DEFINITION EXAMPLES

 smallest of the soil

fauna and are less
than 0.1 mm in size

 depend on a thin film

of water around
particles for their
movement
Nematodes
 major consumers of
bacteria
Microfauna Rotifiers

 well suited to life in

Amoeba,ciliates, flagellates
soil because they
slide over surfaces
relatively easily,
feeding on soil
particles, roots and
thin water films in the
soil.

Macrofauna  larger than 2mm in Gophers, mice, moles

size
Ants, beetles and their
 They eat plant larvae, centipedes, grubs,
remains and injest maggots, millipedes, spiders,
soil organic matter in termites, woodlice
various stages of
decomposition, Earthworms
together with
microorganisms Snails, slugs
associated with this
material.

 They also ingest

mineral particles from
the soil and the
material they excrete
after it has been
digested in their
bodies is often well
aggregrated and
nutrient rich

 They help to produce

a good
 soil structure throug
h their burrowing and
casting.

 They also help to

release nutrients and
make them available
to growing plants.

 0.1 to 2mm in size

 feed on bacteria,
fungi and algae,
others scavenge on
degraded organic
Mites, collembolan
matter
Mesofauna Enchytraeid
 contribute to the
breakdown of organic
protura
matter, stimulation of
microorganisms and
deposition of faeces
which increase soil
fertility

 <0.1mm Root hairs

 Largely autotrophs Greens, yellow-greens,

diatoms
 Largely heterotrophs
Yeasts, mildews, molds.
Microflora  three main forms Rusts, mushrooms
of microflora in
soils: bacteria, fungi Actinomytes
and viruses
Aerobes,anaerobes

Blue-green algae
 Largely autotrophs
Feeder roots
Macroflora
mosses

 Small plants, which

are bigger than
Mesoflora microflora but smaller
than macroflora.
Retrieved from http://www.css.cornell.edu/courses/260/Soil%20Eco%201.pdf

http://www.soilnet.com/dev/page.cfm?
pageid=secondary_intro_livingbeing_c&menuplaceholder=secondary_intro_livingbeing

CARBON CYCLE

The geological carbon cycle

The geological component of the carbon cycle is where it interacts with the rock cycle in the
processes of weathering and dissolution, precipitation of minerals, burial and subduction,
and volcanic eruptions (see The Rock Cycle module for information). In the atmosphere,
carbonic acid forms by a reaction with atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and water. As this
weakly acidic water reaches the surface as rain, it reacts with minerals at Earth's surface,
slowly dissolving them into their component ions through the process of chemical
weathering. These component ions are carried in surface waters like streams and rivers
eventually to the ocean, where they precipitate out as minerals like calcite (CaCO3).
Through continued deposition and burial, this calcite sediment forms the rock called
limestone.

This cycle continues as seafloor spreading pushes the seafloor under continental margins in
the process of subduction. As seafloor carbon is pushed deeper into the Earth by tectonic
forces, it heats up, eventually melts, and can rise back up to the surface, where it is
released as CO2 and returned to the atmosphere. This return to the atmosphere can occur
violently through volcanic eruptions, or more gradually in seeps, vents, and CO2-rich
hotsprings. Tectonic uplift can also expose previously buried limestone. One example of this
occurs in the Himalayas where some of the world's highest peaks are formed of material
 that was once at the bottom of the ocean. Weathering, subduction, and volcanism control
atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations over time periods of hundreds of millions of
years.

Retrieved from https://www.visionlearning.com/en/library/Earth-Science/6/The-Carbon-

Cycle/95

NITROGEN CYCLE

Key points

 Nitrogen is a key component of the bodies of living organisms. Nitrogen atoms are found in all

proteins and DNA

 Nitrogen exists in the atmosphere as N2 gas. In nitrogen fixation, bacteria convert N2 into

ammonia, a form of nitrogen usable by plants. When animals eat the plants, they acquire usable nitrogen

compounds.

