Seventeen elements or nutrients are essential for plant growth and reproduction. They are carbon (C), hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), sulfur (S), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), iron (Fe), boron (B), manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), molybdenum (Mo), nickel (Ni) and chlorine (Cl). [1] [2] [3] Nutrients required for plants to complete their life cycle are considered essential nutrients. Nutrients that enhance the growth of plants but are not necessary to complete the plant's life cycle are considered non-essential, although some of them, such as silicon (Si), have been shown to improve nutrent availability, [4] hence the use of stinging nettle and horsetail (both silica-rich) macerations in Biodynamic agriculture. [5] With the exception of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, which are supplied by carbon dioxide and water, and nitrogen, provided through nitrogen fixation, [3] the nutrients derive originally from the mineral component of the soil. The Law of the Minimum expresses that when the available form of a nutrient is not in enough proportion in the soil solution, then other nutrients cannot be taken up at an optimum rate by a plant. [6] A particular nutrient ratio of the soil solution is thus mandatory for optimizing plant growth, a value which might differ from nutrient ratios calculated from plant composition. [7]
Plant uptake of nutrients can only proceed when they are present in a plant-available form. In most situations, nutrients are absorbed in an ionic form by diffusion or absorption of the soil water. Although minerals are the origin of most nutrients, and the bulk of most nutrient elements in the soil is held in crystalline form within primary and secondary minerals, they weather too slowly to support rapid plant growth. For example, the application of finely ground minerals, feldspar and apatite, to soil seldom provides the necessary amounts of potassium and phosphorus at a rate sufficient for good plant growth, as most of the nutrients remain bound in the crystals of those minerals. [8]
The nutrients adsorbed onto the surfaces of clay colloids and soil organic matter provide a more accessible reservoir of many plant nutrients (e.g. K, Ca, Mg, P, Zn). As plants absorb the nutrients from the soil water, the soluble pool is replenished from the surface-bound pool. The decomposition of soil organic matter by microorganisms is another mechanism whereby the soluble pool of nutrients is replenished – this is important for the supply of plant-available N, S, P, and B from soil. [9]
Gram for gram, the capacity of humus to hold nutrients and water is far greater than that of clay minerals, most of the soil cation exchange capacity arising from charged carboxylic groups on organic matter. [10] However, despite the great capacity of humus to retain water once water-soaked, its high hydrophobicity decreases its wettability. [11] All in all, small amounts of humus may remarkably increase the soil's capacity to promote plant growth. [12] [9]
Element | Symbol | Ion or molecule |
---|---|---|
Carbon | C | CO2 (mostly through leaf and root litter) |
Hydrogen | H | H+, HOH (water) |
Oxygen | O | O2−, OH −, CO32−, SO42−, CO2 |
Phosphorus | P | H2PO4 −, HPO42− (phosphates) |
Potassium | K | K+ |
Nitrogen | N | NH4+, NO3 − (ammonium, nitrate) |
Sulfur | S | SO42− |
Calcium | Ca | Ca2+ |
Iron | Fe | Fe2+, Fe3+ (ferrous, ferric) |
Magnesium | Mg | Mg2+ |
Boron | B | H3BO3, H2BO3 −, B(OH)4 − |
Manganese | Mn | Mn2+ |
Copper | Cu | Cu2+ |
Zinc | Zn | Zn2+ |
Molybdenum | Mo | MoO42− (molybdate) |
Chlorine | Cl | Cl − (chloride) |
Nutrients in the soil are taken up by the plant through its roots, and in particular its root hairs. To be taken up by a plant, a nutrient element must be located near the root surface; however, the supply of nutrients in contact with the root is rapidly depleted within a distance of ca. 2 mm. [14] There are three basic mechanisms whereby nutrient ions dissolved in the soil solution are brought into contact with plant roots:
All three mechanisms operate simultaneously, but one mechanism or another may be most important for a particular nutrient. [15] For example, in the case of calcium, which is generally plentiful in the soil solution, except when aluminium over competes calcium on cation exchange sites in very acid soils (pH less than 4), [16] mass flow alone can usually bring sufficient amounts to the root surface. However, in the case of phosphorus, diffusion is needed to supplement mass flow. [17] For the most part, nutrient ions must travel some distance in the soil solution to reach the root surface. This movement can take place by mass flow, as when dissolved nutrients are carried along with the soil water flowing toward a root that is actively drawing water from the soil. In this type of movement, the nutrient ions are somewhat analogous to leaves floating down a stream. In addition, nutrient ions continually move by diffusion from areas of greater concentration toward the nutrient-depleted areas of lower concentration around the root surface. That process is due to random motion, also called Brownian motion, of molecules within a gradient of decreasing concentration. [18] By this means, plants can continue to take up nutrients even at night, when water is only slowly absorbed into the roots as transpiration has almost stopped following stomatal closure. Finally, root interception comes into play as roots continually grow into new, undepleted soil. By this way roots are also able to absorb nanomaterials such as nanoparticulate organic matter. [19]
