CHAPTER 11

Soil: The Foundation

for Land Ecosystems

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A rich soil is much more than dirt
• Soil: solid material of geological and biological origin
• Chemical, biological, and physical processes
change soil
• Giving it the ability to support plant growth
• In productive soil, detritus feeders and decomposers
constitute a biotic community
• Facilitating the transfer of nutrients
• Creating a soil environment favorable to root growth
• Productive topsoil involves dynamic interactions
among organisms, detritus, and mineral particles of
the soil

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Topsoil formation

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Soil formation

Animation: Soil Formatioin

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Soil characteristics
• Most soils are hundreds of years old
• They change very slowly
• Soil science is at the heart of agriculture and
forestry
• Soil is classified by profile, structure, and type
• Soil texture: relative proportions of each soil type
• Parent material: mineral material of the soil
• Soil has its origin in the geological history of an area
• Weathering: gradual physical and chemical
breakdown of parent material
• It may be impossible to tell what the parent material
was

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Classification of soil
• Soil separates: small fragments smaller than stones
• Sand: particles from 2.0 to 0.063 mm
• Silt: particles range from 0.063 to 0.004 mm
• Clay: anything finer than 0.004 mm
• Gravel, cobbles, boulders: particles larger than sand
• You can see the individual rock particles in sand
• Clay particles become suspended in water
• Clay is “gooey” because particles slide around each
other on a film of water

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Soil makeup

Animation: Soil Makeup

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Proportions
• Sand, silt, and clay constitute the mineral part of
soil
• If one type of particle predominates, the soil is
sandy, silty, or clayey
• Loam: a soil with 40% sand, 40% silt, and 20%
clay
• To determine a soil’s texture:
• Add soil and water to a test tube and let the soil
settle
• Sand particles settle first, then silt, then clay
• Scientists classify soil texture with a triangle
• It shows relative proportions of sand, silt, and clay
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The soil texture triangle

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Properties
• Soil properties are influenced by its texture
• Larger particles have larger spaces separating them
• Small particles have more surface area relative to
their volume
• Nutrient ions and water molecules cling to surfaces
• These properties profoundly affect soil properties
• Infiltration, nutrient- and water-holding capacity,
aeration
• Workability: the ease with which soil can be
cultivated
• Clay soils are hard to work with: too sticky or too hard
• Sandy soils are easy to work with
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Soil profiles
• Horizons: horizontal layers of soil from soil
formation
• Can be quite distinct
• Soil profile: a vertical slice through the soil horizons
• Reveals the interacting factors in soil formation
• O horizon: topmost layer of soil
• Dead organic matter (detritus) deposited by plants
• High in organic content
• Primary source of energy for the soil community
• Humus: decomposed dark material at the bottom of
the O horizon
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Subsurface layers
• A horizon (topsoil): below the O horizon
• A mixture of mineral soil and humus
• Permeated by fine roots
• Usually dark
• May be shallow or thick
• Vital to plant growth
• Grows an inch or two every hundred years
• E horizon: pale-colored layer below the A horizon
• Eluviation: process of leaching (dissolving) minerals
due to downward movement of water

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Subsurface layers
• B horizon (subsoil): below the E horizon
• Contains minerals leached from the A and E horizons
• High in iron, aluminum, calcium, other minerals, clay
• Reddish or yellow colored from oxidized metals
• C horizon: parent mineral material
• Weathered rock, glacial deposits, volcanic ash
• Reveals geologic process that created the landscape
• Not affected by biological or chemical processes

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Soil profile

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Soil and plant growth
• For best growth, plants need a root environment
that supplies
• Mineral nutrients, water, oxygen
• The proper pH and salinity
• Soil fertility: the soil’s ability to support plant
growth
• The presence of proper amounts of nutrients and all
other needs
• Farmers refer to a soil’s ability to support plant
growth as tilth

