Soil Resources
Soil is the uppermost layer of the earth. It fertile agricultural soil,bacteria,fungi,algae,
originates from parent rock and contains both
inorganic and inorganic substances. Fertility of a
soil depends on depth.
Soil Definitions
1) The unconsolidated organic and mineral
material on the earth’s surface that is
capable of supporting plants.
2) A dynamic natural body, in which plants
grow, that is composed of mineral and
organic materials and living organisms.
Soil-Forming Factors
 Parent material (rock that is slowly broken
down by biological, chemical, and physical
weathering processes in nature.)
 Climate(when temperatures are below
freezing decomposition of organic matter
and water movement are slow, soil
development in the humid tropics is
accelerated by the rapid weathering of rock
and soil minerals, the leaching of nutrients,
and the decomposition of organic
detritus.)precipitation and temperature
changes
 Topography (presence or absence of
mountains and valleys, steep slopes have
little or no soil on them because soil and
rock are continually transported down the
slopes by gravity; moderate slopes and
valleys, may encourage the formation of
deep soils)
 Organisms (plant roots, lichens produce
acids, animals that burrow or tunnel, such
as earthworms, voles, mix the soil,
distributing organic and mineral matter
 Time Grasslands soil have rich organic
matter
 How long climate has been altering parent
material over geologic time
Soil Composition
• 45% Mineral particles (broken down pieces
of rock)
• 5% Organic matter (humus - from dead
organisms,
worm castings, leaf litter)
• 25% Water (precipitation)
• 25% Air (More with sandy soil, less with
clay soil)
Soil organisms - Millions in one teaspoon of
microscopic worms.
 provide ecological services such as worm
castings,
 decomposition to humus,
 breaking down of toxic materials,
 cleansing water,
 nutrient cycling from decomposers or upon
death
Soil Nutrients
Organic - animal manure, bone meal, compost
(slow-acting, long-lasting)
• Delay in availability to plants, needs time
for the organic material to decompose
• Delay causes low level of nutrient leaching
• Improves water holding capacity
Inorganic - Manufactured from chemical
compounds (fast-acting, short-lasting)
• Highly soluble so immediately available to
plants
• High solubility also makes it leach quickly
(pollutes water)
• Suppresses growth of microorganisms
• Source of nitrogen gases that increase air
pollution
• Production requires much energy from fossil
fuels, increasing CO2 emissions.
Soil Horizon
 O Horizon:
Organic or litter
layer, topmost
layer
 A Horizon:
Topsoil; mostly
inorganic
minerals with
some
organic material and
humus mixed in;
crucial for plant growth
 E Horizon:
Eluviation
horizon; loss of minerals by leaching, a
process whereby solid materials are
dissolved and transported away, only found
in forested areas, light colored
 B Horizon: Subsoil; zone of accumulation
or deposition of leached minerals and
 organic acids from above, clay and
minerals, (iron, aluminum and calcium)
 C Horizon: Slightly altered parent material
 R Horizon: Bedrock
Soil Organisms
• Ants live in the soil in
enormous numbers, constructing tunnels
• and chambers that aerate it.
• Food brought in by the ants and the left
Over is eventually decomposed and add to
the organic matter in the
• soil.
• Ants also bury seeds in the soil and
help in reproduction
• Symbiotic association between the roots of
plants and fungi.
• When mycorrhizal fungi are absent from the
soil, the reestablishment of certain tree
species is retarded.
Nutrient Cycling
• Leaching causes some nutrient minerals to
be lost from the soil ecosystem to
groundwater, the weathering of the parent
material replaces much or all of them.
• Dusts carried in the atmosphere help
replace nutrient minerals in certain soils.
• Hawaiian rainforest soils, for example,
receive dust inputs from central Asia, a
distance more than 600km away.
Soil characterization
 Soil can be characterized by color and
several other traits:
• Texture
• Structure
• pH
Soil Texture
Determined by size of particles
Three main categories:
 Clay = particles < 0.002 mm diameter
 Silt = particles 0.002–0.05 mm diameter
 Sand = particles 0.05–2.0 mm diameter
Best for plant growth is loam, an even mix of these
three types.
Loam
- Is an ideal agricultural soil. Has an optimum
combination of different soil particle sizes. It
contains 40% of each sand and silt, and
about 20% of clay.
- Generally larger particles provide structural
support, aeration, and permeability to the
soil, whereas smaller particles bind into
aggregates, or clumps, and hold nutrients
and water.
- Sandy soil is not desirable because they do
not hold mineral or water and plants grown
in such soils are more susceptible to mineral
deficiencies and drought.
- Clayey soil provide poor drainage and often
do not contain enough oxygen.
Soil Texture Chart
 It is possible find the type of soil by making
use of the soil texture chart.
 We can determine the percentage of
each component in a soil sample and then
plot the results. (make sure the sum of the
sand plus silt plus clay will always be 100
percent.
Soil Characteristics
Understand what soil is and how it forms.