Nutrient | Approximate percentage supplied by: | ||
---|---|---|---|
Mass flow | Root interception | Diffusion | |
Nitrogen | 98.8 | 1.2 | 0 |
Phosphorus | 6.3 | 2.8 | 90.9 |
Potassium | 20.0 | 2.3 | 77.7 |
Calcium | 71.4 | 28.6 | 0 |
Sulfur | 95.0 | 5.0 | 0 |
Molybdenum | 95.2 | 4.8 | 0 |
In the above table, phosphorus and potassium nutrients move more by diffusion than they do by mass flow in the soil water solution, as they are rapidly taken up by the roots creating a concentration of almost zero near the roots (the plants cannot transpire enough water to draw more of those nutrients near the roots). The very steep concentration gradient is of greater influence in the movement of those ions than is the movement of those by mass flow. [21] The movement by mass flow requires the transpiration of water from the plant causing water and solution ions to also move toward the roots. [22] Movement by root interception is slowest, being at the rate plants extend their roots. [23]
Plants move ions out of their roots in an effort to move nutrients in from the soil, an exchange process which occurs in the root apoplast. [24] Hydrogen H+ is exchanged for other cations, and carbonate (HCO3−) and hydroxide (OH−) anions are exchanged for nutrient anions. [25] As plant roots remove nutrients from the soil water solution, they are replenished as other ions move off of clay and humus (by ion exchange or desorption), are added from the weathering of soil minerals, and are released by the decomposition of soil organic matter. However, the rate at which plant roots remove nutrients may not cope with the rate at which they are replenished in the soil solution, stemming in nutrient limitation to plant growth. [26] Plants derive a large proportion of their anion nutrients from decomposing organic matter, which typically holds about 95 percent of the soil nitrogen, 5 to 60 percent of the soil phosphorus and about 80 percent of the soil sulfur. Where crops are produced, the replenishment of nutrients in the soil must usually be augmented by the addition of fertilizer or organic matter. [20]
Because nutrient uptake is an active metabolic process, conditions that inhibit root metabolism may also inhibit nutrient uptake. [27] Examples of such conditions include waterlogging or soil compaction resulting in poor soil aeration, excessively high or low soil temperatures, and above-ground conditions that result in low translocation of sugars to plant roots. [28]
Plants obtain their carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide through photosynthetic carboxylation, to which must be added the uptake of dissolved carbon from the soil solution [29] and carbon transfer through mycorrhizal networks. [30] About 45% of a plant's dry mass is carbon; plant residues typically have a carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) of between 13:1 and 100:1. As the soil organic material is digested by micro-organisms and saprophagous soil fauna, the C/N decreases as the carbonaceous material is metabolized and carbon dioxide (CO2) is released as a byproduct which then finds its way out of the soil and into the atmosphere. Nitrogen turnover (mostly involved in protein turnover) is lesser than that of carbon (mostly involved in respiration) in the living, then dead matter of decomposers, which are always richer in nitrogen than plant litter, and so it builds up in the soil. [31] Normal CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is 0.03%, this can be the factor limiting plant growth. In a field of maize on a still day during high light conditions in the growing season, the CO2 concentration drops very low, but under such conditions the crop could use up to 20 times the normal concentration. The respiration of CO2 by soil micro-organisms decomposing soil organic matter and the CO2 respired by roots contribute an important amount of CO2 to the photosynthesising plants, to which must be added the CO2 respired by aboveground plant tissues. [32] Root-respired CO2 can be accumulated overnight within hollow stems of plants, to be further used for photosynthesis during the day. [33] Within the soil, CO2 concentration is 10 to 100 times that of atmospheric levels but may rise to toxic levels if the soil porosity is low or if diffusion is impeded by flooding. [34] [1] [35]
