Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Soil health is a state of a soil meeting its range of ecosystem functions as appropriate to its environment. In more colloquial terms, the health of soil arises from favorable interactions of all soil components (living and non-living) that belong together, as in microbiota, plants and animals.
Soil bulk density, when determined at standardized moisture conditions, is an estimate of soil compaction. [60] 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.
A healthy topsoil layer is a very rich microbiome that hosts a wide array of species. [2] Organic matter provides nutrition for living organisms and varies in quantity between different soils with the strength of the soil structure decreasing when more is present. It condenses and settles over time in different ways depending upon conditions ...
Wood chips are an easy and affordable way to give your garden a boost. They're commonly used as mulch to suppress weeds, improve water retention, and reduce soil erosion.Beyond mulch, wood chips ...
Soil color, while easily discerned, has little use in predicting soil characteristics. [109] It is of use in distinguishing boundaries of horizons within a soil profile, [ 110 ] determining the origin of a soil's parent material , [ 111 ] as an indication of wetness and waterlogged conditions, [ 112 ] and as a qualitative means of measuring ...
Soil is made up of a multitude of physical, chemical, and biological entities, with many interactions occurring among them. It is a heterogenous mixture of minerals and organic matter with variations in moisture, temperature and nutrients.
Humus allows soil organisms to feed and reproduce and is often described as the "life-force" of the soil. [53] [54] The process that converts soil organic matter into humus feeds the population of microorganisms and other creatures in the soil, and thus maintains high and healthy levels of soil life. [53] [54]
Nutrients in the soil are taken up by the plant through its roots, and in particular its root hairs.To be taken up by a plant, a nutrient element must be located near the root surface; however, the supply of nutrients in contact with the root is rapidly depleted within a distance of ca. 2 mm. [14] There are three basic mechanisms whereby nutrient ions dissolved in the soil solution are brought ...