5.

1 Introduction to soil systems:

What is soil?
- Soil is a complex ecosystem. It is made up of minerals, organic material, gases and
liquids which forms the habitat for many animals and plants.

What is soil made from:

- Mineral particles mainly from the underlying rock.
- Organic remains that have from the plants and animals.
- Water within the spaces between soil grams.
- Air also within the soil grams.
Factors affecting soil characteristics:
- Climate (precipitation and evaporation balance)
- Organisms (soil organisms break down the dead organic matter and mix it into the upper
layers of the soil)
- Relief (direction it faces to the sun)
- Parent Material
- Time (the time which soil had developed)
Interactions between spheres:
What is the soil system? (ESSAY)
Storages: Organic matter, organisms, nutrients,
minerals, air and waters.
Transfers Biological mixing, translocation (movement
of soil particles by water) and leaching
(minerals dissolved in water moved through
soil).
Inputs: Organic material including leaf litter and
inorganic matter from parent material,
precipitation and energy.
Outputs: Uptake by plants and soil erosion.
Transformations: Decomposition, weathering and nutrients
cycling.

What does a soil look like?

O Horizon = This is the uppermost layer where there is newly added organic material – this
comes from organisms that die and end up on top of the soil (e.g., fungi, bacteria, and dead
material – animals)

A Horizon = Upper layer where this partially decomposed organic matter and minerls. Often has
a black of humus layer.

B Horizon = Soluble minerals and organic matter deposited from layers above.

C Horizon = This layer is mainly weathered rocks.

R Horizon = Parent material (bedrock or other material)

What causes the different horizons?

Translocation:
- Materials are sorted and layers are formed by water carrying particles, either up or down.
- Minerals stored into layers in the soil by water-carrying particles.
Leaching:
- When minerals move down.
- In colder and wetter climates, water flows down in the soil, dissolving minerals and
transporting them downwards.
- This happens when there is more precipitation than evaporation (cold, wet climate).
Salinization:
- When minerals move upward.
- Water from lower soil layers moves upwards. When doing so, it dissolves minerals and
takes them to the surface, where the minerals are left behind when the water evaporates.
- This happens when there is more evaporation than precipitation (hot, dry climate).

Soil structure:
Particle diameter: Particle:
<0.002mm Clay
0.002 - 0.05mm Silt
0.05-2mm Sand

It is possible to feel the texture of moist of soil if you rub it between your fingers:
- Sandy soils are gritty and fall apart easily.
- Silty soils feel slippery like wet talcum powder and hold together better than sandy soils.
- Clay soils feel sticky and can be rolled up into a ball easily.

Loam soils are ideal for agriculture:

- The sand particles ensure good drainage and a good air supply to the roots. The clay
retains water and supplies nutrients – so they are fertile.
- The silt particles help to hold the sand and clay particles together and they can be worked
easily.
Comparison three soil types:
Primary productivity:
- Soil texture is an important property of a soil, as it determines the soil’s fertility and the
primary productivity.

Impact of three mineral particles on primary productivity: (ESSAY)

Sand: Silt: Clay:
- Larger air spaces - Smaller air spaces - Very small air spaces
provides more O2 to provide less O2 to = less O2 =
roots –increasing roots = decreasing decreasing
productivity. productivity. productivity.
- Better drainage - Poor drainage = - Poor drainage =
preventing promoting promoting
waterlogging and waterlogging = waterlogging =
increasing decreasing decreasing
productivity. producitvity. productivity.
- More prone to - Less prone to leaching - Less prone to leaching
leaching of nutrients = = increasing = increasing
decreasing productivity. productivity.
productivity. - Good water retention - Good water retention
- Weaker water = avoid loss of water = avoid loss of water
retention = suffer = increasing = increasing
 water loss reducing productivity. productivity.
primary produvitiy. - More compact = - More compact =
- Less compact = easier resisting root growth resisting root growth
for root growth = = decrease in = decrease in
increasing produtivity. producitvity.
productivity.

Porosity, permeability and pH:

Porosity = The amount of air spaces between particles

Permeability = Ease at which gases and liquids can pass through the soil.

Acidification of soils = Acid rain caused by industrial pollution has made the soil more acid.
- This has increased the availability of aluminum and iron ions in the soil causing damage
to the soil through needle death.

Soil sustainability:
- Fertile soil is a non-renewable rsource. Once it is lost, it cannot be replaced quickly.
- Soil use often exceeds soil formation and therefore soil should be considered a non-
renewable resource/natural capital.
- The main nutrients for soil = nitrates, phosphates, and potassium.
- These nutrients can be leached out of the soil or removed when a crop is harvested.
- They have to be replaced in agricultural soils via chemical fertilizers, growing legumes,
crop rotation or through the application of organic matter (e.g., manure, compost).
5.2 Terrestrial food production systems and food choices:

Types of farming systems:

Subsistence farming = Subsistence farming is the provision of food by farmers for thei own
families or the local community.
- Usually mixed crops are planted, and human labor is used a great deal.
- With low capital input and low levels of technology, subsistence farmers are unlikely to
produce much more that they need.
 - Vulnerable to food shortages.

Commercial farming = Commercial farming takes place on a large, profit-making scale,

maximizing yields per hectare.
- Is often used by a monoculture of one crop or one type of animal.
- High levels of technology, energy and chemical input.
- Farming can also be described as extensive or intensive.
Extensive farming uses more land with a lower density of stocking or planting and lower inputs.
Intensive farming uses land more intensively with high levels of input and output per unit area.
Animal feedlots are intensive.