Nitrogen is the most critical element obtained by plants from the soil, to the exception of moist tropical forests where phosphorus is the limiting soil nutrient, [36] and nitrogen deficiency often limits plant growth. [37] Plants can use nitrogen as either the ammonium cation (NH4+) or the anion nitrate (NO3−). Plants are commonly classified as ammonium or nitrate plants according to their preferential nitrogen nutrition. [38] Usually, most of the nitrogen in soil is bound within organic compounds that make up the soil organic matter, and must be mineralized to the ammonium or nitrate form before it can be taken up by most plants. However, symbiosis with mycorrhizal fungi allow plants to get access to the organic nitrogen pool where and when mineral forms of nitrogen are poorly available. [39] The total nitrogen content depends largely on the soil organic matter content, which in turn depends on texture, climate, vegetation, topography, age and soil management. [40] Soil nitrogen typically decreases by 0.2 to 0.3% for every temperature increase by 10 °C. Usually, grassland soils contain more soil nitrogen than forest soils, because of a higher turnover rate of grassland organic matter. [41] Cultivation decreases soil nitrogen by exposing soil organic matter to decomposition by microorganisms, [42] most losses being caused by denitrification, [43] and soils under no-tillage maintain more soil nitrogen than tilled soils. [44]
Some micro-organisms are able to metabolise organic matter and release ammonium in a process called mineralisation. Others, called nitrifiers, take free ammonium or nitrite as an intermediary step in the process of nitrification, and oxidise it to nitrate. Nitrogen-fixing bacteria are capable of metabolising N2 into the form of ammonia or related nitrogenous compounds in a process called nitrogen fixation. Both ammonium and nitrate can be immobilized by their incorporation into microbial living cells, where it is temporarily sequestered in the form of amino acids and proteins. Nitrate may be lost from the soil to the atmosphere when bacteria metabolise it to the gases NH3, N2 and N2O, a process called denitrification. Nitrogen may also be leached from the vadose zone if in the form of nitrate, acting as a pollutant if it reaches the water table or flows over land, more especially in agricultural soils under high use of nutrient fertilizers. [45] Ammonium may also be sequestered in 2:1 clay minerals. [46] A small amount of nitrogen is added to soil by rainfall, to the exception of wide areas of North America and West Europe where the excess use of nitrogen fertilizers and manure has caused atmospheric pollution by ammonia emission, stemming in soil acidification and eutrophication of soils and aquatic ecosystems. [47] [48] [9] [49] [50] [51]
In the process of mineralisation, microbes feed on organic matter, releasing ammonia (NH3), ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3−) and other nutrients. As long as the carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N) of fresh residues in the soil is above 30:1, nitrogen will be in short supply for the nitrogen-rich microbal biomass (nitrogen deficiency), and other bacteria will uptake ammonium and to a lesser extent nitrate and incorporate them into their cells in the immobilization process. [52] In that form the nitrogen is said to be immobilised. Later, when such bacteria die, they too are mineralised and some of the nitrogen is released as ammonium and nitrate. Predation of bacteria by soil fauna, in particular protozoa and nematodes, play a decisive role in the return of immobilized nitrogen to mineral forms. [53] If the C/N of fresh residues is less than 15, mineral nitrogen is freed to the soil and directly available to plants. [54] Bacteria may on average add 25 pounds (11 kg) nitrogen per acre, and in an unfertilised field, this is the most important source of usable nitrogen. In a soil with 5% organic matter perhaps 2 to 5% of that is released to the soil by such decomposition. It occurs fastest in warm, moist, well aerated soil. [55] The mineralisation of 3% of the organic material of a soil that is 4% organic matter overall, would release 120 pounds (54 kg) of nitrogen as ammonium per acre. [56]
Organic Material | C:N Ratio |
---|---|
Alfalfa | 13 |
Bacteria | 4 |
Clover, green sweet | 16 |
Clover, mature sweet | 23 |
Fungi | 9 |
Forest litter | 30 |
Humus in warm cultivated soils | 11 |
Legume-grass hay | 25 |
Legumes (alfalfa or clover), mature | 20 |
Manure, cow | 18 |
Manure, horse | 16–45 |
Manure, human | 10 |
Oat straw | 80 |
Straw, cornstalks | 90 |
Sawdust | 250 |
In nitrogen fixation, rhizobium bacteria convert N2 to ammonia (NH3), which is rapidly converted to amino acids, parts of which are used by the rhizobia for the synthesis of their own biomass proteins, while other parts are transported to the xylem of the host plant. [58] Rhizobia share a symbiotic relationship with host plants, since rhizobia supply the host with nitrogen and the host provides rhizobia with other nutrients and a safe environment. It is estimated that such symbiotic bacteria in the root nodules of legumes add 45 to 250 pounds of nitrogen per acre per year, which may be sufficient for the crop. Other, free-living nitrogen-fixing diazotroph bacteria and archaea live independently in the soil and release mineral forms of nitrogen when their dead bodies are converted by way of mineralization. [59]