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Mineral nutrients
• Initially become available through rock weathering
• Phosphate, potassium, calcium, etc.
• Much too slow to support normal plant growth
• Breakdown and release (recycling) of detritus
provides most nutrients
• Leaching: nutrients are washed from the soil by
water
• Decreases soil fertility
• Contributes to water pollution
• Nutrient-holding capacity: the soil’s capacity to
bind and hold nutrient ions until they are absorbed
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Fertilizer
• Agriculture removes nutrients from the soil
• Fertilizer: nutrients added to replace those that are
lost
• Organic fertilizer: plant or animal wastes or both
• Manure, compost (rotted organic material)
• Leguminous fallow crops (alfalfa, clover)
• Food crops (lentils, peas)
• Inorganic fertilizer: chemical formulations of
nutrients
• Lacks organic matter
• Much more prone to leaching

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Water is crucial for plants

• Transpiration: water is absorbed by roots and

exits as water vapor through pores (stomata;
singular = stoma) in the leaves
• Oxygen enters, and carbon dioxide exits, through
stomata
• Loss of water through stomata can be dramatic
• Wilting: a plant’s response to lack of water
• Conserves water
• Shuts off photosynthesis by closing stomata
• Severe or prolonged wilting can kill plants

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Transpiration

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Water and water-holding capacity
• Water is resupplied to the soil by rainfall or irrigation
• Infiltration: water soaks into the soil
• Water runoff is useless to plants and may cause
erosion
• Water-holding capacity: soil’s ability to hold water
after it infiltrates
• Poor holding capacity: water percolates below root
level
• Plants must depend on rains or irrigation
• Sandy soils
• Evaporative water loss depletes soil of water
• The O horizon reduces water loss by covering the soil
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Plant-soil-water relationship

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Aeration
• Novice gardeners kill plants by overwatering
(drowning)
• Roots must breathe to obtain oxygen for energy
• Land plants depend on loose, porous soil
• Soil aeration: allows diffusion of oxygen into, and
carbon dioxide out of, the soil
• Overwatering fills air spaces
• Compaction: packing of the soil
• Due to excessive foot or vehicular traffic
• Reduces infiltration and runoff
• Strongly influenced by soil texture

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Relative acidity (pH)
• pH refers to the acidity or alkalinity of any solution
• The pH scale runs from 1 to 14
• 7 is neutral (neither acidic or alkaline)
• Different plants are adapted to different pH ranges
• Most do best with a pH near neutral
• Many plants do better with acidic or alkaline soils
• Blueberries do best in acidic soils

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Salt and water uptake
• Buildup of salt in the soil makes it impossible for
roots to take in water
• High enough salt levels can draw water out of a
plant
• By osmosis
• Dehydrates and kills plants
• Only specially adapted plants grow in saline soils
• None of them are crops
• Irrigation can lead to salt buildup in soil
(salinization)

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The soil community
• To support plants, soils must
• Have nutrients and good nutrient-holding capacity
• Allow infiltration and have good water-holding
capacity
• Resist evaporative water loss
• Have a porous structure that allows aeration
• Have a near-neutral pH
• Have low salt content
• According to the principle of limiting factors, the
poorest attribute is the limiting factor

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Limiting factors in plant growth
• Sandy soils dry out too quickly to be good for
agriculture
• They have poor water-holding capacity
• Clay soils do not allow infiltration or aeration
• The best soils are silts and loams
• They moderate limiting factors
• Soil texture limitations are improved by the organic
parts of the soil ecosystem
• Detritus
• Soil organisms

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Organisms and organic matter in the
soil
• Dead leaves, roots, other detritus on and in the soil
• Support a complex food web
• Bacteria, fungi, mites, insects, millipedes, spiders,
earthworms, snails, slugs, moles, etc.
• Millions of bacteria are in a gram of soil
• Humus: residue of partly decomposed organic
matter
• In high concentrations at the bottom of the O layer
• Extraordinary capacity for holding water and nutrients
• Composting: fosters decay of organic wastes
• Is essentially humus
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Soil as a detritus-based ecosystem

