Changes in Soil Quality in the Midwest and Potential Solutions Duane Friend Extension Educator University of Illinois Extension

Native Vegetation in Illinois Illustration by Roger C. Anderson

http://dnr.state.il.us/conservation/naturalheritage/florafauna/document.htm Big Bluestem Indian Grass Blazing Star 5 Feet 10 Feet

It Takes 300 - 500 Years to Form One Inch of Topsoil Many human activities remove organic matter from soils in both urban and agricultural settings Soil development takes a long time. Anything that man does to negatively impact a soils properties will have long lasting effects. Constrution practices typically remove the fertile topsoil, and replace it with subsoil that is high in clay. This removes the organic matter, and changes the air and water relationships within the soil profile.

Earth movement during construction destroys the natural structure of our soil horizons, removes or buries organic matter, and disrupts internal drainage due to compaction.

Studies have shown that intensive tillage allows soil organic matter to quickly decompose. Microorganisms need oxygen to function. Tillage adds oxygen to soil, allowing these microbes to build in numbers and feed on organic matter. This rapid decomposition means that even the surface residue that is added to soils is quickly degraded, turned into carbon dioxide, and moves into the atmosphere. In addition, tillage breaks up soil aggregates, exposing more organic matter to microbial decomposition. Intensive Tillage and Tiling add oxygen to soils, decomposing organic matter faster that it can be added Many Midwest soils have lost a quarter to half of its original organic matter in the last 200 years

Graph by Dr. Rafiq Islam

Anthrosols- “manufactured soils” Terra Preta- Amazonia [Glaser, B., Haumaier, L., Guggenberger, G., and Zech, W. (2001). The Terra Preta phenomenon: a model for sustainable agriculture in the humid tropics. Naturwissenschaften 88, 37-41.]

Compost and Biochar – Potential Synergisms As compost has only a moderate SOM reproduction potential, strategies for further optimization are required. Recent studies provide optimism for synergistic effects of compost and biochar technologies for ecosystem services and for sustainable management of natural resources including ‘organic wastes’. Synergisms between Compost and Biochar for Sustainable Soil Amelioration Daniel Fischerand Bruno Glaser Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, Soil Biogeochemistry, Halle, Germany