 Nitrogen is a common limiting nutrient in nature, and agriculture. A limiting nutrient is the

nutrient that's in shortest supply and limits growth.

 When fertilizers containing nitrogen and phosphorous are carried in runoff to lakes and rivers,

they can result in blooms of algae—this is called eutrophication.

Figure : The nitrogen cycle. Yellow arrows indicate human sources of nitrogen to the
environment. Red arrows indicate processes in which microorganisms participate in the
transformation of nitrogen. Blue arrows indicate physical forces acting on nitrogen. And green
arrows indicate natural processes affecting the form and fate of nitrogen that do not involve
microbes.

Processes in the nitrogen cycle

Five main processes cycle nitrogen through the biosphere, atmosphere, and geosphere: nitrogen fixation,
nitrogen uptake through organismal growth, nitrogen mineralization through decay, nitrification,
and denitrification. Microorganisms, particularly bacteria, play major roles in all of the principal nitrogen
transformations. Because these processes are microbially mediated, or controlled by microorganisms,
these nitrogen transformations tend to occur faster than geological processes like plate motion, a very
slow, purely physical process that is a part of the carbon cycle. Instead, rates are affected by
environmental factors that influence microbial activity, such as temperature, moisture, and resource
availability.

Retrieved from

https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/ecology/biogeochemical-cycles/a/the-
nitrogen-cycle

https://www.visionlearning.com/en/library/Earth-Science/6/The-Nitrogen-Cycle/98
 THE PHOSPHORUS CYCLE

THE PHOSPHORUS CYCLE

Here are the key steps of the phosphorus cycle

 Over time, rain and weathering cause rocks to release phosphate ions and

other minerals. This inorganic phosphate is then distributed in soils and water.
 Plants take up inorganic phosphate from the soil. The plants may then be
consumed by animals. Once in the plant or animal, the phosphate is
incorporated into organic molecules such as DNA. When the plant or animal
dies, it decays, and the organic phosphate is returned to the soil.
 Within the soil, organic forms of phosphate can be made available to plants
by bacteria that break down organic matter to inorganic forms of phosphorus.
This process is known as mineralisation.
 Phosphorus in soil can end up in waterways and eventually oceans. Once

there, it can be incorporated into sediments over time.

The phosphorus cycle

Phosphorus moves in a cycle through rocks, water, soil and sediments and organisms.
Most phosphorus is unavailable to plants
Since most of our phosphorus is locked up in sediments and rocks, it’s not available
for plants to use. A lot of the phosphorus in soils is also not available to plants.

The availability of phosphorus in soil to plants depends of several reversible

pathways:

 Bacteria: Bacteria convert plant-available phosphate into organic forms that

are then not available to plants. Although other bacteria make phosphate
available by mineralisation, the contribution of this is small.
 Adsorption: Inorganic (and available) phosphorus can be chemically bound
(adsorbed) to soil particles, making it unavailable to plants. Desorption is the
release of adsorbed phosphorus from its bound state into soil solution.
 pH: Inorganic phosphorus compounds need to be soluble to be taken up by
plants. This depends on the acidity (pH) of the soil. If soils are less than pH 4
or greater than pH 8, the phosphorus starts to become tied up with other
compounds, making it less available to plants.

Many plant crops need more phosphorus than is dissolved in the soil to grow
optimally. In addition, crops are usually harvested and removed – leaving no
decaying vegetation to replace phosphorus. Therefore, farmers replenish the
phosphorus ‘pool’ by adding fertilisers or effluent to replace the phosphorus taken up
by plants.

Retrieved from https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/961-the-phosphorus-

cycle
The hydrological cycle is a way of describing the storage, transformation and movement of
water between the atmosphere, biosphere, lithosphere and the hydrosphere. The
hydrological cycle is one of the fundamental supports on which nature depends. Water
covers some 70 percent of the earth's surface so it might be expected that there is plenty of
it. However, about 97 percent of the total water on the planet occurs in the oceans and
hence is saline (salty). The next largest amount (2.5 percent) occurs in glaciers and ice
caps, so is again largely unavailable. Less than 1 percent in total occurs in the atmosphere,
lakes and rivers, and the soil and underlying rocks combined. This is a tiny percentage yet it
is this small amount that we rely on to support the land-based biosphere.

