BlueBellBeauty
Capstone Environment Soil
My soil was sandy loam, because it formed a ball when squeezed and stayed in that shape when bounced, but ribbons could not be formed out of it at all.
This soil type both absorbs and retains water very well, which I also noticed by the massive pond forming due to all of the recent rain. This means that water tends to stay within the soil unless it is a part of a stream or river, meaning that the nutrients are only leeched along moving bodies of water; the ponds that form do not flow anywhere, leaving the nutrients where they were picked up.
Normal forest animals and river creautres, like squirrels, chipmunks, ducks and frogs, among many others, live in this area. There is also honeysuckle and prairie grasses, along with a lot of trees.
I think that most of the organisms I listed do not affect the soil too much, except for the trees helping hold the soil together more than it otherwise would. Overall, however, I do not think the animals change the soil too much from sandy loam but help it maintain that status.
My soil is not likely to erode, because it holds itself together very well (it was hard using my hands to pull of a sample even though it was wet) and since it absorbs and retains water so well only flowing water would really affect it, which only occurs by the river. Loss of this soil would radically change the plant life (and consequently the animals living there) because they rely on the sandy loam to support them without too much leeching of nutrients and the proper amount of water. This soil would erode into the nearby river, which would not affect the river too much because the soil there is pretty much like the soil in the environment.
It is important for an ecologist to think about the soil texture because it affects so many things within an environment. As shown, soil has a major affect on how water flows through an environment, and where, what kind, and how much nutrients are there for organisms to use. The soil also plays a major role in what kind of plants and burrowing creatures live there. Since the soil determines the possible biome an environment can sustain, it is effectively the "base" (no pun intended) for the biome itself.
Capstone Environment Soil
My soil was sandy loam, because it formed a ball when squeezed and stayed in that shape when bounced, but ribbons could not be formed out of it at all.
This soil type both absorbs and retains water very well, which I also noticed by the massive pond forming due to all of the recent rain. This means that water tends to stay within the soil unless it is a part of a stream or river, meaning that the nutrients are only leeched along moving bodies of water; the ponds that form do not flow anywhere, leaving the nutrients where they were picked up.
Normal forest animals and river creautres, like squirrels, chipmunks, ducks and frogs, among many others, live in this area. There is also honeysuckle and prairie grasses, along with a lot of trees.
I think that most of the organisms I listed do not affect the soil too much, except for the trees helping hold the soil together more than it otherwise would. Overall, however, I do not think the animals change the soil too much from sandy loam but help it maintain that status.
My soil is not likely to erode, because it holds itself together very well (it was hard using my hands to pull of a sample even though it was wet) and since it absorbs and retains water so well only flowing water would really affect it, which only occurs by the river. Loss of this soil would radically change the plant life (and consequently the animals living there) because they rely on the sandy loam to support them without too much leeching of nutrients and the proper amount of water. This soil would erode into the nearby river, which would not affect the river too much because the soil there is pretty much like the soil in the environment.
It is important for an ecologist to think about the soil texture because it affects so many things within an environment. As shown, soil has a major affect on how water flows through an environment, and where, what kind, and how much nutrients are there for organisms to use. The soil also plays a major role in what kind of plants and burrowing creatures live there. Since the soil determines the possible biome an environment can sustain, it is effectively the "base" (no pun intended) for the biome itself.