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Soil acidification naturally occurs as lichens and algae begin to break down rock surfaces. Acids continue with this dissolution as soil develops. With time and weathering, soils become more acidic in natural ecosystems. Soil acidification rates can vary, and increase with certain factors such as acid rain, agriculture, and pollution. [1]
Global variation in soil pH. Red = acidic soil. Yellow = neutral soil. Blue = alkaline soil. Black = no data. Soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of a soil. Soil pH is a key characteristic that can be used to make informative analysis both qualitative and quantitatively regarding soil characteristics.
Soils become acidic in several ways. Locations that have high rainfall levels become acidic through leaching. Land used for crop and livestock purposes loses minerals over time by crop removal and becomes acidic. [5] The application of modern chemical fertilizers is a major contributor to soil acid by the process in which the plant nutrients ...
Most acid soils are saturated with aluminum rather than hydrogen ions. Soil acidity generally results from hydrolysis of aluminum. [4] This concept of "corrected lime potential" [5] to define the degree of base saturation in soils became the basis for procedures now used in soil testing laboratories to determine the "lime requirement" of soils. [6]
Extensive moorland in the Desert of Wales. Moorland or moor is a type of habitat found in upland areas in temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands and montane grasslands and shrublands biomes, characterised by low-growing vegetation on acidic soils.
Alaskan soil conditions range from loamy to sandy, with all ranges in between. In many parts of Alaska, the soil is acidic, and could greatly improve with the introduction of lime or wood ash. The biomes range from tundra, which is rich in underlying peat moss to taiga, boreal forest, and temperate rain forest.
soil type and structure. For example, sandy soil holds little water while clay soils have high water-retention rates; the amount of water used by the plants/crops; how much nitrate is already present in the soil. [3] The level of nitrous oxide (N 2 O) in the Earth's atmosphere is increasing at a rate of 0.2 to 0.3% annually.
Topsoil is very fertile, which makes it valuable to farmers growing crops. [54] Soil degradation also has a huge impact on biological degradation, which affects the microbial community of the soil and can alter nutrient cycling, pest and disease control, and chemical transformation properties of the soil. [55]