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Soil structure and topsoil
• Animals feeding on detritus also ingest mineral soil
particles
• Castings: earthworm excrement of stable clumps of
“glued” inorganic particles plus humus
• Burrowing of animals keeps clumps loose
• Soil structure: refers to the arrangement of soil
particles
• Soil texture: refers to the size of soil particles
• A loose soil structure: best for infiltration, aeration,
and workability
• Topsoil: clumpy, loose, humus-rich soil
• Loss of topsoil reduces crop yield by 85–90%
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Humus and the development of soil
structure

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The results of removing topsoil

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Interactions between plants and soil
biota
• Mycorrhizae: a symbiotic relationship between the
roots of some plants and certain fungi
• Fungi draw nourishment from the roots
• Fungi penetrate the detritus, absorb nutrients, and
pass them to the plant
• Nutrients are not lost to leaching
• Bacteria add nitrogen to the soil
• Nematodes: small worms that feed on roots
• Detrimental to plants
• May be controlled by other soil organisms (e.g.,
fungi)
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Predatory fungus

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Soil enrichment

• Most detritus comes from green plants

• So green plants support soil organisms
• Soil organisms create the chemical and physical
soil environment beneficial to plants
• Green plants further protect the soil by reducing
erosion and evaporative water loss
• So keep an organic mulch around garden
vegetables
• The mutually supportive relationship between
plants and soil is easily broken
• Keeping topsoil depends on addition of detritus
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Mineralization
• If detritus is lost, soil organisms starve
• Soil will no longer be kept loose and nutrient-rich
• Humus decomposes, breaking down the clumpy
aggregate structure of glued soil particles
• Water- and nutrient-holding capacities, infiltration,
and aeration decline
• Mineralization: loss of humus and collapse of
topsoil
• All that remains are the minerals (sand, silt, clay)
• Topsoil results from balancing detritus and humus
additions and breakdown

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The importance of humus to topsoil

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Soil degradation
• Turnover of plant material produces detritus
• When humans cut forests, graze livestock, or plant
crops, the soil is managed or mismanaged
• Soil degradation: occurs when key soil attributes
required for plant growth or other ecosystem
services deteriorate
• Some reports on soil degradation are incorrect or
outdated
• 75% of the land in Burkina Faso was said to be
degraded
• But agricultural yields have increased due to soil and
water conservation
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Erosion
• Erosion: the process of soil and humus particles
being picked up and carried away by water and
wind
• Occurs any time soil is bared and exposed
• Soil removal may be slow and gradual (e.g., by
wind) or dramatic (e.g., gullies formed by a single
storm)
• Vegetative cover prevents erosion from water
• Reducing the energy of raindrops
• Allowing slow infiltration
• Grass is excellent for erosion control
• Vegetation also slows wind velocity
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Splash, sheet, and gully erosion
• Splash erosion: begins the process of erosion
• Raindrops break up the clumpy structure of topsoil
• Dislodged particles wash between other aggregates
• Decreases infiltration and aeration
• Sheet erosion: the result of decreased infiltration
• More water runs off, carrying away fine particles
• Gully erosion: water converges into rivulets and
streams
• Water’s greater volume, velocity, energy remove soil
• Once started, erosion can turn into a vicious cycle
• Less vegetation exposes soil to more erosion

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Erosion

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Desert pavement
• Another devastating feature of wind and water
erosion: differential removal of soil particles
• Lighter humus and clay are the first to be carried away
• Rocks, stones, coarse sand remain
• The remaining soil becomes coarser
• Deserts are sandy because wind removes fine
material
• Desert pavement: occurs in some deserts
• Removal of fine material leaves a thin surface layer of
stones and gravel
• This protective layer is easily damaged (e.g., by
vehicles)
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Formation of desert pavement

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Drylands and desertification
• Clay and humus are the most important parts of soil
• For nutrient- and water-holding capacity
• Their removal results in nutrients being removed
• Regions with sparse rainfall or long dry seasons
support grasses, scrub trees, and crops only if soils
have good water- and nutrient-holding capacity
• Erosion causes these areas to become deserts
• Desertification: a permanent reduction in the
productivity of arid, semiarid, and seasonally dry
areas (drylands)
• Does not mean advancing deserts

