Soil and Agriculture

Flashcards about soil composition, agriculture, and sustainability

What is the importance of soil?

A medium for plant growth and sustainability, a seed bank, and a store of water and nutrients.

What are the primary macronutrients (NPK) found in soil?

Nitrogen, phosphates, and potassium.

Besides NPK, what other important nutrients are needed in soil?

Calcium, magnesium, and sulfur.

What are detritivores?

Millipedes and earthworms that eat decaying matter.

What are saprotrophs?

Fungi and bacteria that chemically transform organic matter.

How does water enter the soil system from the hydrosphere?

Precipitation, humidity, and surface water.

What gases from the atmosphere diffuse into the pores between soil particles?

Oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen.

What does organic matter consist of?

Dead leaf litter, dead animals, plant biomass, and manure.

What are the primary sources of energy input to the soil?

Solar energy from the sun and thermal energy from cellular respiration.

What is the role of water storage in soil?

Water is a vital storage in soil; held within the pores between soil particles.

What gases are stored in the soil and why are they important?

Gases such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen fill the gaps between soil particles.

What is aeration?

Water transfers involving precipitation infiltrating soil.

What is a water transfer?

Where water from precipitation infiltrates soil and moves downward.

What is decomposition?

Organic matter is broken down by decomposers releasing nutrients energy for plants.

What is weathering?

Rocks break down, forming soil and releasing minerals.

What is erosion?

Loss of top soil.

What is leaching?

Minerals are washed out of the soil by percolating water.

What is salinization?

Salts accumulating in soil often due to poor drainage evaporation; affects soil fertility.

What is the typical composition of soil?

45% minerals, 25% water, 25% air and 5% organic matter

What are the main soil horizons?

Organic layer, topsoil, subsoil.

Smooth soil that can be pressed into shapes has a high content of what?

Clay

Rough and grainy soil with small particles of rock contains what?

Sand

Soil texture comprises small particles of what?

Sand, silt and Clay

What soils are high in minerals that are essential to plant growth?

They contain sand + silt.

What is food security?

The physical + economic availability of God, enabling a balances died for an active and healing life

What are diet influences?

availability,affordability, attre,religion, emotions

What factors affect crop choices?

climate, soils, geography, social, technological , economic,legal , elhmical isines

Outputs of agritural system include Economic profit.

revenues

What is Degenerative farming practices?

synthetic fertilizers

What prevents loss of soil nutrients

covercrops, windbreaks, mulching + drainage canals

What prevents the depletion of soil nutrients?

leaving a Geild Callow, polycultura, herbal legs

What are the Replacements of soil urtrients

ocomposting, covercropping + glivestock grazing