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Understanding Soil: Nutrients, Facts, and Organisms

Explore the essential soil nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium, the significance of soil structure, various soil types, beneficial soil organisms, and the importance of soil complexity in promoting plant growth and biodiversity.

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Understanding Soil: Nutrients, Facts, and Organisms

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  1. Soil

  2. Nutrients • Nitrogen- controls formation, makes proteins • Lack of nitrogen- spindly, stunted growth • Too much- disease susceptible • Phosphorous- helps photosynthesis and respiration, increases growth rate • Lack of phosphorous- spindly thin stems • Since its difficult to obtain, too much is basically impossible • Potassium- helps metabolize food for energy • Lack of potassium= weak roots, burned look to plants, cannot regulate water

  3. Soil Facts & Definitions • Gleyed= mottled • Dust Bowl of 1930s- First indication that soil is important • Colluvium- soil accumulated due to slide • Karst- topography with sink holes due to limestone • Loess- wind deposit of soil • Piedmont- low plateau from NJ to AL east of Appalachains

  4. Soil Structure • Determined by size, shape, and grade • Grade: Weak, Moderate, Strong • Shape: Granular, Prismatic, Subangular blocky, Angular blocky, Platy

  5. Soil Organisms • Bacteria- mostly around roots, in litter, on humus, on surface and between soil aggregates • Activity level follows seasonal patterns • Grass and soil ecosystems have bacteria based food chains • Forest have fungal based food chains • Food web complexity based on number of species and number of types of species

  6. Benefits of Soil Complexity • Nutrients cycle • Nutrients are retained • Structure, infiltration, and water holding capacity improve • Diseases are decreased • Biodiversity increases

  7. Bacteria types • Decomposers- organics and pollutants • Mutualistics- live on plants • Pathogens- such as gall formers • Lithotrophs or chemoautotrophs- cycle nitrogen, break down pollutants

  8. Important Bacteria • Nitrogen-fixing bacteria- transform gaseous nitrogen to nodules • Nitrifying bacteria- change ammonium (NH4+) to nitrite (NO2-) then to nitrate (NO3-) the preferred form of nitrogen for plants • Denitrifying bacteria-nitrate to nitrogen (N2) or nitrous oxide (N2O) gas (anaerobic processes) • Actinomycetes- decompose ahrd to decay plant material

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