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The type and amount of vegetation depend on climate, topography, soil characteristics and biological factors, mediated or not by human activities. [104] [105] Soil factors such as density, depth, chemistry, pH, temperature and moisture greatly affect the type of plants that can grow in a given location. Dead plants and fallen leaves and stems ...
Soil pH is a function of many soil forming factors, and is generally lower (more acidic) where weathering is more advanced. [43] Most plant nutrients, with the exception of nitrogen, originate from the minerals that make up the soil parent material.
Soil bulk density, when determined at standardized moisture conditions, is an estimate of soil compaction. [3] Soil porosity consists of the void part of the soil volume and is occupied by gases or water. Soil consistency is the ability of soil materials to stick together. Soil temperature and colour are self-defining.
Soil aeration maintains oxygen levels in the plants' root zone, needed for microbial and root respiration, and important to plant growth. Additionally, oxygen levels regulate soil temperatures and play a role in some chemical processes that support the oxidation of elements like Mn 2+ and Fe 2+ that can be toxic.
The latter becomes soil under the influence of a series of soil-formation factors (climate, vegetation, country, relief and age). According to him, soil should be called the "daily" or outward horizons of rocks regardless of the type; they are changed naturally by the common effect of water, air and various kinds of living and dead organisms. [8]
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.
Soil fertility refers to the ability of soil to sustain agricultural plant growth, i.e. to provide plant habitat and result in sustained and consistent yields of high quality. [3] It also refers to the soil's ability to supply plant/crop nutrients in the right quantities and qualities over a sustained period of time.
Soil has a major influence on water and air movement, biological activity, root growth and seedling emergence. There are several different types of soil structure. It is inherently a dynamic and complex system that is affected by different factors.