Pastured Field Lab Report

Many factors affect nutrient availability, all of which are interlinked and are vital in the overall cycle of nutrients. For example, the ability of water to transport nutrients to the rhizosphere unimpeded is important. A factor which is considered to be central to nutrient cycling is the soil micro-organisms, which break down soil organic matter (SOM), releasing nutrients back into the soil through mineralization. If nutrients are cycled well plants are more likely to grow to their optimum potential.

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 Carbon Cycle is an important key to maintaining all the life on earth alive. The Carbon Cycle happens between all living things, so they all play a major role in it. It is the second most abundant element that makes up living things. Carbon affects the atmosphere throughout the years because the carbon has to travel to and from the living things.

Soil respiration is a process which results in the production of carbon dioxide and can be affected by several factors including plant litter and temperature (Biology 208 Lab Manual 2017). With increasing temperatures, the amount of carbon dioxide released during soil respiration will increase (Schlesinger and Andrews 1999). The presence of plant litter in the soil results in increased soil respiration, and results in increased rates of carbon dioxide production (Xiao et al. 2014). This experiment is looking at the effects of temperature and type of plant litter on the rate of soil respiration. For the abiotic factor, we hypothesize that increasing the temperature will positively affect soil respiration rate as it will increase the rate of metabolism of the microorganisms. Soil placed in 30°C chamber will produce more carbon dioxide than the soil placed in the 15°C chamber. For the biotic factor, decreasing the carbon:nitrogen ratio in plant litter will positively affect soil respiration rate by speeding up the rate of decomposition of the plant litter. Therefore, soil with grass will decompose faster and have higher carbon dioxide production than soil with pine needle litter. The interaction between temperature and type of plant litter indicates that soil with grass litter and in a 30°C chamber will have the highest carbon dioxide production.

Glomalin is a type of protein that works as a natural glue preventing soil from washing away. The producer of this protein is a type of fungi, which is torn by tillage during plowing. However, research shows that farming without tillage (silvopastoral systems for example) has the opposite effect because it leads to an increase of fungi and glomalin. The fungi carries minerals to the plants in exchange for carbon, which the plant takes from the atmosphere; therefore grazing areas such as rangelands and pasture lands can play an important part in restoring lost carbon soil (Niman, 28-30). Grass is also capable of producing soil carbon. According to the UK Soil Association, “Grass has high root densities, fine root hairs, and high mycorrhizal fungal levels, all of which increase soil aggregation. Animal manures and compost also promote soil carbon, again reinforcing how including animals in farming benefit carbon sequestration” (qtd. in Niman, 31). Niman concludes that while converting grassland to croplands does cause carbon losses, converting cropland into grass results in carbon gains (Niman, 32). In a study by the University of Maryland, field tests on 6 different continents consistently showed that the areas with grazing animals had a greater plant diversity than those without animals. These scientists argue that “the absence of animals rather

Households can recycle and reduce their amount of waste by taking certain biodegradable materials and start a compost bin. It is here that the common wastes such as food scraps, coffee grounds or anything that has a high organic matter can be put together and let nature take its course. “Using composts in agriculture to minimize organic wastes and to reduce the addition of fertilizers and fungicides in crop production is highly effective”. (Stan, Virsta, Dusa, Glavan, 2009 pg 1) So the compost that is produced can be used to help fertilize the ground in which crops even flowers are grown cutting down on pesticides and fertilizers. The organic component, in materials, can be used in compost recycling to help to promote a healthy soil. By having a healthier soil this provides a healthier plant. This

When assembling all roles of soil, one is able to see that soil plays a vital part of the natural environment. It is just as important as plants, and animals. It influences the distribution of plant species and provides a habitat for a wide range of organisms.

This video and article by Rose Marcario, the Chief Executive of Patagonia Inc., explains the effect that changing our farming practices could potentially have on our environment and our ability to live sustainably; if we switch from fossil fuel intensive farming to organic and low-till practices that put carbon back in the ground, we can improve soil, grow more nutritious food, and reverse the effects of climate

Even though we are only conducting a small scale sustainable agriculture on campus, we wish to achieve the goals for sustainable farming. We want to be sufficiently productive, while using resources efficiently and minimize undesired and unnecessary waste. Moreover, we want to be resilient and adaptable to any changing conditions such as weather, water shortage, and labor availability. Therefore, the main goal of our project is to maximize production with limited resources and

Many negative environmental impact from unsustainable farming practices include; Land conversion and habitat loss, Wasteful water consumption, and Soil erosion and degradation (“Environmental Impacts of Farming”).There are many different types of harmful gases are released into the atmosphere. Many of these gases are potent greenhouse gases, which contribute to environmental damage and climate change (“How Factory Farming Creates Air Pollution”) Scientists are still researching, but data shows factory farms create a mass production of manure that they toss into huge lagoons which goes up into the atmosphere. Over 37 percent of methane emissions result from factory farming. Methane has a global warming potential 20 times higher than carbon dioxide. The industrialized animal facilities have caused serious respiratory and cardiac disorders (“Pollution Water, Air, Chemicals”). Most factory farming has a negative effect on our environment, and will affect many forests, animal life, and soil. Many trees are going extinct because factory farms want to expand, and cut down the trees. Trees like the Hinton’s Oak is going extinct because of farmer’s selfishness, and pollution

While watching the video-presentation of Tony Avants’ speech on soils, I came to realize the importance of not only the quality of soil that one begins with, but also the quality of products used to enhance it. He states that there is a common gardening myth that plants do not recognize the difference between chemical and organic fertilizers. While that may be true for plants, the microbes in the soil know the difference and have a preference. They prefer the fertilizers made by nature. It would be easy to add chemicals to increase the Carbon these microbes feed off, but it would be much more cost effective, and better for the environment to use a Carbon-rich compost to fertilize one’s soil.

Soil is everywhere but it is easy to ignore . There are so many types of soils . Soil contains very many fungi and microbes . Soil is also used for recycling by breaking down the leftover of the plant when it dies. It also breaks down the remaining animals after it

Land and soil quality is important to agriculture, but so is plant and the animal systems. The can be defined as ecosystems, and agriculture is an agroecosystem. The ecosystem links between the function of soil, water, and air. Changing concepts have been made from management of a single-resource, single species approach to making it a multiple management approach that would involve the structure, composition, and function of the entire ecosystems. Soil quality can be defined as the capacity of soil that is to function with ecosystem boundaries to sustain biological productivity that will maintain environmental quality, and promote plant and animal health (CEQ, 1993).

All living things are made of carbon its even in our atmosphere, ocean, air and even in rocks. Carbon is not still it is constantly on the move. The atmosphere has carbon its attached to oxygen that’s in a gas called. Carbon dioxide plants use carbon as well as sunlight to help grow their own food and grow. Carbon becomes apart of the plant when plants die and are buried may turn into fossil fuels made of carbon like coal &oil over millions of years.

Land, what is exactly is land in the sense of the four factors of productions, this refers to the farm’s land base, whether it is in one field or divided into different parcels, as well as its agricultural qualities (e.g. topography, altitude, soil type, and natural water and nutrient cycles). All of these characteristics set limits on farming activities (e.g. number and size of livestock) that can take place on the farm. They also affect whether production can be intensive (when there is little land available) or extensive. Besides the land itself, the flow and retention of water and nutrients on the land is fundamentally important to its productivity, also to mark it down to show the best they can get from the land.