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Desertification

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Causes of erosion: overcultivation
• Plowing to grow crops exposes soil to wind and
water erosion
• Soil remains bare before planting and after harvest
• Plowing causes splash erosion
• Destroying soil’s aggregate structure
• Decreasing aeration and infiltration
• Tractors compact soil
• Reducing aeration and infiltration
• Increasing evaporative water loss and humus
oxidation
• Rotating cash crops with hay and clover is
sustainable
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No-till planting
• No-till agriculture: a technique allowing continuous
cropping while minimizing erosion
• Routinely practiced in the U.S.
• After spraying a field with herbicide to kill weeds
• A planting apparatus cuts a furrow through the mulch
• Drops seeds and fertilizer
• Closes the furrow
• The waste from the previous crop becomes detritus
• So the soil is never exposed
• Low-till farming uses one pass (not 6–12) over a
field

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Apparatus for no-till planting

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Inorganic fertilizer
• Can provide optimal amounts of nutrients efficiently
• But it lacks organic matter to support organisms and
build soil structure
• It can keep nutrient content high under intensive
cultivation (two or more cash crops/year)
• But mineralization and soil degradation proceed
• Additional fertilizer leaches into waterways
• Chemical fertilizers have a valuable place in
agriculture
• Organic fertilizers may not have enough nutrients
• Growers must use each fertilizer as necessary

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Reducing soil erosion
• Contour strip cropping: plowing and cultivating at
right angles to contour slopes
• Shelterbelts: protective belts of trees and shrubs
planted along plowed fields
• The U.S. Natural Resource Conservation Service
(NRCS)
• Established in response to the Dust Bowl
• Regional offices provide information to farmers and
others regarding soil and water conservation practices
• U.S. soil erosion has decreased through conservation
• Windbreaks, grassed waterways, vegetation to filter
runoff
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Contour farming and shelterbelts

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Deforestation
• Porous, humus-rich forest soil efficiently holds and
recycles nutrients
• Also absorbs and holds water
• Converting a forested hillside to grassland doubles
the amount of runoff and increases nutrient
leaching
• When forests are cut and soils are left exposed
• Topsoil becomes saturated with water and slides off
the slope
• Subsoil continues to erode

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Forests are cut at alarming rates
• 13 million hectares (32 million acres) are cut per year
• Mostly in developing countries
• Cutting tropical rain forests causes acute problems
• Heavy rains have leached soils of minerals
• Parent material is already maximally weathered
• So tropical soils (oxisols) lack nutrients
• Clearing rain forests washes away the thin layer of
humus
• Leaving only the nutrient-poor subsoil
• Very poor for agriculture

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The other end of the erosion problem
• Water that does not infiltrate enters streams and
rivers
• Causing flooding
• Sediment: eroded soil carried into streams and
rivers
• Clogs channels, intensifies floods, fills reservoirs
• Kills fish and coral reefs
• Damages streams, rivers, bays, estuaries
• Excess sediments and nutrients from erosion are
the greatest pollution problem in many areas
• Groundwater is depleted
• Rainfall runs off and does not refill soil or ground
water
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Irrigation
• Irrigation: supplying water to croplands artificially
• Dramatically increases production
• Is a major contributor to land degradation
• Flood irrigation: river water flows into canals to
flood fields
• Center-pivot irrigation: water is pumped from a
well into a giant pivoting sprinkler
• The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is involved with
supplying irrigation water to the western states
• Irrigating 4 million hectares (10 million acres)
• Worldwide irrigation is huge and is still rising

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Flood irrigation

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Salinization

• Salinization: the accumulation of salts in and on

the soil
• Suppresses plant growth
• Even the freshest irrigation water has some salt
• Watering dryland soils dissolves minerals in the soil
• Evaporation or transpiration leaves salts behind
• Salinization is considered a form of desertification
• 1.5 million hectares (3.7 million acres) are lost each
year to salinization and waterlogging
• 160,000 hectares (400,000 acres) in California are
unproductive, costing $30 million/year
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Salinization

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 CHAPTER 11

Soil: The Foundation

for Land Ecosystems

Active Lecture Questions

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 Review Question-1

The process of soil formation creates a vertical

gradient of layers that are known as

a. loam.
b. aeration.
c. infiltration.
d. horizons.