Some amount of atmospheric nitrogen is transformed by lightnings in gaseous nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2−). [60] Nitrogen dioxide is soluble in water to form nitric acid (HNO3) dissociating in H+ and NO3−. Ammonia, NH3, previously emitted from the soil, may fall with precipitation as nitric acid at a rate of about five pounds nitrogen per acre per year. [61]
When bacteria feed on soluble forms of nitrogen (ammonium and nitrate), they temporarily sequester that nitrogen in their bodies in a process called immobilization. At a later time when those bacteria die, their nitrogen may be released as ammonium by the process of mineralization, sped up by predatory fauna. [62]
Protein material is easily broken down, but the rate of its decomposition is slowed by its attachment to the crystalline structure of clay and when trapped between the clay layers [63] or attached to rough clay surfaces. [64] The layers are small enough that bacteria cannot enter. [65] Some organisms exude extracellular enzymes that can act on the sequestered proteins. However, those enzymes too may be trapped on the clay crystals, resulting in a complex interaction between proteins, microbial enzymes and mineral surfaces. [66]
Ammonium fixation occurs mainly between the layers of 2:1 type clay minerals such as illite, vermiculite or montmorillonite, together with ions of similar ionic radius and low hydration energy such as potassium, but a small proportion of ammonium is also fixed in the silt fraction. [67] Only a small fraction of soil nitrogen is held this way. [68]
Usable nitrogen may be lost from soils when it is in the form of nitrate, as it is easily leached, contrary to ammonium which is easily fixed. [69] Further losses of nitrogen occur by denitrification, the process whereby soil bacteria convert nitrate (NO3−) to nitrogen gas, N2 or N2O. This occurs when poor soil aeration limits free oxygen, forcing bacteria to use the oxygen in nitrate for their respiratory process. Denitrification increases when oxidisable organic material is available, as in organic farming [69] and when soils are warm and slightly acidic, as currently happens in tropical areas. [70] Denitrification may vary throughout a soil as the aeration varies from place to place. [71] Denitrification may cause the loss of 10 to 20 percent of the available nitrates within a day and when conditions are favourable to that process, losses of up to 60 percent of nitrate applied as fertiliser may occur. [72]
Ammonia volatilisation occurs when ammonium reacts chemically with an alkaline soil, converting NH4+ to NH3. [73] The application of ammonium fertiliser to such a field can result in volatilisation losses of as much as 30 percent. [74]
All kinds of nitrogen losses, whether by leaching or volatilization, are responsible for a large part of aquifer pollution [75] and air pollution, with concomitant effects on soil acidification and eutrophication, [76] a novel combination of environmental threats (acidity and excess nitrogen) to which extant organisms are badly adapted, causing severe biodiversity losses in natural ecosystems. [77]
After nitrogen, phosphorus is probably the element most likely to be deficient in soils, although it often turns to be the most deficient in tropical soils where the mineral pool is depleted under intense leaching and mineral weathering while, contrary to nitrogen, phosphorus reserves cannot be replenished from other sources. [78] The soil mineral apatite is the most common mineral source of phosphorus, from which it can be extracted by microbial and root exudates, [79] [80] with an important contribution of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. [81] The most common form of organic phosphate is phytate, the principal storage form of phosphorus in many plant tissues. While there is on average 1000 lb per acre (1120 kg per hectare) of phosphorus in the soil, it is generally in the form of orthophosphate with low solubility, except when linked to ammonium or calcium, hence the use of diammonium phosphate or monocalcium phosphate as fertilizers. [82] Total phosphorus is about 0.1 percent by weight of the soil, but only one percent of that is directly available to plants. Of the part available, more than half comes from the mineralisation of organic matter. Agricultural fields may need to be fertilised to make up for the phosphorus that has been removed in the crop. [83]
When phosphorus does form solubilised ions of H2PO4−, if not taken up by plant roots these ions rapidly form insoluble calcium phosphates or hydrous oxides of iron and aluminum. Phosphorus is largely immobile in the soil and is not leached but actually builds up in the surface layer if not cropped. The application of soluble fertilisers to soils may result in zinc deficiencies as zinc phosphates form, but soil pH levels, partly depending on the form of phosphorus in the fertiliser, strongly interact with this effect, in some cases resulting in increased zinc availability. [84] Lack of phosphorus may interfere with the normal opening of the plant leaf stomata, decreased stomatal conductance resulting in decreased photosynthesis and respiration rates [85] while decreased transpiration increases plant temperature. [86] Phosphorus is most available when soil pH is 6.5 in mineral soils and 5.5 in organic soils. [74]
