Factors That Affect Soil Processes And Ecosystem Functioning

Election of 1828 is what started it all. Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams was running for President, and Andrew Jackson won by an overwhelming majority. Jackson established the Spoil System. The Spoil System awarded Jackson’s friends and supporters public offices. During the 1830’s, abolitionist began to rise, and people began to revolt, for example, William Garrison wrote the “Liberator”, and Nat Turner killed his master and 60 more people. Money was a huge issue because tariffs were raised, and Jackson destroyed the National Banks, which caused the Panic of 1837. The big issue during the 1850’s was the decision if slavery should expand into the new territory that America had gained from the Mexican War. The documents support the explanation

Soil organisms provide ecosystem services such as maintaining soil fertility and preventing soil erosion. Water, wind, ice, and other agents cause soil erosion, the wearing away or removal of soil from the land. Soil erosion reduces fertility because essential minerals and organic matter are removed. Erosion causes sediments and pesticide and fertilizer residues to pollute nearby waterways ( Wiley, 2009).

According to Silent Spring, the United States Office of Plant Introduction has introduced about 200,000 species of plants from around the world, and almost half of the 180 major insect enemies of plants are accidental imports. According to Campbell’s Biology Textbook, these imported animals are known as invasive species, organisms that become established outside their native range. Carson states that often when a species is brought to an area they are not native to, the lack of natural enemies causes the species to become dominant and extremely abundant. These invasions are likely to be permanent, however as a way to “buy time” humans have turned to quarantine and massive chemical campaigns, instead of trying to prevent new invasions. As Carson continuously stresses chemical use can have unwanted consequences and she urges people to use the basic knowledge of animal populations and their relations to their surroundings and other species to prevent them from becoming overly dominate. For example, according to Campbell’s textbook, higher diversity communities are more often resistant to invasive species because the species is less likely to dominate over the native species. This was proven by scientists working in Long Island Sounds off the Coast of Connecticut created communities of different diversity consisting of sessile marine invertebrates, and examined how vulnerable the experimental communities were to an invasive species: the exontic tunicate. They found the tunicate was four times more likely to survive in lower diversity communities than higher diversity communities. It was concluded the diverse communities captured more of the resources available, leaving fewer resources for the invader. It is firmly believed by Carson that people should do much more simple research before transferring a foreign species to a new habitat to not only prevent a

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

They play a key role in regenerating and displacing soil. Earthworm activities changes both physical and chemical characteristic of soil. They help convert organic matter to humus. Additionally, they ingest other particles (sand grains) and when it is digested and excreted, it is accessible for plants to take advantage of its minerals and nutrients. Physically, the earthworm creates tunnels for air and water to navigate the soil. () They play an essential role in fighting erosion and are vital to plant growth. Healthy soil is depended on a thriving worm population. The ability to break down organic matter and excrete nutrients makes the earthworm valuable to restoration projects. Some people have employed earthworms to prepare soil for the return of native flora. Individuals that utilized this idea have seen better results in the return of their soil ecosystem than previously used methods. The number of

The predator populace in the earth populace is developing, while the predator populace in the grass is not advancing as quick. Everybody and each living thing are always advancing; in any case, since the knifes in the earth populace could outlast the forks, dissimilar to in the grass specialty, they are developing quicker. The spoons still ruled over all, surrendering the opposition over to the blades and forks. Table 2a obviously demonstrates that the knifes cooperated better, or were forceful in their approach of attempting to survive longer, and making more eras. Similar phenotypes were not supported in both the grass and soil populaces on the grounds that distinctive results came to be. On the off chance that the knifes just murdered off the forks in the grass segment, then the phenotypes would have been the same. The way that the knifes adjusted their nourishment on their mouths and afterward ate it was a key make, that drove them beat the forks. Since in the grass segment the forks likewise could defeat the do not have that their mouths stalled out within the individual clear out.

