Study Questions CHAPTER 5 Prairyerths

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Apr 3, 2024

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Study Questions CHAPTER 5 Prairyerths Where the Sky Began: Land of the Tallgrass Prairie Bio146, Spring 2024, 1 st ed., Neill 1. Name five things that the “deep mellow prairielands” produce in amazing abundance (page 108): Corn , Wheat , Soy , Meat and half-billion People . 2. In general, soils are composed of non-living materials and life among root systems. Prairie loams are major soil type that got their start from common parent material called Loess pronounced “luss”. Wind blown deposits developed in some places hundreds of feet thick. Loess has unique physical properties including a fine / coarse texture, lightness / darkness and low / high water permeability with a wealth of plant nutrients (page 109). 3. Another important parent material of prairie soils ranked second in importance is Glacial till and has more water soluble mineral matter available as plant food (page 109 to 110). Newer or more recently glaciated regions tend to be poorer / richer in minerals and is seen in the “ black ” / “gray” prairies of northern / central Illinois. Why is this so (page 110)? It is due to the proximity to glacial lobes as well as glacation happening more recently. 4. What “elemental” explanation does Madson give for the distribution of the introduced Ring-Necked Pheasant of the northern prairie region (page 110 to 111)? The calcium rich soil, due to the Wisconsin galciation, is important for them to receive about half of their calcium content. 5. Grasses and other herbaceous plants invaded or colonized the parent materials of the early soils and infused them with “organic richness”. As a living soil community developed the decomposition of dead “plantstuffs” formed organic humus (page 112).

6. How long did it take for organic soils to reach full maturity and fertility; become deepened and enriched until a maximum content of organic material is established Hundreds of years. (page 113)? 7. Microscopic bacteria in the prairie soil are responsible for “fixing” nitrogen from the atmosphere and converting it in to nitrate, a plant nutrient essential for the prairie community (page 114)? Certain nitrogen fixing microbes live in the tender tissues of Legumes (a plant family that includes peas and beans) forming pebble sized nodules on their roots. 8. The dark amorphous residues of the soil is know generally as “ humus ” and is a warehouse of rich organic debris in all stages of decay that may hold from sixty to three hundred tons of Carbon and about six to thirty tons of NItrogen per acre (page 114)! This organic residue of decomposition again referred to as “ Humus ” is largely responsible for the dark-brown color of a typical prairie soil. 9. Temperature is the main environmental factor that influences the process of humification-the build up of humus in the soil. Northern prairies tend to have lesser / greater reserves of nutrient rich humus than southern prairies. In the cool, wet boggy regions of the far north rich peat beds form of semi- decomposed plant materials. On the other extreme is the tropical rain forest with high rates of decomposition that little / great amounts of humus form making these soils some of the poorest in the world (pages 115 & 116). 10.The distribution of organic matter between a forest and a prairie are identical / different . An acre of oak timber in southern Wisconsin may raise 90 tons of dry plant weight above ground with another 80 tons in the top 42 inches of soil. Conversely, a tall prairie may have only 3 tons of standing grass, several more tons of dead grass litter on the surface and 150 tons of organic material in the top 42 inches of soil. (page 116 to 117). 11.The fertility level of a prairie soil is deeper / more shallow than a forest soil and extends as deep as root systems . This fertility is reflected in part by the amount of humus in the soil with forest soils containing 20 to 50 tons per acre and acre of prairie soil may be up to 250 tons. These fertility and humus

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