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 Review Question-1 Answer

The process of soil formation creates a vertical

gradient of layers that are known as

a. loam.
b. aeration.
c. infiltration.
d. horizons.

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 Review Question-2

The residue of partly decomposed organic

matter is called ______ and is found in high
concentrations at the bottom of the O horizon.

a. desertification
b. decomposition
c. humus
d. topsoil

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 Review Question-2 Answer

The residue of partly decomposed organic

matter is called ______ and is found in high
concentrations at the bottom of the O horizon.

a. desertification
b. decomposition
c. humus
d. topsoil

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 Review Question-3

Mineralized soils can be revitalized through the

addition of

a. compost and other organic matter.

b. materials from the C horizon.
c. topsoil.
d. all of the above.

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 Review Question-3 Answer

Mineralized soils can be revitalized through the

addition of

a. compost and other organic matter.

b. materials from the C horizon.
c. topsoil.
d. all of the above.

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 Review Question-4

All of the following lead to the loss of soil except

a. splash erosion.
b. horizon erosion.
c. sheet erosion.
d. gully erosion.

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 Review Question-4 Answer

All of the following lead to the loss of soil except

a. splash erosion.
b. horizon erosion.
c. sheet erosion.
d. gully erosion.

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 Review Question-5

______ occurs when there is an accumulation

of salts in soil as a result of ______.

a. The tragedy of the commons; overgrazing

b. Deforestation; logging
c. Salinization; irrigation
d. Overcultivation; no-till farming

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 Review Question-5 Answer

______ occurs when there is an accumulation

of salts in soil as a result of ______.

a. The tragedy of the commons; overgrazing

b. Deforestation; logging
c. Salinization; irrigation
d. Overcultivation; no-till farming

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 Interpreting Graphs and Data-1

According to Fig. 11-3, soil with roughly 40%

sand, 40% silt, and 20% clay is called

a. loam.
b. silt loam.
c. sandy clay loam.
d. loamy sand.

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 Interpreting Graphs and Data-1 Answer

According to Fig. 11-3, soil with roughly 40%

sand, 40% silt, and 20% clay is called

a. loam.
b. silt loam.
c. sandy clay loam.
d. loamy sand.

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 Interpreting Graphs and Data-2

According to Fig. 11-2, when detritus, mineral

particles, and the detritus food web interact,
they form

a. leaves, stems,
flowers, and seeds.
b. leached minerals.
c. nitrogen fixation.
d. topsoil.

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 Interpreting Graphs and Data-2 Answer

According to Fig. 11-2, when detritus, mineral

particles, and the detritus food web interact,
they form

a. leaves, stems,
flowers, and seeds.
b. leached minerals.
c. nitrogen fixation.
d. topsoil.

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 Thinking Environmentally-1

The human activities that lead to erosion and

desertification are

a. overcultivation, overgrazing, and

deforestation.
b. sustainability, stewardship, and sound
science.
c. pollution, overcultivation, and sustainability.
d. overgrazing, sound science, and hypotheses.

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 Thinking Environmentally-1 Answer

The human activities that lead to erosion and

desertification are

a. overcultivation, overgrazing, and

deforestation.
b. sustainability, stewardship, and sound
science.
c. pollution, overcultivation, and sustainability.
d. overgrazing, sound science, and hypotheses.

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 Thinking Environmentally-2

True or False: If soil conservation is to be

successful, it must be practiced on the levels of
both the individual landowner and public policy.

a. True
b. False

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 Thinking Environmentally-2 Answer

True or False: If soil conservation is to be

successful, it must be practiced on the levels of
both the individual landowner and public policy.

a. True
b. False

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