The hydrological cycle is powered by energy from the sun. There are several mechanisms
involved. Heat from the sun causes some of the water from the surface bodies such as
oceans, lakes, rivers and, to a lesser extent, the soil surface, to change into water vapour.
This process is known as evaporation and is one of the key processes by which waters
changes its form and moves back to the atmosphere. Another important process
is transpiration. This involves soil water being passed through the plant roots up into the
plant itself, from where it leaves the plant as water vapour by a process called transpiration.
Where the two processes of evaporation and transpiration occur at the same time it is
called evapo-transpiration. These are the key processes by which the water is returned to
the atmosphere as water vapour.

The total resource of water in the world is constant. What does change is the form in which
water is. It is a very dynamic system, changing as it does from water vapour to snow and
ice and to liquid water. In the atmosphere the water vapour will eventually form clouds and
become the main source of rainfall, from which water is returned to the land and water
surfaces for re-distribution again. The hydrological cycle has been working for millions of
years. During this time the total amount of water on earth has remained constant. Water,
however, is regularly being cycled between the different 'compartments', e.g. oceans, air,
soil, by several different processes. These include precipitation (rainfall, hail and snowfall),
evaporation, transpiration, runoff and infiltration.

Retrieved from http://www.soil-net.com/dev/page.cfm?pageid=secondary_cycles_hydrological

THE SOIL ORDERS

The 12 soil orders are presented below in the sequence in which they “key out” in the U.S. Department
of Agriculture’s dichotomous Soil Taxonomy system.

Gelisols

Gelisols (from the Latin gelare – to freeze) are soils that are permanently frozen (contain “permafrost”)
or contain evidence of permafrost near the soil surface. Gelisols are found in the Arctic and Antarctic, as
well as at extremely high elevations. Permafrost influences land use through its effect on the downward
movement of water and freeze-thaw activity (cryoturbation) such as frost heaves. Permafrost can also
restrict the rooting depth of plants. Gelisols make up about 9% of the world’s glacier-free land surface.
Histosols

Histosols (from the Greek histos – tissue) are dominantly composed of organic material in their upper
portion. The Histosol order mainly contains soils commonly called bogs, moors, peat lands, muskegs,
fens, or peats and mucks. These soils form when organic matter, such as leaves, mosses, or grasses,
decomposes more slowly than it accumulates due to a decrease in microbial decay rates. This most
often occurs in extremely wet areas or underwater; thus, most of these soils are saturated year-round.
Histosols can be highly productive farmland when drained; however, drained Histosols can decompose
rapidly and subside dramatically. They are also not stable for foundations or roadways, and may be
highly acidic. Histosols make up about 1% of the world’s glacier-free land surface.

Spodosols

Spodosols (from the Greek spodos – wood ash) are among the most attractive soils. They often have a
dark surface underlain by an ashy gray layer, which is subsequently underlain by a reddish, rusty, coffee-
colored, or black subsoil horizon. These soils form as rainfall interacts with acidic vegetative litter, such
as the needles of conifers, to form organic acids. These acids dissolve iron, aluminum, and organic
matter in the topsoil and ashy gray (eluvial) horizons. The dissolved materials then move (illuviate) to
the colorful subsoil horizons. Spodosols most often develop in coarsely textured soils (sands and loamy
sands) under coniferous vegetation in humid regions of the world. They tend to be acidic, and have low
fertility and low clay content. Spodosols occupy about 4% of the world’s glacier-free land surface.

