Soil Ecosystems

Soil EcosystemsAmber BuseyMickell Tippets Ashleigh Checke

Importance of Soil Ecosystems

Organisms eat, grow, and move through the soil, they make it possible to have clean water, clean air, healthy plants, and moderated water flow.

Hence we have healthy soil, plants, humans, and a healthy environment!

The Soil Food web!

The Importance?!• The food web is all fueled by

primary producers.• Plants• Lichens• Moss• Photosynthetic Bacteria• Algae

Soils Organic Matter

Nutrient Cycle

• The Nutrient Cycle consists of the Carbon cycle, the Nitrogen cycle, and the Phosphorus cycle. Carbon and Nitrogen are gases, and Phosphorus is rocks.

The Soil Environment

• Organisms live in the micro-scale environments within and between soil particles. Difference over short distances in PH, moisture, pore size, and the types of food available create a broad range of habitats.

Carbon

• Soil carbon sequestration is the process of transferring carbon dioxide form the atmosphere into the soil through crop residues and other organic solids, and in a form that is not immediately reemitted. This transfer or “sequestering” of carbon helps off-set emission from fossil fuel combustion and other carbon-emitting activates while enhancing soil quality and long-term agronomic productivity. Soil carbon sequestration can be accomplished by management systems that add high amounts of biomass to the soil, cause minimal soil disturbance, conserve soil and water, improve soil structure, and enhance soil fauna activity. Continuous no-till crop production is a prime example.

Phosphorus Cycle

• Most plants are only about 0.2% Phosphorus (P) weight, but that small amount is critically important. Phosphorus is an essential component of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which is involved in most biochemical processes in plants and enables them to extract nutrients from the soil. Phosphorus also plays a critical role in cell development and DNA formation. Not enough soil P can result in delayed crop maturity, reduced flower development low seed quality, and decreased crop yield. Too much P, can be harmful and algae blooms occur. When algae die, their decomposition results in oxygen depletion and can lead to death for aquatic plants and animals. This process is called “Eutrophication.”

Nitrogen Cycle

• Plants take up nitrogen (N) from different sources including fertilizer N and N mineralized from organic sources such as roots and manure. In N, soil supply will range from 50 to 140lbs N/acre. Cornell guidelines reflect soil N supply for each soil type adjusted for drainage. Because the plant-available form of N is Nitrate. A simple pre-season nitrate test cannot accurately predict N needs for the coming seasons. The best way is pre-side Nitrate test, or soil sampling within five weeks of adding manure or sod or cover crop plow down or chemical kill, else it won’t show N mineralization potential.

Questions

• What is the Soil Carbon sequestration?

• T or F: PTSN is the least effective soil test.

• The agronomy fact sheet:A) Provides a brief overview of important components of the P cycleB) Gives a detailed description of the P cycle.C) Removes fossils from the ground.D) Tells you where to dig

• Most plants are ___% P by weightA) 0.24B) 1.32C) 0.2D) 3.8

• T or F: Nitrogen is in the Nutrient Cycle?