Pastoral farming = Pastoral farming is raising animals, usually on grass and on land that is not
suitable for crops.
- Arable farming is growing crops on good soils to eat directly or to feed animals.
- Mixed farming has both crops and animals and is a system in itself where animal waste is
used to fertilize the crops and improve soil structure and some crops are fed to the
animals.

Food facts:
- Lacking = undernourishment, usually a lack of calories.
- Excessive = over nourishment, usually too many calories leading to obesity.
- Unbalanced = the wrong proportion of micro-nutrients.

The choice of food that we growth and eat is determined by many factors:
- Climate = climate and ecological conditions determine what will grow.
- Cultural and religious = some religions proscribe certain foods.
- Political = governments can subsidize or put tariffs on some foods to encourage or
discourage production.

Food production and distribution around the world:

- There is a lack of food in less economically developed country (LEDC) and in low-
income food deficient countries (LIFDC).
- There is enough food produced but it is imbalanced in its ditribution.
 - Most food production is in the Northern temperate zones.

Growing crops:
- In arable farming, seeds of crop plants are deliberately sown into a soil that has been
cleared of the natural vegetation. The seeds are usually planted into bare soil that has
been previously conditioned by ploughing.
- The plants are a monoculture (all of one species) and grown in high density.
- Harvesting requires the removal of the biomass from the field, the soil and the
ecosystem.
- Crop rotation is one way of addressing loss of soil fertility. Rotation of other crops add
nutrients to the soil.

Comparing farming systems:ESSAY

Farming’s energy budget:

1. Energy contained within the crop of harvested product per unit area.
2. Efficiency of agricultural systems (a system with inputs, outputs, and storage)

Terrestrial versus aquatic food production systems:

Terrestrial food production system:
- Food is usually harvested at the first (crops) or second trophic level (meat usually
originates form primary consumers like cows, pigs, and chickens).
- This means that this production system is taking advantage of the use of solar energy.
Aquatic food production system:
- Most food comes from higher trophic levels.
- Typical food fish tend to be carnivorous and are quite often at trophic level 4 or higher.
- Energy efficiency of aquatic system production is lower than the terrestrial systems.
- Ligh from the sun is reflected by the water.
- Energy losses in the form of heat are higher in water than on land.
Factors that contribute to the decrease in agricultural land are:
- Soil erosion
- Salinization
- Desertification (overgrazing)
- Urbanization
Sustainability of food supplies: (ESSAY)
Maximize the yield of food production systems:
- Improve technology = (buffer zones around agricultural land to absorb nutrient run-off /
trickle irrigation is less wasteful of water)
- A new Green Revolution = Techniques of breeding plants more adapted to drought,
increasing shade.
Reduce food waste by improving storage and distrbution:
- Pest control and proper refrigeration.
- Education.
Monitoring and control:
- Regulate imports and exports.
- Raise standards for food corporations and practices in their farms.
Change our attitudes towards food and our diets:
- Eat less meat
- Eat different crops
- Improve education about food.
- Increase consumption of insects – big protein source that are easily reproducible.
 5.3 Soil degradation and conservation:
Soil degradation = Change in soil health resulting in diminished capacity of the ecosystem to
provide goods and services.
Two types of processes can give rise to soil degradation:
- Take away the soil (erosion) - wind and water erosion.
- Processes that make the soil less suitable for use – use of chemicals.
Examples of human activites that lead to soil degradation are:
- Overgrazing = When too many animals graze in the same area.
- Deforestation = The removal of forest makes the soil more prone to erosion. Forests
protects from wind and water erosion.
- Unsustainable agriculture = overcropping depletes soil nutrients and makes the soil dry.

Unsustainable agriculture: (ESSAY)

- Ploughing = Ploughing in the direction of the slope. This will leave ready-made channels
for rainwater
- Excessive use of pesticides = In the long run will make the soil too toxic for agricultural
use.
- Monocultures = the same crop is grown year after year. This means that the same
nutrients will be depleted from the soil and there will be a loss in soil fertility.
- Irrigation = In many irrigation systems a major part of the water evaporates before
reaching the crops – salinization.
- Urbanization = removal of land.

Soil erosion:
1. Sheet wash – large areas of surface soil are washed away during heavy storm periods and
in mountainous areas moving as landslides.
2. Gullying – channels develop on hillsides following rainfall.
3. Wind erosion – on drier soils high winds continually remove the surface layer.

Improving the soil:

Addition of soil conditioners:
- Lime = They are used to increase pH and counter soil acidification. Also helps in the
drainage of the soil and they trap more air, helping improve decomposition.
- Organic material (e.g., manure) = improve the texture of the soil and act as a supply of
nutrients.
Wind reduction:
- Planting trees or bushes between fields.

Soil conserving techniques:

- Terracing = Method to reduce the steepness of slopes by replacing the slope with a series
of horizontal terraces.
- Plowing = Breaks up soil structure and temporarily increases drainage.
- Contour farming = Contour farming is plowing and cultivating along the contour lines.
By plowing parallel to the slope it allows the trapping of soil and water from the flow of
downhill. It also reduces erosion.

Improved irrigation:
- Planning and construction of irrigation systems, evaporation and thereby salinization can
be greatly reduced.

Crop rotation:
- Crop rotation is the growing of different crops in the same area .
- Reduces the reliance on set nutrients and reduces pest and weed pressure.