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Soils are the product of climate, organisms and topography, acting on parent (geologic) material over time. Thus the great diversity of geologic materials, geomorphic processes, climatic conditions, biotic assemblages and land surface ages in the United States is responsible for the presence of an enormous variety of mineral and organic soils.
The northernmost part of the desert lies 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) above sea level, and due to high summer temperatures, not all of the fallen precipitation is fully absorbed into the soil, resulting in a high sodium concentration. [7] In other areas, mountain erosion has caused deep soils of fine particles, which allows for standing lakes.
Soil structure is essential to soil health and fertility; soil structure decline has a direct effect on soil and surface food chain and biodiversity as a consequence. Continued crop cultivation eventually results in significant changes within the soil, such as its nutrient status, pH balance, organic matter content, and physical characteristics ...
Ecoregions of North America, featuring the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and the five inhabited territories. The following is a list of ecoregions in the United States as identified by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The United States is a megadiverse country with a high level of endemism across a wide variety of ecosystems.
The adversity of soil and climatic conditions proves to low production levels, as well as little biomass accumulation due to slow rates of nutrient release in cold and wet soils, specifically as a result of limited nitrogen and phosphorus (Nadelhoffer et al. 1996) Additionally, there are low temperatures and strong winds in the tundra causing most vegetation to be dominated by woody plants ...
Shaded relief map of the United States, showing 10 geological provinces The richly textured landscape of the United States is a product of the dueling forces of plate tectonics, weathering and erosion. Over the 4.5 billion-year history of the Earth, tectonic upheavals and colliding plates have raised great mountain ranges while the forces of ...
Topography in the Great Plains actually affects soil composition in areas of different elevation. Higher accumulations of soil organic matter are found in lower landscape positions such as grasslands than in higher landscape positions such as buttes, mesas, and escarpments found throughout the north western areas of the ecoregion. In the short ...
Soil microbial communities experience shifts in the diversity and composition during dehydration and rehydration cycles. [5] Soil moisture affects carbon cycling a phenomenon known as Birch effect. [6] [7] Temperature variations in soil are influenced by factors such as seasonality, environmental conditions, vegetation, and soil composition.