Andisols

Andisols (from the Japanese ando – black soil) typically form from the weathering of volcanic materials
such as ash, resulting in minerals in the soil with poor crystal structure. These minerals have an
unusually high capacity to hold both nutrients and water, making these soils very productive and fertile.
Andisols include weakly weathered soils with much volcanic glass, as well as more strongly weathered
soils. They typically occur in areas with moderate to high rainfall and cool temperatures. They also tend
to be highly erodible when on slopes. These soils make up about 1% of the glacier-free land surface.

Oxisols

Oxisols (from the French oxide – oxide) are soils of tropical and subtropical regions, which are
dominated by iron oxides, quartz, and highly weathered clay minerals such as kaolinite. These soils are
typically found on gently sloping land surfaces of great age that have been stable for a long time. For the
most part, they are nearly featureless soils without clearly marked layers, or horizons. Because they are
highly weathered, they have low natural fertility, but can be made productive through wise use of
fertilizers and lime. Oxisols are found over about 8% of the glacier-free land surface.
Vertisols

Vertisols (from the Latin verto – turn) are clay-rich soils that contain a type of “expansive” clay that
shrinks and swells dramatically. These soils therefore shrink as they dry and swell when they become
wet. When dry, vertisols form large cracks that may be more than one meter (three feet) deep and
several centimeters, or inches, wide. The movement of these soils can crack building foundations and
buckle roads. Vertisols are highly fertile due to their high clay content; however, water tends to pool on
their surfaces when they become wet. Vertisols are located in areas where the underlying parent
materials allow for the formation of expansive clay minerals. They occupy about 2% of the glacier-free
land surface.

Aridisols

Aridisols (from the Latin aridus – dry) are soils that occur in climates that are too dry for “mesophytic”
plants—plants adapted to neither too wet nor too dry environments—to survive. The climate in which
Aridisols occur also restricts soil weathering processes. Aridisols often contain accumulations of salt,
gypsum, or carbonates, and are found in hot and cold deserts worldwide. They occupy about 12% of the
Earth’s glacier-free land area, including some of the dry valleys of Antarctica.

Ultisols

Ultisols (from the Latin ultimus – last) are soils that have formed in humid areas and are intensely
weathered. They typically contain a subsoil horizon that has an appreciable amount of translocated clay,
and are relatively acidic. Most nutrients are held in the upper centimeters of Ultisol soils, and these soils
are generally of low fertility although they can become productive with additions of fertilizer and lime.
Ultisols make up about 8% of the glacier-free land surface.

Mollisols

Mollisols (from the Latin mollis – soft) are prairie or grassland soils that have a dark colored surface
horizon, are highly fertile, and are rich in chemical “bases” such as calcium and magnesium. The dark
surface horizon comes from the yearly addition of organic matter to the soil from the roots of prairie
plants. Mollisols are often found in climates with pronounced dry seasons. They make up approximately
7% of the glacier-free land surface.

Alfisols
Alfisols (from the soil science term Pedalfer – aluminum and iron) are similar to Ultisols but are less
intensively weathered and less acidic. They tend to be more inherently fertile than Ultisols and are
located in similar climatic regions, typically under forest vegetation. They are also more common than
Ultisols, occupying about 10% of the glacier-free land surface.

Inceptisols

Inceptisols (from the Latin inceptum – beginning) exhibit a moderate degree of soil development,
lacking significant clay accumulation in the subsoil. They occur over a wide range of parent materials and
climatic conditions, and thus have a wide range of characteristics. They are extensive, occupying
approximately 17% of the earth’s glacier-free surface.

Entisols

Entisols (from recent – new) are the last order in soil taxonomy and exhibit little to no soil development
other than the presence of an identifiable topsoil horizon. These soils occur in areas of recently
deposited sediments, often in places where deposition is faster than the rate of soil development. Some
typical landforms where Entisols are located include: active flood plains, dunes, landslide areas, and
behind retreating glaciers. They are common in all environments. Entisols make up the second largest
group of soils after Inceptisols, occupying about 16% of the Earth’s surface.

Retrieved from https://soilsmatter.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/the-soil-orders-simplified/