Soil 1

Soil definition

complex mixture of minerals, water, air, organic matter, and organisms, forming the upper layer of the earth's surface

history of soil science

beginning in the 19th century (Vasily V. Dokuchaev)

Soil functions

1. food production (plant growth)

2. water management

3. element cycling, nutrient storage and supply

4. carbon storage and transformation

5. biological habitat and gene pool

6. source of raw materials

7. physical and cultural heritage

8. platform for man-made structures: buildings, highways…

soil importance for plants

1. Plant fixation

2. Plant nutrition

3. Nutrient storage

4. Water storage and distribution

5. Organic matter transformation

6. CO2 production (respiration of organisms)

7. Solar energy transformation

8. Detoxication of xenobiotics

on soil security depend..

1. food security

2. water security

3. energy sustainability

4. ecosystem service delivery

5. biodiversity protection

6. climate change

soil fertility

ability to support plant growth and life in general

natural VS effective VS artifical fertility

N: natural soil development

E: soils influenced human activity

A: anthropogenic soils

soil importance in landscape

1. aesthetic (colour, shaping…)

2. functional (plant growth support, water management…)

soilscape

soil in landscape

the Earth surface consists of

70,8% ocean

29,2% land

proportion of soils

6% permanently frozen

10% soil without limitation

10% too wet

23% bad chemical composition (polluted/too acidic…)

27% too shallow

28% dry

in Czech Republic, how many % of the land is agricultural ?

54%