The amount of potassium in a soil may be as much as 80,000 lb per acre-foot, of which only 150 lb is available for plant growth. Common mineral sources of potassium are the mica biotite and potassium feldspar, KAlSi3O8. Rhizosphere bacteria, also called rhizobacteria, contribute through the production of organic acids to its solubilization. [87] When solubilised, half will be held as exchangeable cations on clay while the other half is in the soil water solution. Potassium fixation often occurs when soils dry and the potassium is bonded between layers of 2:1 expansive clay minerals such as illite, vermiculite or montmorillonite. [88] Under certain conditions, dependent on the soil texture, intensity of drying, and initial amount of exchangeable potassium, the fixed percentage may be as much as 90 percent within ten minutes. Potassium may be leached from soils low in clay. [89] [90]
Calcium is one percent by weight of soils and is generally available but may be low as it is soluble and can be leached. It is thus low in sandy and heavily leached soil or strongly acidic mineral soils, resulting in excessive concentration of free hydrogen ions in the soil solution, and therefore these soils require liming. [91] Calcium is supplied to the plant in the form of exchangeable ions and moderately soluble minerals. There are four forms of calcium in the soil. Soil calcium can be in insoluble forms such as calcite or dolomite, in the soil solution in the form of a divalent cation or retained in exchangeable form at the surface of mineral particles. Another form is when calcium complexes with organic matter, forming covalent bonds between organic compounds which contribute to structural stability. [92] Calcium is more available on the soil colloids than is potassium because the common mineral calcite, CaCO3, is more soluble than potassium-bearing minerals such as feldspar. [93]
Calcium uptake by roots is essential for plant nutrition, contrary to an old tenet that it was luxury consumption. [94] Calcium is considered as an essential component of plant cell membranes, a counterion for inorganic and organic anions in the vacuole, and an intracellular messenger in the cytosol, playing a role in cellular learning and memory. [95]
Magnesium is one of the dominant exchangeable cations in most soils (after calcium and potassium). Magnesium is an essential element for plants, microbes and animals, being involved in many catalytic reactions and in the synthesis of chlorophyll. Primary minerals that weather to release magnesium include hornblende, biotite and vermiculite. Soil magnesium concentrations are generally sufficient for optimal plant growth, but highly weathered and sandy soils may be magnesium deficient due to leaching by heavy precipitation. [9] [96]
Most sulfur is made available to plants, like phosphorus, by its release from decomposing organic matter. [96] Deficiencies may exist in some soils (especially sandy soils) and if cropped, sulfur needs to be added. The application of large quantities of nitrogen to fields that have marginal amounts of sulfur may cause sulfur deficiency by a dilution effect when stimulation of plant growth by nitrogen increases the plant demand for sulfur. [97] A 15-ton crop of onions uses up to 19 lb of sulfur and 4 tons of alfalfa uses 15 lb per acre. Sulfur abundance varies with depth. In a sample of soils in Ohio, United States, the sulfur abundance varied with depths, 0–6 inches, 6–12 inches, 12–18 inches, 18–24 inches in the amounts: 1056, 830, 686, 528 lb per acre respectively. [98]
The micronutrients essential in plant life, in their order of importance, include iron, [99] manganese, [100] zinc, [101] copper, [102] boron, [103] chlorine [104] and molybdenum. [105] The term refers to plants' needs, not to their abundance in soil. They are required in very small amounts but are essential to plant health in that most are required parts of enzyme systems which are involved in plant metabolism. [106] They are generally available in the mineral component of the soil, but the heavy application of phosphates can cause a deficiency in zinc and iron by the formation of insoluble zinc and iron phosphates. [107] Iron deficiency, stemming in plant chlorosis and rhizosphere acidification, may also result from excessive amounts of heavy metals or calcium minerals (lime) in the soil. [108] [109] Excess amounts of soluble boron, molybdenum and chloride are toxic. [110] [111]
Nutrients which enhance the health but whose deficiency does not stop the life cycle of plants include: cobalt, strontium, vanadium, silicon and nickel. [112] As their importance is evaluated they may be added to the list of essential plant nutrients, as is the case for silicon. [113]
Nitrate is a polyatomic ion with the chemical formula NO−
3. Salts containing this ion are called nitrates. Nitrates are common components of fertilizers and explosives. Almost all inorganic nitrates are soluble in water. An example of an insoluble nitrate is bismuth oxynitrate.
