Agriculture and Wiley Essay

“Erosion occurs when the soil lacks protective vegetative cover”. (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) “Soil erosion reduces the productivity of the land by loss of water, soil, organic matter, nutrients, biota, and depth of soil.” (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) With no conservation methods in place in certain places like: no contour farming, no cover crop, no terraces, no water ways, and tillage on steep hills is asking for a loss of productivity from the land. The effects on the land that non-conservation methods have is horrible. “Its effects are pervasive, and its damages are long lasting. (Pimentel and others 1995a)” (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) Soil loss is a bigger factor then most people think. For an example an comparison of how much soil is actually lost in certain environments: “On sloping agricultural land under tropical rainfall, as much as 400t/ha/yr of soil is lost (Pimentel unpublished report,1990).”(Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) “Under arid conditions with relatively strong winds, as much as 5600t/ha/yr of soil has been reported lost (Gupta and Raina 1996).” (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) Soil loss is a huge factor when conservation practices are not put into place. “According to some investigators, approximately 75 billion tons a fertile soil are lost annually from the world’s agricultural systems (Myers 1993).” (Pimentel, Kounang, 1998) Soil loss is a huge factor and many different things can be done to help slow it,

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

Producers depend on the sunlight, consumers consume on eating other consumers (or producers), and decomposers turn broken down organisms and turn them into soil nutrients. For example plants, grass, and flowers depend on sunlight (and water), cows, humans, and fish depend on eating other consumers (chicken, fish, grasshoppers) and mold, bacteria, and fungi breaks down nutrients and turn them into soil.

The management of agricultural land is considered one of the most significant human activities capable of changing the soil characteristics. Intensive agricultural practices are an important factor contributing to the degradation of soil properties (García-Orenes et al., 2009; Maitima et al., 2009) leading to lower levels of organic matter (Fliessbach et al., 2007; Schjønning et al., 2007) and changes in soil microbial diversity and activity (Nicol et al., 2003; Govaerts et al., 2007). Many studies have shown that land use determines the composition of soil bacterial communities (Wallenius et al., 2011; Osborne et al., 2011) and the bacterial communities are more sensitive to land use changes than the soil chemical and physical properties (Romaniuk et al., 2011). On the other hand, the use of land affected indirectly the bacterial community structure but it does not deplete bacterial diversity under the imposed environmental conditions (Jesus et al., 2009; Suleiman et al.,

The soil matrix is a microbial storehouse in which a variety of microorganisms co-exist. Within the soil habitat, microorganisms are taking in nutrients, respiring, and participating in biogeochemical cycles. There are prokaryotic microbes, eukaryotic microbes, and viruses. The most abundant microbial populations in soil are simple bacteria, Actinobacteria, and fungi (1). The eukaryotic populations in soil include algae, fungi, and protists. Fungi participate in recycling biomass and stimulating plant growth (2). Soil fungi

Soil pollution is defined as the contamination of soil through man-made agents, inserted directly or indirectly into the soil itself. This pollution is bound to cause harm to any organisms living in the soil or who utilize the soil, as well as causing moderate to extreme damage to the soil itself. Contaminants can include agricultural run-off, harmful chemicals, organic or inorganic materials, as well as any other pollution caused by human activities on or around soil. As healthy soil is important for agricultural supply, it is

Soil around the world is a habitat for numerous plants and animals. However, every day, certain patches of soil are perhaps being

“If you truly get in touch with a piece of carrot, you get in touch with the soil, the rain, the sunshine. You get in touch with Mother Earth and eating in such a way, you feel in touch with true life, your roots, and that is meditation. If you chew every morsel of our food in that way you become grateful and when you are grateful, you are happy.” Said Thich Nhat Hanh. Soil erosion is the process by which the surface of the earth is worn away by the action of water, wind or by living organisms. Geologist said that about 70% of soil erosion is caused by human activities like agriculture, surface mining, excessive construction and forestry. The soil conservation is happening because of geographic and economic reasons. Agriculture also takes place for being a cause of erosion.

Soil consists of billions of minute living organisms, bugs and rodents. (Weather video clip-soil, 2004) It is necessary that the mixture of these organisms, bugs and rodents work together to produce healthy soil. As plants, trees and carcass’ decompose, they produce phosphorus, which is required to have healthy vegetation in soil. Another key ingredient for healthy soil is nitrates produced by nitrogen in the air mixing with condensation of water leaking into soil, which also produces healthy soil. Too much of these chemicals, along with trace minerals, will pollute the soil. Humans rely on healthy, fertile soil to grow fruits and vegetables in as well as raise animals who eat from the products grown in healthy soil. When the organisms,

Soil erosion is a natural process, occurring over geological time, and indeed it is a process that is essential for soil formation in the first place. With respect to soil degradation, most concerns about erosion are related to accelerated erosion, where the natural rate has been significantly increased mostly by human activity. Soil erosion by water is a widespread problem throughout Europe.

The decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM), or plant litter, by soil organisms, influences soil chemistry and its physical properties. The breakdown rate of SOM affects plant nutrient availability, the moisture holding capacity of soils, soil structure and the biological activity of soil organisms.01 According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), these microorganisms carry out processes that are essential for soil health and biodiversity, performing vital functions in the soil, such as soil fertility, plant growth, maintaining soil structure, soil resilience and carbon storage. 01 There are three biogeochemical cycles that are essential to life – carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)—and have been the focus of many studies, which have found organic C, N, P and sulfur (S) to be strongly related. Having a better understanding of this soil ecosystem, including processes and the C-N-P-S stoichiometry of SOM , is important to shedding light on the nature of nutrient limitation in terrestrial ecosystems. Furthermore, it has applications to the “capture of the benefits of soil biological activity for sustainable and productive agriculture” and to the reduction of negative impacts from human intervention (FAO). 01

In the natural environment, one of the most important elements that constitute it is soil. It contributes greatly to the sustenance of living components as well as influencing their distribution on the world’s surface. Being a habitat provider, soil also controls and regulates the circulation of water as chemical components present within the atmosphere (Nadimi & Farpoor, 2011). Some of the vital gases within the environment also rely on soil for their circulation. The include oxygen and carbon dioxide, which are crucial to the biological and cellular processes within living organisms. Another role carried out by soil includes recording the human activities that occurred in the past up until the recent time. Due to this, soil enriches the cultural essence and heritage of various communities.

Microflora including fungi, bacteria, and actinomycetes are responsible for breaking down organic matter and releasing available nutrients to plants (Altieri, 1999). Bacteria play a further role in nitrogen fixation, converting atmospheric nitrogen into usable organic forms and back to gaseous nitrogen in a cyclic manner. In addition to nutrient cycling, the macrofauna of the soil biota also influence soil structure. Organisms such as isopods, centipedes and earthworms are able to physically mix organic and mineral particles, redistributing both organic matter and microorganisms. Thus, the macrofauna promote nutrient availability and soil fertility throughout large amounts of soil. Given the dependence of soil fertility on a range of soil constituents playing various fundamental roles, it can be said that sustained agricultural productivity depends heavily on soil biodiversity.

Ecological services are resources that are essential to the sustainability of life on Earth and are provided to its inhabitant as long as the environment is kept in good health. These ecosystems provide vital services such as provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services to Earth’s residence. Moreover, these natural services are of vast importance in maintaining the planet’s biodiversity and are an imperative contributor in stabilizing the planet’s climate. Nonetheless, certain ecological services such as the generation and the preserving of soils in addition to renewing their fertility and the ability to control agricultural pests are at an increased risk due to continues human negligence.