“ Without soil, land plants as we know them could not grow, and without plants no animals could survive”(53). This quote shows the great importance of one of our most important resources soil. “Perhaps the most important organisms in the soil, are the smallest-the invisible hosts of bacteria and threadlike fungi”(54). And, this quote shows how important the small organisms are. These include bacteria, fungi, and insects, which play such are large roll in life and are commonly being overlooked. One way they are being overlooked is by having chemicals sprayed on them and no one wonders what will happen. Well, if you are spraying chemicals to kill insects, it is most definite that the insects, such as earthworms, are going to be killed as well. These organisms are what make our soil so fertile, and without them we won’t be able to grow as much food. That being said, if we continue to plague the organisms of the soil with chemicals eventually, we will have less soil. We will no longer be able to grow as much crop due to this and we will not sustain the same lifestyle that we had

Certain invasive, human-introduced plants are definitely a problem, but some can provide a balance in the ecosystem by providing

Armyworms are stout bodied, hairless, striped caterpillars that chew the foliage of grasses and grain crops. Armyworms favorite food is corn and small grains, but they will occasionally feed on turf grasses. In this essay I argue that humans should take action regarding invasive species because many areas don't have enough food as is the case with the Armyworms.

In Charles Mann’s book, 1493, he talks about several problems throughout the world including the movement of organisms from one location to a foreign location. One example that Mann provides his readers with was, worms killing terraces in Ifugao (Mann 495). The worm species Pheretima and Polypheretima are invading terraces and killing them because of their hungry appetite. These giant earthworms came from oversees and can grow up to two feet in size. They leave huge tunnels and water sluices out of them, killing the rice plants at the same time (Mann 495). These worms are causing the terraces to become porous and sponge-like, which should never be terms used for a terrace. Another example that Mann uses is, the golden apple snail (Pomacea canaliculata) which was sent to Taiwan from

Have you ever heard of a two-inch black worm that eats brains and spits toxic goo through a mouth on its stomach? Sounds like straight out of a horror movie right? Well, it's real. This worm takes its stomach out when this happens goo spews out of it and dematerializes any soft low living animal. ! "This is the vilest animal," says David Robinson expert on mollusks also known as a malacologist. This animal is one of the most controlling and invasive species in the world (says Newslea),no wonder they are eating the natural small insect population. This worm could spread anywhere that you can see

In as little as 1 acre of land, there can by as many as 1 million earthworms!

The Lumbriculus Variegatus, or Black Worm, is a species of worm, which belong to the Annelida family, meaning their bodies are formed of segments instead of jointed legs (Brinkhurst, Gelder, 1991). The Black worm mainly inhabits the European and North American regions, notably in the shallow habitats, such as the edges of ponds, marshes, or lakes. Black worms’ diets consist of vegetation, and underwater microorganisms like algae (Brinkhurst, Gelder, 1991). Black worms are normally located in the “sandy” sediments from deeper parts in the water that they inhabit. Black worms use their head to search for food, while their tales often project upward. The worm does this to break water tension, in hopes that an exchange between gas and air, along

Nematodes, the marvel of evolution possess incredible ability to survive extreme weather events and hostile environments with a simple body organization. Genome sequences of model nematodes have revealed that many genes and physiological processes in these worms are common to humans, higher animals and plants. Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying their survival under adverse environments may provide new opportunities in developing novel strategies to minimize/mitigate the impact of global warming. Nematode communities in soil are composed of a variety of trophic and ecological groups which can be directly linked to key ecosystem functions like primary production, primary consumption, secondary consumption, decomposition, etc. Because of these attributes, soil nematode communities serve as an excellent model system for studying impacts of climate change on the belowground productivity. Nematodes are currently being extensively investigated in most studies analyzing response of terrestrial ecosystems to climate change. They are ubiquitous, diverse and the most abundant group of multicellular organisms on the earth. They are represented at more than one trophic level in soil food-webs as they act as primary consumers (herbivores), secondary consumers (bacterivores and fungivores) and tertiary consumers (omnivores, carnivores and predaceous nematodes). They play multiple and contrasting roles in regulating productivity of plant and animal based production systems.

Wetland soils are extremely varied. They are found from the tropics to the subarctic. They can be seasonal or year-round, freshwater or saltwater, organic or mineral. The one thing that all of them have in common is that for at least part of the year they are saturated with water. This saturation has a significant impact on the soil's physics, chemistry, and biota. However, over the past century more than half of all the wetlands in the United States has been drained for agriculture and other uses such as construction. When the soils are drained the physics, chemistry, and biota are drastically changed. This paper is an attempt to