A fertilizer or fertiliser is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from liming materials or other non-nutrient soil amendments. Many sources of fertilizer exist, both natural and industrially produced. For most modern agricultural practices, fertilization focuses on three main macro nutrients: nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) with occasional addition of supplements like rock flour for micronutrients. Farmers apply these fertilizers in a variety of ways: through dry or pelletized or liquid application processes, using large agricultural equipment, or hand-tool methods.
Soil, also commonly referred to as earth or dirt, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, liquids, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from soil by restricting the former term specifically to displaced soil.
The nitrogen cycle is the biogeochemical cycle by which nitrogen is converted into multiple chemical forms as it circulates among atmospheric, terrestrial, and marine ecosystems. The conversion of nitrogen can be carried out through both biological and physical processes. Important processes in the nitrogen cycle include fixation, ammonification, nitrification, and denitrification. The majority of Earth's atmosphere (78%) is atmospheric nitrogen, making it the largest source of nitrogen. However, atmospheric nitrogen has limited availability for biological use, leading to a scarcity of usable nitrogen in many types of ecosystems.
Ammonium is a modified form of ammonia that has an extra hydrogen atom. It is a positively charged (cationic) molecular ion with the chemical formula NH+4 or [NH4]+. It is formed by the addition of a proton to ammonia. Ammonium is also a general name for positively charged (protonated) substituted amines and quaternary ammonium cations, where one or more hydrogen atoms are replaced by organic or other groups. Not only is ammonium a source of nitrogen and a key metabolite for many living organisms, but it is an integral part of the global nitrogen cycle. As such, human impact in recent years could have an effect on the biological communities that depend on it.
Soil pH is a measure of the acidity or basicity (alkalinity) of a soil. Soil pH is a key characteristic that can be used to make informative analysis both qualitative and quantitatively regarding soil characteristics. pH is defined as the negative logarithm (base 10) of the activity of hydronium ions in a solution. In soils, it is measured in a slurry of soil mixed with water, and normally falls between 3 and 10, with 7 being neutral. Acid soils have a pH below 7 and alkaline soils have a pH above 7. Ultra-acidic soils and very strongly alkaline soils are rare.
A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires. The unique water chemistry of fens is a result of the ground or surface water input. Typically, this input results in higher mineral concentrations and a more basic pH than found in bogs. As peat accumulates in a fen, groundwater input can be reduced or cut off, making the fen ombrotrophic rather than minerotrophic. In this way, fens can become more acidic and transition to bogs over time.
Plant nutrition is the study of the chemical elements and compounds necessary for plant growth and reproduction, plant metabolism and their external supply. In its absence the plant is unable to complete a normal life cycle, or that the element is part of some essential plant constituent or metabolite. This is in accordance with Justus von Liebig's law of the minimum. The total essential plant nutrients include seventeen different elements: carbon, oxygen and hydrogen which are absorbed from the air, whereas other nutrients including nitrogen are typically obtained from the soil.
Nitrogen assimilation is the formation of organic nitrogen compounds like amino acids from inorganic nitrogen compounds present in the environment. Organisms like plants, fungi and certain bacteria that can fix nitrogen gas (N2) depend on the ability to assimilate nitrate or ammonia for their needs. Other organisms, like animals, depend entirely on organic nitrogen from their food.
Organic fertilizers are fertilizers that are naturally produced. Fertilizers are materials that can be added to soil or plants, in order to provide nutrients and sustain growth. Typical organic fertilizers include all animal waste including meat processing waste, manure, slurry, and guano; plus plant based fertilizers such as compost; and biosolids. Inorganic "organic fertilizers" include minerals and ash. Organic refers to the Principles of Organic Agriculture, which determines whether a fertilizer can be used for commercial organic agriculture, not whether the fertilizer consists of organic compounds.