• 1) clay = “layer silicates that are formed as
products of chemical weathering of other
silicate minerals at the earth's surface. They
are found most often in shales, the most
common type of sedimentary rock.”
• 2) silt = rock worn into tiny pieces (coarser
than clay, but finer than sand). usually 1/20
millimeter or less in diameter
• 3) sand = quartz or silica worn down over
time. grains with diameters between 0.06
mm to 2 mm
• 4) organic matter (humus)
• 5) Loam = soil containing a mixture of clay,
sand, silt and humus. Good for growing
most crops.
Soil pH
 Most soil ranges from 4 to 8
 The soil of the Pygmy forest in Mendocino
County, California, is acidic, with a pH of
2.8 to 3.9
 Soils in Death Valley, California, have a pH
of 10.5
 At a low pH, the aluminum and manganese
in soil water are more soluble, and the roots
absorb them in toxic concentrations.
 Certain mineral salts essential for plant
growth, such as calcium phosphate, become
less soluble and less available to plant at
a higher pH.
 An acidic soil has a relatively reduced
ability to bind postiviely charged ions to it.
Soil Porosity and Permeability
 Porosity - volume of water that “fits
between” the soil particles
 Permeability - rate of flow of water through
soil
 % retention - how much water is “trapped”
by soil
 Porosity and Permeability are directly
related; when one is high, the other is high
as well. % water retention is inversely
related to both.
Alfisol
 Brown to gray-brown A-horizon
 Moderately weathered forest soils
 Found: Moist temperate forest biomes
- Most organic material is found in living
plants
 Adequate for agriculture if supplemented
with fertilizer or organic material
Mollisols
 Primarily found in temperate, semiarid
grasslands
 Fertile soils
 Dark brown to black A –horizon rich in
humus
 Soluble minerals remain in the upper layers
because precipitation is not great enough to
leach them into lower layers.
 Best agricultural soil
 Most of the world’s grain crops are grown in
mollisols.
Aridisols
 Thin light colored and contain a lot of sand.
 Found: Dry lands and deserts
 Susceptible to salinization
 Crops can be grown on aridisols, if water is
supplied by irrigation
Oxisols
 Low in nutrient minerals
 Exist in tropical and subtropical areas with
ample precipitation
 Little organic material accumulates on the
forest floor (O-hroizon) because leaves and
twigs are rapidly decomposed.
 A-horizon is rich with humus
 Most organic matter is found in living plants
Soil Erosion
 Wind, water, ice, and other agents promote
soil erosion
 Rainfall loosens soil particles, and then
transported by moving water.
Effects of soil erosion
 Reduces the amount of soil in an area and
limits the growth of plants
 Causes a soil to lose its fertility because
essential nutrient mineral and organic
matter in the soil are removed. Leads to loss
of productivity of crops and use of more
fertilizers
 Sediments that gets into water bodies affect
water quality and fish habitats.
 Sediments with pesticides add to pollution
Cause and prevention of soil erosion
  Poor soil management practices
 Poor agricultural practices
 Removal of natural plant communities
 Unsound logging practices
 Clearcutting large forested areas
Sufficient plant cover limits the amount of soil
erosion.
Roots help to hold the soil in place.
Nutrient mineral depletion
 As plant and animal detritus decomposes
innatural ecosystems, nutrient minerals are Desertification
cycled back to the soil for reuse. In
agriculture, much of the plant material is
harvested. Because the nutrient minerals in
the harvested portions are unavailable to the
soil, the nutrient cycle is broken, and
fertilizer must be added periodically to the
soil.
Soil Salinization
 The gradual accumulation of salt in a soil,
often as a result of improper irrigation
methods.
 Irrigation water contains small amounts of
dissolved salts. The continued application
of such water, leads to the gradual  Asia and Africa the largest land areas with
accumulation of salt in the soil. extensive soil damage, and rapid population
 When the water evaporates, the salts are left growth is the main cause.
behind, particularly in the upper layers of  Prolonged periods of drought (Sahel).
the soil, which are the layers important for During droughts the soil cannot support
agriculture. crop or grazing animals. The Sahelians
 The level can get high to an extent that must use the land to grow crops or they will
plants can get poisoned or their roots get starve. Overexploitation leds to
dehydrated. desertification
 When soil is waterlogged , capillary  To reclaim the land would require restricting
movement may carry salts from its use for many years so it could recover.
groundwater to the soil surface, where they
are deposited as a crust of salt.
Salinization & Waterlogging
Soil Reclamation
 Stabilizing the land to prevent further
erosion
 Restoring the soil to its former fertility
 To stabilize the land, the bare ground is
seeded with plants that eventually grow to
cover the soil, holding it in place. After the
Dust Bowl, land in Oklahoma and Texas
was seeded with drought-resistant native
grasses.
 Plant shelterbelts to lessen the impact of
wind ( a row of trees planted as a windbreak
to reduce soil erosion of agricultural land.
 Restoration of soil fertility to its original
level is a slow process. Use of the land must
be restricted it cannot be farmed or grazed