 The Importance of Soil Ag and Tech ! Ms. Lacross

The Importance of Soil  Please answer the following questions:  Why is soil important to you?  What do we use soil for?  Why do we need soil?

Objectives You will be able to:  Summarize ecological functions of soil  Describe 4 ways plants use soil  List and explain uses of soil

The Important of Soil  Past: The importance of soil dates back thousands of years but is still a current problem today.  in 340 B.C.E. observations of soil were taken by green historian Herodotus  in the 1930’s the Dust Bowl caused drought because of soil misuse.  Present  North and South America and Europe receive dust blown from Africa. As soils of Africa degrade the movement of dust has been increasing.  Future:  The Earths population has reached about 7 billion people  The worlds growers will need to provide 70 percent more food by 2050

Renewable or Nonrenewable?  Soil is a Slowly RENEWABLE resource  Minerals in Rocks and Fossil fuels are Nonrenewable  Compost is renewable  Nonrenewable:  resources in which there is a limited supply.  supply comes from the Earth  takes millions of years to develop  is FINITE  Renewable:  resource that is replaced naturally  can be used again

Soil is a life supporting layer of material  The atmosphere, crust and soil interact to provide plants and animals with the resources they need  Temperature: plant roots grow best in certain soil temperature ranges 40 – 50 degrees  Gases: plant roots and other soil organisms need o2 and give off c02  Water: Soils filter water as it moves through purifying it

Soil is a life supporting layer of material  The atmosphere, crust and soil interact to provide plants and animals with the resources they need  Carbon: Soils act as a carbon reserve keeping carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere  Nutrients:  Nitrogen: soil organisms convert gaseous nitrogen to forms that plants can use

Agricultural Uses Of Soil  Human societies depend on soil to grow  food  fiber  timber  ornamental plants and  biofuels

Agricultural Uses of Soil: Cropland  Cropland: is land on which soil is worked and crops are plants, cared for and harvested  worldwide the greatest acreage of cropland is devoted to ANNUAL crops (one year season)

Agricultural Uses of Soil: Grazing Land  Much land in the US is graze by cattle and sheep  Pasture is planted for forage  Forage: food for horses or cattle aka Fodder  The environmental consequences of grazing depends on how the land is managed  Overstocked land suffers damage to soil and water

Agricultural Uses of Soil: Forest  Foresters disturb soil the LEAST  but management is a concern  Trees are harvested after many years of growth  logging equipment tears up the grass (vegetative cover) and compacts the soil  Compaction = erosion

Agricultural Uses of Soil: Landscape Horticulture  Landscape horticulture  landscaping and growing plants in containers  the practice we use to sustain soil and water resources in Urban areas  Landscapers install and maintain plants in soils that have been heavily modified by construction

Agricultural Uses of Soil: Urban Agriculture  Seeks to provide food, especially for poorer people  urban farmers occupy small pieces of land  vacant lots, large yards or grounds

Use of soil in the United States

Soil and Climate  Climate affects how we use the soil  How we use the soil affects the climate  Greenhouse gases: What we do when we manage soil can increase or decrease the concentration of gases in the atmosphere  Soil is one of the planets largest reservoirs of carbon in the form of organic matter  if we lose organic matter from fields more CO2 goes into the atmosphere

Please answer the following questions:  Now that you know more about the importance of soil …  What things would you NOT have if we did not have soil?  Do foresters disturb the soil the most or the least?  What is Urban Agriculture?