Agrogeology is the study of the origins of minerals known as agrominerals and their applications. These minerals are of importance to farming and horticulture, especially with regard to soil fertility and fertilizer components. These minerals are usually essential plant nutrients. Agrogeology can also be defined as the application of geology to problems in agriculture, particularly in reference to soil productivity and health. This field is a combination of a few different fields, including geology, soil science, agronomy, and chemistry. The overall objective is to advance agricultural production by using geological resources to improve chemical and physical aspects of soil.
Soil acidification is the buildup of hydrogen cations, which reduces the soil pH. Chemically, this happens when a proton donor gets added to the soil. The donor can be an acid, such as nitric acid, sulfuric acid, or carbonic acid. It can also be a compound such as aluminium sulfate, which reacts in the soil to release protons. Acidification also occurs when base cations such as calcium, magnesium, potassium and sodium are leached from the soil.
Soil biology is the study of microbial and faunal activity and ecology in soil. Soil life, soil biota, soil fauna, or edaphon is a collective term that encompasses all organisms that spend a significant portion of their life cycle within a soil profile, or at the soil-litter interface. These organisms include earthworms, nematodes, protozoa, fungi, bacteria, different arthropods, as well as some reptiles, and species of burrowing mammals like gophers, moles and prairie dogs. Soil biology plays a vital role in determining many soil characteristics. The decomposition of organic matter by soil organisms has an immense influence on soil fertility, plant growth, soil structure, and carbon storage. As a relatively new science, much remains unknown about soil biology and its effect on soil ecosystems.
Soil chemistry is the study of the chemical characteristics of soil. Soil chemistry is affected by mineral composition, organic matter and environmental factors. In the early 1870s a consulting chemist to the Royal Agricultural Society in England, named J. Thomas Way, performed many experiments on how soils exchange ions, and is considered the father of soil chemistry. Other scientists who contributed to this branch of ecology include Edmund Ruffin, and Linus Pauling.
In soil science, mineralization is the decomposition of the chemical compounds in organic matter, by which the nutrients in those compounds are released in soluble inorganic forms that may be available to plants. Mineralization is the opposite of immobilization.
Soil organic matter (SOM) is the organic matter component of soil, consisting of plant and animal detritus at various stages of decomposition, cells and tissues of soil microbes, and substances that soil microbes synthesize. SOM provides numerous benefits to soil's physical and chemical properties and its capacity to provide regulatory ecosystem services. SOM is especially critical for soil functions and quality.
Soil biodiversity refers to the relationship of soil to biodiversity and to aspects of the soil that can be managed in relative to biodiversity. Soil biodiversity relates to some catchment management considerations.
The physical properties of soil, in order of decreasing importance for ecosystem services such as crop production, are texture, structure, bulk density, porosity, consistency, temperature, colour and resistivity. Soil texture is determined by the relative proportion of the three kinds of soil mineral particles, called soil separates: sand, silt, and clay. At the next larger scale, soil structures called peds or more commonly soil aggregates are created from the soil separates when iron oxides, carbonates, clay, silica and humus, coat particles and cause them to adhere into larger, relatively stable secondary structures. Soil bulk density, when determined at standardized moisture conditions, is an estimate of soil compaction. Soil porosity consists of the void part of the soil volume and is occupied by gases or water. Soil consistency is the ability of soil materials to stick together. Soil temperature and colour are self-defining. Resistivity refers to the resistance to conduction of electric currents and affects the rate of corrosion of metal and concrete structures which are buried in soil. These properties vary through the depth of a soil profile, i.e. through soil horizons. Most of these properties determine the aeration of the soil and the ability of water to infiltrate and to be held within the soil.
The soil matrix is the solid phase of soils, and comprise the solid particles that make up soils. Soil particles can be classified by their chemical composition (mineralogy) as well as their size. The particle size distribution of a soil, its texture, determines many of the properties of that soil, in particular hydraulic conductivity and water potential, but the mineralogy of those particles can strongly modify those properties. The mineralogy of the finest soil particles, clay, is especially important.
The potassium (K) cycle is the biogeochemical cycle that describes the movement of potassium throughout the Earth's lithosphere, biosphere, atmosphere, and hydrosphere.