APES Soil Notes

  • most O2 from ocean = phytoplankton

  • rhizobia: important bacteria

Sand:

  • permeable

  • gives soil structure

  • worm can wriggle in

Silt:

  • between sand

  • stabilizer

  • silt floats in water, fish sunscreen/camouflage

Clay:

  • tiny particles

  • not permeable (too small, no space)

  • helps keep moisture in soil (not too much or it’ll get swampy)

  • Horizontal lines w/ percentage

NOTES 10/28

dont need to know this just putting image here

A: top soil, vegetation, nutrients, worms

B: buildup of stuff, roots don’t get through

C: weathered broken rock, old rock = round rock

R: bedrock, helps aquifers

E: eluviaton or exit layer

HUMUS:

  • nature’s compost

  • nutrients and yummy yummy, worms

  • NOT hummus

IRRIGATION TECHNIQUES (privilege)

center pivot irrigation: (misty, like a sprinkler, circle shape farm)

  • wasteful, 80% evaporates

  • lands on soil/plant, not roots

gravity flow (rectangle farm):

  • valve, sends water down from irrigation ditches

  • also very wasteful

drip irrigation (most sustainable):

  • water efficiency 80-90%

  • valve that lets water out (drip)

  • animals keep attacking it 🥀🥀

floodplain irrigation (live near river):

  • nutrient rich soil

  • just let the water flood your farm

GROUNDWATER:

  • surface water is just exposed ground water

OGALLALA AQUIFER:

  • awesome aquifer

  • most precious water source, in america at least

Watershed:

  • water goes west

  • high ground to low ground

Salination and Waterlogging = BAD

  • crusty water = not permeable

  • salination = salty water = crusty water

HOW 2 STOP/PREVENT

  • use less water

  • switch to salt tolerant plant

  • flush soil ($)

  • dig a drain ($)

  • stop farming for 2-5 yrs

NOTES 11/3

Food Deserts: Residential areas w/ limited access to affordable and nutritious food.

CLIMATE CHANGE = harder to produce crops

  • crops will start shutting down

  • harder to feed people

SOIL IS VERY IMPORTANT !!!!!!!

  • considered alive

  • affected by climate change

  • can reduce climate change IF we change farming techniques

SOIL STUFF

  • carbon = life

  • removal of carbon from soil → atmosphere

  • soil stores co2

  • plants pull carbon and store it to soil

  • no till !!!!

  • planned grazing

NOTES 11/4

NITROGEN CYCLE

Nitrogen Fixation: RHIZOBIA!!

gaseous nitrogen (N2) → to ammonia (NH3)

  • can be used by plants

HOW?

  • cyanobacteria in water

  • bacteria living in nodules on roots of plants

WHEN YOU TILL YOU KILL THESE BACTERIA

beans (legumes) give soil N2

  • bacteria = :3

NITRIFICATION:

  • ammonia (NH3) → nitrite (NO2) → nitrate (NO3)

WHO INVOVLED?

  • nitrosomonas

  • nitrobacter

THEY OXIDIZE THE AMMONIA!!

ASSIMILIATION

plant roots absorb NH3 and NO3 ions

  • helps make molecules

  • dna, amino acids and protein

AMMONIFICATION

decomposing bacteria turn waste w/ lots of N2 to NH3

DEVITRIFICATION:

soil nutrients reduce and released in atmosphere as gas

  • anaerobic bacteria does that

NITRATE & NITRITE ions convert to NITRUS OXIDE GAS (N2O) & NITROGEN GAS (N2)

  • N2O = GHG (GET HOTTEST)

(CO2 is 1, METHANE CH4 is 30, N2O is 100)

PROCESS

Fix(ation)

N(itrification)

A(ssimilation)

A(mmonification)

D(evitrification)

PRODUCTS

A(mmonia, NH3, NH3) RHIZOBIA

N(itrates/nitrates) NITROSOMONAS, NITROBACTER

P(rotein, amino acids, dna)

A(mmonia) DECOMPOSERS

N(itrogen gas, N2, N2O)

Notes 11/6