2.4 Cultural These include the intangible benefits obtained from the ecosystem (Millennium

Discussing the qualities of healthy soil, Daniel Stein of Food Tank pens, “The soil is made up of air, water, decayed plant residue, organic matter, and minerals, such as sand silt, and clay. Increasing soil organic matter typically

Biomes are appropriate conditions for organizing the natural world because the organisms that live in them common constellations of adaptations, particularly the climate of each of the areas and the characteristic vegetation types that develops in these divisions. It should be understood that the climate is perhaps the most important in determining classes of individuals who may live in an area and the ways they should be amended to live under different conditions of temperature and precipitation and seasonal distribution of these factors element. Every place on Earth has its own climate, influenced by both macroclimate regions as the particular microclimate. The soils are very important because they are essential to determine the types of plants that will grow into a bioclimatic zone in partical, in addition, also as substrates for animals serve. In turn, the soils are heavily influenced by regional climate, as well as the geology of the bedrock. At the same time we have to keep in mind the diversity of plants like the flora just like the diversity of the fauna as well as the adaptation of both.

through. The chemicals are then able to move through the ground and into many vital water

Soil turnover - as soil is moved around by digging animals, organic matter is mixed through which distributes nutrients throughout the soil

I watched a Ted Talk on YouTube called Ted x Huntsville, it was presented by Karen Wynne and was published October 1st, 2014. The topic that Wynne talked about was the concept of stopping treating soil like dirt. She started by stating a quote by Leonardo Da Vinci that said: “We know more about the celestial bodies than the soil under our feet”. This was an interesting way of introducing her talk since after saying we near nothing about earth she begun to tell us the difference between soil and dirt introducing the topic at hand. For soil she gave the basic definition that it was a mixture of sand, silt, and clay plus air holes, water, and organic matter and as for dirt she just simply washed her hands on her shirt as if it was nothing after playing with the soil. So, already she was hands on and showed that we humans don’t really care about our soil.

Look around you; do you think that we need soil in our everyday lives? Sure we do. Natural flowing water is filtered through the soil thus making it drinkable. We breathe the air that is produced by plants that grow in soil. Our clothes wouldn’t be made if the cotton plant had no soil to grow in.

The microbes found in soil go hand in hand with the microbes found in our bodies, especially the gut microbiome. Soil is used to grow various plants and crops which we then ingest. As stated in Healthy Soil Microbes, Healthy People, we have completely destroyed soil microbes by overusing fertilizers and pesticides just like how we have destroyed our gut microbes by ingesting processed foods and large amounts of antibiotics. Soil microbes, including bacteria and fungi, form symbiotic relationships with plant roots to help provide the plant with many nutrients needed to survive. In order to restore and improve the soil once again, we need to reintroduce bacteria and fungi that are capable of repairing the damage. Through recent technological advances, the soil microbiome was genetically sequenced. This allows farmers and other scientists to understand which microorganisms are

Soil is the word that literally holds this world together. Without the necessity of soil, we probably wouldn’t even be where we are today. It is the main support system for our earth because it holds the roots to the ground, keeping our ground in tact. When we can’t control what happens in nature, like the Dust Bowl, we may be hit with unexpected dangers, but when it comes to things we can control we need to act right away. In the 1930’s, with little to no rainfall, weak soil and no advanced technology the people in the great plains were headed for a major catastrophe. They had no control over the way their land was moving, so it just kept going and eventually ended up to be known around the world as the Dust Bowl. If they would have had the

reaching hundreds of feet in the ground forces a mixture of water and chemicals into the earth's

From the surface of the river, the water, with the help of heat provided by the sun, can evaporate and go up into the Earth’s atmosphere. From the clouds, the water can now fall back down onto land or a body of water as precipitation. Going back to the basin, the water can also travel to a new site after it is consumed by an animal, such as a bear or otter, living near the river. From here, it will eventually have to leave its body as urine or fecal matter. Once again starting the cycle, this time as underground, near the river, the water can be taken up by the roots of plants such as trees or grass. Next, the water can leave the plant through transpiration and go into the Earth’s atmosphere. The water cycle doesn’t go in a perfect circle, and there are many options and paths for water to take as it travels from location to

Plants are the back bone to earth; they are indispensable to being able to survive. They provide the earth with oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide. They are vital to human well-being as they provide the earth with nutrients, help with the water cycle and are essential for food supply. Plants provide all the energy for the ecosystem, as they can get energy directly from sunlight. They use a process called photosynthesis to use energy from the sun to grow and reproduce. (North western projects, Unknown) Plants also obtain nutrients from the soil in which they growth in. By using photosynthesis plants obtain most of their oxygen and carbon from the air and hydrogen is obtained from the water in the soil. (Victorian Agriculture, 2015). If salt water is absorbed in soil, it can stay in the soil for a long time. This can either be positive or negative depending of the amount of salt in the soil.

For that reason, there is water purification at water-treatment plants. As water passes through the ground it dissolves the surrounding rock, picking up traces of minerals along the way because

The voids are spaces between grains of sand, or cracks in dense rock. All water beneath the land surface occurs within such void space sand is referred to as underground or subsurface water. Subsurface water occurs in two different zones. One zone, located immediately beneath the land surface in most areas, contains both water and air in the voids. This zone is referred to as the unsaturated zone. Other names for the unsaturated zone are zone of aeration and vadose zone. The unsaturated zone is almost always underlain by a second zone in which all voids are full of water. This zone is defined as the saturated zone. Water in the saturated zone is referred to as ground water and is the only subsurface water available to supply wells and springs. Water table is often misused as a synonym for ground water. However, the water table is actually the boundary between the unsaturated and saturated zones. It represents the upper surface of the ground water. Technically speaking, it is the level at which the hydraulic pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure. The water level found in unused wells is often the same level as the water table. AQUIFERS An aquifer is a saturated geologic formation that will yield a usable quantity of water to a well or spring. Ground water occurs in aquifers under two conditions: confined and unconfined. A confined aquifer is overlain by a confining bed, such as an impermeable layer of clay

Once in the groundwater, water may move into surface waters such as lakes or streams. Groundwater moves slowly within the groundwater aquifer, often remaining in storage for long periods of time.

way of water to be absorbed into the ground, disturbed), it makes the ground soft