental%20Science

Water Erosion in Tennessee Sheet Erosion: surface water or wind peel off thin layers
of soil.

Rill Erosion: fast-flowing little rivulets of surface water make small channels.

Wind Erosion

• Like water erosion, wind erosion involves the removal of soil particles by a moving fluid- air. As
with water erosion, the finer particles are typically lost first which leads to the loss of the
organic matter and nutrients that are generally attached to those particles. The potential final
result of continued wind erosion is an area of active barren dunes
 • Blowing soil can also reduce seedling survival and growth, depress crop yieldsand increase the
susceptibility of plants to certain types of stress, including diseases.

Dust Bowl

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2CiDaUYr90

• 1930’s: Poor farming practices and drought.

• Farming techniques that worked in the North and East did not work on central and Southern
Plains.

• Utilized mechanized farming techniques as a way to increase profits. Many bought plows and
other farming equipment, and between 1925 and 1930 more than 5 million acres of previously
unfarmed land was plowed

• The skies could darken for days- homes could have a thick layer of dust on furniture. In some
places the dust would drift like snow, covering farmsteads.

• Soil Conservation Service formed as a result of the Dust Bowl-created soil conservation districts

Soil Degradation

• Desertification: Degradation of land in arid and semi-arid regions due drought and overgrazing.
Results in loss of biodiversity and loss of productive capacity.

• Salinization: Soil degradation caused by over irrigation: irrigated water contains salts that, when
water evaporates are left behind.

• Water logging: Problem associated with excessive irrigation on poorly drained soils where water
can't penetrate deeply. When soils are water logged, air spaces in the soil are filled with water,
and plant roots essentially suffocate - lack oxygen.

Severe desertification: Sand dunes threaten to take over an oasis in the Sahel region of West Africa.