1 / 13

Soil and Productivity

Soil and Productivity. Importance of Soil. Soil: the layer of material that covers the land Where plants anchor and grow Made of weathered rock, decomposing plant and animal matter Has spaces for air and water movement

sydnee-holt
Download Presentation

Soil and Productivity

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Soil and Productivity

  2. Importance of Soil • Soil: the layer of material that covers the land • Where plants anchor and grow • Made of weathered rock, decomposing plant and animal matter • Has spaces for air and water movement • Soils differ in organic content which effects the ability to support plant life.

  3. Layers of composition • 3 major types of soil • Horizon A: Topsoil • Horizon B: Subsoil • Horizon C: Parent Rock • Horizon D: Bedrock • Each layer has different characteristics depending on where it is found.

  4. Grasslands • Horizon A is deep and supports root growth; small particles of rock mixed with decaying plant and animals (Humas). • Horizon B is the subsoil (mix of dirt and rock). • Horizon C is mostly large pieces of rock. • Horizon D is bedrock solid rock.

  5. Forest

  6. Deserts • Horizon A: limited plant growth so little decomposition, so thin top soil or none at all.

  7. Disturbing soils • Soils change over time naturally • Human impact: deforestation leads to increased erosion of topsoil (no roots to hold soil in place)

  8. Feeding the Human Population!

  9. Productivity of Ecosystems • Ecosystems have different productivities, based on light availability, soil types, precipitation, temperature, nutrients. • Productivity: the quantity of biomass of plants produced each year on a given area (g/m2)

  10. Productivity of different ecosystems:

  11. Sustaining life • Biotic: living part of the environment. Ex: plants and animals • Abiotic: non-living part of the environment. Ex: elements, air, and water.

  12. The key events - respiration and photosynthesis • Photosynthesis takes carbon dioxide, water and energy to produce carbohydrates and oxygen. • Respiration takes carbohydrates and oxygen, combines them to produce carbon dioxide, water, and energy.

More Related