hippiehehe
Capstone Project 060
A picture of my soil location after I removed debris.
A) I found my soil to be silt clay loam and this soil has a moderately fine texture. The finer the texture, the greater the chance of the soil holding the water, meaning that the soil will not move as freely. This also means that the soil is more nutrient rich because the nutrients do not flow as freely and the soil retains a lot of nutrients.
B) Plant life was in the area where I collected my soil (no vegetables or fruits). Also I noticed some slugs and rollie-pollie-ollies :)
C) The plant life helps the soil become more easily "grounded up". Since it is hard for plant roots to penetrate the soil, if the plant roots do it will help the ground become more "softer" for other plant life around the area. Also, slugs will find cracks in the soil during the day and since my soil can crust, it helps the ground become looser for plants to seed. All in all the organisms help the soil quality by taking up extra nutrients and water in the soil for healthy growth and help with mixing the nutrients and water up by loosening the soil.
D)My soil is likely to be eroded because my soil tends to crust at the surface and this allows water in and moves the soil. The current location could become less populated with organisms because the erosion would possibly wipe out the plants by exposing their roots and force organisms (Such as snails) to a different hiding place. It would most likely erode to the left of my picture because the highest elevation is in front of my location and this would make water seep down and erode. The presence of would affect the location it is moved to by having extra soil and this means more holding capacity and nutrients.
E) It is important for an ecologist to think about soil texture because one needs to know what types of organisms are most present in that location if they are trying to manage a specific species. It is also important because one needs to know how to handle the types organisms they are trying to conserve (if they are) and this means more tilling/less tilling, etc because of less or more water in the soil.
Capstone Project 060
A picture of my soil location after I removed debris.
A) I found my soil to be silt clay loam and this soil has a moderately fine texture. The finer the texture, the greater the chance of the soil holding the water, meaning that the soil will not move as freely. This also means that the soil is more nutrient rich because the nutrients do not flow as freely and the soil retains a lot of nutrients.
B) Plant life was in the area where I collected my soil (no vegetables or fruits). Also I noticed some slugs and rollie-pollie-ollies :)
C) The plant life helps the soil become more easily "grounded up". Since it is hard for plant roots to penetrate the soil, if the plant roots do it will help the ground become more "softer" for other plant life around the area. Also, slugs will find cracks in the soil during the day and since my soil can crust, it helps the ground become looser for plants to seed. All in all the organisms help the soil quality by taking up extra nutrients and water in the soil for healthy growth and help with mixing the nutrients and water up by loosening the soil.
D)My soil is likely to be eroded because my soil tends to crust at the surface and this allows water in and moves the soil. The current location could become less populated with organisms because the erosion would possibly wipe out the plants by exposing their roots and force organisms (Such as snails) to a different hiding place. It would most likely erode to the left of my picture because the highest elevation is in front of my location and this would make water seep down and erode. The presence of would affect the location it is moved to by having extra soil and this means more holding capacity and nutrients.
E) It is important for an ecologist to think about soil texture because one needs to know what types of organisms are most present in that location if they are trying to manage a specific species. It is also important because one needs to know how to handle the types organisms they are trying to conserve (if they are) and this means more tilling/less tilling, etc because of less or more water in the soil.