SDC11452

My soil’s texture is a sandy clay loam, I think. This texture accounts for the large stagnant pools of water on either side of the path, but also for the fact that many plants still are able to grow here... the sand and loam components aid in water flow so that the plants don’t “drown” in the soil. Nutrients are able to move through the soil along with the water in plentiful enough quantities that the plants receive them, but many of the nutrients also probably flow into the stagnant pools of water and stay there. Organisms such as beech trees, weeds, ferns, and some moss were growing in the area that I collected the soil sample. These organisms probably add to the total nutrient content of the soil as they die and decompose. They probably also keep the soil in place and keep it from eroding. The soil that I collected was nearer to the path running through the middle of my patch of land, so it probably is likely to be eroded, since there were no plants on the path. If washed off the path, it would most likely erode into the stagnant pools of water on either side of the path, where it would collect on the bottom and create a muck layer. As an ecologist it is very important to think about soil texture because that is the “food” that feeds your entire ecosystem from the bottom up. The texture affects which organisms live in the soil, which in turn affects plant growth, which in turn affects the diet of other organisms in the area.

Done