BIOL 448

Lecture # 3

Terrestrial Environment
Soil as a System

Readings: Bowman et al., Chapter 22

 Today’s Outline
• Soil definitions
• Soil components
• Soil formation
• Soil profile
• Soil physical characteristics
• Soil orders
• Soil-forming processes
Review of the Last Lecture
• Climate
• Atmospheric and oceanic circulation
• Global climatic patterns
• Regional climatic influences
• Climatic variation over time
• Chemical environment
• Global annual temperature & precipitation
 Soil Definitions
Soil is the foundation upon which all terrestrial
life depends; it is a medium for plant growth
Traditional:
• A natural product formed from weathered rock by the
action of climate and organisms
Functional:
• A mixture of mineral and organic materials that is
capable of supporting plant life; or
• A multi-phasic thin-layer system over the Earth’s
surface, affecting ecosystem processes
 Soil
Components
Solid, Liquid &
Gas
• Ideal soil:
- 45% minerals
- 5% organic matter
- 50% space (½ water, ½ air)
 Soil Formation
Soil formation begins with weathering
 Soil Formation
• Soil formation involves five interrelated factors:
- Parent material, climate, biotic factors, topography, time

Chapin et al., PTEE, 2012

 Soil
Profile

R Regolith

Cunningham & Cunningham,

Environmental Science, 2010
Regional Soil Profiles
 Soil Physical Characteristics
Soils have certain distinguishing physical
properties, which vary from one soil to another
• Colour: Indicates chemical composition of rocks &
mineral from which soil formed; a useful characteristic
• Texture: Proportion of different-sized soil particles;
gravel, sand, silt, clay
• Structure: Nature of aggregates of particles;
aggregates become larger with increasing soil depth
• Moisture: Depends on soil texture, which affects pore
space
• Depth: Varies across landscape, depending on slope,
weathering, parent material & vegetation
 Soil
Colour
 Soil
Textur
e
Soil Structure

Gliessman, Agroecology, 1998

Soil Water Content
Soil Water-Holding Capacity
© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.
 Soil Ion Exchange Capacity
Ion exchange capacity is important
to soil fertility
Al3+ > H+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+ = NH4+ > Na+

© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

 World Soil Orders
• Basic soil formation processes produce different soils
© 2012 Pearson Education, Inc.

Figure 4.12 | Profiles and general description of the 12 major soil orders of the world.
Soil Orders: World Distribution

Figure 4.13 The world distribution of the 12 major soil orders shown in Figure 4.12. (Adapted from USGS, Soil Conservation Service)
Smith & Smith, Elements of Ecology, 2012
 Canadian System of Soil Classification:
Soil Orders
• Regosol (Entisol): Floodplains, river valley, young parent material (A/B horizon)
• Brunisol (Inceptisol): Forested ecosystems, immature, brownish B horizon
• Chernozem (Mollisol): Grasslands, organic matter, brown to black A horizon
• Luvisol (Alfisol): Forests, calcareous material, high pH, silicate clay accumulate
• Vertisol (Vertisol): Prairies, > 60% clay, sometime with deep wide cracks
• Solonetzic (Aridisol): Grasslands, semiarid to subhumid climate, saline C horizon
• Podzol (Spodosol): Coniferous forests, organic matter, Al & Fe accumulate
• Gleysol (Aquic suborders): Wet conditions, permanent or periodic reduction
• Organic (Histosol): Fens & bogs, organic matter 17%, mineral particles absent
• Cryosol (Gelisol): Arctic, subarctic, permafrost, moss & lichen, mineral/organic
 Canadian Soil Regions

http://soilsofcanada.ca/
 Soil-Forming Processes
Soil scientists recognize five main soil-forming
processes that give rise to different classes of soils
• Laterization: A process common to soils found in humid
environments in the tropical & subtropical regions
• Calcification: Occurs when evaporation & water uptake
by plants exceed precipitation
• Salinization: A process similar to calcification, but only in
much drier climates
• Podzolization: Occurs in cool, moist climates of mid-
latitude regions where coniferous vegetation dominates
• Gleization: Occurs in regions with high rainfall or low-
lying areas associated with poor drainage
Smith & Smith, Elements of
Ecology, 2012
 Salinization & Calcification

Figure 4.12 | (a) In arid regions, salinization occurs when salts (the white crust at the
center of the photo) accumulate near the soil surface because of surface evaporation.
(b) Calcification occurs when calcium carbonates precipitate out from water moving
downward through the soil or from capillary water moving upward from below. The
result is an accumulation of calcium in the B horizon (seen as the white soil layer in
the photo).